Palmer or Salah for captain? FPL tips & team of the week

There’s a big call to be made this week in Fantasy Premier League as the two highest-owned players compete for the captain’s armband.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (owned by 71.9% of players) and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (60.7%) are the two main choices.

Do you play safe with Salah, the man who rarely fails to deliver at home against a typically decent Newcastle defense but who leaked four against Manchester City and three against Nottingham Forest on Sunday?

Or take a chance on a poor Southampton side that is sending goals at home against a Palmer-of-form team?

Both make this week’s team – but who will be skipper?

Truly abysmal with no Salah, Bournemouth triple-up flopping and only Kaoru Mitoma returning. Just 26 points.

Alphonse Areola, West Ham, goalkeeper, £4.2m – Leicester City (h)

This week’s double West Ham defense is all about Leicester City, a struggling club.

In eight of their previous eleven games, the visitors have not scored. That is terrible, but West Ham did a good job of keeping a clean sheet last time at Arsenal.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, West Ham, £4.4m – Leicester City (h)

Wan-Bissaka has two goals and three assists in his best offensive season since 2020-21, which is not particularly high-upside.

He had a fantastic game against Arsenal, and he has the most bonus points in the league, nine more than Max Kilman, who is next with five.

Patrick Dorgu, Manchester United, £4.5m – Ipswich Town (h)

The young Dane was United’s most impressive player in the topsy-turvy draw at Everton, with 17 final-third touches and four crosses.

If Ruben Amorim uses him as he does, making him essentially a left-winger, he will likely get attacking returns, and a clean sheet might come along with it if United ever decide to get their act together defensively.

Marc Cucurella, Chelsea, £5.1m – Southampton (h)

Chelsea feel like the obvious clean sheet shout this week, at home against the league’s lowest scorers.

The issue is that they lack a large number of trustworthy defensive options.

Bryan Mbeumo, Brentford, £8m – Everton (h)

What was I thinking, leaving Mbeumo out of the team of the week last time as he scored 14 points away at Leicester?

With David Moyes’ side having drawn two 2-2 draws in their previous three games, he is now 11 points clear of Palmer for the season. This week’s game against Everton could turn into another bonanza.

Mohamed Salah (vice captain), Liverpool, £13.7m – Newcastle (h)

After a one-week rest, Salah is back in this week but no captain’s armband for the Egyptian.

Why? Although there is a risk, Newcastle has the potential to hold things together, and Palmer’s victory over Southampton is too important to ignore.

If you have both and are more cautious with risk, you might as well stick with Salah.

Cole Palmer (captain), Chelsea, £11.1m – Southampton (h)

In FPL you either play the form or the fixtures, and ideally both.

Palmer, who has only had one assist in his past five games and appears out of sorts, is undoubtedly a fixture choice this week.

However, Salah is the only player with the same explosive potential as this, who has eight double-digits this year.

Chelsea can certainly get three or four goals here, and Saints conceded four at home to Brighton last week, and Palmer will likely play a part in some of those goals.

Pedro Neto, Chelsea, £6.2m – Southampton (h)

You have to assume that Enzo Maresca will give Neto another start since he was Chelsea’s most impressive attacking player at Aston Villa.

Neto has had a slow start to his career, but he was unlucky not to score on Saturday when he passed the eye test.

Jarrod Bowen, West Ham, £7.3m – Leicester (h)

It’s simple to make the winning combination for West Ham against Leicester.

Beto, Everton, £5m – Brentford (a)

The Guinea-Bissau striker has 35 points in four games, which is incredible, and his price makes him a great enabler when you want to equip your team with premium assets.

In the draw against Manchester United, he only scored once, but it’s possible there were more.

There is nothing to worry about when you travel to Brentford, which has the worst defensive record among the bottom five.

Matheus Cunha, Wolves, £6.9m – Fulham (h)

Cunha, who has scored in his last three games, may have won the FPL title in the coming weeks.

After this one, the Brazilian faces Everton, Southampton, West Ham and Ipswich.

Even his later matches against Tottenham, Manchester United, and Leicester might be beneficial.

Dean Henderson, Crystal Palace, goalkeeper, £4.5m – Aston Villa (h)

Daniel Munoz, Crystal Palace, defender, £4.9m – Aston Villa (h)

Joao Pedro, Brighton, striker, £5.4m – Bournemouth (h)

Rayan Ait-Nouri, Wolves, defender, £4.7m – Fulham (h)

Chido Obi, Manchester United, striker, £4.5m

Rasmus Hojlund has two league goals while Joshua Zirkzee has three, but United’s strikers have been terrible this year.

If Ruben Amorim gave Obi, 17, a chance to start in the team after making two substitute appearances so far, it would not come as a shock.

Wolves – Fulham (h), Everton (h), Southampton (a)

Wolves have a fantastic run of games in store, as Cunha and I mentioned above.