The Best Fantasy Premier League Captain Options For Gameweek 1

Hi, I’m Tom. You may know me as the host of the Who Got The Assist? Podcast, or maybe have seen me on official FPL videos. 

Either way, hello.

Each week, I’ll be bringing you a number of articles on the world of Fantasy Premier League, which will cover a slightly different theme and provide some data-based analysis. 

Altogether, they should tell you (most of) what you need to know to prepare you for each upcoming Gameweek.

Whether you are ahead in your league or looking to close the gap, I will now take a look at some captain suggestions for the Gameweek ahead…

Who you choose to give the captaincy armband to is the most significant decision an FPL manager makes every week.

It’s where your Gameweek often succeeds or fails, how your rank rockets or plummets, or sometimes can represent salvation when everything else has gone catastrophically wrong.

In advance of every Gameweek, I’ll be providing you with 3 (or maybe more, depending on the situation) key candidates to consider as your FPL captain.

Ahead of the first Gameweek of the season, I think there’s three clear standout picks for captaincy.

More Fantasy Football articles:

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• Every rule change you need to know about for the 2022/23 FPL season
• The 25 players you need to consider for your squad this season
• The best budget goalkeepers
• The best budget defenders
• The best budget midfielders
• The best budget forwards
• The best and most selected players

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) 

• Opposition: Fulham, away
• Price: 13.0m

Salah has proven an FPL legend

Despite coming in as the highest owned player in FPL, Salah is for me both a must own and, for Gameweek 1, the top captain pick.

The Egyptian seems to have a thing for the opening weekend, too, having never failed to score on the opening day: his record over the past 5 years for opening day points reads: 17, 20, 12, 8, 11. This makes him as close to a sure thing as we can get for the opening day – in addition to a (yet another) kind opening fixture away to Fulham.

Need more convincing? According to Statsbomb, Salah has been in the top two for expected goal involvements every season since he joined the Premier League.

Harry Kane, Son Heung Min (Spurs)

• Opposition: Southampton, home
• Prices: 11.5m, 12.0m

Kane has recorded an impressive 0.65 expected goals per game since Conte has been in charge

Spurs’ deadly duo are both in contention for the armband for quite a few managers ahead of Gameweek 1 – I suspect many will be looking to own one in their starting teams.

And why not? 

Kane has recorded an impressive 0.65 expected goals per game since Conte has been in charge, as well as upping the ante on his chance creation. 

Son shared the golden boot last season with Liverpool’s Salah, and the South Korean once again showed his clinical finishing ability by making a mockery of the expected metrics for the second year in a row.

Both could be well placed to profit against a youthful, new look Southampton defence in their opening home game at White Hart Lane.

Erling Haaland (Man City)

• Opposition: West Ham, away
• Price: 11.5m

Haaland will have plenty of chances to score goals

Although whether Haaland’s Community Shield debut for Man City was promising or disappointing is up for debate, what wasn’t was that the Norwegian amassed an expected goal tally of 1.6. He didn’t score, sure, but the chances will come with one of the most creative midfields in Europe behind him and he was up against an elite defence.

Perhaps West Ham might not be the game to captain Haaland in, but an elite striker who averaged nearly 1 expected goal involvement per game during his time at Dortmund surely won’t be kept quiet for long 

However, I’ll probably be waiting until that juicy looking home game in Gameweek 2 against Bournemouth to go there.