Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 22: Who to captain as Liverpool, Chelsea & Newcastle stars hit top form
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There’s barely time to pause for breath in the Fantasy Premier League this week as a second deadline rolls around this Saturday – but our resident expert is on top of everything as always, and he’s here to offer some hints and tips as Gameweek 22 kicks off.
This week, Matthew – who finished in the global Top 2,000 last year – is feeling pretty smug having tipped Alexander Isak for the armband last week and he’s going to look at the captaincy again with Mohamed Salah, Cole Palmer and the Newcastle striker all in good shape to score big. On top of that, he’ll look at some promising transfers ahead of a big double gameweek. Just don’t forget that whether you choose to follow his advice or not, you need to make all your moves by 11:00 GMT on Saturday 18 January…
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Hide AdWho to captain for FPL Gameweek 22
Choosing your captain can be pretty easy some weeks, but this might be the toughest choice we face all season – three of the highest-scoring and most widely-owned players in the FPL all have tempting fixtures, could all end up with a huge haul of points, and getting the decision right might well end up swinging the lead of your mini-league.
Just ask the players who kept faith with Mohamed Salah during midweek. He hadn’t failed to add something to his appearance points for 12 gameweeks in a row but finally blanked when put up against the brick wall of the Nottingham Forest defence – and everyone who selected the red-hot Alexander Isak instead got to feel rather smart.
In my last advice column, I suggested that this was one of very few weeks in which it made sense to avoid making Salah your skipper, but there’s a big decision to make once more. Salah makes the trip to Brentford, a decent side who have strong home form but a leaky defence. Isak faces an impressive Bournemouth at home but his form makes him a serious consideration. Cole Palmer, meanwhile, gets a game against a porous Wolves defence.
As I’ve previously discussed, Salah should be the default. One blank doesn’t mean that his form is any less astonishing, and as a midfielder he gets more points for goals, the occasional extra point for clean sheets and, with his playing style, attracts a fair few bonus points as well. In any given game, he’s still likely to outscore Isak, who doesn’t get the advantage of those slight edges.
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Hide AdLast week, Isak was the better choice based solely on fixture difficulty. By now, it should be clear that Forest are for real, their defence is extremely strong and Chris Wood isn’t going to stop scoring any time soon. A game at the City Ground is one which depresses even the best goalscorer’s chance of racking up the points. Wolves at home, on the other hand, is a bit of a free hit for a striker – they have the worst defence in the league.
This time around, Isak is up against Bournemouth, who are pressing for a European spot and have lost just three times on the road all season. They’ve conceded 18 goals in 11 games on their travels, which isn’t quite as impressive as Forest but is still very solid. They’re unlikely to let Isak score twice and set one more up, as Wolves did in midweek. Incidentally, did you know that Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur have the joint best away defensive record in the league? A data point for future transfers, perhaps.
Anyway – the simple fact is that Brentford concede more at home than Bournemouth do away. Andoni Iraola’s side are six points better off for a reason, and Brentford have won just once in their last five matches. Salah just has the better fixture here, on top of the edge he gets to scoring as a midfielder.
So Salah is odds on to be the better pick than Isak – but what about Palmer? Chelsea have been on pretty woeful form of late, but Palmer has been steady and Wolves have the worst defence in the division. A lot of people will justifiably be tempted to go with the England man.
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Hide AdThey probably shouldn’t. The blunt fact is that Palmer has been steady but hasn’t hauled in a while – he’s only managed more than one goal contribution twice in his last 15 matches. He’s a steady, consistent player for the FPL who should absolutely be in your squad with Bukayo Saka out, but Salah has scored more goals, registered many more assists, and is hitting big scores more frequently.
If ever there was a game in which Palmer could go big, however, it’s against Wolves. Lest we forget, he scored once and set up three more at Molineux, and that back line hasn’t gotten much tighter since they sacked Gary O’Neil. But that doesn’t mean that he’s ‘due’ one – that’s verging on the gambler’s fallacy.
What I will say is that if you need to gamble on a differential, then Palmer as captain is a good choice. There is a decent chance that he smashes Wolves apart and makes players who captain him very happy. But with Chelsea so far off the boil, I can’t look past Salah as my choice for the armband this week. He’s the ‘safe’ option, and I’m picking him and making Palmer my vice.
Wildcards and double gameweeks ahoy
There are, of course, decisions to make outside of the captaincy – and a big double gameweek coming up should start to loom large in our thoughts. League leaders Liverpool play both Bournemouth and Everton in GW24 (albeit both away) and play Ipswich and Wolves at home either side. In other words, it’s time to go for triple Liverpool.
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Hide AdFor a lot of players, that means that the second wildcard becomes a consideration, unless the rest of your team is in a really good position. I’ll get into the possibility of using that chip in more detail next week, but for those who know they want to hang on, it’s time to figure out who goes in the team alongside Salah and start planning accordingly.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is an obvious choice as the second-highest scoring defender in the game (behind Ola Aina), but it’s debatable whether he’s really worth his hefty £7.2m price tag. That’s a lot for a defender with just five goal contributions to his name all season, even if we know how high his ceiling is. If you want a defender, Ibrahima Konaté is a safer bet.
Otherwise, there are three players worth considering – Luis Díaz, who tends to run hot and cold but has been playing decently well of late and starting games. He’s a safe mid-price bet, but not nailed for big points. Cody Gakpo is a good buy if you have room for a striker, because he’s scored three in his last four and is starting every week as it stands. Finally, Diogo Jota, who is slowly making his way back from injury but has bagged a couple of goals recently.
Jota isn’t starting right now but may well take his place back at some stage, so I want to wait a week before making my moves to see who starts against Brentford. There’s some guesswork here, but the reward for guessing right is massive. I will likely go for Salah, Konaté and one of the other three ahead of the Ipswich game, depending on who performs this weekend.
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Hide AdI don’t love Everton’s fixtures or form even with a new (old) manager, so I may ignore them entirely even with a double gameweek and a home match against Leicester City in the offing – but also don’t forget that we can start signing our assistant manager from GW24, when the double hits. You need to save a transfer to make that move, so if you plan to use that chip early, don’t go hard on the transfers over the next two weeks. You can find more of my thoughts on the assistant manager chip right here.
That’s all for this week – hopefully that’s given you some insight into the best way to make your captaincy choices and given helped you map out the next couple of weeks’ worth of moves. Best of luck, and may the captain you pick go very big indeed.
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