The best captain for gameweek 2
Here we pick out some of the great options FPL managers have for captaincy in gameweek 2. Using the Fantasy Football Scout members area we can then pick out the best captain taking into consideration fixture, previous stats and head to head records.
Captaincy is one of the most important decisions a manager can make in any given gameweek. Writing up a shortlist of options can be helpful but picking out the best can be even more important for FPL managers.
Gameweek 2 fixtures
Using the Fantasy Football Scout season ticker we can order the gameweek by fixture difficulty. This can help us pull out teams with the best gameweek 2 fixtures. We can see teams like Wolves, Aston Villa and West Ham near the top.
The issue with those teams is that they have never really shown the consistency to warrant one of their players being captained. Bowen of West Ham stands out amongst the group but their are some question marks over whether he can repeat his efforts from last season.
Haaland-Man City
Manchester City topped many of the defensive and offensive key data points last season. Their reliability in both their attacking and defensive assets were second to none. The title favourites rank third in the Premier League for fixture this weekend with a match against newly promoted side Bournemouth.
The New Man City striker has already took a price rise for his gameweek 1 efforts. Haaland managed to return a double digit haul of 13 points. This consisted of two goals and maximum bonus.
In addition Haaland managed to top key stats offensively. The forward came joint second for total attempts, first for shots in the box and first for big chances total amongst all players. Against a team that Man City have never lost to in the Premier League Haaland has the potential to go big.
Salah-Liverpool
Liverpool came close or even better than Man City in some attacking stats last season which shows the reds can rival Man City in any given gameweek for captaincy. Crystal Palace showed some progressive defensive stats last season under Viera which could be putting some FPL managers off the Egyptian king.
Salah has shown he is the most consistent FPL asset over previous seasons. This is important when taking into consideration captaincy. Another factor when considering captaincy could be his head to head record against Crystal Palace.
We can see below that in his last seven matches against his gameweek 2 opponents he hasn’t failed to register a return. In addition we can also see Salah has hit a total of four double digit returns in that same period.
Salah could well come into FPL managers thinking for gameweek 2.
Cancelo- Man City
Some FPL managers could be considering £7m defender Joao Cancelo of Man City. The attacking Portuguese was in the top four amongst defenders last season for big chances created and assists. On top of that Cancelo also came clear of any other defender for attempts on goal, 30 ahead of second place.
Cancelo has a fantastic fixture ahead like team mate Haaland. A big difference between both is that the defender also has the likely possibility of a clean sheet. With that in mind Joao Cancelo could be a very serious captaincy option for FPL managers.
Conclusion
Haaland stands out as the favourite to take the armband in gameweek 2. With a fixture against a newly promoted side and great stats in gameweek 1 the forward just edges Salah. We can’t discount Salah though. His high level of reliability ,consistency, and previous head to head record against Crystal Palace means he could still be a great option.
Keep up to date with some of the communities score predictions for gameweek 2 here.
