Fantasy Premier League managers had a relatively easy captaincy decision for Gameweek 2, until the European Super Cup came along.
A full 120-minute outing for some of Liverpool’s key assets on Wednesday night has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons to some extent.
We have factored the midweek action into our thinking as we strive to find the best captain for the upcoming weekend.
As per usual, the Captain Sensible article is here to compare the individual players against each other statistically, as well as examine the defences of the sides they will face in Gameweek 2.
As this uses data from the Fantasy Football Scout Members Area, only those who have signed up for the 2019/20 season can access it in full.
Captain Poll
For the second week in a row Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) has absolutely stormed the captain poll, this time taking a 55% share at the time of writing.
Even though he scored a 12-point haul in Gameweek 1, it is still somewhat surprising to see him dominate the vote so convincingly, in light of Raheem Sterling’s (£12.1m) hat-trick against West Ham.
However, it looks as if most Fantasy managers have looked at the Gameweek 2 opposition to decide between the two premium midfielders.
Southampton were well beaten by Burnley at Turf Moor last week, the Clarets scoring three quick-fire goals in the second half.
Furthermore, the Saints were second bottom for clean sheets at home last season, keeping just three of them across the course of the campaign.
Meanwhile, it looks as if Fantasy managers are not getting too excited about Sterling’s 20-point haul from Gameweek 1 as Manchester City prepare to host Tottenham this weekend.
Sterling’s record against Spurs at the Etihad Stadium is not too shabby, two goals in his last three facing them at home.
But just 11.3% of voters in the poll believe the England international is the best captain option this week, a 44% gap between him and the leading option Salah.
The second-place spot in this week’s captain poll is occupied by Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m), who opened his Premier League account for the new season in last week’s 1-0 win over Newcastle.
The Gabonese forward is currently backed by 16% of our voters, who are most likely influenced by his record against Burnley.
Aubameyang has faced the Clarets three times since signing for Arsenal and has scored twice in each one of them.
Outside of the top three is a host of will differentials in this week’s poll.
There’s a rather unexpected left-field choice in fourth place as Josh King (£6.5m) finds himself as the best of the rest.
Ahead of Bournemouth’s trip to Aston Villa, 1.8% of the voters are preparing to take a punt, while 1.76% of them are plumping for Aubameyang’s new colleague Nicolas Pépé (£9.5m).
Marcus Rashford (£8.5m), Teemu Pukki (£6.5m), Sadio Mané (£11.5m), Callum Wilson (£8.0m) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (£8.0m) are the only other options with more than 1% support.
Player statistics
Lessons learned from Gameweek 1
- Liverpool 4-1 Norwich
- West Ham United 0-5 Manchester City
- Bournemouth 1-1 Sheffield United
- Burnley 3-0 Southampton
- Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton
- Watford 0-3 Brighton and Hove Albion
- Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Aston Villa
- Leicester City 0-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Newcastle United 0-1 Arsenal
- Manchester United 4-0 Chelsea
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