Captaincy options for Gameweek 20 – Darwin Nunez to star for Liverpool, Cole Palmer a popular choice

THE captaincy conversation has rarely been so open this Dream Team season.

With Erling Haaland (£7.9m), Mohamed Salah (£6.7m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.8m), Jarrod Bowen (£5.5m) and Son Heung-min (£4.8m) among the considerable number of players flagged as unavailable, gaffers may have to think outside the box.

Allow us to make the case for some potential skippers for Gameweek 20.

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Darwin Nunez (£4.1m)

Liverpool’s No9 is not a safe choice by any means.

Few players in world football are capable of flitting between brilliance and farce so rapidly and his habit of squandering golden chances is an annoying one but he provides more than his far share of points and his tally of eight goals and 13 assists is more than respectable.

A 10-point haul in Gameweek 19 bumped Nunez up to sixth in the rankings among forwards and he jumps to third if we exclude unavailable assets.

With Salah and Alexander-Arnold temporarily out of commission, the Uruguay international is Liverpool’s main man in terms of total Dream Team points (154).

And it remains an opportune time to back to the table-topping Reds.

Gameweek 20 sees Jurgen Klopp’s side face Bournemouth in the league before a second Carabao Cup semi-final leg against Fulham.

It would be a helpful time for Nunez to channel his sublime side, rather than the ridiculous.

Cole Palmer (£3.6m)

The 21-year-old added 13 points to his total in Gameweek 19 but it could have been so much more had he not misplaced his shooting boots against Middlesbrough in midweek.

We’re willing to put that down as a rare off-night as Palmer has generally been superb since his transfer to Chelsea, as evidenced by his tally of eight goals and nine assists (albeit plumped by four penalties).

The Blues are still a work in progress under Mauricio Pochettino but their No20 averages 6.2 points-per-game, a rate bettered by only five midfielders (three of which are currently injured).

Chelsea have the luxury of two home fixtures in Gameweek 20 although it’s worth noting their record at Stamford Bridge is rather underwhelming this term.

They host Fulham in a West London derby on Saturday before completing their Carabao Cup semi-final against Boro on January 23rd.

The stats suggest Palmer will provide a double-digit this coming Gameweek and is therefore a worthy nominee for the captain’s armband.

Phil Foden (£5.1m)

Dream Team bosses should probably select a captain with two fixtures in Gameweek 20 but one only has to look at Pedro Porro’s (£3.5m) 20-point haul in Gameweek 19 (the joint highest among all players) to see that one favourable match-up is enough for an in-form talent if everything clicks.

And boy is Manchester City’s resident wonderkid in form!

The England international has amassed 38 points across his last three outings via three goals, an assist and five bonus points.

Only three players have more points than Foden’s 193 at the time of writing and two of them, Haaland and Salah, are out of action.

Pep Guardiola’s side travel to Newcastle on Saturday in what would usually be a tricky match-up but the Magpies’ defence has looked vulnerable in recent weeks.

The underlying numbers suggest Liverpool should have put seven past Eddie Howe’s men on New Year’s Day.

If Foden and company build up a head of steam then there could be bucket-loads of points on offer.

See also: Julian Alvarez (£4.2m).

Matheus Cunha (£3.6m)

A wildcard suggestion to finish because what’s life without whimsy?

Out of all available players with two fixtures in Gameweek 20, nobody averages more points-per-game than Wolves’ No12 – fact!

Cunha earns lots of bonus points for a forward and while his goal tally of six is relatively modest, he ranks highly for assists, big chances created and tackles in his position.

Gary O’Neil’s side play Brentford and Brighton this coming Gameweek – the former are without a win since the start of December and the latter have only kept one domestic clean sheet all season.

The Brazilian appears in just 1.7% of teams but the stats suggest he’s a smart option for Gameweek 20 and maybe even a worthy captain.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk