This article is part of our The Armband series.
The first international break is always the hardest, coming after just three weeks of action. We spent the entire summer waiting for the return of the Premier League season and then get it pulled away after what seems like days later. But we're back and things are normal for Gameweek 4 with a couple big headlining matches from Man City against Liverpool to Everton hosting Spurs.
The early gameweeks have been dominated by Manchester United, but they may face their toughest test yet with a trip to Stoke-on-Trent. It doesn't look difficult from the outside, but Stoke are never a fun team to play due to their physical style, and they already held down Arsenal 1-0 at home. Giving the armband to the likes of Romelu Lukaku or any of their midfielders will take hours of contemplation, though there aren't many more matchups that stand out. Because of that, a lot of fantasy bosses will simply look at Lukaku's total output and automatically captain him with Stoke on the other side.
Arsenal have not looked good by any means, but they still scored four times in their only home match against Leicester. Alexis Sanchez returned last match and played 61 minutes, though he'd certainly be a gamble having just played Tuesday for Chile. Alexandre Lacazette may be an even bigger stretch, but he didn't start for France and last played Sunday. Either way, home against Bournemouth should produce multiple goals.
I'm not sold on Liverpool's defense away from home, so Man City should still be considered as the Reds gave up three at Watford in their opening away trip. David Silva has been the midfielder to use over Kevin De Bruyne, and maybe most importantly, Silva only played 45 minutes in Spain's win over Lichtenstein on Tuesday. There's also the question of who will start up front between Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus. Considering Aguero doesn't play as much for his national team, I'd put money on him drawing the start.
It's no longer August, but I'd still be wary of captaining Harry Kane or any of the Spurs players at Everton. The Toffees look strong early despite some difficult away matches. Even then, I'd only consider giving the armband to Christian Eriksen, especially away.
Chelsea are also not at home, with Alvaro Morata being the top option with two goals and two assists already; however, all of them came at Stamford Bridge. Eden Hazard should make his return to the lineup and would be a clever player to captain as he's still on fewer than two percent of fantasy teams. Leicester can be beat, but they've been far better at home the last two seasons.
With that, I'll go to places usually not ventured with Southampton home against Watford and Burnley hosting Crystal Palace. Brighton (v. West Brom), Swansea (v. Newcastle) and West Ham (v. Huddersfield) could also be considered, with Chicharito the only possibility, as he has at least two shots in every match and hasn't played at home yet.
It's unlikely anyone will want to captain the likes of Manolo Gabbiadini, Dusan Tadic or anyone from Burnley. As a positive, Gabbiadini has seven shots (only one on goal) in two home matches, while Tadic has six shots (three on goal) and 13 crosses. A true differential could be Nathan Redmond, who has 11 shots (two on goal) in the first three matches to go with nine chances created.
Needless to say, it's a grab bag for captain choices this weekend.
