FPL Captain Call Gameweek 9: Who’s the best pick?

The dreaded International Break is over and it’s time to whip your team back into shape and get your head back in the game. 

There’s nothing more than we want than to return with a bang and score a big green arrow to set our team on the right track. We want to help you do the same.

Captaincy over the next period will be fierce competition as the likes of Haaland, Salah, Son and others are chosen by their respective managers to captain their team for the week and take them to glory. 

The captaincy decisions for the near future are not straightforward and will require some analysis and critical decision making. 

Whether you’re looking for a safe pick to get the season off to a good start or are looking for a differential as you reach for the number one rank, we have you sorted in the below analysis. 

Forgive the last two Manchester City performances. 

Rodri is one of the biggest losses for any team’s dynamic in the league and City who have faced injuries to other stars faced title challengers Arsenal and bogey team Wolves both away from home. 

Haaland is a product of Manchester City’s system and if the team is struggling, he is likely to struggle with them.

Rodri returns and is fresh to go after his break while some other City stars will also look to be fit for the weekend as they climb back to top of the table.

Brighton are 17th for Goals Against and conceded six goals in their most recent away from home fixture against Aston Villa. 

This is the perfect storm for a Manchester City and Haaland bounce back week and we will captain him with high confidence. 

Haaland has been given a worthy 67% chance to score and is our top captaincy choice for the week. 

Salah continues his run of only blanking in the match where Liverpool received two red cards and had a goal wrongly ruled out due to VAR error. 

Salah has also scored double digit points in three of his previous four fixtures. 

Salah has a great run of fixtures and is likely to score points each week but when someone like Haaland is another captaincy option, sometimes one goal or one assist just isn’t enough as captain. 

Liverpool face Everton in a Merseyside derby fixture which has seen two or less total goals for the match in four of the last five fixtures. 

Everton have turned their form in recent times after a poor start, conceding approximately one expected goal or less in their last five fixtures including against Arsenal who are a top attacking side. 

We believe Haaland has the higher ceiling and Brighton will play more expansively than a determined Sean Dyche team which is very important when captaincy decisions are made. 

Salah has been assigned a 53% chance to score by the bookies and is also likely to provide assists for his teammates as he has so far this season. 

We choose Maddison rather than Son as one of our top picks as the trend seems to be that Son performs better against those teams who play more expansively and with a high defensive line. This plays to Son’s strengths of using space in behind defences to exploit them with his pace.

Son is also well known to be playing through injury for the last month and couple some bruises during the week for South Korea.

Maddison has slotted into his midfield role perfectly at Tottenham and has been pulling the strings since Day 1. He creates multiple good chances every match and has the ability to score from inside and outside the box. Corner duties could also come in to play here to exploit Fulham’s weakness.

Maddison has a 38% chance to score according to the bookies but is more likely to assist his teammates.

Manchester United have been on our ‘do not touch’ list for most of the season and to great effect.

However, any team playing against Sheffield United can be considered as an opportunity to earn points.

Sheffield United have struggled in their return to the Premier League while also being unfortunate to have key players injured in the recent gameweeks. 

Penalties and set pieces are always an opportunity to score points for Bruno but expect the captain to be in and around the box, leading from the front as he tries to bring this United team back into the Top Four race. 

Bruno has taken multiple shots and provided multiple key passes every week and he will have many opportunities against the struggles Blades. He is underperforming his expected stats significantly and will likely have his fortunes turn soon. 

Bruno has been given a 36% chance of scoring by the bookies and is a solid differential captaincy option.

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.