Liverpool provide two captain contenders in Gameweek 6, though Eden Hazard and Man City assets have the fixture and form to rival the returns of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

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Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) vs SOU (H)

The Liverpool attacker has suffered severe sales (now over 165,000) after a second consecutive blank, despite a favourable home fixture at home to Southampton on Saturday.

Salah leading the fallers in the #FPL #marketforces with over 130,000 transfers out. Despite wildcarding he stays for me, his record against Southampton last year was :



A plum home match makes him the standout captain option too despite the lack of returns — Who Got The Assist? #FPL Podcast (@WGTA_FPL) September 17, 2018

Salah was tied with Sadio Mane (£10.0m) for the most shots in the box (4) against Spurs in GW5, though neither player capitalised FPL-wise from the Reds’ dominance at Wembley. The Egyptian missed one big chance in the game – for a total of five so far this season – shooting straight at Michel Vorm (£5.4m) after seizing on a wayward Eric Dier (£4.9m) pass.

Only Sergio Aguero (£11.4m), with 25, has fired more attempts at goal so far this season than Salah (23). Liverpool’s GW6 opponents Southampton have allowed their opposition an average of 13.8 shots per game.

I’ve slept on this now



In short, ditching Salah ahead of a home game versus Southampton is a highly risky call 😬



Big week of CL action ahead so don’t worry hugely about price changes.



Stay calm, stay patient and reassess on Friday



Have a great Super Sunday everyone https://t.co/5zwGrKv5oM — James Egersdorff (@JEgersdorff) September 16, 2018

Despite the fact that his attackers failed to put Spurs away in GW5, Jurgen Klopp’s assessment of the game further backs up the idea that the goals will start flowing for Liverpool. After the 2-1 win, the Liverpool boss said: "It was the best game of the season for us, for sure. In all the games, we have had some really good moments, but today we had 85 brilliant minutes."

Salah is averaging 3.2 shots inside the box per game, double the rate of Eden Hazard (£10.8m). However, the £13.0m man will need to return against the Saints to avoid the itchy trigger fingers of his 47% ownership ahead of fixtures against Chelsea (a) and Man City (H) in GW7 and GW8.

Eden Hazard (£10.8m) vs WHU (a)

The Chelsea star provided immediate rewards for his horde of new owners with a massive 20-point haul against Cardiff City. Blues boss Maurizio Sarri believes Hazard can challenge for the Golden Boot this season if the Belgian stops dropping deep to receive the ball.

Sarri says Hazard is expending too much energy far from goal, touching the ball too much in the middle third of the pitch. Says he can score “30, 35 goals” if he focuses fully on the final third #cfc — Liam Twomey (@liam_twomey) September 15, 2018

Along with his five goals and two assists so far in the league, Hazard also scored twice and created a goal for his country over the international break. A penalty apiece for Chelsea and Belgium means spot-kicks are one of many strings in the midfielder’s attacking bow.

Le Commandeur



Eden Hazard for Chelsea and Belgium in 2018-19



⏱ 7 games

7 goals

3 assists



Never so clinical. Involved in a goal every 45 mins. #cfc pic.twitter.com/gTzROnSjGN — Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) September 15, 2018

However, Hazard’s five strikes for Chelsea have come from just six shots on target (including his penalty at the weekend). The attacker has managed 14 attempts at goal so far in 306 minutes, with eight of those taken from inside the area.

5 goals from just 6 shots on target for Hazard... — Andy (@LetsTalk_FPL) September 15, 2018

The conundrum for Hazard non-owners is whether the Belgium man sustain such a high conversion rate. However, it’s clear that the world-class forward is flourishing under Sarri’s attacking philosophy. Olivier Giroud (£7.8m), who assisted both of Hazard’s goals against Cardiff, looks like the perfect foil for the Belgian.

Is Olivier Giroud the best target man in the world?



Eden Hazard seems to think so. pic.twitter.com/7wPNUEGRYi — ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 16, 2018

The Blues travel to take on a West Ham side that looked decidedly more solid in GW5 with Declan Rice (£4.4m) protecting the back-line. Manuel Pellegrini laid his troops out in a 4-1-4-1 formation with Mark Noble (£4.9m) and the impressive Pedro Obiang (£4.4m) in central midfield.

Declan Rice has well and truly exorcised those Anfield demons today. He's been absolutely superb in midfield. Not missed a beat from minute one. — Sam Inkersole (@Sam_InkersoleTM) September 16, 2018

But the Hammers were still vulnerable at times, particularly down their right-hand side as Everton left-back Lucas Digne (£4.8m) continued to deliver quality ball past Pablo Zabaleta (£4.3m). The Frenchman put in seven crosses (four accurate) from the left wing, creating big chances for Cenk Tosun (£6.9m) and Oumar Niasse (£5.3m) in the process.

Hazard and Marcos Alonso (£6.8m) could wreak havoc from that area of the London Stadium pitch, while Ryan Fredericks (£4.8m) may be redrafted at right-back for his pace alone against Chelsea’s deadly duo.

The Belgian’s consistency – seven attacking returns in three starts and two sub appearances – is another big plus. Thursday will tell much about Sarri’s Europa League strategy but if Hazard is rested, it will only further his captaincy credentials at a time when fellow heavy-hitters are also playing Champions League football during the week.

Sergio Aguero (£11.4m) vs CAR (a)

Pending an injury update from Pep Guardiola, Aguero once again looks an excellent captain choice as the Citizens travel to take on Cardiff. The striker assisted goals for David Silva (£8.5m) and Raheem Sterling (£11.0m) against Fulham before leaving the pitch early in the second half with an ankle knock.

Sergio Aguero replaced in the 53rd minute. Two assists, no goals #FPL — Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) September 15, 2018

The early diagnosis sounds promising, though owners should wait for an official update from City and consider Guardiola’s line-up in the Champions League against Lyon on Wednesday night. The manager will face the press twice before GW6, so FPL bosses will hopefully get further information on Aguero and Benjamin Mendy (£6.5m).

After make a medical test to Kun Agüero this morning is discarded any big injury. It is only a knock and is not discarded that he could play on wednesday in Champions League (depends on the evolution of the pain). @elchiringuitotv — Jose Alvarez Haya (@10JoseAlvarez) September 16, 2018

Aguero, who leads the overall shots chart, has now failed to score in four out of five fixtures this season. However, three assists in the last two gameweeks have kept the Argentine’s points tally ticking over.

Since switching to a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 set-up in GW4, City’s GW6 opponents Cardiff have conceded seven goals. Neil Warnock sounds determined to continue playing that system, saying after the Chelsea hammering: "I don’t want to go with everybody behind the ball, not have a shot. We tried as hard as we could to attack with what we’ve got against a very good team. And we’re going to do that. We’ll do that next week against Manchester City."

If fit, Aguero could wreak havoc against the promoted club’s defence in what would be a sixth straight start for the striker this season.

Sadio Mane (£10.0m) vs SOU (H)



Liverpool’s plum home fixture sees a second member of the Reds’ attacking trio come into contention for the GW6 armband.

Crikey. Captain choices for next week include:

Aguero, Cardiff (a)

Salah/Mane, Southampton (h)

Hazard, West Ham (a)



Will be tough even before we factor in rumours and counter-rumours about rotation and injury.



Play nice, #FPL Twitter, I can see this being a fraught week. — Peter Blake (@mathsafe_fpl) September 16, 2018

Mane was somewhat unlucky not to record an assist in GW5, as his cross pinballed near Spurs’ goalmouth before Roberto Firmino (£9.4m) applied the finishing touch.

Try to avoid complaining about #FPL rulings but I genuinely feel mugged off that neither Mané nor Alonso were granted an assist.



I’ve watched both clips & the Lacazette Assist that WAS given. There is ZERO consistency IMO. — FPL Viper (@FPLViper) September 16, 2018

The Senegalese attacker recorded a second blank of the season against Spurs, as he failed to make any of his four shots in the box count for points on the board.

Recorded #TOTLIV on Saturday, watched it this morning.



Mane & Salah both passed the eye test. Expect them to score similar points next few weeks.



Sweet clean sheet for TAA owners.



Spurs toothless. Was Harry Kane even playing? Happy to go without their assets for now. #FPL — The General (@FPLGeneral) September 17, 2018

Southampton have recorded two clean sheets so far this season but, like Cardiff, are currently lining up in a 4-4-2 set-up. However, with Danny Ings (£5.7m) ineligible to face his parent club in GW6, Mark Hughes could opt for a more defensive line-up in an attempt to combat Liverpool’s potency in attack.

One of the Saints’ shut-outs came at home to a Burnley outfit that have scored just three goals this season, while the other was against a Wilfried Zaha-less Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Like Salah, Mane’s Champions League minutes should be monitored but the midfielder is undoubtedly one of the standout captain choices for Gameweek 6.

Differential choice

Ryan Fraser (£5.7m) vs BUR (a)

GW5’s second-highest scorer, Fraser recovered from a hamstring problem to rack up 18 points at home to Leicester.

Fraser a major doubt all week.



No-one gets him.



Opens the scoring vs Leicester. #ThatsFPL — FPL Family (Lee) (@FPLFamily) September 15, 2018

Unfortunately for owners who benched the Scot and potential investors, Eddie Howe played his cards close to his chest in Friday’s press conference – labelling Fraser a doubt. The below video explains in detail how the winger went from working with the Bournemouth physios during the week to starting on Saturday.

Judging by my timeline, there were a few of us, OK a lot, who got burned by Ryan Fraser. @johnny_wilson5 offers some brilliant insight into the process which led to the winger starting, and ultimately, producing his best performance of the season. #AFCB https://t.co/BBFPSREulG — Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) September 16, 2018

Now owned by 9.9% of managers after gaining over 260,000 transfers in since the weekend, Fraser could easily rise in price again before Saturday’s 11.30am deadline. The Scotland international's days as a differential are numbered as FPL bosses swoop ahead of sweet Cherries' fixture run.

Ryan Fraser looks ⚡️ — Tam McManus (@The_Tman10) September 15, 2018

Up against a winless Burnley side that have conceded an average of 20.6 shots per game, Fraser has the form and fixtures to continue making a mockery of his lowly price tag.



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