Captain Sensible – Man City take centre stage in Gameweek 37

Manchester City options have dominated the captaincy for Gameweek 37, but are not the only ones worth considering.

The defending champions host Leicester as they close in on a second succesive Premier League title and have largely been a formidable force at home.

However, the Foxes will be no pushovers considering the work Brendan Rodgers has done since arriving at the King Power Stadium.

Meanwhile, there’s a tough fixture for Liverpool at Newcastle and Manchester United and Chelsea have easier opponents.

We’ve covered the Gameweek 37 captaincy debate from all angles to bring you what we think of the key candidates.

Captain Poll

Sergio Aguero (£11.9m) tops the captain poll for Gameweek 37 ahead of Leicester City’s visit to the Etihad Stadium on Monday night. He has been backed by 37.26% at the time of writing. The Argentinian may be waiting for his first Premier League goal at home since February, but he still has Fantasy returns in every single match he has started at the Etihad Stadium this season.

Raheem Sterling (£11.6m) is sat in second place but surprisingly has just 13.9% backing. That may because he has blanked in five of his last eight Premier League matches. However, the midfielder certainly offers powerful points potential in what will be a crucial fixture for Manchester City’s title bid. In the 10 home matches that both Sterling and Aguero have started this season, the Englishman has outscored his colleague on six occasions.

Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) completes the top three with the support of 9.5% ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Newcastle. The interest in the Egyptian is understandable given that he has attacking returns in each of his last five Premier League outings. In fact, it is now his longest run without a blank all season. Furthermore, no midfielder has more away goals than Salah in 2018/19.

Raúl Jiménez (£6.9m) heads up the differentials department with 7.07% support ahead of Fulham’s visit to Molineux. His goal at Watford was actually his first since the Gameweek 30 trip to Chelsea, meaning the Mexican is without one at home since the 2-0 win over Cardiff in Gameweek 29. Jiménez’s backing is almost certainly based on the fixture, with the Cottagers still the worst side defensively this season. However, Scott Parker has managed to achieve clean sheets in each of Fulham’s last three matches.

Just behind Jiménez is Eden Hazard (£10.9m) on 6.79% with Watford coming to Stamford Bridge. The Hornets have conceded 1.55 goals per away game this season, and have fared even worse on their travels to top six sides in 2018/19. They have been breached 14 times in such matches this year, averaging 2.8 per game. Meanwhile, Hazard himself has registered double-figure scores in three of his last four at home and, with rumours surrounding his future, this could potentially be his final Premier League match at Stamford Bridge as a Chelsea player.

Despite a favourable fixture in a trip to Huddersfield, interest in Manchester United players has been decidedly low for Gameweek 37. That has been reflected in the captain poll where Paul Pogba (£8.5m) is the most popular Red Devil with just 4.1% of the vote. The Frenchman has just two goals since Gameweek 27, both of which came from the penalty spot against West Ham in Double Gameweek 34. Romelu Lukaku (£10.7m) and Marcus Rashford (£7.3m) also have minimal support, 2.27% and 1.3% respectively, and both have questions over their fitness and form ahead of Gameweek 37. The pair has just five goals between since Gameweek 27.

The cheaper alternatives to Salah and Jiménez are also inside the top 10 but are not going to be huge players in the Gameweek 37 captaincy scene. Sadio Mané (£10.2m) has pulled in just 3.3% for the trip to Newcastle, while Diogo Jota (£6.3m) has 2.86% support for Fulham’s visit to Molineux.

Son Heung-min (£8.9m) completes the top 10 with his 1.86% backing ahead of Spurs travelling to Bournemouth, while Gylfi Sigurdsson (£7.4m) is the only other option with more than 1% backing. The Icelandic international will be in action for Everton on Friday night as Burnley come to Goodison Park.

Player statistics – Last four matches