Returning from another tedious International break in which Sterling scored four and assisted twice, it’s difficult to tap into the mass frustration which followed Gameweek 4. The Englishman was outrightly the most captained player, though he ended up as the only £9.0m+ FPL asset who didn’t score or assist.

This week, I discuss another three popular captain candidates in Gameweek 5. I will try to provide as much useful information I can on each player and their opposition to try and help you reinforce your initial gut choice or else open your eyes to someone else with potential.

Raheem Sterling £12.3m

Norwich vs. Man City

Eyebrows were raised when Daniel Farke said he would not raise the white flag versus Liverpool in his Premier League opener and he was just as resolute following the heavy defeat.

“We’re disappointed we lost this game. We wanted to start off with some points, but we have to stick to our beliefs. Of course, we have to defend a bit more solid, but it’s also a few lessons for the lads on the pitch to learn”

There have been 16 goals in matches involving Norwich City this season, which is the second most active in the league after Man City (17). This is great news for your offensive Man City, especially as Norwich have conceded more than 60% of these goals.

As touched upon in the introduction, Sterling is in irresistible form at the moment with six-goal involvements for England this past week, god knows how many FPL points that would be! He will be motivated to get back in the mix having shot blanks in the previous gameweek before the break.

Raheem Sterling after 4 gameweeks

Season Mins Points Bonus 2017/18 262 19 57 2018/19 360 37 117

Not to mention his 2.7 increase in his points per game ratio at this stage last season, it’s the total minutes played and start percentage that got my attention. Even Paul Merson knows Sterling is much more efficient, but nowadays he is one of the players Pep Guardiola really relies upon and rarely substitutes, regardless of the scoreline.

Along with Salah, Sterling leads the Premier League for total big chances this season (7), although he betters the Liverpool winger for by 0.52 in xG over the season. This suggests that the chances he is receiving are in more dangerous areas or else he’s benefitting from Man City’s creativity – a likely scenario as they comfortably beat Liverpool in xG, big chances and total attempts.

Team Games xG xA Man City 4 9.58 9.58 Liverpool 4 6.87 6.87

Last week, I saw that some managers were reluctant to captain Sterling over Salah, not because of this dominance, but the thought that they are so full of talent that “anybody can chip in with Man City’s goals”. They might feel very smug after his blank, but this is a completely flawed strategy.

As mentioned before, Sterling has improved drastically in the finishing department. This was most evident in the second half of last season and yet he still blanked in 14 games compared to Salah’s 16.

Brighton conceded two in each half against them in Gameweek 4, in what was a very respectable performance from Graham Potter’s side. I think we all expect more of the same this weekend, and if they do score multiple times, it will be extremely unfortunate if Sterling records back-to-back blanks.

Mohamed Salah £12.5m

Liverpool vs Newcastle

Mohamed Salah was the second-most captained player in Gameweek 4, returning six points in his last outing to push his total to 36 points – one less than Raheem Sterling. With the exception of Gameweek 2, he has returned every week for a total of three goals, two assists and five bonus points…

He is known for his struggles in the bonus department, due to the high number of chances he receives and, expectedly misses, when you take into account some of the angles and mazy runs he attempts on a weekly basis. It’s a small sample size, but he has reduced his 181 minutes per BPS in 2018/19 to one every 70 minutes on average this season.

Although he’s reported to have indulged in a well-earned rest during the International break, he might not have had much time to put his feet up with Sadio Mane hunting him down at every opportunity. The tantrum his teammate had after Salah failed to pass the ball to him to increase their lead versus Burnley has had time to settle but will continue to linger.

This has been seen as a negative with the expectation that both players will be out of sorts for a short period, though on the other hand, I think it could be a positive for the pair and especially Salah. I’ve mentioned before that the little frustration that accompanies Salah is when he tries to force things.

Jamie Carragher put it perfectly post-match and was basically saying that when a match reaches a certain latter period, that Salah is almost frantic in his search for a goal if he hasn’t scored already. A dressing room chat would have followed this clash on the sidelines, which could loosen Salah up and encourage him to play more openly. The best outcome for FPL managers.

Even when Rafa Benitez was doing his magic in frustrating big clubs, he always struggled to keep a lid on Mohamed Salah. The Spaniard is an elite manager, not even worthy of being discussed in the same sentence as his successor, so I worry for Newcastle on Saturday morning.

Salah has scored three times and gathered two FPL assists (won and converted penalty in 4-0 win) in his last three fixtures versus Newcastle. Combined, Mane and Firmino have just a solitary goal and assist over this period.

Harry Kane £11m

Tottenham vs. Crystal Palace

Similarly to Sterling, and while Salah wrestled with hallucinations of Mane in his side mirror on the way to training, Kane was banging in the goals for his country. Sky Sports and social media had a field day confirming Sir Harry as the best penalty taker on the planet, only for him to fluff his next spot kick versus Kosovo three days after.

But enough joking around, he is still the player I’d choose if I needed a penalty converted in the Premier League. Besides penalties, he is looking remarkably fresh on the pitch compared to last season and has regained that energy in which made him irresistible in the past for FPL.

His underlying statistics are not where he wants them at this stage of the season but, to be honest, three goals in Tottenham’s opening four fixtures including Man City and Arsenal away is a good return. He hasn’t hit the heights of Salah or Sterling yet, but he’s ticking along nicely.

Now for the negatives. Crystal Palace at home has been a bogey fixture of Kane’s in the past. He has failed to score in his last five league meetings with the club. It’s not necessarily that he’s performing very poorly as an individual, it’s more a case of Spurs struggling to break them down and averaging just a goal per game in this fixture since 2014.

It is a further concern when you look at Crystal Palace’s away record in recent times. Roy Hodgson had his side performing ridiculously well on their travels last season, scoring six less than Man City and finishing six in the table based on away results.

They scored 63% of their goals on the road and, despite conceding 30 times, were one of only three sides, since March 2016, to defeat Man City as visitors. This is of no sentiment that they won’t concede against Tottenham, I expect them to do so, but they will carry more confidence into Gameweek 5 than the likes of Norwich and Newcastle.

Player Mins xG xG (No Pen) Sterling 360 2.78 2.78 Salah 349 2.26 1.50 Kane 360 1.12 1.12

When you look at the total xG after Kane converted a penalty against Arsenal, it gives a skewed account of how he compares to his competition. Focussing on non-penalty xG, Sterling records more than double that of Kane.

In summary, Kane is not a terrible captain option, although I wouldn’t recommend it at this stage of the season for the same reason I wouldn’t captain Aguero. Sterling and Salah have such high ownership, particularly amongst the top 10k managers (94% and 80%) that just having one of Kane or Aguero in your squad is enough of a differential in itself.

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