FPL Captain Call Gameweek 1: Who’s the best pick?

Gameweek 1 of the 23/24 FPL season has come around faster for some than others. If you have been tinkering with your team for the past six weeks, it’s time to settle your starting lineup and make your all-important captaincy decision!

Last season we saw Erling Haaland dominate the league and win the Golden Boot convincingly. His partner in crime Kevin De Bruyne looks fit to start but will the loss of Gundogan and Mahrez affect City’s attacking output?
I don’t think so but it is a consideration.

We are likely to see plenty of goals in the opening fixtures which allows for a wide range of captaincy options.

Whether you’re looking for a safe pick or a high-risk/high-reward option, we’ve analysed all the fixtures to help you make the best decision for your team.

As mentioned above, Haaland’s performances are well known if you watched the Premier League last season. He took to the Premier League like a duck to water and scored 36 goals in his debut season.

Manchester City face the newly promoted Burnley in Gameweek 1. City defeated Burnley in the FA Cup last season 6-0 and Burnley have not strengthened their defence in the transfer window.

Haaland is owned by 87% of managers and most of these are expected to captain him.

Your best bet and the safest choice is to captain the Norwegian.

Haaland has been given a 65% chance of scoring by the bookies and he leads the probabilities for the opening round of fixtures.

Salah has been a Fantasy Premier League mainstay for the better part of six seasons now.

He has performed well in this pre-season recording two goals and six assist, albeit against weak opposition.

Salah could potentially exploit the new Chelsea lineup that has been put together for Gameweek 1 as Liverpool look to reassert their position at the upper echelons of the Premier League table.

Chelsea has been unlucky with injuries also as Wesley Fofana (who was expected to be a first choice CB) has suffered a knee injury in pre-season.

Salah has been given a 41% chance to score against Chelsea and if his pre season form is a good measure, he is equally as likely to record an assist.

Harry Kane at the time of writing looks set to stay leave for Germany. At the time of writing, nothing is official.

Kane scored four goals in his latest friendly appearance against Shaktar and Spurs have been on the front foot for 90 minutes of every match as their new manager has demanded.

Kane is at the peak of his career and the new managerial style and the addition of James Maddison’s creative prowess in midfield could see Kane have a record year at Spurs.

Spurs face Brentford who have lost their #1 goalkeeper and have looked shaky in defence in the lead up to the 23/24 season.

Kane has been assigned a 50% chance to score but his playmaking abilities for assists should also be taken into account.

This is a real differential to get us going for the 23/24 season.

Ferguson is still only 18 years of age and isn’t guaranteed to start in Gameweek 1.

However, if he does, he could be a serious points accumulator for your lineup.

Ferguson has been allocated the 2nd best probability of scoring by the bookies (53%) after scoring six goals and recording two assists from 10 starts and a handful of substitute appearances last season.

It’s not necessary to go for such a differential already but power to anyone ready to take on the risk.

Nick, also known as StatsmanFPL, is a qualified data analyst with a love for FPL. He analyses the data so you don’t have to. Make sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram.