Who is the best captain for Gameweek 32?
Liverpool and Man City play each other in Gameweek 32. This means that the FPL managers who always captain Mo Salah will potentially look for another option. We look at the best captaincy options ahead of the Gameweek 32 deadline and if Salah is still the best option.
With key matches at both ends of the table in Gameweek 32, some of the result look difficult to predict. Many of the premium players have difficult fixtures against one another which may allow FPL managers the opportunity to be more differential with their captaincy picks.
A captaincy pick that goes well in Gameweek 32 could be the difference between a green and red arrow. This means that the pressure is on to ensure that the armband is with the right person. With Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Leicester and West Ham all playing in Europe those who don’t play in midweek become increasingly attractive.
Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Mo Salah look likely to be the most highly captained played in active FPL teams this week.
Harry Kane
Kane has returned in seven of his last eight Premier League matches. As the striker for the Premier League team who have scored the most goals this calendar year he looks like an excellent captaincy option.
Kane is top for goals scored in the last six Gameweeks with seven.
Kane has registered 28 attempts on goal in the last six Gameweeks. More than any other forward in the game. His 11 big chances are also more than any other outfield player in the last six Gameweeks. The forward is also top for non-penalty expected goals (NPxG) and non-penalty expected goal involvement (NPxGI).
Kane has also returned in every Premier League match that he has played away against Gameweek 32 opponents Villa. He averages 9.33 points per match when playing away at Villa Park in the Premier League with four goals and seven bonus points in three matches.
Mo Salah
Some FPL managers are considering selling Salah rather than handing him the captains armband. Salah has been in a difficult run of form since returning from the AFCON tournament (read more about this in our recent article.) Salah has blanked in three of his last four Premier League matches.
However, Salah’s underlying stats continue to look good ahead of Gameweek 32.
Salah has had 19 shots in the last four Gameweeks, 13 of those have come from inside the box. Only Kane has had more shots than Salah in this time and no-one has had more shots from inside the box.
The Egyptian also has a great record against the Manchester teams. Salah has retuned in his last three Premier League meetings with against City and three of his last four against United. Indeed his last match against United saw a 24 point haul. This suggests that the difficult fixture for Salah shouldn’t put FPL managers off handing him the armband.
Salah averages 5.94 points per match against the big six. This increases to 7.50 points per match when the game is played at Anfield.
Son Heung-Min
Son has returned in four of his last six matches in the competition. He has also registered back to back double digit hauls in his last two Premier League fixtures. Only Salah and Kane have a better expected goal involvement (xGI) total in the last six Gameweeks than the South Korean.
In the last six Gameweeks Son has created more chances for team-mates than any other outfield player.
Only Kane and Dejan Kulusevski have created more big chances than Son in the same period. In that time Son has returned three assists.
Son’s last visit to Villa Park saw him record a double digit haul. Son returned two goals and all three bonus points in that fixture in the 2019/20 season. He also recorded two assists and two bonus points in the reverse of this fixture earlier on in the season where he delivered 10 points for his owners.
The South Korean captain averages 8.33 points per match against Villa in the Premier League.
Differential captain pick
Bukayo Saka
Arsenal have one of the most attractive fixtures in Gameweek 32. Arsenal face a Brighton side who haven’t won since Gameweek 25 when they played Watford.
Brighton have conceded 11 goals in the last six Gameweeks, only Leeds, Watford and Norwich have conceded more. Arsenal are also third for xG and xGI across all the Premier League teams.
Arsenal will be hoping to bounce back from their Gameweek 31 defeat to Crystal Palace. Saka is Arsenal’s top scorer this season with nine, he is also their top scorer in the last six Gameweeks with three.
He has 15 attacking returns this season, the most in the Arsenal squad. Of those four have come in the last six Gameweeks where only team-mate Lacazette has more with five.
Saka is second for goal attempts in the last six Gameweeks with 22, only Salah has more attempts than the Arsenal man amongst midfielders.
However, FPL managers should be mindful of a key injury to Tierney. This injury could result in Saka playing left back rather than in midfield. This may impact has appeal as a captaincy option in Gameweek 32.
Community differentials
FPL Prince has shared his thoughts on the best differential captaincy picks for Gameweek 31.
Meanwhile other managers like PirlosPenFPL are considering selling Salah for Bruno Fernandes and handing him the armband.
Captaincy Content
You can also listen to the Official FPL Podcast for their thoughts on the best captaincy options.
As well as Fantasy Football Scout’s latest captaincy video.
Wondering what to expect in Gameweek 32? We take a look at the matches in our recent article.
