This article is part of our The Armband series.
Outside of Swansea beating Liverpool at Anfield, everything went as expected in Gameweek 22. That is, if you didn't captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Romelu Lukaku or Olivier Giroud. Favorite options such as Alexis Sanchez, Diego Costa and Roberto Firmino all found the back of the net, while anyone that went defensive was most likely rewarded, whether through Chris Brunt or Marcos Alonso. Even Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny scored and assisted despite the Gunners not having a clean sheet.
The real issue is to find out what happened with Liverpool. Are the Reds falling apart, or are Swansea secretly good? The Swans have a weird home-away differential in their last five matches. At home, they have scored one goal to 11 allowed. On the road, they have scored five and allowed three, resulting in two wins. Because of that, I'll stay away from captaining Gylfi Sigurdsson (and Master of the Brace, Fernando Llorente) against Southampton this week.
The best thing from last weekend may have been the Manchester City-Tottenham result, with both sides scoring twice. Dele Alli scored yet again with Harry Kane assisting, and Kevin De Bruyne returning to life with a goal and assist. I've been down on De Bruyne for a while, but if this form continues, he'll make it back in my rankings.
Getting to Gameweek 23, the matches take place on Tuesday and Wednesday because of Cup fixtures throughout the entire week. It's notable that Man United, Hull, Southampton and Liverpool all play in midweek League Cup matches then FA Cup matches over the weekend. That equals three matches in a period of seven or eight days for those clubs, which means roster monitoring will be important. Southampton probably have it the worst at Liverpool, v. Arsenal and then at Swansea. Liverpool are at Anfield for all three, while Man United and Hull meet twice in that period.
Based on matchups alone, Arsenal and Man United have the best routes for success. That means Giroud and Alexis will again be the top options. Giroud can be a great play when he connects on crosses, but as seen last match, that doesn't always happen. Alexis finished with six more shots than Giroud in the win over Burnley, so that's where I'll lean here. There's no question about whom to captain for the Red Devils with Ibra still the guy. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever trust Paul Pogba for fantasy purposes.
Kane and Alli should once again be in captain crosshairs, even with a trip to the Stadium of Light. Spurs are playing well and I wouldn't bet against them right now. Kane and Alli barely touched the ball last match, yet still found ways to beat Claudio Bravo.
Everton are on the road yet again and I'm once again off the captaining Lukaku bandwagon. One match in which he didn't have a shot on goal against Crystal Palace was all I needed to see. I'd actually rather captain Leighton Baines or Seamus Coleman, as the clean sheet possibility remains for a back line that hasn't allowed a goal in four of its last five matches.
Liverpool against Chelsea will be a fun match, but I'm not willing to bet what will happen. The Reds will likely look like a different team than last weekend, but beating Chelsea at the moment is a tall task. Either way, Costa seems to score in every match he plays, so he's in the debate, as well. However, Sergio Aguero is not in the debate at West Ham. The Hammers have been in form of late and only allowed five goals in their last six matches. De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling are the best options now, with Aguero nursing a cold streak.
This week could be full great differential plays with Bournemouth against Crystal Palace, Burnley hosting Leicester and Swansea welcoming Southampton. Unfortunately, the hard part is picking the right player and, as said above, the Swans are as inconsistent as they come. The Bournemouth match should feature goals, but no one wants to captain Callum Wilson. Instead I'll turn to Burnley, who have won their last four home matches in league play. With Leicester struggling, Andre Gray is one of my top options, while Ashley Barnes will be the player that scores and no one captains.
