FPL Heisenberg’s Captain Series
Welcome to the latest article in a new series for the 2020/21 Fantasy Premier League season from @FPL_Heisenberg for FPL Bet. In this weekly series, Heisenberg will be looking into the best captaincy options, as well as ‘outside of the box’ captaincy choices for each Gameweek. Heisenberg has a proven track record in FPL, having finished inside the top 32k in each of the last 6 seasons, including a best finish of 836th. Let’s cook!
Gameweek 38 Captains:
Mo Salah (Fixture: Crystal Palace, Home)
Liverpool are going all out for a Champions League position and only a win will suffice! Although Liverpool have struggled at times this season, this hasn’t stopped Salah from being in the mix for the golden boot race with 22 goals, neck and neck with ace marksman Harry Kane. Furthermore, his season-long form is still strong, with goals in Europe too.
He’s been consistently performing well in all the key attacking metrics and I have no doubt this will continue this Gameweek against a Crystal Palace side who were just hammered 3-1 by Arsenal. Furthermore, as Mo is on penalties, that is another route to points for the Egyptian King too.
With Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool playing front of home fans at Anfield in Gameweek 38, could we see Mo finish the season with a bang and bag himself the golden boot? Those who captain him will certainly hope so.
Harry Kane (Fixture: Leicester, Away)
With Harry Kane chasing down the Golden Boot, you can’t write him off despite Salah having the better fixture on paper.
Kane has been a goal threat for many years in the Premier League, but his assist threat is something he’s added to his game. His passing ability has always been exceptional, but tactically he was more the man to get on the end of passes, now he’s creating chances for his teammates too. The stats show how much better he’s become creatively and he now has the most FPL assists of any player which is outstanding.
Spurs should benefit as a team offensively with Son and Kane both returning from recent injuries and getting game-time and attacking returns under their belts in recent weeks, coupled with Ryan Mason favouring Gareth Bale more than his predecessor did. Therefore, I see Kane’s assist potential as increasing with Sonny and Bale on the pitch to finish off the chances he creates. Son and Bale can also create for Harry Kane too. Another consideration is penalties and as we know, Kane rarely misses from the spot so there’s another route to points for England’s number 9.
If you’re playing catch up in your mini-leagues then maybe putting the armband on Kane will be a differential with the vast majority going for Salah.
Bruno Fernandes (Fixture: Wolves, Away)
Bruno is the top point scorer in FPL this season and is a very reliable option, week in week out. In the underlying statistics it’s not surprising as he’s near the top for shots and for chances created, he’s a genuine double threat as he proved in Man United’s most recent games, the home game vs Liverpool where he grabbed a goal followed up with a dodgy assist vs Fulham.
Bruno can deliver goals and/or assists in any fixture, however, he could be rested with United playing in the Europa League final a few days later. If Bruno does play, there’s every chance Mr Reliable can do the business. Furthermore, Bruno Fernandes is central to everything Man United do, and, importantly he takes penalties which as we all know, United win a lot of them!
‘Outside of the Box’ captains:
Michail Antonio (Fixture: Southampton, Home)
The Englishman has been performing very well this season (when fit), getting plenty of shots away and performing well creatively too leading to 10 goals and 5 assists so far this season. West Ham are playing very well this season, with Jesse Lingard adding another positive attacking option to the West Ham side.
Since returning to the side after missing a few games with injury issues Antonio has scored 3 goals in his last 4 games, with a man of the match performance away at Burnley. He’s also getting used to playing large portions of matches again playing 90 minutes in all 4 Premier League games since returning from injury.
Facing a Southampton side who are conceding a lot of goals, West Ham – and Antonio in particular – will be looking to build upon their impressive attacking displays this season.
Patrick Bamford (Fixture: West Brom, Home)
A tasty fixture for the Leeds number 9 makes Patrick Bamford an ideal captain choice this Gameweek.
The Englishman has had a great season so far with 16 goals and 11 assists, playing in a team who see plenty of action in both penalty areas! In terms of the underlying statistics he’s top of all players for non-penalty expected goals in the league this season.
Leeds are facing a relegated West Brom side who have had defensive issues this season so I cannot see them being able to stop Bamford and co scoring at least a couple of goals. Hopefully Bamford can be involved in the goals that do inevitably flow.
Thanks for reading the latest article in this captaincy series from FPL Heisenberg, be sure to follow @FPLBet and @FPL_Heisenberg on Twitter so that you don’t miss the weekly article. Agree or disagree with these captaincy picks? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!