This article is part of our The Armband series.
After the madness of the holidays, it's back to a regular Premier League schedule with matches only on the weekend. At the least, it gives us more time to ponder our lineups and captain choices.
Going back to Gameweek 20, the biggest takeaways included Leighton Baines scoring another goal, cementing his spot as a top defender like old times. He has two goals, two assists and two clean sheets in the last seven matches. Dele Alli went absolutely nuts over the holidays, putting Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane talk on the backburner. Dele has a ridiculous seven goals in the last four matches after failing to score in his prior six appearances before that run. And while at a lesser rate, Olivier Giroud's resurgence can't be forgotten, scoring in all three of his starts, while tallying another against Preston North End in FA Cup action.
For the upcoming weekend, Giroud may end up being the most-added player as the Gunners travel to Swansea. Giroud was owned by fewer than five percent of the fantasy teams at the official game early in the week and that number will surely rise, as will his captaincy. On the other side of that, Alexis Sanchez has seen a dip in production with one goal and one assist in the last three matches. He's still getting chances on net, but his looks aren't as good coming in from the wing.
Dele will be picked up by plenty of fantasy bosses as well, but his matchup could be tricky, even at White Hart Lane. West Brom no-showed against Derby in the FA Cup, but the Baggies have allowed more than one goal just once in 10 road matches this season. When these clubs met the first time, Dele got the equalizer in the waning minutes.
Diego Costa has fallen off the radar a bit and will get another tough matchup at Leicester. While the Blues scored thrice in the first meeting, the Foxes are much better at King Power Stadium. Jermain Defoe continues to score after converting a couple penalties against Liverpool last match. At home against Stoke, he will get plenty of opportunities to add to his 11 goals this season.
As for the big names, Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains the safest bet of any player in the game, scoring or assisting in eight of his last nine matches. Liverpool have slipped some of late and the matchup favors Ibra playing at Old Trafford. There's no reason to bet against Ibrahimovic right now. On the other side, not much can be trusted from Liverpool with Sadio Mane away. Adam Lallana is lurking, but there are far better options.
One of those options could be Sergio Aguero, who scored as a sub last league match and added another against West Ham in the FA Cup. Everton's defense is hit-or-miss and that gives Aguero the advantage, or even the electric Raheem Sterling, who has a goal or assist in four of the last five.
For the contrarians, West Ham host Crystal Palace, but I can't bring myself to back Dimitri Payet. In favorable matchups this season, the Hammers have only disappointed and Payet is at the top of that list, having just one assist and no goals in the last five matches. Unsurprisingly, Robert Snodgrass deserves consideration once again with goals in the last two. Hull host a Middlesbrough side that hasn't won a road match since their opener. Andre Gray is back in the fold as well with four of Burnley's last six goals. They host a Southampton team that is having trouble finding an identity, losing their last three league matches and drawing at Norwich 2-2 in the FA Cup.
