An FPL Thread of my GW36+ Captain

My Captain picks since the restart:

KDB - 30
Salah - 22
Aubameyang - 32
Fernandes - 30
Fernandes - 28
Jesus - 28

Disclaimer: I do not own any Chelsea attacking assets and will not be not taking a hit just for one Gameweek

xG since the restart:

Jesus - 4.1
Salah - 3.8
Rashford - 3.5
Mahrez - 3.3
Fernandes - 3.2
Sterling - 3.0
Martial - 2.6
KDB - 2.5
Ings - 2.5
D.SIlva - 1.9
Foden - 1.7
Mané - 1.2
Greenwood - 1.0

Points in the Reverse fixture:

Salah - 15
Mahrez - 11
D.SIlva - 10
Sterling - 8
Martial - 5
KDB - 5
Ings - 5
Mané 3 - [76 mins]
Greenwood 1 - [34 mins]
Fernandes - N/A
Foden - N/A
Jesus - N/A
Rashford - N/A

xGConceded since the restart:

Brighton - 10.3 [SOU]
Palace - 9.9 [MUN]
Arsenal - 8.7 [LIV]
Bournemouth - 8.1 [MCI]

The fixture difficulty will provide more of an insight as to why Arsenal and Bournemouth were expected to concede a significant amount of fewer goals...

...

Played against:

Brighton - ARS, LEI, MUN, NOR, LIV, MCI
Palace - BOU, LIV, BUR, LEI, CHE, AST
Arsenal - BRI, SOU, NOR, WOL, LEI, TOT
Bournemouth - CRY, WOL, NEW, MUN, TOT, LEI

Hours of resting:

Liverpool - 99
Manchester City - 92
Southampton - 70
Manchester United - 70

Manchester City:

Have a big Semi-Final just under 72 hours later, so Pep Roulette will likely limit their minutes. KDB is their best player and Jesus is their only striking option who is fit. So those two will almost certainly not play the whole match.

1/3

Even though the following have the potential to be involved with goals, D.Silva and Foden individually are not reliable options. If KDB, Jesus, Sterling or Mahrez get over 60 minutes then they would be a worthy choice.

2/3

Given City have guaranteed a Top 4 spot and the FA Cup Semi-Final, that is far from guaranteed.

3/3

Southampton:

Ings xG is extremely low and Brighton have had tough fixtures in order for them to concede so many. That doesn’t say Ings is a bad pick though, as his goal threat could still punish Brighton’s defence and he'll probably have at least a goal involvement.

1/3

The golden boot is within his reach, so that will be his motive to get goals. He is also extremely likely to play the whole 90 minutes. Southampton aren’t playing too bad either.

2/3

Just be aware that they have nothing to play for though, whilst Brighton are still at a small risk of relegation. Plus he has also had under 3 days of rest which is not the best.

3/3

Manchester United:

Their players have had their shooting boots on recently. That is a good reason to consider any of their 4 attacking assets. Palace have leaked plenty of goals lately as well. Just under 3 days of rest isn’t perfect though.

1/3

Moreover, just over 67 after the final whistle, they play in a big Semi-Final in the FA Cup. This could see their key players have their play-time reduced.

2/3

They have more of an incentive to play their best players in this match than City, as they are in a tough contest to fight for Champions League football.

3/3

Liverpool:

Arsenal also have a big Semi-Final just 69 hours later and practically have nothing to play for in the Premier League (Europa League has pretty much slipped from their grasp).

1/4

They will need players to be at their highest fitness levels if they want to have a chance of being in the FA Cup Final. Their fixtures haven’t been too hard but they have quite a high xGC, plus Salah has a high xG which could easily exploit that.

2/4

Salah and Mané did blank in their last match and Mané has been a victim of Klopp’s rotation, which are aspects that could put you off.

3/4

Mané is completely out of form and would be a high-risk Captaincy option. Salah is a better option as he could feed off his golden boot possibility.

4/4

This why I will be picking this Captain:

With 3.8 xG since the restart
Arsenal have had 8.7 xGC since the restart in a set of fixtures weren’t aren’t too difficult
Arsenal’s first 11 aren’t likely to play 90 minutes due to FA Cup Semi-Final

1/3

He has had 99 hours of rest - which is good compared to the other Captaincy options
He doesn’t have a match coming up until a full week later - unlike City and United
There is a chance that he could win the Golden boot
Most points in the Reverse fixture - 15

2/3

Arsenal vs Liverpool – 159 goals in 55 games
He gets 1 point extra than a Forward for every goal scored

My Captaincy pick this week is Salah

3/3

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