Captaincy Picks 2019/20: FPL Gameweek 29
Picking the right captain in FPL can make or break your season and has a massive impact on your final overall rank come the end of the season. We attempt to ease the burden of any potential captaincy stress by offering a host of worthy selections ahead of each Gameweek - an Essential that is voted by the FPL Community, an alternative of our choosing, a Dark Horse who might spring a surprise, and a lowly selected Differential - to cover the bases. All aboard.
Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 29 Deadline
For the 2019/20 Premier League season, the FPL deadline will be one hour before the commencement of the week's first game. Our website provides a real-world countdown timer for the the upcoming Gameweek, whilst you can read our latest Fantasy articles from the season on our 2019/20 FPL weekly hype sub-section.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE ESSENTIAL PICK
Our Essential picks for captain are selected each and every week on our main Twitter account, @RealHypeTrain, with four highly selected FPL options battling it out for alpha status amongst fellow FPL players.
Gameweek 29: Essential Captain
Player: Mohamed Salah (LIV)
Position: Midfielder
Fixture: Bournemouth (H)
Player Price: £12.8 million
Player Selection %: 44.5%
Captaincy poll results:
Reason for victory:
It's been a torrid couple of weeks for Liverpool and has been well documented across every social and web platform that The Reds are looking off the boil. The short winter break looks to have thrown Jurgen Klopp's side right off their axis, with defeats against Atletico Madrid, Watford and Chelsea in quick succession across a trio of competitions.
Developments with Gameweek 29's last-minute addition of Man City hosting Arsenal has thrown our captaincy poll to the poll, which means our alternative pick will focus on the upcoming Double Gameweek, whilst we're honouring the results from our poll with Mohamed Salah winning out yet again.
A home game against relegation threatened Bournemouth on paper looks a comfortable afternoon for Liverpool, especially as Klopp's side enjoy playing Bournemouth, with the home side for Saturday's early kick-off winning 7 of their 9 appearances against The Cherries in the Premier League, including their last 5 outings against Eddie Howe's side.
There is a lot of precaution we'd like to air with this fixture. Liverpool play Atletico Madrid next Wednesday in a crunch Champions League last-16 tie, with Liverpool trailing 1-0 after the first-leg. Rotation might occur, though we'd think that Klopp will play his first-team on Saturday to get the squad up to scratch for the task, only removing his star players when the job is done.
Further precaution is due to the early kick-off, a fixture that we typically avoid when considering our captaincy choices. Games are often sluggish and can be low-scoring, so there's a question mark on how a tired-looking Liverpool side might equip themselves against a side desperate and with nothing to lose. Either Bournemouth will draw out a big performance for Liverpool, or like what happened in the recent West Ham fixture, the game will prove to be a struggle.
Steering on the side of a more positive note, Salah was largely rested during the 2-0 FA Cup loss at Chelsea, meaning he looks an assured option to start the game. A pair of blanks from his last 3 fixtures though might have many second-guessing a Liverpool captain at home, especially in light of the Double Gameweek that features the likes of Sergio Aguero and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE ALTERNATIVE PICK
Our Alternative selection for captain typically commands a smaller FPL ownership percentage than our Essential poll winner, though this pick is usually reserved for The Hype Train's own gut instincts on who could be captaincy inspiration for the upcoming Gameweek.
Gameweek 29: Alternative Captain
Player: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (ARS)
Position: Forward
Fixtures: West Ham (H) and Man City (A)
Player Price: £11.0 million
Player Selection %: 22.9%
Reason for selection:
A late Double Gameweek entry has thrown some planning by many FPL players right out the window as Arsenal and Man City find themselves playing twice this Gameweek - a game rearranged due to Man City's involvement in the Carabao Cup final against Aston Villa.
Thinking on our feet, with just the brace of teams locking horns, Man City are currently making it hard to trust any of their players due to a multitude of factors. Firstly, Kevin De Bruyne has picked up a shoulder injury and is a doubt for the game at Old Trafford on Sunday - though we're unaware if this is purely a Pep Guardiola tactic to throw off the scent of his team selection for the Manchester derby. Secondly, rotation is rife throughout City's squad and this will be the case as long as City juggle their lofty Champions League expectations this season.
With Real Madrid coming up in a week's time, combined with their creative spark KDB a doubt, and nothing left to play for in the Premier League already (let that sink in - it's only Gameweek 29), the only assured option that looks indispensible from the team is Ederson. Everyone else is fair game for rotation, which weridly puts Arsenal in a prominant position for Double Gameweek 29's festivities.
Leading Golden Boot contender, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has found the back of the net 17 times in 25 games, is the FPL fans favourite to be your leading man with the armband, even though a visit to City is on the horizon. After going 3 goals without a game, Auba has scored 3 times in his last 2 fixtures, which is the perfect pre-Gameweek meal for success.
Arsenal, unlike City, aren't weighted down by European adventures after The Gunners were masterminded by Greek outfit Olympiacos in the Europa League, meaning the chase for a Champions League spot is the main priority for Mikel Arteta's side now this campaign.
With West Ham making the short trip across the capital, we're sure Auba's worth it just for his involvement at home, whilst a trip to a potentially rotation-prone City, might work out in Auba's favour as Arsenal look to turn draws in to wins. Auba is of course the only option to trust in this capacity as a captain, with Pepe, Ozil and Lacazette all on the fringes of player contention.
If you're in a tight race in your mini-leagues, or just want keep pace, the move to Auba might be an essential tactic, even if the Gabon international plays a solitary minute of the next 180 available.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE DARK HORSE PICK
A new captaincy selection this season sees us introduce a Dark Horse pick, which will be a player who typically has a good scoring record against an opposing team, or a player in good form that is being overlooked due to other popular captaincy picks.
Gameweek 29: Dark Horse Captain
Player: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (EVE)
Position: Forward
Fixture: Chelsea (A)
Player Price: £6.4 million
Player Selection %: 15.7%
Reason for selection:
Retaining his place in our captaincy article this week is Everton's hot-shot attacker, Dominiv Calvert-Lewin, who is the one player living off insane momentum right now, with his hype looking to be realised as he chances down a place in Gareth Southgate's Euro 2020 squad.
Goals in 5 of his last 6 appearances (with 8 in his last Premier League apps), including against Champions League chasing Arsenal (GW27) and Man United (GW28) highlights that DCL can find the net against most calibre opposition in the league, meaning a visit to Chelsea this weekend shouldn't deter potential suitors.
Everton's Fixture List:
GW29: Chelsea (A)
GW30: Liverpool (H)
GW31: No fixture
GW32: Leicester (H)
GW33: Spurs (A)
Everton don't have Europe to complicate matters, are the one team who could derail the Champions League big of established 'Top 6' outfits and if form is bettered on their own end, could end up challenging for a place in continental competition last season. The fixture away at Chelsea is the perfect dark horse pick as it's a good test in theory, though form often finds a way and having conceded in 6 straight league games, there will no doubt be opportunities for DCL to add to his 13-goal tally in the capital.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE DIFFERENTIAL PICK
Our Wildcard selection is one of the ten differential picks that is featured in our Weekly Wildcard Differentials article. This captaincy selection has a very small percentage of owners in the FPL, and is our left-field option.
Gameweek 29: Differential Captain
Player: Marcos Alonso (CHE)
Position: Defender
Fixture: Everton (H)
Player Price: £6.0 million
Player Selection %: 3.1%
Reason for selection:
Each week in our Differentials article, Sam Austin profiles a differential captain and has opted for Chelsea's resurrected left-back, Marcos Alonso, to lead the line during Double Gameweek 29's action. You can read the article by clicking here, as well as by interacting with the embedded tweet below.
Want to know more about The Hype Train?
The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015, specialising in Fantasy sports reporting, starting with Fantasy Premier League (FPL), before expanding to MLS Fantasy coverage in 2018.
We pride ourselves in providing beautiful graphics, statistics, in-depth analytical reporting and free weekly insight for hopeful players attempting to climb rankings tables. We are also occasional media reviewers, with a keen interest to review games, live sport, and professional wrestling.
In 2019, Hype Train Football Club was formed, becoming the first Fantasy Football website to take to the field. HTFC is a socially active team across social and web channels, providing regular match highlights, match reports, comprehensive player statistics and unique player profiles.
The Hype Train were nominated and shortlisted for the 'Best Football Blog' in 2016 by the Football Bloggers Association at their annual Football Blogging Awards (The FBA's), and were again shortlisted as a finalist in 2019 in the 'Best Fantasy Football Blog' category.
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All aboard.
