After two goals, two assists and a monster 21-point haul at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, all roads lead to Mohamed Salah (£13.5m) as captain ahead of Gameweek 18 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
For the contrarians, favourable fixtures for a host of big-ticket teams bring differential and alternative options from Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle United to the fore.
As usual, Captain Sensible is here to highlight which assets have the best chance of hauling.
First, we will assess the fallout of the on-site captain poll. We will then analyse the player and team statistics, Rate My Team (RMT) and the Premier Fantasy Tools ratings ahead of Boxing Day’s 11:00 GMT deadline.
THE CAPTAIN POLL
Mohamed Salah, quite simply, is a phenomenon. The Egyptian ran riot in a humbling 6-3 defeat for Ange Postecoglou’s attack-centric Spurs team, with a scoreline more befitting of Wimbledon’s Centre Court.
In a game when Liverpool racked up an incredible 5.63 non-penalty xG, according to Opta, Salah had the lion’s share.
Seven shots in the box, three big chances received, and 15 penalty area touches were all division-leading tallies posted by Salah in Gameweek 17.
Understandably, Liverpool’s right-winger has earned the majority share of our captain poll on merit – backed by around two-thirds of our users ahead of Leicester City’s Boxing Day visit to Anfield.
Meanwhile, Erling Haaland (£14.8m) returns to the upper echelons of the captaincy ding-dong despite just two attacking returns in his last six Premier League outings.
The Norwegian drew a ‘blank’ in another underwhelming team performance for Man City, with Pep Guardiola’s charges submissive in the 2-0 defeat by Emery’s Aston Villa on their West Midlands visit.
Haaland receives the minority backing of 5% of our electorate before the Citizens’ tricky home encounter against Sean Dyche’s resolute Everton backline.
Cole Palmer (£11.3m) occupies third place with 4.3% of the vote, closely followed by Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) and Alexander Isak (£9.0m).
THE PLAYER STATISTICS – LAST SIX MATCHES
The player table highlights the outstanding form of Salah. The Liverpool talisman sits at the summit for big chances (12), shots (28), efforts in the box (27) and shots on target (11).
Salah’s dominance extends to the all-important expected data. The Egyptian’s non-penalty xG tally of 5.69 dwarves his nearest rivals, with Alexander Isak on 4.26 and Palmer’s 3.65 much further back.
Registering a non-penalty involvement every 59 minutes is truly ground-breaking, especially when we consider that Palmer (72.9) and Isak (77) are producing elite numbers.
Palmer and Isak have an interesting head-to-head discussion on our player table. The pair are level for big chances (seven), with the Chelsea playmaker ahead for goal attempts (23 to 20) and shots on target (11 to 10).
The Sweden international’s tally of 16 efforts in the box is bettering by only the aforementioned Salah – with Haaland and Palmer in tow, on 15 and 14, respectively.
Haaland, meanwhile, is an enigma. Man City’s manifestation of discontent in the camp is evident in their underlying numbers with the detriment obvious here.
From the main candidates under consideration, Haaland’s rate of minutes per non-penalty involvement (206.1) is the worst in this assessment. Fourth-placed billing for non-penalty xG (2.12) is new, hugely unwanted, ground for the Norwegian.
In terms of creativity, Palmer’s expected assists (xA, 1.86) tally is best in this sample, followed by Salah’s 1.72 and Isak (1.34).
Unsurprisingly, Salah sits at the summit for big chances created (six), just ahead of Isak (five) and Plamer (four).
For key passes, Palmer tops the chart with 18, with Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) and Martin Odegaard (£8.3m) scooping second and third, with 16 and 15, respectively.
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