Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are looking to Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal for the Gameweek 7 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 Gameweek 7 captain poll, before then analysing the best options, Rate My Team (RMT) and the Premier Fantasy Tools ratings ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 BST deadline.
THE CAPTAIN POLL
Erling Haaland (£12.0m) is the leader of the captain poll in Gameweek 7, with a mite over 40% of total votes from our users at the time of writing.
Behind in second is Mohamed Salah (£13.0m), who is backed by just over a quarter of those polled ahead of his home tie against Wolves.
Gabriel Jesus (£8.1m) occupies third place with 7.23%, followed by Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.8m) and Pascal Gross (£6.0m), with 5.11% and 2.52% respectively.
THE MAIN CANDIDATES
ERLING HAALAND/KEVIN DE BRUYNE
Erling Haaland made FPL history by breaking the single Gameweek captaincy record in Gameweek 6 and scored his 10th Premier League goal in the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa to repay masses of armband backers.
The Norwegian has effectively broken Fantasy Premier League and Haaland’s underlying goal threat numbers are his piece de resistance.
The Nordic marksman has recorded 24 shots inside the box, 14 big chances received, and an expected goals (xG) total of 6.40 – all division-leading totals.
Haaland’s shot map is a joy to behold, effectively playing between the width of the posts and invariably shooting from inside the box, averaging 0.23 expected goals per open play shot this season.
Manchester City boast the in-form attack of the Gameweek 7 sides with Guardiola’s charges placed top for big chances (28) and expected goals (xG), with 13.94.
City’s dominance on big chances is notable, bettering second-placed Brentford (21) by some margin, as Haaland has accrued 50% of his team’s high-quality chances.
Furthermore, Haaland has quashed any concerns about his injury record and forecasted expected minutes in City colours, by recording six consecutive Premier League starts and averaging just over 79 minutes per appearance.
Above: Erling Haaland’s goal attempts (25) over the last six matches – shots on target (15) highlighted in green
Kevin De Bruyne (£12.2m) produced his fourth assist of the season against Aston Villa with a trademark early looping cross tapped in at the back post by an unmarked Haaland.
The Belgian international is averaging 5.83 FPL points per appearance this term and demonstrates division-leading creativity.
De Bruyne places top among all outfield players for assists (four), big chances created (seven), and expected assists (xA), with 2.46.
Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur have produced some strong defensive underlying numbers placing in the top two for shots on target against (16) and big chances conceded (four) after six Gameweeks.
Zonally, Spurs rank fourth-worst for crosses conceded from their left flank (69) – an area which could be badly exposed by Joao Cancelo (£7.1m) and De Bruyne.
Above: Conte’s Spurs rank best in the division for big chances against (four) after six Gameweeks
MOHAMED SALAH/TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
