The Stats Zone
May 17 2021, 14:55 · Tim Blackwell

FPL Gameweek 37 – Captain Picks

FPL Gameweek 37 – Captain Picks
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A disappointing gameweek for last week’s article saw only Mo Salah (£12.8m) and Eberechi Eze (£5.8m) secure attacking returns as Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.6m) blanked against bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Utd, while Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m) remains on the Man City treatment table. Needless to say, Pep is unlikely to risk the Belgian ahead with the Champions League final looming if he is not completely free of injury. Speaking of Pep, how any FPL manager is meant to navigate City assets at this point of the season is beyond any rationale. For those thinking of Man City players for the next two gameweeks, please refer to the handy thread below discussing how Pep may rotate ahead of the Champions League final. For this article, all players from Man City have joined Bruno Fernandes (£11.4m), who FYI is an excellent captain option this gameweek, on the article blacklist.

The end of the season is fully in sight in this quick turnaround between GW36 and GW37. What will be different this gameweek is that fans will finally be allowed back in stadiums. Anyone who watched the FA Cup final this weekend will surely of noticed how much better the games are when there is an atmosphere and it will be interesting to see how the players react to being watched. Will they been inspired by the home support of shrink under the demands of the fans?Regardless, let’s look towards the best captain options ahead of Tuesday’s 16:30 deadline.

PREMIUM OPTIONS

Mo Salah (£12.8m) vs BUR (a)

So not a four-goal haul in the end but his strike coupled to three bonus points did result in ten points – 20 if Salah was your captain. Not too bad in a gameweek that saw an average of just 38 points per FPL team. With that goal, Salah keeps pace with Harry Kane (£11.8m) in their two-horse race for the Golden Boot, while thanks to Alisson’s (£5.9m) stoppage-time heroics, Liverpool still have Champions League qualification in their own hands. It’s a simple equation – win their next two and they’re in. This is great news for FPL managers as Liverpool have go for the win in every match, which means chances, goals and points for Salah. In truth, it’s been must-win for a number of weeks now for Liverpool and during this time Salah has thrived. With five goals and an assist in his last six league starts, you have to go back to March 15th for the last time Salah started a league match and didn’t secure some form of attacking return.

Up next for Salah is an away trip to Burnley, a team that normally keeps the Egyptian in check. He has just one goal and two assists in six appearances against the Clarets. This in general can be put down to the excellent defensive organiation Sean Dyche’s men normally excel at. That record has not been as impressive this season, particularly at home. Just three clean sheets at Turf Moor this campaign, it’s now no win in nine at home in the Premier League. Maybe things will be different with the fans back in but, at this moment in time, there just appears to be no stopping Salah from scoring each week.

Harry Kane (£11.8m) vs AVL (H)

It’s a tossup between Salah and Kane for who will be the most captained FPL player this gameweek. Yet another goal at the weekend, Kane now has 230 FPL points to his name, which is his best ever in an FPL season. Moreover, in only one other campaign (2016-17) has he delivered more attacking returns than the 35 he has registered thus far in 2020-21. Not bad for a player whose chances were apparently limited through previous manager Jose Mourinho’s system. Up next for Kane is a home match against Aston Villa, a team who he has an excellent record against. Seven goals and two assists in seven league appearances, it’s been four league matches since Kane last failed to score against the Villains. Aston Villa will also potentially have to cope with the absence of Tyrone Mings (£5.4m) and Matthew Cash (£5.0m). Not ideal for a side that has just shipped three goals, 2.0 xG and 23 shots to Crystal Palace.

Mason Greenwood (£7.2m) vs FUL (H)

As the aforementioned Bruno Fernandes is banned from this article for previous failures, a quick look at other Utd assets leads to two standout options for their midweek match at home to Fulham. These are Mason Greenwood (£7.2m) and Edison Cavani (£8.0m). We've gone for Greenwood in this piece, as he didn’t start in the Red Devils' last match against Liverpool, whereas Cavani did. However, we can’t help but think Solskjaer may start the Uruguayan so that he can experience a full 90 minutes in front of the Old Trafford fans. Fingers crossed they both start as was the case in the reverse fixture earlier this season as both represent excellent options against a Fulham side who have conceded nine times in their last four away matches. Plus, Man Utd now can’t defend following Harry Maguire’s (£5.6m) injury so they’ll hopefully resort to all-out-attack in their remaining two fixtures without their captain. Between the two, Greenwood has been the form player over their last five starts in the league. The ‘midfielder’ has scored five goals, blanked just once and averaged 8.4 points in those last five league starts. He’s also bagged in three of his last four league appearances at Old Trafford. Cavani, meanwhile, has one goal and one assist in his last five league starts, averaging 4.0 points per game in that time period. He has, however, seen the bench regularly in the league due to Man Utd’s Europa League commitments in which he has started each of their last three matches, scoring five goals.

DIFFERENTIAL CHOICE

Joseph Willock (£4.7m) vs SHU (H)

We may be a little late to the Joseph Willock (£4.7m) party but the on-loan midfielder has been in sensational form over recent weeks at Newcastle. Another goal at the weekend in a 4-3 defeat to Man City has seen Willock become the youngest player to score five goals in a row in the Premier League since another Arsenal player, Jose Antonio Reyes, who performed the feat back in 2004. A stat that is even more impressive when you consider firstly the opposition, those five goals have come against Tottenham, West Ham, Liverpool, Leicester and Man City – and secondly that he only actually started the last two of those matches. For those keeping count, it’s five goals in 213 Premier League minutes, or a goal every 42 minutes and 36 seconds for those who like averages. No wonder his price is starting to rocket upwards. Looking to keep the run going, Willock and Newcastle face Sheffield Utd this gameweek, who secured just their sixth win of the campaign last time out against Everton. While they did keep a clean sheet in that match, it would seem unlikely to happen again. The last time the Blades kept back-to-back clean sheets in the league was 40 league matches ago, in games against Wolves and Chelsea.

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