Manchester City are the focus of the Fantasy Premier League captaincy once again.
Gameweek 6 pits the defending champions against a Watford side who have typically struggled at the Etihad Stadium.
While that is the standout fixture, it is still far from simple when it comes to singling out the best candidate.
Furthermore, there are still plenty of other matches that could provide alternative options for the armband this weekend.
We’ve gone over all the possibilities in this latest Captain Sensible article.
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
Despite blanking on both of his last two Premier League outings, Raheem Sterling (£12.3m) tops the Captain Poll for Gameweek 6.
As of Thursday lunch-time, the midfielder had 33.2% of the vote ahead of a meeting with Watford on Saturday afternoon.
Even though his last goal was recorded in Gameweek 3, Sterling remains joint-third in the Golden Boot race with five goals this season.
Furthermore, in the 2018/19 season, he scored more against Watford than any other player in the Premier League, netting past the Hornets three times.
However, Sergio Aguero (£12.1m) has been catching up his colleague in the poll after he was benched for Manchester City’s Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk midweek.
Sterling played 90 minutes in that match, having done the same against Norwich. That may have some owners concerned about his game-time in Gameweek 6, while Aguero looks very likely to start at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The Argentinian’s credentials need very little introduction, as he currently leads the way in the Golden Boot race.
Aguero has found the net seven times in the first five matches of the 2019/20 season, which means he is yet to experience an FPL blank.
Watford have conceded 10 times so far, the joint third-worst in the division, and have historically struggled in encounters with Manchester City.
The defending champions have won every one of their last eight Premier League clashes with the Hornets, by a combined score of 25-4. Furthermore, the last time the two sides met was the 2019 FA Cup final, which Manchester City won 6-0.
That said, it could be perhaps too soon to weigh up any impact made by new, or rather old, manager Quique Sanchez Flores, who rejoined the club ahead of their Gameweek 5 draw with Arsenal.
Those put off by that element of Manchester City’s Gameweek 6 fixture might be the ones looking at Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m), who looks set to claim the bronze medal in this week’s captain poll.
11.4% of voters have selected him as the best option for the armband as the Gunners prepare to host Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
Like Aguero, Aubameyang is yet to blank this season, scored five times and assisting once in the first five Gameweeks of the season.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa may have clean sheets in each of their last two matches, but both of those have occurred in front of their own fans. Away from home, they have conceded four times across two road trips.
Kevin de Bruyne (£9.8m) once again heads up the best of the rest 6.5% of backing ahead of that meeting with Watford.
The Belgian midfielder is yet to blank in matches that he has started this season, his one point in Gameweek 5 coming after 33 minutes from Manchester City’s bench.
Prior to that, de Bruyne had assisted in each of the first four Premier League matches of 2019/20, also finding the back of the net in the Gameweek 4 win over Brighton.
He has marginally more support in the captain poll than Teemu Pukki (£7.1m), who tends to feature in the conversation most weeks these days.
The Norwich forward has averaged 9.8 points per game this season, proving his credentials even further by scoring against Manchester City in Gameweek 5.
It’s Burnley up next for Pukki, who have been a lot tighter at the back this season, but at least 5.8% of our voters believe that won’t stop the in-form man.
Despite Chelsea’s defensive problems this season, Fantasy managers seem to be avoiding Liverpool assets for the captaincy.
The Blues are yet to keep a clean sheet in 2019/20 and have conceded 11 goals, only Norwich have let in more at this stage.
Mohamed Salah (£12.5m), who has attacking returns in all but one of his matches so far this season, has been backed by just 4.6% of voters.
Meanwhile, Sadio Mané (£11.6m), who has three goals in his last two outings, has backing from just 1.3% of voters, the same number as Harry Kane (£11.0m).
Son Heung-min‘s (£9.6m) two goals against Crystal Palace and a midweek benching are probably what underpins the 2.3% of voters who believe he is worth captaining against Leicester.
Che Adams (£5.8m) is yet to score this season but 2.2% have touted his credentials for the armband as Bournemouth come to Southampton on Friday night.
Callum Wilson (£7.8m) and Jamie Vardy (£8.9m) are the only other options with more than 1% support.
5 years, 1 month ago
Best KWP downgrade?