FPL Heisenberg's Captain Series
Welcome to the latest article in a new series for the 2020/21 Fantasy Premier League season from @FPL_Heisenberg for FPL Bet. In this weekly series, Heisenberg will be looking into the best captaincy options, as well as ‘outside of the box' captaincy choices for each Gameweek. Heisenberg has a proven track record in FPL, having finished inside the top 32k in each of the last 6 seasons, including a best finish of 836th. Let's cook!
Double Gameweek 24 Captains:
Raheem Sterling (Fixture: Tottenham, Home and Everton, Away)
Raheem Sterling has returned to form � and in turn our captaincy thoughts � at just the right time, with a double Gameweek in GW24 against Spurs and Everton.
He has 6 goals and 5 assists in his last 11 Premier League starts � along with a goal in the recent FA Cup games. Further to this, his underlying stats are also currently in terms of touches in the box and shots in the box for all midfielders, he's right up there.
There's always a chance of rotation with Pep Guardiola as we all know, however, I'm feeling relatively confident given the fact he was the first sub off in the FA Cup game where he played just 56 minutes.
There's many other viable City options to choose from this week, like Phil Foden or Joao Cancelo… or the January player of the month, Ilkay Gundogan…
Ilkay Gundogan (Fixture: Tottenham, Home and Everton, Away)
The German midfielder has transformed himself in recent weeks, from a holding or central midfielder, to one who's arriving into the box to get tap ins from 8 yards out! This upturn in attacking form from Gundogan has contributed massively to Man City's overall exemplary form.
Like Sterling, Gundgoan also played less than 60 minutes in the FA Cup, meaning his minutes should be fairly assured, especially given his form and lack of central midfield options. With De Bruyne out, Gundogan should remain on penalties, despite missing vs Liverpool.
Will Man City be able to kick on further and get back to regular free-scoring performances? For those captaining one of their assets, they'll sure hope that is the case.
Bruno Fernandes (Fixture: West Brom, Away)
Despite not having two fixtures in Gameweek 24, I couldn't leave out Bruno who is a very good option this week, in form player playing against West Brom!
Bruno Fernandes is central to everything Man United do, and, importantly he takes penalties which as we all know, United win a lot of them! Furthermore, his away record is phenomenal too, and he's performing well in the attacking metrics away from home too, proving it's no fluke.
Ideally in a double Gameweek you'd go for a player with two fixtures, but here are some stats for Bruno to give you some food for thought.
‘Outside of the Box' captains:
Nick Pope (Fixtures: Crystal Palace, Away and Fulham, Home)
This is the first time I've added a goalkeeper to my Captaincy article, but I strongly believe in Nick Pope, especially as he has as 5 double-digit hauls so far this season.
Pope has explosive potential, because when he gets a clean sheet, he often gets 3 bonus points and at least 1 save point, meaning he gets a 10-pointer. Unlike Goalkeepers like Ederson for example, when they geta clean sheet they usually only get 6 points because of their lack of saves and the forward players in sweeping up the bonus.
Pope has great fixtures in the double, facing Crystal Palace without star man Wilf Zaha and Fulham who aren't scoring many goals.
Richarlison / Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Fixtures: Fulham, Home and Man City, Home)
At the time of writing, I'm note sure whether Calvert-Lewin will be fit or not, if he's fit then I prefer him to Richarlison. However, if he's out a punt on Richarlison could pay dividends following his brace against Spurs in the FA Cup.
In terms of the underlying statistics at the start of the season, Calvert-Lewin was top for non-penalty expected goals for all players in the league. He was getting himself into the positions where he's most likely to score goals, in the central areas of the penalty area, with most of his goals being one touch finishes � something he and Ancelotti have been working hard on.
His output suffered recently when Lucas Digne, Richarlison and James Rodriguez all missed games through injury. With those players now back in the game, supplying chances to Calvert-Lewin he has returned to his early season form, scoring vs Leeds and backing that up with a goal and assist at Old Trafford. Not to mention a goal and 2 assists before going off injured in the FA Cup.
Everton are one of only 4 teams with a double Gameweek and Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison are selected by around 44% and 5% FPL players respectively, and either of them will be a huge captain differential, with your mini-league rivals likely to captain one of the Man City assets.
Facing Fulham and Man City at home so mixed fixtures, but if they can do the business against Fulham, any points they grab vs Man City will be a bonus.
**UPDATE � Calvert-Lewin likely to miss the first game in Double Gameweek 24.
Thanks for reading the latest article 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!
