Who is the best FPL Gameweek 30 captain? Our resident FPL captaincy expert Chris Tan takes a close look at the fixtures, poll and stats breakdown before concluding on his best pick for the armband.
FPL Gameweek 29 Recap
Wow, it feels like a lifetime ago since the last Gameweek and with only eight teams playing it’s pointless doing the usual breakdown.
Fulham lost out in a closely contested game with Leeds thanks to a sterling Bamford (£6.7m) and Raphinha (£5.7m) display.
Brighton the xG kings finally came good with a clean sheet (CS) and they scored more than two goals. Trossard (£5.8m) was tipped by many, and he’s thriving in the role behind the strikers now that they’re creating so much space for him by being asked to widen the pitch. Newcastle certainly look like a team to target having only registered three shots against Brighton. Wilson can’t return quickly enough for them.
Nobody expected West Ham and Arsenal to be involved in a six goal thriller! It was certainly a game of two halves. Lingard (£6.2m) has shown enough by now to indicate that he’s a credible option and Antonio (£6.7m) remains one of the best value forwards in the game. For Arsenal, if he was more guaranteed of game time, then a lot more people would be considering Lacazette (£8.2m).
Villa continue their decline without Grealish and their recent form has been alarming. Rumour has it he’ll be back for the weekend though. Mourinho chose a workmanlike lineup to get Spurs back on track, and Bale owners may face the prospect of cameo appearances against teams without any attacking threat down their left (which could well be Newcastle). Kane (£11.6m) continues to demonstrate his reliability though and is one of the few premium assets to consistently do so this season.
How have we done to date?
FPL Gameweek 30 Captain - Our Performance
It was fairly even across the board and this week highlighted something that has been the case throughout the season and recent seasons. Midfielders are by far the most likely position to come away with a double digit haul (almost 50% of the double digit hauls this season have come from midfielders compared to just 23% from defenders and only 16% from forwards), and on that basis we need a strong reason to choose someone from an alternative position. Just reviewing Gameweek 29 as an example the top scores were achieved by two midfielders - Trossard (£5.8m) and Lingard (£6.2m).
FPL Gameweek 30 Captain - The Fixtures
FPL Gameweek 30 Captain - Fixtures
Gameweek 30 fixtures are the reverse fixtures from Gameweek 3, here are a few highlights from what happened last time:
FPL Gameweek 30 Captain - Reverse Fixtures
Twitter / @ChrisTanFPL FPL Gameweek 30 Captain Poll
Who do my Twitter followers think is the best FPL Gameweek 30 captain?
FPL Gameweek 30 Captain - Twitter Poll
Old Hunting Ground – do any of the likely lads have a good record vs their opposition?
FPL Gameweek 30 Captain - Player Record
- It’s a tiny sample, but Mount (£7.0m) did well against West Brom in the reverse fixture.
- Despite their solid defensive stats, Fernandes (£11.5m) always finds a way against them. He won’t be as popular a choice as usual this week, which could be a sneaky opportunity to back him.
- Bamford (£6.7m) scored in the reverse fixture. This game will be on the dreaded Elland Road pitch, but he’ll be alongside Raphinha this time.
- Calvert-Lewin (£7.6m) also only scored in the reverse fixture, and that was his first goal scored against Crystal Palace away from home. All his other returns have come at home, which makes him an intriguing prospect for this week.
- Son (£9.5m) similarly has recorded most of his returns at home and picked up an injury in the reverse fixture.
- Kane (£11.3m) loves playing against Newcastle away, and three of his four goals were scored at St James’s Park.
- Richarlison (£8.0m) doesn’t have the best record against Crystal Palace although he should get more chances if they continue to field him in a front two.
Members Stats breakdown - FPL Gameweek 30 Captain
I’ve taken these stats from the Fantasy Football Hub OPTA tool that is available to all Members to help you analyse the players and teams.
The sample has used the last six Gameweeks (representing the stats as ‘per appearance’).
Great article as always Chris! Love the fact that the figures throw up the odd differential – I never would have guessed Mason Mount would be top of the captaincy table this GW especially with so many people pointing at Havertz playing up front (including Hibbo in his article Breaking the Template!).
However as a desperate manager and having gone Dunk last GW, I’m happy to go for Alonso this week!
On another note, very interesting to see no Salah/Jota being discussed despite Arsenal having not kept a CS in the last 8 games. I feel that they could sneak in a double digit return but agree with your point that there are a lot of other captaincy options. Come on Marcos!!! :-D
Thanks Ronaldez
I’ve brought Alonso in but I’ve give Bruno the armband.
Yeah, that game has the potential for goad but Arsenal can be resolute (despite being unable to CS) and who knows which Liverpool will turn up. I prefer more predictable outcomes for captaincy and there are quite a few options this week.
GL!