This article is part of our The Armband series.
It doesn't feel like Gameweek 14 even happened, but here we are, deciding on our Gameweek 15 captain. Outside of the Spurs loss, the midweek matches went about as expected. The only fantasy owners (me) that ran into an issue were the ones who captained Eden Hazard, who managed nine minutes off the bench, or Sergio Aguero, who started but didn't score.
Harry Kane grabbed a late goal, Romelu Lukaku added an assist, Kevin De Bruyne continued to dominate and Alexis Sanchez scored one of his side's five goals. And to not be forgotten, Mohamed Salah came off the bench to play 23 minutes and recorded a brace. That's the kind of thing midweek matches are made of.
But with eight of 10 matches for Gameweek 15 on Saturday, there will undoubtedly be more changes to lineups. Unfortunately, we still can't predict the future, making captain selection harder than usual.
Chelsea at home against Newcastle is one of the main matches to look at even though the Blues have only scored 10 goals at home in league play. I'm a little more confident that Hazard will make the starting XI unless Antonio Conte truly doesn't like him. One of my top captain options in midweek, Hazard has scored three goals and assisted on three more in his last five starts. If you have the choice, I'd take him over teammate Alvaro Morata, who shoots and creates less when Hazard is in the lineup. Chelsea have one of the better shots at a clean sheet, making Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta possible options, as well.
Spurs are at Watford and outside of Kane, I can't trust anyone else on the team. Tottenham have dropped below Burnley in the table and have just three goals in their last five league matches. A better idea would be to look to Liverpool, who are rolling with four wins in their last five, including two away. The only worry is that Brighton, playing at home, would like this to be another scoreless draw having allowed five goals in their last seven matches. Still, I'm not sure Salah can be stopped with a goal or assist in eight of his last nine appearances. The return of Sadio Mane has also helped Liverpool overall, and he's scored once and assisted thrice in his last three starts.
The match of the day may be Arsenal hosting Manchester United, but giving the armband to either side will be risky. Alexis is the best choice given his activity on the attacking end, but Jose Mourinho will be content taking one point from this match. If anything, defensive options may be better for the Gunners with Sead Kolasinac and Shkodran Mustafi. Arsenal have five clean sheets in their last six at home.
The last big club is the best one, with Man City at home against West Ham. City have kind of taken their foot off the pedal in recent matches but continue to win, even if it comes at the last second. That won't stop me from backing them because the Hammers have allowed a league-high 19 goals on the road, including four Wednesday against Everton. I'm taking no part in the Sergio Aguero prediction business because he's started in the last three matches in a matter of nine days. This all comes after he fainted in international play because of a heart condition.
Instead of guessing between Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, I'll lean slightly more to de Bruyne and Leroy Sane. De Bruyne seems to start every match, and he created a season-high nine chances against Southampton. Given how West Ham's back line has performed, De Bruyne could create more than that. As for Sane, he was rested in midweek due to an illness, and if City score a couple goals, I believe he'll be around at least one. Raheem Sterling may be less talked about for captain, but he's started the last six matches for City and has scored in four of those. He continues to score at an efficient rate, and if he starts could keep on finding the back of the net against the Hammers.
For the differentials, Wayne Rooney leads the list after his hat trick Wednesday. Jamie Vardy would usually be a solid pick at home, but I'm not sure I'd go against Burnley right now. Stoke at home against Swansea is a good way to turn with Xherdan Shaqiri the best choice. He has 12 shots and seven chances created in his last four league matches.
