The Fantasy Premier League (FPL) captaincy debate for Gameweek 9 has been completely turned on its head by an injury to Romelu Lukaku (£11.6m) during Wednesday nights UEFA Champions League win over Malmo.
As a result, Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) again looks like the leading armband candidate, but there are other options on the radar too, including Kai Havertz (£8.1m), Son Heung-min (£10.2m), Harry Kane (£12.1m) and the in-form Jamie Vardy (£10.7m).
First, we will assess the fallout of the Gameweek 9 captain poll, before then analysing the best options, Rate My Team (RMT) and the Premier Fantasy Tools ratings ahead of Friday’s 18:30 BST deadline.
THE CAPTAIN POLL
Mohamed Salah leads the captain poll for the fifth time this season, having gained 39.47% of total votes from our users at the time of writing.
Kai Havertz currently sits in second, and is backed by 15.97% of FPL managers ahead of his appealing Stamford Bridge encounter against Norwich City, while Jamie Vardy occupies third-place with 11.98%.
The top-five list is completed by differentials Kevin De Bruyne (£12.0m) and Harry Kane, with 4.7% and 2.9% respectively.
MOHAMED SALAH
HOW HAS CAPTAIN SENSIBLE PERFORMED SO FAR THIS SEASON?
| Gameweek | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| 1 | Salah (17) | Fernandes (20) | Mane (3) |
| 2 | Salah (3) | Fernandes (1) | Mane (8) |
| 3 | Son (10) | Antonio (11) | Fernandes (2) |
| 4 | Ronaldo (13) | Salah (8) | Lukaku (13) |
| 5 | Salah (12) | Mane (8) | Ronaldo (6) |
| 6 | Ronaldo (2) | Salah (7) | Antonio (8) |
| 7 | Lukaku (2) | Ronaldo (1) | Antonio (2) |
| 8 | Salah (13) | De Bruyne (11) | Mane (8) |
