Captaincy options for Gameweek 12: Bruno Fernandes and Mohamed Salah lead nominees

IT’S once again time for Dream Team managers to select their captain (and vice captain) for the Gameweek ahead.

Gameweek 12 is set to feature a full round of Premier League fixtures as well as the continuation of the European competitions in midweek, meaning double headers for Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea.

We strong advise gaffers to pick a captain who is likely to play twice – let’s run through the strongest candidates.

Dream Team bosses who have opted to double Mohamed Salah’s (£7.3m) points in recent weeks have gained ground on those who have remained loyal to Erling Haaland (£8.6m).

Liverpool’s main man has matched or bettered the Norwegian poacher’s score for four consecutive Gameweeks.

And there’s every chance he’ll extend that streak to five with Arne Slot’s side due to face 20th-placed Southampton this weekend.

The Reds will then welcome Real Madrid to Anfield in midweek.

Los Blancos are the kings of the Champions League as 15-time winners but they’ve already been beaten by Lille and Milan in this season’s competition – a trip to Merseyside comes at a bad time for Jude Bellingham and company.

As for Haaland, he’s due to face Spurs and Feyenoord and could easily plunder plentiful points, especially with the North Londoners missing key defenders through injury.

But it’s simply true that Pep Guardiola’s side are in a bad moment having lost four games on the spin.

Salah is seemingly the logical choice for Gameweek 12.

Elsewhere, many gaffers will be tempted to stick the armband on Bruno Fernandes (£6.1m).

The Red Devils’ skipper is both Dream Team’s most in-form player right now and the most popular recruit ahead of Gameweek 12’s deadline.

Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge of Man United comes away to Ipswich, quickly followed by a Europa League meeting with plucky Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt at Old Trafford.

All things considered, that’s a favourable double header for the former Sporting tactician and so there’s every chance Fernandes continues his fine form.

The 30-year-old notched more points than any other player in Gameweek 11 and that alone makes him a viable captaincy option.

Some gaffers will be tempted to captain Cole Palmer (£6.2m) now the Chelsea talisman is expected to be available for the Blues’ trip to Leicester on Saturday.

However, please be aware that the reigning PFA Young Player of the Year will not feature against Heidenheim on Thursday night because he is not part of Chelsea’s Conference League for the league phase.

In fact, Enzo Maresca tends to rotate pretty much his entire starting line-up for European games.

That’s not to say Palmer isn’t capable of a big double-digit haul against the Foxes, he’s produced several such performances in the last year, but gaffers aiming to play the odds by targeting two fixtures in Gameweek 12 will have to look elsewhere.

Bukayo Saka (£6.6m) is usually a relative popular captain but Arsenal’s No7 is an availability doubt at this stage.

Plus, high-flying Nottingham Forest and Sporting CP is a deceptively tricky double header on current form.

Other nominees to consider include Alejandro Garnacho (£4.1m), Luis Diaz (£4.6m) and Dominic Solanke (£4.3m) but it looks to be between Salah, Fernandes and Haaland for captain this time around.

Elect your skipper for Gameweek 12 before Saturday’s 11:30am deadline.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk