With yet another double gameweek in 23, the captaincy falls to either Arsenal or Man City.
Both of Arsenal’s fixtures are played at home – Brentford (H) Man City (H) – whilst Man City face Aston Villa (H) and Arsenal (a).
Let’s discuss who is the best captain for DGW23.
Erling Haaland
- Fixtures: Aston Villa (H), Arsenal (a)
- Anytime goal: 57% and 38%
- Anytime return: 82%
Make no mistake about it, Haaland is the best captain pick for DGW23.
This will be reflected in the GW23 captaincy stats where Haaland, without question, will be the most popular captain.
He is the highest-scoring asset in the game with 25 goals and 3 assists to his name in just 20 starts.
It is no surprise that he has the highest xG in the Premier League (18.9). Furthermore, he has the highest xGI per 90 (1.24) – only beaten, just, by Darwin Nunez.
Man City first face Aston Villa who have conceded 31 goals this season (15th) and are coming off a 4-2 defeat to Leicester.
City are the most likely team to score more than 2.5 goals in GW23 (in a single match) which only furthers the appeal of their players.
He tops the list in the Fantasy Football Pundit predicted points model with a projection of 11.4 points over the two fixtures.
Kevin De Bruyne
- Fixtures: Aston Villa (H), Arsenal (a)
- Anytime goal: 27% and 18%
- Anytime return: 72%
Kevin De Bruyne (£12.4m), will certainly be one of the best assets to own for DGW23.
He has registered the most assists in the league (12), as well as scoring three goals.
The Belgian has the highest xA too (10.5), producing the most shot-creating actions (6.4) and the second most goal-creating actions per 90 (1.2).
It will be a concern to some managers that De Bruyne was benched in his last game. However, we know this was ‘tactical’ from Pep as he opts to play with a 2nd striker against teams who play with a back 3 system.
In the 31 minutes against Spurs, he created the most chances in the entire match (3).
Naturally, we should see him return to the starting lineup in this double gameweek.
Bukayo Saka
- Fixtures: Brentford (H), Man City (H)
- Anytime goal: 29% and 20%
- Anytime return: 67%
Saka (£8.3m), has 7 goals and 8 assists this season and Arsenal are statistically the 2nd best attack in the league.
Post restart, he has had 12 shots in the box and an xGI of 2.88. This has helped him achieve 35 points in his last 6 fixtures – averaging 5.8 points per game.
Saka has also had the second most goal-creating actions (15), shot-creating actions (89) and has made 47 key passes, which is the 5th highest in the league.
What sets Saka apart as an Arsenal asset is that he appears to be their first-choice penalty taker.
Arsenal face Brentford (H) and Man City (H) in DGW23 and they are yet to lose at home this season.
This bodes well for Saka as he has better underlying numbers at the Emirates in comparison to away games. He has had more shots, key passes, xA, and xG per game.
He certainly isn’t as good of a choice as Haaland but if you’re looking to gain rank then Saka is a good pick.
Martin Odegaard
- Fixtures: Brentford (H), Man City (H)
- Anytime goal: 29% and 19%
- Anytime return: 69%
Odegaard (£7.0m), ranks second for overall points as a midfielder and with the double gameweek could be a good differential captain.
He has registered 8 goals and 6 assists with an xG of 4.87 and xA of 6.13.
He ranks 10th amongst the leagues form table, scoring an impressive 42 points in his last 6 games.
The Norweigan is a nailed starter and should play close to 180 minutes throughout the double. Since the restart, he has completed 90 minutes in 4 out of the 6 league matches.
Odegaard ranks joint second (with Saka) for projected points, has a 42% chance of scoring and 69% chance of any type of return across the double.
To reiterate, Haaland is the best captain choice for DGW23.
However, if you want to go against the vast majority that will inevitably captain him, then any of De Bruyne, Saka and Odegaard are fine alternatives.