This article is part of our The Armband series.
There almost always seems to be one team that doesn't come through each gameweek, and the goal is to not captain a player from said team. In Gameweek 23, it was Chelsea, who failed to score at home in a draw with Leicester. For anyone who went with Eden Hazard or Alvaro Morata, it was a bad week. For those who went with Alexis Sanchez, it was a terrible week. And for those, like me, who thought Jesse Lingard could continue scoring, it was an unlucky week.
As for the 48 percent of fantasy Premier League owners who roster Harry Kane, things couldn't have gone better. He didn't lead the week, but he was one of the only big names to come through with another brace. No disrespect to Marko Arnautovic, who may be the hottest player in the league.
And that's where I'll start for Gameweek 24, with West Ham hosting Bournemouth. I usually start with the bigger clubs, but West Ham drew my attention at home against a side that has given up eight goals in their last three away matches. The Hammers are also playing extremely well, scoring at least two goals in five of their last six league matches. Arnautovic has been a big reason for that with five goals and three assists in his last five starts. Manuel Lanzini isn't far behind, but he still only has three goals and five assists for the entire season, so I'm not entrusting my armband with him.
Kane is the most reasonable captain, but he remains boom or bust with multiple goals scored the last four matches in which he's found the back of the net. It helps that he has 16 shots on goal in his last four starts, and there are plenty of forwards who don't have that many in total (Jamie Vardy has 16 in 22 starts). If you hate going with the trend, Son Heung-Min has taken over as the top Spurs midfielder due to getting better looks in front of net than Christian Eriksen. Son has been one of the most consistent players this season and has seven goals and four assists in his last 10 league starts. And I'm not sure playing on the road is a huge factor since Southampton have just two points from their last four at St. Mary's.
Man City are expected to bounce back after falling on their faces at Anfield. That's a reasonable assumption given that they've scored at least three goals in eight of their last 10 home league matches and I'm not sure Newcastle will stop that trend. After a nice start to the campaign, Sergio Aguero hasn't made many headlines in the fantasy world, surpassing six fantasy points in just one of his last eight starts. While that's the case, I don't feel comfortable not backing Aguero at home since he has three goals and an assist in his last two at the Etihad. Kevin De Bruyne is always in contention for the armband, but he has just three shots on goal in his last five matches, while Raheem Sterling provides more upside with five goals in his last five starts.
The other home side to back will be Arsenal, though I'm not sure how people feel about them without Alexis. I'm more inclined to look elsewhere, especially since Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil are even harder to trust without Alexis to work with.
Chelsea (at Brighton), Man United (at Burnley) and Liverpool (at Swansea) are all on the road and need to be sorted out. Of the three home sides, Brighton are most in form even if their recent competition has been weak. I'm also hesitant to back Hazard or Morata since Chelsea have failed to score in their last three matches in all competitions.
Burnley have tripped up in recent play and also lost by a combined 5-1 scoreline at home to both Tottenham and Liverpool. Finding the right player may be difficult, however. Lingard either scores or fails to get a shot on net, making his floor low. Paul Pogba could be easiest to trust for the Red Devils now with back-to-back matches with two assists. While he doesn't get many shots on net, he's always creating in the middle, similar to De Bruyne for Man City. Most will flock to Romelu Lukaku as the team's front man, but until he's consistently getting shots off like earlier in the season, I'll look elsewhere.
I'm more keen on Liverpool, which lead the league with 29 away goals this season and Swansea have faltered against any top competition. At this point, there's no reason to go against Mohamed Salah, who has a goal or assist in 10 of his last 11 league starts. Roberto Firmino is next on the list with five goals and three assists in his last five starts, but Philippe Coutinho.
For the smaller clubs, Everton and Leicester are the best places to look for a captain. Cenk Tosun is a hot name now that he's leading Everton's attack, and little can be taken away from last weekend's drubbing at Tottenham. For the Foxes, Riyad Mahrez has made the score sheet in six of his last eight starts, which puts him a level above Vardy.
