Top 3 captaincy options for your FPL team in Gameweek 2

Time passes very quickly in the world of Fantasy Premier League. You can find yourself lagging far behind if you don’t get your captaincy picks right week on week. In my opinion, this part of the game is incredibly important and a lot of thought should go into your captaincy pick week on week.

Pranil's picks for the FPL captaincy this weekend.

Before we get into my top 3 picks for this Gameweek, there are some basic thumb-rules I follow while making my captaincy decisions.

1. Try picking a player in form.

2. Do not pick a defender or a goalkeeper. The upside isn’t very high.

3. Try picking a player who plays for a top 8 team.

4. Try picking a player who plays against a bottom 10 team.

5. Try picking a player who is playing at home (this can be flexible).

6. Try picking a player who is 100% nailed.

7. Penalties and set pieces are a bonus but not absolutely essential.

After a Gameweek that saw all the big hitters come to the party, we see two or three of them battle it out in the quest for your armband this Gameweek.

My top 3 captaincy options this FPL Gameweek in order of preference are as follows:

#1 Mohamed Salah

Salah got off the mark this season against Norwich

Liverpool continued where they left off last year, scoring a blistering 4 goals in the first Gameweek of the season against a somewhat naive Norwich team. Up next for Mohamed Salah and company is Ralph Hasenhüttl’s Southampton. The Saints conceded 3 goals in their first game against Burnley, which are encouraging signs for Liverpool, who had 11 shots inside the box in their first week.

Salah started off against Norwich with a goal, assist and 2 bonus points. He has a very good record against the Saints as well ,having scored 5 times and assisting once in the 4 times he has played them.

In addition to that, we also need to consider the ownership Mo Salah has. At the time of writing, Mo Salah has more than 45% ownership.

So captaining Salah is also a secure way to protect your rank and taking a chance with someone else is not for the faint-hearted. Keeping these things in mind, Mo Salah is my number one pick for the armband this Gameweek.

#2 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Aubameyang has an incredible goal scoring record against Burnley

Arsenal had a somewhat average start to the season, but they did get the job done and secured 3 important points. At the heart of their victory was their Gabonese forward, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He had looked very lively all throughout pre-season and simply carried on from where he left off.

People might not actually realize how much of an elite scorer Aubameyang is - he has scored more than 30 goals in all of his last 4 seasons and has scored 33 goals in 50 games for Arsenal. That is an incredible goal-scoring record.

You might think that Arsenal had a somewhat lackluster performance against Newcastle in the first week. but a lot of their big guns, including Lacazette and new signing Pepe, are expected to feature more prominently in their first home game against Burnley this week.

Despite the small margin of victory against Newcastle, Aubameyang still managed to fire 4 shots in the box in the first week. Only Kane had more shots in the box in the first week. Arsenal will be keen to impress their fans in the first home game of the season.

The last factor is how much Aubameyang actually likes playing against Burnley. In his 3 games against Burnley, Aubameyang has scored 6 times and has assisted once. Given his form, he looks primed

#3 Sadio Mane

Mane looked incredibly sharp in his midweek game against Chelsea

While Sadio Mane did not feature in Gameweek 1, he looked very sharp midweek against Chelsea in the European Super Cup. Mane got right into the mix in his first competitive start for Liverpool this season, having scored a brace in his first start. In addition, while Salah played a full 90 minutes last weekend and 120 minutes midweek, Mane is relatively fresher.

Mane matched Salah last year for his 22 goals despite having no penalties in his locker. He finished the season much stronger, having more than double the number of Big Chances Salah did in the last 10 Gameweeks of the previous season. A huge factor responsible for this is his excellent heading ability.

Mane is the effective forward in this Liverpool team and always finds himself in the box for most of the deliveries from the Liverpool full-backs. He will be raring to make his mark against his old club Southampton and kick-start his goal tally in this Premier League season

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