Mo Salah‘s spectacular run of form has diluted the Fantasy Premier League captaincy debate in recent weeks with the prolific Liverpool midfielder giving managers little reason to pass the armband over to anybody else.
Considering Salah is comfortably the most popular in the game with over 70 per cent of managers selecting him in their squads, he is likely to be the most-captained player for the foreseeable future. That is unless another player emerges from the pack and surpasses his eye-popping numbers.
Going against Salah is a risky move given his ownership, but it is one that can pay off as long as your chosen player manages to outscore him. While Salah has returned in all but one of his 11 Premier League matches this campaign, his output has slowed recently with successive five-point returns following that mammoth 24-point score at Old Trafford.
Interestingly, the captaincy poll on i‘s Fantasy Football Facebook page is closer than it has been in recent weeks, suggesting that some managers are tempted to deviate from the security of Salah and plump for a differential option instead in Gameweek 12.
Here is the case for captaining Salah and the alternative candidates to consider this weekend.
Mo Salah (Liverpool)
Salah has an excellent goalscoring record against most Premier League clubs and Arsenal are no exception. Salah has managed seven goals in nine league appearances against the Gunners, including his very first in the competition when Chelsea dished out a 6-0 drubbing to their London rivals in Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th game in charge. Although Salah remains the obvious captain choice, Arsenal have kept five clean sheets and conceded only four goals in their last eight league games.
Price: £13.0m Points: 117 Gameweek 12 fixture: Arsenal (h)
Get involved
If you’re interested in joining the i readers league on Fantasy Premier League for the 2021-22 campaign, enter this code when prompted on the website: t96gm9. You can also sign up to i‘s dedicated fantasy football newsletter to receive tips, injury updates and more each week throughout the season.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)
Watford will be wary of a wounded Cristiano Ronaldo when they host Manchester United at Vicarage Road on Saturday. Ronaldo looked crestfallen after Portugal snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Serbia in the race to reach the World Cup, but a goal or two against the Hornets would go some way to cheering him up again. Only Newcastle (with 13) have conceded more goals at home than Watford (11) this season, raising Ronaldo’s prospects this weekend.
Price: £12.4m Points: 38 Gameweek 12 fixture: Watford (a)
Harry Kane (Spurs)
Harry Kane has scored 17 goals in 22 appearances for club and country this season: the problem is only one has come in the Premier League. Kane filled his boots during the international break, scoring a combined seven goals against Albania and San Marino at a rate of one every 18 minutes. The 28-year-old has proven to be prolific against international footballing minnows but can he do it on a mild Sunday afternoon against Leeds? Spurs fans who have waited patiently for his return to form will certainly hope so.
Price: £12.2m Points: 27 Gameweek 12 fixture: Leeds (h)
Joao Cancelo (Man City)
Captaining a defender is usually a move reserved for true FPL mavericks but in a season in which three of the four top-scoring players in the game are defenders, perhaps we should start considering a few of them for the armband. Joao Cancelo has accumulated the second-most points so far – admittedly there is a 50 point gulf between him and Salah – and racked up a season-best 14 points during Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Manchester United in Gameweek 11. His 26 shots on goal this season, is more than Jamie Vardy, Harry Kane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Price: £6.5m Points: 67 Gameweek 12 fixture: Everton (h)
The case for playing 5-4-1 in FPL
In previous years, FPL managers might have picked a maximum of one or two premium defenders in their teams in order to funnel funds into midfield and attack. But with so many expensive defenders providing consistent returns, particularly in comparison to midfielders and especially, strikers, there is a case to be made for selecting an unusual-looking five-man defence moving forward.
Reece James (42 points), Ben Chilwell (37) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (29) feature in the top-five highest-scoring players in FPL over the past four gameweeks, while Joao Cancelo was FPL’s “King of the Gameweek” last weekend after accumulating more points (14) than any other player. That quartet cost a combined £26.1m and while it may seem counter-intuitive to spend so much of your budget on defenders, they are proving to be well worth the investment at present.
While the aforementioned players are well-owned already, now could be an optimal time to take a punt on a Spurs defender, following Antonio Conte’s appointment. Similarly to Thomas Tuchel, Antonio Conte favours a back three and encourages his wing-backs to drive forward into advanced areas. In Conte’s first season in charge of Chelsea in 2016-17, the three top-scoring defenders in FPL were all Chelsea players, including both wing-backs: they were Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso.
That bodes well for the likes of Sergio Reguilon (£5.0m) and Emerson Royal (£4.9m) who have started in both of Conte’s first two matches in charge. Reguilon was the most advanced player in Tottenham’s team and missed a big chance in the 0-0 draw against Everton in Gameweek 11, while Emerson also had one effort on goal.
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Differential: Callum Wilson (Newcastle)
Will Eddie Howe enjoy the new manager bounce
at Newcastle United? His new employers will certainly hope so given the Magpies are now the only Premier League club without a win this season and five points adrift from safety. On the plus side, Saturday’s opponents Brentford are in a sticky patch of form with a 2-1 reverse against Norwich prior to the international break their fourth loss on the spin. Howe will be hoping Callum Wilson can add to his four league goals this season when the Bees come to town.
Price: £7.3m Points: 32 Gameweek 12 fixture: Brentford (h)
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