Staff Picks: Best Captain for FPL Week 24

Double the points, which means double the pleasure or double the pain! Whom should you pick for captain this week if he’s in your team? And if he isn’t in your team, should be be?

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CHRIS: Liverpool Midfielder Mo Salah

As noted recently, I made a horrible mess of my captain selection this season through Week 21, which has marred what has otherwise been a very good performance. I originally thought that having Chelsea’s Eden Hazard as my team centerpiece, and rotating my captain between Hazard and others (such as Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero or Raheem Sterling, along with Everton’s Richarlison or Gylfi Sigurdsson) based on who had what seemed to be the most attractive match-up, I could get close enough to the production of insanely expensive Mo Salah to compete. Sadly, that did not turn out to be the case.

Facing the facts, I added Mo Salah to my team and vowed to make him my captain from here on out, except perhaps only in the most extreme of circumstances. So far it has worked beautifully, to the tune of 11 and 15 raw points the past two weeks, becoming 22 and 30 when doubled. I’m not changing course now, oh no, not with Salah and Liverpool at Anfield. Yes, Leicester boasts one of the best defenses in the league, but the Foxes just shipped 4 goals to a mediocre Wolves offense at the Molineux. On top of that, Liverpool have won the past three league contests against Leicester, scoring at least twice each time (2-1, 2-1 and 3-2). Salah has earned 177 points so far this season, opening a ridiculous 31-point gap over his nearest competitor, Hazard. It’s no time to get cute now. Even if I could have anybody else this week, I’d stick with Salah.

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DAVID: Manchester United Midfielder Paul Pogba

Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer assumed the reins at Old Trafford, there is no hotter club than Manchester United and no hotter player than Paul Pogba. In the six league games since OGS took over, Pogba has registered 5 goals and 4 assists, and United are a perfect 6-0-0.

This week they host Burnley, who have shipped 43 goals this season, ranking third-worst in the EPL. Solskjaer’s freewheeling offense has Pogba loving his football again, and that will spell trouble for the Clarets.

Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images

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MATZY: Manchester City Midfielder Leroy Sane

Sane presents the best combination of form and fixture in week 24. Looking at the Manchester City form rankings, he leads all Citizens. Furthermore, he is a full point ahead of teammate Raheem Sterling over that time. To the same extent, the German international has pulled within 16 points for the overall team lead, despite playing roughly 300 less minutes, over three games’ worth.

While I am a noted proponent of the Newcastle defense, Sane is positioned to play 1 v. 1 with DeAndre Yedlin. The young American will surely have the athletic ability to keep up with the industrious Sane, but his overall defensive skill set is still sub-par. He is most known for his attacking contributions. His poor positioning and inability to defend one-on-one give Manchester City’s most in-form asset the ability to thrive.

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OMAR: Arsenal Forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Mo Salah looks the obvious choice, but Leicester have a penchant for making it very difficult for the bigger teams. Arsenal will be buoyed by their win over Chelsea that has put them 3 points behind in 4th place, level on points with Manchester United. They will definitely need to win well at home vs Cardiff, and Aubameyang should be in line to profit.

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STALL: Liverpool Midfielder Mo Salah

The most in-form goal scorer now faces a Leicester side who may be without central defender Harry Maquire. Liverpool have avoided key injury to the spine of their team and are in a period where things just go their way. Pool are unbeaten in 32 home league games and have scored at least 4 in each of their last 3 games at Anfield. On paper there really is one obvious choice this week.

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Who are you captaining this week? Would it be anybody different if you had someone else in your team? Take the poll below and share your thoughts in the comments section!

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