Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 10

Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 10

Haaland may have finally got a goal last week, and a more acceptable overall return to go with it, but you can’t help but think that the days of ‘perma-capping’ him may be somewhat over, at least for the time being, anyway. Why? Well, simply because there are other candidates emerging now who are proving themselves to be just as consistent as he once was, and all with better fixtures ahead this week, to boot. (And then he goes and gets a brace in the Champions League…!).

If you insist on going with him regardless, then fine and good luck, but if not here are the best of the rest, according to Init, Matt and Swirly…

Salah vs Forest (H) – Matt X

5, 5, 5, 8, 10, 10, 1, 15, 16. These are the weekly scores of Mo Salah this season. This would get you a total of 75 points without sticking the armband on him. I haven’t been able to afford Salah and thus not captained him. Some of my fellow contributors have been brave enough to ditch Haaland and not only own Salah but captain him too. All I can say is fair play to them and I’m jealous. The only thing stopping me from breaking down crying at all the points that I’m not getting is seeing that Liverpool are getting 3 points and looking very attacking and good this season.

The Egyptian God has only blanked in one game this season in that easily forgettable and quiet game against Spurs. Some people would have you think he is getting lucky this season, a one trick pony that is a penalty merchant. Now I won’t try and convince you that he isn’t, as has has benefitted from getting 3 penalties in the last 4 games, but isn’t that also why we own penalty takers? Even if we ignore those penalties it would only add one more blank to his record, against West Ham. He has still been getting some sort of attacking return in every game. 7 goals and 4 assists this season, 2 clean sheets and 11 bonus points. Adding this all together has made him the top scoring player in FPL. His nearest challenger is Ollie Watkins who also has only blanked once this season. Lots of great options this week but Salah should be very high in your thoughts.

Mo has the highest stats amongst all FPL players when it comes to combining xG, xA and xGI. His 6.63, 2.86 and 9.49 put him well ahead of the others with Haaland being the nearest overall to him with stats of 8.11xG, 0.42 xA and 8.53 xGI. Salah is just so involved in everything Liverpool do since last season with 29 goal involvements in his last 24 league appearances. Just looking at the stats from GW9, Salah had 2 big chances and converted both. Only Wood bettered this with 3 big chances and converting 2. Looking at a wider range of last 5 games, Salah is averaging 10.4 pts per appearance, 86 mins per appearance and 2.2 bonus points per game.

Something people will love to hear is that Salah has either scored or assisted in 13 consecutive league games at Anfield! This is crazy consistent and hopefully he can improve that run this weekend with the visit of Nottingham Forest. There is absolutely no reason this can’t continue as he is in brilliant form getting 4 double-digit hauls in the last 5 FPL games. Do I think he will double-digit this week? Honestly, no as I think Forest could be a slightly tougher nut to crack but I still see Salah getting something in the game. Liverpool are 2nd favourites to score 2.5+ goals with a 52% chance according to the bookies. The reason I say Forest are a tough side is due to the fact they are 8th in both goals conceded and xGC this season.

There is one massive caveat to Salah’s returns, or maybe I should say something most people bar Klopp have noticed is…. Darwin Nunez! Darwin is good for Mo Salah! Every time Darwin has assisted for Liverpool (8 times) the player at the end of his passes has been Mo Salah. Nunez has a massive impact in this team and should be getting starts more regularly. 3 goals and 4 assists when he has only played more than 70 minutes twice is amazing returns. I do hope he gets a start this weekend and if he does I think it will only mean good things for Mo!

Watkins vs Luton (H) – Swirly

When the boss asked for volunteers to help write the captains article this gameweek, I once again jumped at the chance as I make the most of every minute in celebrating the form of both Ollie Watkins and the team I support, Aston Villa. We’re now one year and one day into Emery’s tenure (who’s counting?) and things seem to be getting better and better each week, to the point of fans pinching themselves that this really is happening to us after a good few years of hurt. Did you know, for example, that only Manchester City (78), Arsenal (74) and Liverpool (71) have won more points than the Villans (68) since the legend’s first game in charge?!

So, the player in question – Mr Watkins. Now on five goals and eight assists, with an xG of 3.89 and an xA of 0.79, he’s looking to beat his previous season bests, as the last campaign saw him slot away 15 and set up eight others. And most of those will have been within Emery’s tenure too. There is a new contract that has fully shown the club’s faith in the 27-year-old, but it’s the manager who has truly brought out the best in the former Brentford and Exeter City player, both tactically and in confidence levels. What’s more, the addition of 24-year-old Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen has created a highly lucrative partnership – one that leads the way when it comes to chances created. Watby – as the duo could be referred to – have created 17 chances for each other now, ahead of 11 for Nunez and Salah, and 10 for Eze / Edouard and Haaland / Alvarez.

Now we’ll look at the two clubs that will be playing each other: Villa and Luton – two teams with very different fortunes. So far this season, Villa have played four times at home in the league – and all four have been victories, scoring 17 and conceding just three along the way. It’s now 11 Premier League home wins in a row, their best league run in 40 years as you look back to the time the Villans managed 39 out of a possible 39 between February and October 1983. Luton, meanwhile, have conceded 11 in the five they’ve played away from Kenilworth Road and they are one of four sides that don’t have a clean sheet to their name. Indeed, they’ve shipped 17 in total with an xGC of 17.7 – the fifth-worst in the league.

A glimmer of hope for the Bedfordshire club’s fans may be that their overall goal difference of -9 is still much better than the three sides below them in the table. That could be crucial come the end of the 2023-24 campaign. The team and manager will no doubt also be buoyed by coming back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Nottingham Forest as well, however keeping a clean sheet is the least of Watkins’ concerns!

Son vs Palace (A) – Init

(Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

The King is dead, long live The King! Or more pertinently, the King and his partner in crime are dead, long live the old partner in crime, and his new partner in crime. Ok, so that got a little bit confusing. In short, Kane and Son looked an irrepressible and irreplaceable partnership, but Son and Maddison are making a good fist of doing just that.

We all feared that Richarlison may spoil the Son party up top, but Ange seemingly wastes no time in cutting through the crap, so up top Son has gone, and hey presto he’s banging them in. I said a few weeks back that he’d get 20 plus goals this season if deployed there more permanently, and I see no reason to veer away from that now. It was telling on Monday that despite Richie boy being afforded a start, he was indeed pushed out wide, much as he was for Everton. He was more effective from there anyway, and it was a clear signal of how Ange intends to proceed.

Now then, the big fly in the ointment here is the thorny issue of the ‘early captain’. And a Friday one is very early! It can make for a very uncomfortable weekend, even if he bangs in a couple, leaving you dreading what damage the rest can do. Even worse if he blanks. Whether or not you can stomach it though, would you bet against him getting said brace right now?

Unlike my younger and trendier colleagues above, I won’t bore you with xG, xA and all that nonsense. All that matters here is ET. No, not that one, I’m talking the old fashioned Eye Test. He’s up top, he’s looking extremely fit, fresh and threatening, and he’s picking up midfielders points for playing as a forward. ET? He passes it.

The confessional…
This is where we ask our entire writing team to tell us who they think they will pick this week…. There are more caveats and get out clauses than a meeting with Daniel Levy but this is their initial gut feeling based upon who they actually own. And they promise that their picks will be allowed to leave for free if a better offer comes along…

The Gallant Pioneer — Salah

Follow @MitchellC_FF247

Jamesimmo — Salah

Follow @James777Simpson

Ivan — Douglas Luiz. Payback for leaving him on the bench last GW!

Follow @IvanGB111

Swirly — Salah

Follow @theswirly

Matt — Watkins

Follow @MattyMcveigh

Loud Atlas — Salah

Follow @FantasyFooty247

Smash — Looking like Watkins

Follow @Chrismartin1984

Rosco — Salah

Follow @eugoogooly

Ellefcee — Mo

Init — Watkins

Follow @AdamalcockFF247

Gear — Salah

Follow @Lukerouthorn

Stone Frog — Salah

Follow @StoneFrog638

OddDane — Cardboard cut-out of Salah (I can’t afford the real one…)

Jamie Mc — Salah

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