Fantasy FPL Captain Picks GW23

Hello, how are ya getting on?! Welcome to the captain’s article, where I’ll be trying to guide you to the kind of points hauls that give you nice big juicy green arrows, rather than looking at your team with the kind of disgust you would if you saw yourself on that work do where you had too many drinks and may have said some regrettable things before making a nasty mess.

This week is one of those where you would have to have some gumption, put on your big boy – or girl, of course – pants and move that armband away from Salah. Home to Ipswich? Of course you’d captain him. But, wait, carry on reading! Come back, settle down.

Well anyway, I’m rambling enough already and, let’s face it, you haven’t come onto the read the introduction of man who is sat in an oodie as he tries to keep his house warm without having to take out another mortgage to fund the energy companies. This week’s picks offer some tempting alternatives, so let’s dive into some potential captain choices, including some high-risk, high-reward plays, like trying your luck on a demo bonanza before committing.

Mo Salah (Ipswich, home)

So, let’s not beat about the bush; it doesn’t take a football genius – and there isn’t one of those writing this, before you ask – to say that the Egyptian King is worthy of his nickname. Bar anything catastrophic happening, he his bound to be on his most prolific season in a Liverpool shirt with 18 goals and 13 assists from 20 league games – only 15 goals are needed to surpass his 2017/18 total, with one instance of finding the back of the net to equal 2021/22’s haul. That’s even after blanking his last two gameweeks.

He’s at home to Ipswich, a team that conceded six against Man City in their last Premier League fixture, having been defeated 2-0 by Brighton the gameweek previous. A bit different to their 2-2 draw against Fulham and 2-0 victory over Chelsea which must seem like a far-distant memory for them. A brief bit of light in what has been a rather brutal season for them as they sit in the relegation zone. As many will be contemplating the triple captain chip on the Egyptian King, I feel there’s not much else to say.

Alexander Isak (Southampton, away)

One player who is a very tempting proposition, should you decide to opt against Salah, is one who blanked in the shock 4-1 loss at home against Bournemouth. Had he found the back of the net or set up a goal, that would have been the ninth consecutive gameweek that he had a goal involvement and facing Southampton this week, the side that has conceded the second-most goals of the season at a whopping 50 from 22 matches, you have to fancy him to pick up where he left off after the 16-point haul against Wolves.

Having been a popular option at the start of the season, it took the Swedish forward a bit of time to get going which led to his price going down to £8.3m, however Gameweek 9 saw him really hit the form and the single goal and assist in the weeks before that game against Chelsea now look a much healthier 15 and five respectively.

Players who are really enjoying their football like Isak are surely prime candidates for the armband when they have lower-positioned sides to visit, and it does feel like the stars are aligning for Isak with Southampton. One final fact to back up Isak’s chances, the four times he has played the south coast side, he has assisted thrice.

Jean-Philippe Mateta (Brentford, home)

Who’s played Brentford six times in his career and doesn’t have anything to his name from those games? OK, that’s probably not the best introduction to Jean-Philippe Mateta who is enjoying yet another bit of form after his heroics towards the end of the last season. To date, he’s recorded eight goals and an assist, of which he’s found the back of the net the last three games – Chelsea, Leicester and West Ham.

Crystal Palace themselves are on a run of five games without defeat, while the club’s visitors will still be licking their wounds after the two late Liverpool goals that saw them go down 2-0. That followed a heroic display to gain a point having been 2-0 down against Man City. The Bees have indeed only kept two clean sheets in their last 10 league fixtures and it’s that porous defence that has been the main factor behind their 11th place in the league – attack wise, they have the likes of Mbeumo and Wissa help them from sinking any further. So there’s a good chance of goals in this game, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mateta with his name up in lights once again. A differential captain option if there ever was one!

Heung-min Son (Leicester City, home)

OK, let’s try the intro to this player like the last one – but with a bit more luck this time. Who has 10 goals and five assists from the 17 times he has played Leicester? Yes, Heung-Min Son is your man for that, in what is a very impressive statistic.

You don’t have to be particularly on the pulse when it comes to Premier League news to appreciate how much of a torrid season Spurs are having, as their players have been blighted by injury – and it’s debatable how much the fit ones want to be on the pitch – and the manager can’t stop looking at his shoes in every interview. Regardless, I highly doubt the North Londoners will find themselves in a relegation scrap and the Korean’s goal against Arsenal that saw them take an unexpected lead could be a taste of things to come as fans look to him to turn the match against the East Midlanders into a goal fest and restore a bit of faith.

As for Leicester, they have conceded two goals in each of their last five matches across all competitions, as Liverpool and Wolves each put three past them before then, and Newcastle dispatched them for four previous to that as well. It’s fair to say the Foxes are used to picking the ball up from the back of the net and I wouldn’t be surprised if that trend continued at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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…

DMC — Salah

Follow @DCoelho

The Gallant Pioneer — Salah

Follow @MitchellC_FF247

Jamesimmo — Salah

Follow @James777Simpson

Ivan — Isak

Follow @IvanGB111

Swirly — Salah

Follow @theswirly

Matt — Salah

Follow @MattyMcveigh

Loud Atlas — Salah

Follow @FantasyFooty247

Smash — Salah

Follow @Chrismartin1984

Kop — Salah

Follow @KenLyons79

Rosco — Salah

Follow @eugoogooly

Ellefcee — Salah

Floydeth — Salah

Follow @TinkerManFPL

Init — Salah

Follow @AdamalcockFF247

Gear — Salah

Follow @Lukerouthorn

Stone Frog — Salah

Follow @StoneFrog638

OddDane — Salah

Jamie Mc — Salah

Peter Pan — Salah

Thanks for reading FPL Captain Picks GW23.

Follow @FantasyFooty247

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