Captaincy & Booster options for Gameweek 30: Has Phil Foden become the default skipper?

DREAM TEAM managers have some big decisions to make before the Gameweek 30 deadline.

The landscape of the game has changed dramatically after what was an explosive Gameweek 29 with many gaffers tempted to switch up their captaincy strategy.

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Erling Haaland (£7.4m) has long been the go-to skipper for reasons that don’t need to be repeated but Manchester City’s No9 produced just two points in Gameweek 29.

The stalemate between Pep Guardiola’s side and Arsenal at the Etihad yielded slim pickings before the Norwegian poacher was rested/dropped against Aston Villa in midweek.

Haaland will surely retake his place in the starting line-up when the defending champions take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday and he’ll almost certainly lead the line away to Real Madrid on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old has scored 29 goals in all competitions this season and remains a potent threat but he hasn’t looked his sharpest in recent outings (famous last words).

And so some Dream Team bosses may feel it’s time to pivot to Phil Foden (£5.7m) when selecting their captain.

The England international is enjoying a magnificent season, cemented by a glorious hat-trick against Unai Emery’s side in midweek.

He’s registered 20 goals, 11 assists and 50 bonus points.

Most notably, Foden is now Dream Team’s outright top performer in 2023/24 having improved his overall total to 321 points with a 27-point return in Gameweek 29.

For that reason alone he has to be considered a strong captaincy choice going forward.

Mohamed Salah (£6.7m) is the other name who deserves an obligatory mention in this discussion.

Liverpool’s main man delivered 15 points in Gameweek 29 but many gaffers were disappointed to see him replaced after 60 minutes against Sheffield United last time out.

The Reds face old enemies Manchester United this weekend before hosting Atalanta in the Europa League quarter-finals in midweek.

Given the state of the Red Devils’ defence of late, Salah could fill his boots.

The fact Liverpool theoretically have more favourable European fixtures on account of them participating in the Europa League instead of the Champions League also boosts Salah’s captaincy credentials.

Cole Palmer (£4.6m) added a whopping 44 points to his tally in Gameweek 29 and he’ll be licking his lips at the prospect of taking on relegation-bound Sheffield United this weekend.

Chelsea’s top scorer would arguably be the standout captaincy option were it not for the additional fixtures in midweek – some gaffers may feel he’s capable of a suitably big haul on Sunday to justify the armband.

A word for Jarrod Bowen (£4.9m) and Mohammed Kudus (£5m) too.

West Ham also have two fixtures to fulfil this coming Gameweek although their Europa League meeting with Bayer Leverkusen is a daunting prospect – the Bundesliga champions elect remain undefeated in 2023/24.

If we had to rank the top three captaincy options for Gameweek 30 we’d probably settle on:

1. Salah
2. Foden
3. Haaland

But there’s really not much between the big names at all this time around.

In terms of Booster strategies, the difficult Champions League match-ups for Arsenal and Manchester City makes it tricky to assemble a viable Park the Bus defence without a relatively high degree of risk.

That being said, the Gunners’ defensive statistics look better and better with each passing week – they kept Man City at bay at the Etihad for crying out loud.

It’s not a bad time to activate Max Captain by any means – this Booster would partially negate the unpredictable nature of the European games.

As for 12th Man, there will almost certainly be more inviting Gameweeks for this Booster down the line.

Lock in your transfers, captain and any Boosters you wish to play before Saturday’s 11:30am deadline.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk