Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are looking to Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City for the Gameweek 35 captaincy, and as per usual, the Captain Sensible article is here to highlight which assets have the best chance of hauling.
First, we will assess the fallout of the captain poll, before then analysing the best options, Rate My Team (RMT) and the Premier Fantasy Tools ratings ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 GMT deadline.
THE CAPTAIN POLL
Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) is the leader of the captain poll in Gameweek 35, with 39.94% of total votes from our users at the time of writing.
Harry Kane (£12.5m) is in second place, backed by 17.3%, ahead of his home fixture against Leicester City.
Son Heung-min (£11.0m) occupies third place with 8.71%, followed by Kevin De Bruyne (£11.9m) and Philippe Coutinho (£7.0m), with 8.03% and 5.77% respectively.
MOHAMED SALAH
Mohamed Salah ended his recent goal drought with a brace against Manchester United in Gameweek 33, but has since turned provider with assists against Everton and Villarreal.
As a result, the Egyptian is now up to 14 FPL assists for the season, more than any other player bar Jarrod Bowen (£6.9m).
Exclude his penalties against Leeds United and Brighton and Hove Albion, however, and Salah has managed just two goals in his last 14 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions.
Despite that, his underlying numbers have remained good.
SALAH – LAST SIX MATCHES
| Total | |
| Goals | 3 |
| Assists | 3 |
| Double-digit hauls | 1 |
| FPL points | 43 |
| FPL points per start | 8.4 |
| Non-pen xG | 2.26 |
| xA | 2.24 |
Last six matches: EVE/MUN/mci/WAT/ars/bha
The main nagging doubt with captaining Salah in Gameweek 35 is that Liverpool have the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Villarreal on Tuesday.
The schedule hasn’t been kind, either, with the Reds first up in Saturday’s early kick-off, a fixture Jurgen Klopp unsuccessfully tried to push back.
Given the magnitude of the tie, and the fact Liverpool – who are in excellent form – are gunning for the title, it’s hard to see Salah not starting, but there is the very real potential for some minute management on Saturday if they are comfortably ahead.
But what about their opponents, Newcastle United?
The Magpies have lost only three matches in the Premier League this calendar year, going from deep in relegation trouble to sitting in the top half of the table.
In fact, in 2022, only Liverpool have accumulated more points than Newcastle’s 32.
Above: Premier League annual table 2022, via Transfermarkt
Manager Eddie Howe has been a real success story so far, and with three clean sheets in their current run of four consecutive league wins, he has his troops performing with confidence from back to front.
Defensively, they have conceded 13 goals across those 15 outings in 2022, with an expected goals conceded (xGC) tally of 15.29.
However, top tier attacks can trouble them, as evidenced by Tottenham Hotspur’s 5-1 win in Gameweek 31, and the arrival of title-chasing Liverpool will surely make life uncomfortable for pivot Jonjo Shelvey (£5.3m), plus the full-backs with the Reds so dominant in wide areas.
SON HEUNG-MIN/HARRY KANE
1 year, 11 months agoAny Son captainers here with strong conviction? I'm wavering