Mohamed Salah (captain), Liverpool, £12.9m – away at Southampton
The way Salah is producing right now, giving him the captain’s armband is a no-brainer.
He has seven double-digit returns in 11 games so far, which is amazing. A pessimist would say that he cannot continue at that rate of production; If he does, he will achieve a season record 369 points, but an away game at Southampton doesn’t look like it will be an obstacle.
Salah has many routes to production. The last week of play was classic Mo: the non-owners escaped with fair an assist, with Villa chasing the game and the Egyptian taking advantage of a counterattack to score with his only shot on goal later.
Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United, £8.4m – away at Ipswich
With the same reasoning as Salah, I’m taking Fernandes, who is a fit man and has produced little based on his underlying stats.
Week 11’s 17 points were yet to come and the Portuguese maestro often produces FPL points in spurts.
Dwight McNeil, Everton, £5.7m – home of Brentford
McNeil has returned to form and has been Everton’s talisman this season.
Three goals, three assists and an involvement in 60% of the goals in the games he has played.
Everton have only scored 10 this season, but if they can’t find the net against Brentford, who have the second-worst defense with 22 goals conceded, then they are in trouble.
Emile Smith Rowe, Fulham, £5.7m – home of Wolves
The former Arsenal midfielder was a player to watch during pre-season, but he is making his debut in the team of the week.
Like McNeil, ESR has become a key player for Fulham and returns approximately every other game.
He has the ability to get into the box at the right time and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he finishes the season with close to 10 goals: so far he has three in 11 games.
