FPL Captain Picks Gameweek 1

Welcome to FPL Captain Picks Gameweek 1

After what seems like a blink and you’ll miss it summer, the Euros have ended, the Olypmics is finished and the new Premier League season is upon us! All your hard work, research, number crunching and hair pulling has come down to this moment.

And while you can’t win the league during these initial rounds, you can make it a lot harder on yourself, which is why a positive start is what we all want. So, for the first time in 2024/25, here are your captaincy picks for the first gameweek…

Rosco — Alexander Isak v Southampton (H)

I feel like for as long as I can remember I’ve captained Salah in GW1, perhaps last year was the exception with Haaland taking the armband (if my terrible memory serves me). So this season it feels strange to not only be considering looking elsewhere but to be seriously considering backing my own team (Newcastle) with the captaincy. I can almost feel the double disappointment as I exit St James following a shock 0-1 loss to the newly-promoted Saints. Ahh, the nagging self-doubt and pessimism can mean only one thing, FPL is back.

I digress. So, why Isak? Well, for starters I’m not alone in my thinking. With a 53% ownership a week out from the GW1 deadline, the Swede is the highest-owned player in the game. I’d assume that a good proportion of those managers will be seriously considering him for their armband.

Isak starts the season with a £1m price increase off the back of 21 goals and 2 assists from his 27 starts. Of those 21 goals, 14 of them came at St James Park. Only Erling Haaland scored more goals among the forwards (27) last season, and if he’d managed to spend less time on the treatment table, I’d imagine he’d have scored a few more and cost even more this season.

Newcastle, for the first time in years, start the season with a favourable fixture run. And they don’t come much better than a home game against a promoted side. It’s difficult to know how Southampton will fair on the return to the top tier, but I’d wager that despite my pessimistic inner voice, Newcastle will likely kick-off the season with 3pts and a hatful of goals. If that happens, you’d imagine Alexander will get in on the action. An opening day hat-trick would be just lovely.

GP — Mohamed Salah v Ipswich Town (A)

I feel like for as long as I can remember everyone SHOULD have captained Salah in GW1 . . .

That time versus Leeds (hat-trick), the goal-and-assist combo at Fulham AND home to Norwich – amongst a run of scoring in SIX consecutive opening days in a row – the history on curtain-raising day is with him.

Yeah yeah … Ipswich are up (impressively so) and they will be roared on by a bouyant home crowd BUT – cold light of day – this is the ruthless Premier League. Machines, both the individual robots like Salah or the trundling behemoths like Liverpool F.C, care not for sentiment, kid gloves or even a romantic story. Even if Ipswich get off to a dream start, or flirt with a draw for a period, they could well end up in the mud. And in minutes.

Sporting a menacing looking shaven-head, he’s there to strike opening-day fear into the Tractor Boys this Saturday lunchtime as the main focal point of the debut of this Slot-era Liverpool attack. At £12.5 million, he isn’t cheap, nor should he be, and with the nice job of pricing done combined with decent fixtures with any number of alternate players (both in GW1 and Haaland in GW2), it seems the closer we get to the deadline, the more Salah is being used as a makeweight for other players and the scattering of funds across other departments. Those who hold on, could be the real winners.

The Egyptian is targeting a 30-plus goal record in the Premier League for the 8th (E I G H T H) time in a row. Will it kick off with a 2 or 3 goal haul in Suffolk? Who’s betting against it?

Matt – Heung Min Son vs Leicester (A)

Someone who has kind of gone under the radar this summer is the Spurs captain, Heung-Min Son. Only owned by 11.4%, there are 10 other midfielders who are in more teams this summer. He has taken over the talisman role after the departure of Harry Kane last season. Lots (myself included) would have felt the Kane-hole was too big to fill but honestly Spurs didn’t seem to mind too much finishing fifth just 2 points behind fourth.

Son had a fantastic season last term with 17 goals and 10 assists for his 3rd highest FPL return of 213 points. That actually included an OG so he could have been on more points. He averaged 6.1 points per game. He was the fourth best midfielder and 6th best player in the entire game.

Son has picked up where he left off as he’s been in good form this preseason. He has 3 goals and 1 assist before the last friendly against Bayern Munich. Looks to be back on the left which is usually his best position. Spurs have also splashed the cash on Big Dom Solanke up top so Son has a very good target to help him attack. Can Son combine with Dom like he did the last English striker Spurs had? Let’s hope so!

Spurs have been handed a nice opening fixture this year with a trip to newly promoted side, Leicester. A team that were the best defence in the Championship last term but have had a change of guard at the helm. They only kept 15 clean sheets in 46 games, so they weren’t inpenetrable. If you want to go different from the start, this is a brilliant choice.

Gear – Haaland vs Chelsea(A)

(Photo by Nigel French / Sportsphoto / Allstar via Getty Images)

For those brave souls going without Haaland, I wish you luck, I have a feeling you’re going to need it.

For those who have Haaland, but are going with an alternative captain for GW1, I have pulled together some stats in the hope it convinces you to reconsider.

To start with, in his two FPL seasons so far, he has 76 goal contributions in 61 games, 83% of which were goals. He averaged 7 points per game last season, and whilst this is down from the 7.8 he registered in the 2022-23 season, it’s still impressive. Lastly, he has an expected goals per 90 minutes of, wait for it… 1.04!

Convinced yet? If not, here are some more. He started last season with a 13-point haul. He also started the 2022-23 season with a 13-point return.

Over the course of the first 6 game weeks last season, he averaged 8.5 points per game, the season before 11.16 points per game. I think it’s fair to say Haaland likes to start the season with a bang.

If this has not convinced you, I will leave you with one final thought. He has just spent the entire summer relaxing and recuperating. All signs point to a strong start for the Nordic meat shield.

OddDane – Saka vs Wolves (H)

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

The following may contain irony and/or sarcasm. Avert your eyes… From everything else, and read carefully!

Alright then, you’ve gotten past the chatter. Let’s get down to business then, shall we?

At the Odd chance you’ve jumped directly to this section, no need to read the rest, GP, MattX, Rosco and the lot have surely written novels about Erling, Mo, Isak and the Son. No need. If only I could’ve been bothered, I’d have told them about this – I dare say – obvious choice and saved them the trouble.

Saka is your captain. The fourth highest scoring FPL 23/24 lad with 226pts, a starter of the starters and with 7.0pts/90 mins of play. When he doesn’t take pity on his lesser scoring FPL mates and hands them a penalty or two, he will kick them in the back of the net himself. His expected goal involvement came in at 0.8(xG+xAG) and that’s before any weird FPL assists too.

Coincidentally, he’s also playing Wolves. As if it wasn’t good enough already. Yes, that’s the same Wolves who narrowly beat ManUtd as the 15th ranked team for expected goals against (xGA) with a grand x67.7 for the season of 2023/24 (Yep, that’s 1,8xGA/game). Also yes, ManUtd was 16th, sixteenth! Anyway… That is about as bad as it gets. For Wolves. For Saka though?

He is off scoring double digits. FPL points too.

Have fun!

Thanks for reading FPL Captain Picks GW1.

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