Welcome to the first article in a brand new series from @FPL_Heisenberg for FPL Bet. In the first article of this weekly series, Heisenberg will be looking into three captaincy options, as well as two ‘outside of the box' captaincy choices for Gameweek 1. Heisenberg has a proven track record in FPL, having finished inside the top 32k in the last 6 seasons, including a best finish of 836th. Let's get stuck into it!
Gameweek 1 Captains:
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Price: £12m � Fixture: Fulham, Away)
Aubameyang faces newly-promoted Fulham at Craven Cottage in Gameweek 1. The consistent Gabonese international has scored 22 league goals in each of the last two Premier League campaigns, and, under Arteta he'll be looking to better his goalscoring return this season. A huge selling point for the Arsenal number 14 is that he's been reclassified from a Forward to a Midfielder, meaning the extra point for the goal, and, a clean sheet point should Arsenal shut Fulham out.
I'm fully expecting Aubameyang to build on his performance at Wembley in the Community Shield where he scored a lovely goal past last season's champions, Liverpool. The opponents in Gameweek 1 should provide Arsenal's star striker with more opportunities than he got in the Community Shield, and I don't think anyone would be surprised if Aubameyang walked away with a brace and maximum bonus points.
Mohamed Salah (Price: £12m � Fixture: Leeds, Home)
The Egyptian King, Mo Salah, at home against a newly-promoted side... What more could you ask for? Second only to midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne (£11.5m) in overall points last season, Mo amassed an impressive 233 points, scoring 19 times and assisting his teammates 10 times. Although this was a decline from his previous two seasons in the Premier League, 29 goal contributions is still a very impressive tally. The xG stats even indicate he may have been a little unlucky, or maybe some poor finishing (or maybe a bit of both) so we could see an increase in his goals tally this season if he improves his finishing.
Playing a newly-promoted team on the opening weekend of the season sounds great, but the reality is that Leeds are likely to provide a stern test for Jurgen Klopp's men under the stewardship of wiley operator, Marcelo Bielsa. Although this won't be a walk in the park for the reigning champions, let's put things into perspective. Liverpool are one of the best teams in Europe, and Salah is one of the best attacking players in Europe too, so I wouldn't bet against him scoring well in Gameweek 1.
Timo Werner (Price: £9.5m � Fixture: Brighton, Away)
There's a lot of buzz for Chelsea's new signing, star striker Timo Werner (9.5m). And rightly so too, the German international arrives in the Premier League with a stellar reputation having scored 28 goals and registered 8 assists in the Bundesliga last season. Players like Aubameyang have proved that those who have done well in Germany can re-produce the goods in England, and I see it being no different for Werner.
How well the new-look Chelsea side gel, who knows, but with the attacking talent at Frank Lampard's disposal, don't be surprised to see them blow teams away, with Werner being the main benefactor in terms of goals and assists. A kind fixture in Gameweek 1 as they face a defensively poor Brighton at The Amex I can see Timo bagging in this one.
'Outside of the Box' captains:
Dele Alli (Price: £8.0m � Fixture: Everton, Home)
My differential captain pick is the £8.0m Spurs midfielder Dele Alli, who's currently only selected by 2.9% of FPL players at the time of writing. I think it's fairly safe to say that of that 2.9%, very few of them will be throwing the armband on him. If he can pick up where he left off from when Mourinho first joined Spurs, then we could see the Dele Alli of old returning. A home fixture against Ancelotti's Everton isn't a perfect fixture, but I do believe Spurs are capable of scoring a couple of goals, and if Dele has a hand in both of them he'll likely walk away with a double-digit haul.
If you want to captain one of Mourinho's men but you don't fancy the former MK Dons youngster, then the obvious contenders are Harry Kane (£10.5m) or Heung-Min Son (£9m). However, if you're feeling truly adventurous then why not take a punt on marauding fullback, Irish international Matt Doherty (£6m). In Mourinho's system, the right-back joins the attack as a right-winger (as Serge Aurier demonstrated last season) with the left-back staying back and providing cover along with the centre-backs. Therefore, with Doherty's proven attacking prowess, he could inflict damage in Spurs' system.
Danny Ings (Price: £8.5m � Fixture: Crystal Palace, Away)
Although the recently recalled England international is highly owned - currently sitting at 25.4% ownership at the time of writing - he will still be a huge captain differential, with your mini-league rivals likely to captain one of the premium assets like Aubameyang, Salah, Kane etc.
Ings will be full of confidence following an unbelievable campaign for him in front of goal, netting 22 times in the Premier League, which is more than Mo Salah produced. His manager, Ralph Hasenhüttl, has also been quoted praising his fitness and believes his injuries which plagued his time at Liverpool are finally behind him. I can see him "doing a Danny Ings" against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park which is the classic 9-pointer for Southampton's number 9 - one goal, three FPL bonus points).
Thanks for reading the first in this captaincy series from FPL Heisenberg, be sure to follow @FPLBet and @FPL_Heisenberg on Twitter so that you don't miss the weekly article. Agree or disagree with these captaincy picks? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!
