Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers face the final curtain, where a successful armband pick from a set of fixtures packed with high-ceiling differential options could seal overall rank or mini-league glory.
With the record-breaking Erling Haaland (£12.4m) returning to the starting line-up against Brighton & Hove Albion following Manchester City’s title celebrations, we examine the Norwegian and other big-hitting armband alternatives from Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, as managers seek that elusive Gameweek 38 chunk-rise.
As 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 Sunday’s 15:00 BST deadline.
THE CAPTAIN POLL
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (£13.1m) tops a tight-knit captaincy poll, backed by just over three-tenths of the total votes cast at the time of writing.
Perennial perma-captain Haaland sits in second place and provides the Egyptian’s main armband competition, backed by just under one in five of our users.
Harry Kane (£11.4m) occupies third place with 17.39% of the vote, followed by Eberechi Eze (£5.7m) and Bukayo Saka (£8.0m) further back.
THE CANDIDATES
MOHAMED SALAH/ROBERTO FIRMINO
Salah supplied an assist during Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa but the five-point return ended his three-game run of double-digit hauls.
After an undoubtedly slow start to the season, the Egyptian’s form picked up after the Gameweek 17 restart and his seven attacking returns over the last six rounds have only been bettered by Callum Wilson (£7.2m).
Underlying statistics confirm that Salah’s recent production rate has been no fluke, with the winger ranking top for penalty area touches (71) in this same period.
Furthermore, during the six, Salah places inside the top three for expected goals (xG) and expected goal involvement (xGI), with 4.18 and 5.51 respectively.
Above: Salah places in the top three for expected goals (xG) and expected goal involvement (xGI), with 4.18 and 5.51 respectively.
Meanwhile, Roberto Firmino (£8.0m) is about to bid farewell to the Premier League and the stage is set for the Brazilian to finish his Liverpool career in style against Southampton.
Formerly a mainstay in Jurgen Klopp’s highly successful attacking triumvirate, Firmino has become a peripheral figure this term, limited to 12 league starts and 24 appearances. An average of 49 minutes per outing gives a flavour of how the Brazilian has been used but he returned to the scoresheet in last week’s draw, notching his tenth goal of the campaign.
Firmino boasts a healthy 5.3 points per start during 2022/23, a number boosted by two early-season double-digit hauls which gathered seven attacking returns, highlighting the Brazilian’s ceiling.
Bottom-of-the-table Southampton host Liverpool on Sunday, where Ruben Selles takes charge of the Saints for the last time. Their abysmal form sees them winless since early March 2023, whilst currently on a five-game losing streak.
Over the last six, Selles’ defence ranks second-worst for letting in goals (16) and place bottom for shots in the box conceded (78) and expected goals conceded (xGC, 13.65).
Zonally, they’ve recently been weakest on their left flank, placing in the bottom two for both crosses (62) and chances conceded (29) from Salah’s wing.
Additionally, no side has conceded more chances centrally (30) than Southampton in the last half-dozen.
MARCUS RASHFORD/BRUNO FERNANDES
On a personal note, I am currently one point outside of the top 10k going into Sunday’s season finale and gunning for a fourth top 10k finish. It’s been a pleasure writing Captain Sensible for the readers, Neale and the editorial team at Fantasy Football Scout. I hope you’ve enjoyed my writing and that the content has helped your process as a manager.
Best of luck for Gameweek 38!
