This article is part of our The Armband series.
Surprisingly, there were few surprises last gameweek. Outside of Man United's draw with Burnley, all of the top clubs walked away with three points. That included a hat trick from Harry Kane, five goals from Liverpool and clean sheets from all of the expected sides (Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City).
One of these weeks, someone big will sit and the average points scored will fall below 40. Until that happens, the big names will continue to lead the way in the captain rankings, with little reason to risk using someone from a smaller club even with Tottenham not having a match this weekend.
For the Kane owners looking for someone else, the best place to turn has to be Liverpool, who have another home match. After a couple down performances, the Reds have returned to scoring in bunches with 12 goals in their last three. Home against a Leicester side that has given up 16 away goals this season should produce a few more. I incorrectly labeled Sadio Mane as most likely to make the starting XI last match, as he didn't even play a minute. Instead of guessing which players will start for Liverpool, I'll assume all of the big names will, especially after Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah were subbed out early against Swansea.
The race for top captain has to be between Philippe Coutinho and Salah. Coutinho is reaching Salah levels with seven goals and four assists in his last six starts. Salah may not have the upside as Coutinho, but he produces in almost every match with a goal or assist in 14 of his last 16 appearances.
But similar to previous gameweeks, all of the big clubs are in favorable situations, with Chelsea hosting Stoke, Man United against Southampton, Man City at Crystal Palace and Arsenal traveling to West Brom.
Chelsea are a little harder to trust, having scored five goals in their last four matches. The bonus is that Stoke have allowed 22 goals in 10 away matches. That could lead to another goal for Alvaro Morata, who returned to the starting XI against Brighton and found the back of the net. At this point, I'd trust Morata over Eden Hazard in terms of captaincy, only because the Belgian hasn't made the score sheet in his last six starts.
United are equally hard to trust after their last two performances against Burnley and Leicester. Romelu Lukaku had two great matchups yet finished with two shots, neither of them on net. If you must back a Red Devil, Paul Pogba may be more useful, or even Jesse Lingard, which seems crazy to write. Since returning from his suspension, Pogba has nine shots and three chances created in two matches. Lingard was the difference for United last match against Burnley and should make the starting XI with three goals and an assist in his last three appearances.
If you want to go with the future league winners, Man City will put its flawless 10 wins in 10 away matches record on the line. Crystal Palace are playing better, but a lot of that was a result from easier competition, as Arsenal had plenty of opportunities against them Thursday. At this point, Raheem Sterling has been easier to trust in fantasy than Sergio Aguero. Granted, either one can go off. In the last four matches, Sterling has four goals and two assists, while Aguero has three goals and one assist. If you prefer consistency, Kevin De Bruyne may be the better pick, though he doesn't make the score sheet as often as the other two.
Alexis Sanchez had his first multi-goal performance of the season against Crystal Palace and it feels like a good time to bet on him again. West Brom have fallen to the relegation zone and continue being unpredictable, from keeping Liverpool scoreless to allowing three to Stoke. The Gunners are equally inconsistent, though that doesn't apply to Alexis, who has 16 shots and 11 chances created in his last four matches.
If you think Richarlison can return to relevance, he's also on the list at home against Swansea. He has 13 shots and five chances created in his last four starts, though he made the score sheet just once in his last seven starts.
