Making the right choice as to who will wear the captain’s armband in your FPL team can make the difference between a middling performance and one that will propel you up the rankings. Over recent years, the FPL Champion has typically gathered around a quarter of the total points tally just from the captain – in 2016/17, champion Ben Crabtree’s captain picks brought him an incredible 755 points – almost 30 percent of his total haul.
As we look forward to Gameweek 9 of the FPL, here are some names that need to be on your radar to lead your team from the front. And don’t forget you will have much better odds than in a casino when playing fantasy leagues.
Mo Salah
There is a long running discussion in the US about whether fantasy sport is simply a disguised type of gambling. It makes for an interesting debate, and sometimes, searching the options to pick your captain can indeed feel similar to scouring www.casinopedia.org to find the best online casino site on which to spin the reels. To push the analogy a little further, however, having Mo Salah at the helm should be like having a marked deck of blackjack cards or loaded dice. This is the man who earned more than 300 points last season. Last week, his team met its toughest challenge yet in holding City to a draw, and there is every reason to believe Salah will be back to his usual goal-scoring ways against Huddersfield.
Harry Kane
England skipper, legendary goal scorer and all-round good egg though he is, Kane has nevertheless had a low-profile start to the season and has failed to live up to his own high standards. However, Week 9 will give him the perfect opportunity to make up for lost time. The Tottenham vs West Ham rivalry is the stuff of legends and he will want to play his part in one of football’s most enduring stories. It’s been a real gambling rollercoaster with him.
Marko Arnautovic
The Hammers, on the other hand, might have started out as Premier League whipping boys, but that performance against United a couple of weeks ago shows they are capable of putting up a fight against anyone. Those opening four losses must feel like a distant memory, and the return of Marko Arnautovic from injury is a big part of that. He’s punching with the big boys as one of the leading goal scorers so far this season, and would love to add to that tally against Spurs.
Eden Hazard
He’s been on top goal scoring form so far this season, despite missing out in two of the early fixtures, and it will be a surprise if he doesn’t add to the tally in the match up with the struggling Manchester United. At £11.3 million he’s a relative bargain compared with Salah and Kane, and it would be a mistake to overlook him.
Romelu Lukaku
United might have their demons to deal with, but Lukaku’s goal scoring prowess is one thing they can rely on this season. The 25 year old is a solid option any time, and United will be desperate to continue the bounce back from their defeat at the hands of West Ham which they started with a rousing come-back against Newcastle. A strong performance against Chelsea would do more than anything to silence the dissenting voices, so Lukaku certainly has all the incentive he needs.