Gameweek 9 was the second frustrating week for captaincy on the bounce. Basically all of the popular captaincy candidates, as well as the majority of left-field picks, failed to deliver with Raheem Sterling’s five-pointer providing the smallest of celebrations.

This week, Clarke shares another five players who he believes, each in their own way, deserve your captain’s armband in Gameweek 10. He provides useful information on each player and their opposition, but as always, the final choice is yours. No TLDR’s here!

Remember, you can captain anyone you like in FantasyBet’s Grand Weekend contest, which kicks off tomorrow for the Man City vs Aston Villa match. £2500.00 is up for grabs for the best teams.

Pierre Aubameyang £11.1m

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace

Nicolas Pepe finally showcased his quality and stole the headlines with a free-kick double on Thursday evening, but it’s Aubameyang who would be my first choice captain from Arsenal this week. He was handed a rest in midweek and will look to continue his goal-a-game record versus Crystal Palace.

Aubameyang has faced Roy Hodgson’s side twice in the Premier League. The fact that he has scored more goals than Arsenal have picked up points (1pt) in this period is a sign that he enjoys this fixture.

Palace are well-drilled at the back, as displayed for large periods of their 0-2 defeat to Man City, however, Aubameyang is arguably the most clinical forward in the Premier League this season. He has scored seven times this season from eight big chances – in comparison, Callum Wilson and Mo Salah have scored four times from nine big chances.

Kevin De Bruyne £10.1m

Man City vs Aston Villa

A De Bruyne attacking return is one of the most predictable outcomes in any given gameweek this season. One of his few limitations in terms of captaincy in the past was not in his likelihood of blanking, but instead his tendency to fall short of double-figure returns.

He has nearly put this worry to bed in 2019/20. De Bruyne has hit 11 (GW2), 13 (GW4) and 17 (GW6) pointers this campaign and if you’re a superstitious sort of being, he has double-figure hauls in every even-numbered gameweek (he didn’t feature in GW8).

Aston Villa have conceded the most shots (162), the second-most shots inside the box (100) and rank 19th for expected clean sheets (2.07) in the Premier League this season. Dean Smith will likely add reinforcements to the centre of the park, but even if the technically pleasing Grealish and Hourihane pairing is bolstered, De Bruyne will float past them like his cartoon dopplegänger Peter Pan.

Raheem Sterling £12.1m

Man City vs Aston Villa

Off the back of his sensational performance and hat-trick plus two assists in midweek, Sterling has recorded three or more attacking returns in five games in 2019. He is the definition of a high ceiling offensive player and can haul at any moment.

This is the reason why he will indefinitely feature in my captaincy article. Yes, there is a chance Pep will mix things up, but his volatility can punish non-captainers, let alone non-owners. Sterling has 20 goals in 19 competitive appearances for club and country (Euro Qualifiers) this season. Good luck Aston Villa!

On the downside, when Pep Guardiola starts with this sort of praise, not to mention the Romario comparisons, you know Sterling is a high-risk of being rested. As most FPL managers have learned in the past, you have to predict what Pep will do based on his comments and then expect the complete opposite.

Mohamed Salah £12.4m

Liverpool vs Tottenham

Salah has a far superior record in this fixture than his teammate Sadio Mane. The former has six goals in his nine starts (one of which was a penalty in the UCL final), which is three times as many goals as the latter managed in 10 starts. This fixture has a deep history for the Egyptian – Salah also found the net against Spurs at home for Basel (2013) and Fiorentina (2015).

I’m not saying Mane is far behind as a captaincy shout, but I feel that Salah can really get into Spurs on that right flank. Danny Rose and Serge Aurier are equally rash on both sides of the park for Tottenham, though Janmaat highlighted their vulnerabilities defending down the left in Gameweek 9.

This time, Jurgen Klopp was very careful in reintroducing Salah after injury. He might have slotted back in for the United clash, as he returned to full training almost immediately afterwards, but was given extra rest as a precaution. This seems to have been a shrewd tactic, especially after watching his performance versus Genk.

Tammy Abraham £7.8m

Burnley vs Chelsea

I wouldn’t advise captaining Abraham ahead of the players above, but he merits a place on this list due to his form. I know what you’re thinking…wait, didn’t he blank at home to Newcastle last week? Yes he did, but looking further than his eventual points total, he was extremely unfortunate last weekend.

Abraham was once again getting into all the right areas of the park, but was first denied by the crossbar and secondly by a flying goal-line clearance by DeAndre Yedlin. As a reluctant non-Abraham owner in Gameweek 9, I was delighted but more so grateful that he blanked.

The reason I’m not overly worried about going without the Chelsea striker this weekend is due to his fixture. Forgetting their nightmare relationship with European football last season, Burnley are renowned for being solid on home soil. They have kept a clean sheet in three of their four home matches, only conceding to Liverpool at Turf Moor this season.