Captaincy options for Gameweek 10: Should gaffers target Mohamed Salah’s Anfield double header?
WITH Saturday’s 11am deadline drawing near, Dream Team managers need to choose a captain (and vice captain) for Gameweek 10.
There are many, many gaffers who prefer to keep the armband on Erling Haaland (£8.9m) regardless of the fixtures and it’s difficult to argue with that approach given he averages 12 points-per-game this season.
However, could it be that Mohamed Salah (£7.4m) is actually the better option for the coming Gameweek?
Home comforts[/caption]
Manchester City are due to travel to Bournemouth and Sporting CP amid an injury crisis; Pep Guardiola claimed he had just 13 players available after his side’s midweek defeat to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup.
The champions have a flawless record against the Cherries but Andoni Iraola’s side knocked off Arsenal in their last home game and held Aston Villa to a draw last weekend.
And it’s a bad time to visit the Portuguese champions as Ruben Amorim’s side have won all nine of their league games this season and remain undefeated in the Champions League.
Haaland is a prolific goalscorer who could easily make a mockery of this double header but with many of his providers sidelined it might be an opportune moment to captain somebody else.
Haaland has a habit of punishing his doubters[/caption]
This is not to say Salah has exceedingly favourable fixtures.
Liverpool are due to face Brighton again after their 3-2 win in the Carabao Cup on the south coast, only this time on home soil.
The Seagulls are currently sixth in the table and are not to be underestimated but they tend to concede their fair share of goals and an injury to Lewis Dunk might render them more vulnerable than usual.
Arne Slot’s troops will then host Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night.
The defending Bundesliga champions represent tough opposition but they’re not the all-conquering underdogs they were last season – they’ve failed to win half their league games this term and are already five points behind Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig.
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What Salah has over Haaland is the luxury of back-to-back home games.
Liverpool boast such a strong record at Anfield and their Egyptian No11 remains the most potent threat – he’s racked up 133 points via eight goals and seven assists across the first nine Gameweeks of the season.
Elsewhere, Bukayo Saka (£6.8m) is the most transferred-in player ahead of Gameweek 10 following his return to fitness and some Dream Team bosses may be tempted to strap the armband to Dream Team’s top midfielder.
However, like Haaland, Arsenal’s No7 faces back-to-back away games in the form of Newcastle and Inter.
The Magpies aren’t at their best right now but still those match-ups aren’t overly appealing.
Last week, we suggested Bryan Mbeumo as a strong captaincy choice for those who wanted to go against the grain.
Gaffers who took the risk were rewarded with a whopping 25-point return (doubled to 50!) from Brentford’s talisman.
This week, how about Alejandro Garnacho (£3.9m) as a left-field skipper?
Manchester United’s 20-year-old winger banked 20 points in Gameweek 9 and registered the most shots on target among midfield assets this season.
The Red Devils will host Chelsea and PAOK in Gameweek 10 and if Garnacho starts both fixtures he could thrive again.
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