It was a mixed bag of results look back at our Double Gameweek 29 captain picks. Whilst Bukayo Saka (£8.6m) frustratingly failed to record an attacking return despite his Arsenal side winning 4-1 at home to Leeds, Kaoru Mitoma (£5.6m) accrued successive 7-point-scores against Brentford and Bournemouth respectively, a goal and an assist across those two fixtures helping him to score 14 points overall. Marcus Rashford (£7.3m) left it until his second match of the gameweek to get on the scoresheet, but did so vs Brentford which parachuted his Double Gameweek 29 total up to 12 points. The less said about differential pick James Maddison (£8.3m), the better!
We now revert back to the normal format with each club playing once in Gameweek 30 in what is a single round of fixtures. As usual, we pick out a selection of names who warrant captaincy consideration, alongside more of a risky differential pick ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 deadline.
PREMIUM OPTIONS
Erling Haaland (£12.0m) vs SOU (a)
Injury kept Erling Haaland (£12.0m) out of action in Double Gameweek 29, but the Man City forward has since returned to training and surely stands a good chance of being named in the starting line-up in Gameweek 30, which sees Pep Guardiola’s side face Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium, a must win encounter for Man City on a ground where the reigning champions have already lost this season in the Carabao Cup.
Haaland remains comfortably the highest scoring FPL asset of the entire player-base and is the only player to have past 200 fantasy points as it stands. With 28 goals and six assists in the Premier League alone and has passed 40 goals in all competitions across the season already, becoming only the sixth Premier League player to do so. His captaincy credentials speak for themselves.
Kevin De Bruyne (£12.0m) vs SOU (a)
Erling Haaland isn’t the only premium Man City asset making a case for himself to be named as your FPL skipper in Gameweek 30. Kevin De Bruyne (£12.0m) has been back performing at his brilliant best lately and comes into this one having racked up two goals and four assists over the course of Man City’s last three fixtures in all competitions, Guardiola’s men netting a whopping 17 goals across those three matches.
De Bruyne’s creativity will be important against a Southampton side who have regained a significant amount of defensive stability since Ruben Selles took interim charge. On the back of a goal, assist and 11 fantasy points in Man City’s 4-1 triumph against Liverpool, the Belgian star would make an ideal captain, especially when taking into account his premium price-tag and ownership, with a quarter of FPL managers boasting De Bruyne among their respective squads.
Harry Kane (£11.7m) vs BRI (H)
Harry Kane (£11.7m) remains Spurs’ shining light within a shower of mediocrity and following consecutive draws, it feels like only Kane’s goals are keeping the North-London club in among the race for a top four finish. England’s newly crowned top goal-scorer has scored five times across Spurs’ most recent five Premier League fixtures and also boasts 26 FPL points over the course of the last three gameweeks.
A tough assignment is in prospect for managerless Spurs in Gameweek 30 as in-form Brighton visit the capital. A goal from Kane was all that separated the two teams in the reverse fixture, but the Seagulls are a significantly stronger attacking side compared to back then. Kane though, with 189 fantasy points is very much a ‘fixture-proof’ option for FPL managers and those unsure about Haaland’s fitness, are likely to earmark Kane as their Gameweek 30 captain.
DIFFERENTIAL OPTION
Leandro Trossard (£6.7m) vs LIV (a)
Since joining Arsenal from Brighton this past January, Leandro Trossard (£6.7m) has settled in well to life at the Gunners and has recently broken into the starting line-up. The Belgian is proving quite the assist-machine having accumulated four assists and 25 FPL points since Gameweek 27 and whilst a number of other Arsenal players attract more attention from a fantasy perspective, Trossard looks quite the differential.
A tough encounter for Arsenal in Gameweek 30 sees them take on Liverpool at Anfield, not a happy hunting ground down the years for the Premier League leaders. But a very happy hunting ground for Trossard, who scored a hat-trick there for Brighton earlier in the season. From a captaincy point of view, he could well be that differential pick that those FPL managers looking to make up ground desperately need.
