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            <p><em>This article takes a deep dive look at the all important Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 22 captain decision. It's written by our resident FPL captaincy expert <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisTanFPL">Chris Tan</a> who takes a close look at the fixtures, poll and stats breakdown before concluding on his best pick for the armband. </em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;"><strong>FPL Gameweek 21 Captain Recap</strong></h2>
<p>Before we delve into the FPL Gameweek 21 Captain Decision, it’s important to cast our eye back to last week. After the frantic Xmas period it feels like it was a very long time ago!</p>
<h4><strong>Wednesday – 1st January 2020</strong></h4>
<p><strong>Jahanbakhsh</strong> scored to make it two games in a row, as Chelsea continued their lacklustre run.  Villa setup in a new formation and looked more solid defensively with a talismanic performance from <strong>Grealish</strong> (I was one of those foolish enough to sell him prior).  Vardy disappointed thousands of us with another absence and it was left to <strong>Perez</strong> and <strong>Maddison</strong> to take the plaudits.  Newcastle are beginning to look like whipping boys.  Spurs lost Kane to injury and looked dire as a defensively solid looking Southampton took the 1-0 with another goal from the king Talisman – <strong>Danny Ings</strong>.  Watford continued their revival under Pearson with contributions from each of their SDD (<strong>Sarr</strong>, <strong>Deeney</strong> and <strong>Deulofeu</strong>) who all look like great prospects.  City put the brakes on the mini-Ancelotti revival with a <strong>Jesus</strong> brace, but <strong>Richarlison</strong> managed to continue his run of good form.  Norwich and Palace ended in a stalemate with <strong>Cantwell</strong> again demonstrating why he’s the best enabler and <strong>Buendia</strong> showing how much of an assist king he is.  The new West Ham emerged, it’s too early to say whether it was the impact of Moyes or the fact that Bournemouth are absolute whipping boys at the moment.  What is clear is that the impact on Arsenal under Arteta has improved them dramatically, as they comfortably defeated Man Utd.  There could be some potential bargains to be found there.</p>
<h4><strong>Thursday - 2nd January 2020</strong></h4>
<p>Unlike Sheffield Utd’s game against Man City, Liverpool never looked under threat in this game and this made it their fifth Clean Sheet (CS) in a row with a goal each from <strong>Mane</strong> and <strong>Salah</strong> there’s still nothing to separate them so it could be a case of having to get both, although their defenders offer enticing value.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Who did I tip?</strong></h3>
<p>This was another week where the best captain choice didn’t play and we were left reliant on our vice captain options:</p>
<p><strong>Vardy (0) –</strong> suffering from a calf injury he was annoyingly rested for this game in what would have been a likely haul given the ease at which they despatched Newcastle without him.</p>
<p><strong>KDB (2)</strong> – it’s rare for City to score two goals without any involvement from De Bruyne, he was played in a deeper central role alongside Gundogan, which definitely impacted on his output with no shots recorded and only two key passes (KP).</p>
<p><strong>Tammy</strong> <strong>(5)</strong> – a token assist was all he had to show for after a game where he only managed one shot on target.  Interestingly he’s played the full 90 minutes for the last three games, which is promising for anyone that still owns him.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>How have we done to date?</strong></h3>
<p>I did an analysis of my picks over the season to date to compare with the top poll choice:</p>
<div id="attachment_18084" style="width: 621px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18084" class="size-full wp-image-18084" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CAP-GW22-Our-Performance.jpg" alt="" width="611" height="382" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-18084" class="wp-caption-text">Gameweek 22 - Our Captain Picks Performance</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>What did we learn?</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Whipping Boys </strong>– look to target Newcastle and Bournemouth.  Villa are also worth focusing on, despite looking better with a new formation and Mings back, they’ve lost Heaton for the season.</p>
<p><strong>Take your VC pick seriously</strong> – pick someone that is highly unlikely to be rotated that you feel has the best points expectation after your captain.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>FPL Gameweek 22 Captain - The Fixtures</strong></h2>
<div id="attachment_18080" style="width: 440px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18080" class="wp-image-18080 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CAP-GW22-Fixtures.jpg" alt="FPL Captaincy" width="430" height="611" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-18080" class="wp-caption-text">Gameweek 22 - Fixtures</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Sheffield Utd v West Ham </strong>– West Ham looked a lot better under Moyes, but you have to take into account they were playing an out-of-sorts Bournemouth.  They won’t be able to out-work Sheffield Utd either so this will be a real test to see if there has been any tangible change.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Crystal Palace v Arsenal</strong> – Palace are hard to beat and this is a London derby, but Arsenal seem to be clicking under Arteta and I will be using this to scout <strong>Ozil</strong> (yes really), <strong>Pepe</strong> and <strong>Kolasinac</strong> who appear to be the main beneficiaries of their new system.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Chelsea v Burnley</strong> – both sides have been a bit out of sorts recently, but Chelsea have a lot more quality in the midfield which should make the difference here and Burnley tend to roll over against the top six.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Everton v Brighton</strong> – despite failing to beat Liverpool under 12s this Everton side look well organised under Ancelotti and I can’t see Brighton beating them, but they have a good enough side to make this one competitive.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Leicester v Southampton</strong> – the reverse fixture was 9-0 in Gameweek 10.  Southampton were reduced to 10 men though and they’ve looked a lot more defensively sound recently. The big question is whether Vardy will be back, after ruining my Xmas! This is definitely one of the best fixtures of the Gameweek.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Man Utd v Norwich</strong> – Norwich like to have a go at teams, so this should open things up nicely for Man Utd.  Norwich don’t appear to be shipping goals at the same rate as earlier in the season though and they have the tools to hurt Utd.  Overall it’s still a good fixture, but I don’t think it will be a whitewash.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Wolves v Newcastle</strong> – Newcastle have been dire lately whereas the defeat to Watford came as somewhat of a surprise given the season Wolves are having.  This should be a comfortable game for Wolves.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Spurs v Liverpool</strong> – Kane is out, but Son is back and last season they appeared to play better as a team during a similar period.  That won’t make a difference here though, Liverpool are far too good and Spurs don’t appear to have any defensive resolve under Mourinho.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Bournemouth v Watford</strong> – at this stage of the season this is a six pointer and Bournemouth will be desperate to turn things around but form is not on their side whereas Watford look resurgent and I fancy Watford here.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Aston Villa v Man City – </strong>Villa looked a lot better with the formation shift against Burnley but losing Heaton and Wesley is a massive blow.  I think City can do some real damage here.   <strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<h3><strong>Gameweek 22 fixtures are the reverse of Gameweek 10, here’s what happened last time:</strong></h3>
<div id="attachment_18081" style="width: 337px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18081" class="size-full wp-image-18081" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CAP-GW22-GW-10-Results.jpg" alt="" width="327" height="466" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-18081" class="wp-caption-text">Gameweek 10 - Results</p>
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<p><strong> </strong></p>
<h3><strong>Twitter FPL Gameweek 22 Captain Poll</strong></h3>
<p>Who do our twitter followers think is the best FPL Gameweek 21 captain?</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-18105" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Screenshot-2020-01-09-at-12.43.24.png" alt="" width="600" height="220" /></p>
<h3></h3>
<h3><strong>Old Hunting Ground – do any of the likely lads have a good history vs their opposition?</strong></h3>
<div id="attachment_18082" style="width: 1231px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18082" class="size-full wp-image-18082" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CAP-GW22-History.jpg" alt="" width="1221" height="442" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-18082" class="wp-caption-text">Gameweek 22 - Player History</p>
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<p><strong>Rashford</strong> – he enjoyed playing away to them in Gameweek 10 with a goal, assist and two bonus points for a nine point return.  Will we see a repeat?  Let’s just hope we don’t get all those penalty misses again!</p>
<p><strong>Abraham</strong> – in the reverse fixture Chelsea won 4-2, but he only picked up an assist.  He hasn’t scored much recently, but it’s more from a lack of chances created by his team mates than a lack of effort.</p>
<p><strong>Salah </strong>– has a great record against Spurs, but has only scored one goal away from home against them.</p>
<p><strong>Vardy</strong> – has an excellent record too, but his stats are also heavily weighted with only one assist recorded at home and three of his five goals came in the 9-0 from Gameweek 10.</p>
<p><strong>Richarlison – </strong>scored both of his goals in one game at home last season, will history repeat itself? <strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>KDB</strong> – he picked up a solitary assist in the 3-0 victory at home, which highlights that the spoils are often spread around the whole team when City score.</p>
<p><strong>Mane</strong> – none of his returns have come away at Spurs, despite that something has to give and I wouldn’t bet against him and/or Salah returning this week.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<h2><strong>Members Stats breakdown - FPL Gameweek 22 Captain</strong></h2>
<p>These stats are pulled from the <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/">Fantasy Football Hub OPTA Stats tool</a> that is available to all members to help you analyse the players and teams.  <strong>I usually look at the last four home or away games dependant on the fixture, however have pulled the specific data from the last six Gameweeks, as we’ve had a lot of games recently and I wanted a more current overview</strong>.</p>
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FPL Gameweek 22 Captain Decision

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