<h3><strong>Have you ever wondered what the best method is for selecting a captain? </strong><strong>Is it an FPL prediction algorithm? Is it to look at anytime goal scoring odds? Is it to pick the top player in the polls? Or is it to listen to the wise words of FPL tipsters?</strong></h3>
<p>This series is all about putting these captaincy selection methods to the test.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">How does it work?</h2>
<p>We&#8217;ll be taking the <strong>top three picks</strong> according to an FPL <strong>algorithm</strong>, <strong>bookies</strong> anytime goalscoring odds, the captaincy <strong>poll</strong> and those of a <strong>special guest</strong>.</p>
<p>Each pick will be weighted so that the top pick receives 100% of their points, 2nd 85% and 3rd 70%. Each prediction method will also have one bench pick in case any of their top three doesn&#8217;t start. A <strong>running tally</strong> will be kept to find out that all-important question &#8211; which one is the best?</p>
<h2>GW30 results</h2>
<p>For the 2nd week running, The Tipsters came out on top with <a href="https://twitter.com/FPL_Connect">@FPLConnect</a> picking out Mahrez for a tidy 11 point haul.</p>
<p>The Algorithm placing <strong>Sterling</strong> above Kane looked an odd one last week. But it proved to be a good call as the English winger notched five extra points as Kane picked up an injury. <strong>Aguero</strong>&#8216;s no-show meant all bench players came into effect. This proved particularly beneficial for The Poll as Mahrez slipped into third spot and ensured it stays in front of The Bookies, who remain last, despite an <strong>Aubameyang </strong>9 point haul.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<table id="tablepress-2" class="tablepress tablepress-id-2">
<thead>
<tr class="row-1">
	<th class="column-1">GW30</th><th class="column-2">The Algorithm</th><th class="column-3">The Bookies</th><th class="column-4">The Poll</th><th class="column-5">The Tipsters</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="row-striping row-hover">
<tr class="row-2">
	<td class="column-1">Pick 1 (100%)</td><td class="column-2">Sterling (6)</td><td class="column-3">Kane (1)</td><td class="column-4">Kane (1)</td><td class="column-5">Kane (1)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-3">
	<td class="column-1">Pick 2 (85%)</td><td class="column-2">Kane (.85)</td><td class="column-3">Aubameyang (7.65)</td><td class="column-4">Salah (1.7)</td><td class="column-5">Mahrez (9.35)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-4">
	<td class="column-1">Pick 3 (70%)</td><td class="column-2">Hazard (2.1)</td><td class="column-3">Morata (0)</td><td class="column-4">Mahrez (7.7)</td><td class="column-5">Salah (1.4)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-5">
	<td class="column-1">GW30 Total </td><td class="column-2">8.95</td><td class="column-3">8.65</td><td class="column-4">10.4</td><td class="column-5">11.75</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
<tfoot>
<tr class="row-6">
	<th class="column-1">Grand Total</th><th class="column-2">26.8</th><th class="column-3">23.95</th><th class="column-4">26.45</th><th class="column-5">30.3</th>
</tr>
</tfoot>
</table>
</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">GW31 FPL Captains</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Algorithm</h3>
<p>Our resident statistician Carl has kindly agreed to put his <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/forecasting-model-fantasy-football/">super clever prediction algorithm to the test</a>. This excellent tool has been refined and developed by Carl over the season. If you&#8217;re into numbers and spreadsheets, you can read more about it <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/forecasting-model-fantasy-football/">here.</a> In the meantime, we&#8217;re going to be putting this algorithm to the test. Here are the top three picks with expected points totals:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Salah:</strong> Expected points &#8211; 8.1pts</li>
<li><strong>Mane</strong><strong>:</strong> Expected points &#8211; 5.7pts</li>
<li><strong>van Dijk:</strong> Expected points &#8211; 4.7pts</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Bench player:</strong> Roberston (4.7pts)</p>
<p>As expected, Salah leads the way. What&#8217;s slightly unexpected is the absence of <strong>Firmino </strong>in preference for <strong>van Dijk. </strong>With the Algorithm currently sitting 2nd in the captaincy challenge, could its number-crunching get this one right as well?</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Bookies</h3>
<p><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">At the back of the pach, The Bookies have some work to do to catch up. As expected, the Liverpool deadly trio feature in the top three with <strong>Firmino</strong> ousting <strong>Mane</strong> for 2nd place.</span></p>
<ol>
<li><strong style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Salah &#8211; </strong>odds: 1.53</li>
<li><strong style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Firmino &#8211; </strong>odds:<strong style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"> </strong>1.75</li>
<li><strong>Mane</strong>* odds: 1.95</li>
</ol>
<p>Bench player: Wilsons: 2.3</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Poll</h3>
<p style="text-align: center;">[democracy id=&#8221;4&#8243;]</p>
<p>Once again, <strong>Salah</strong> is sitting pretty at the top of the pile. At the time of writing, <strong>Firmino</strong> and <strong>Mane</strong> are neck and neck. If they remain so, we&#8217;ll take one of the large poll results as a decider (they currently give Firmino the edge).</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Salah</strong></li>
<li><strong>Firmino</strong></li>
<li><b>Mane</b></li>
</ol>
<p>Bench player: TBC</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">The Tipster</h3>
<p>Will The Tipsters retain their crown for a third week running?</p>
<p>This week, one of our founding <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/our-partners/">Partner</a>s – Tom from Who Got The Assist?, takes part. You can find them at <a href="https://twitter.com/WGTA_FPL">@WGTA_FPL</a> on twitter and <a href="http://whogottheassist.com/">whogottheassist.com</a> online.</p>
<h4>Who are your top 3 picks and why?</h4>
<p>Mo <strong>Salah</strong>, Mo Salah and, yeah, Mo Salah.</p>
<p>Obviously, this defeats the objectives of this week’s piece, but in the unique circumstance of the blank gameweek I don’t think either of us can see past captaining the Egyptian soon-to-be megastar against Watford this Gameweek. The man’s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a> are beyond ridiculous: despite a blank against United last week, he’s returned above appearance in 76% (22/29) of his games, and double figures in 45% (13/29). We’ve truly run out of superlatives for the Liverpool forward, so I think all that’s left to say is that it will take a very brave manager to stick his head above the parapet and captain someone else.</p>
<p>But if you are feeling lucky, here are a couple of extra choices</p>
<p>1/ <strong>Sadio Mane</strong>. Owned by just over 10%, the Senegalese is the lowest owned asset of Liverpool’s “Fab Three” with many (including ourselves at WGTA) opting for Virgil Van Dijk or maybe Andy Robertson as a defensive representative from the Reds. This turns Mane into a potent differential, especially if we factor in his penchant for goalscoring rather than assisting (which also means he’s a bit of a bonus-phobe!) A cheeky armband on him could work wonders – provided he outscores his Egyptian counterpart.</p>
<p>2/ <strong>Steve Mounie</strong>. What a barren wasteland of a Gameweek we’re putting forward a Huddersfield forward who blanked last week [laughing emoji]. However, an astonishing 8 shots in one game versus Swansea, and an average of an attempt every 29 minutes at home this season, suggest that goals are likely. A 15 pointer at home to Bournemouth in Gameweek 27 (1 goal and 2 assists) is another thing to hang our hat on. Could the former Montpelier man come through for those brave enough to toss him the armband?</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Salah</strong></li>
<li><strong>Mane</strong></li>
<li><strong>Mounie</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>Bench: Roberto Firmino</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Summary Table</h3>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<table id="tablepress-3" class="tablepress tablepress-id-3">
<thead>
<tr class="row-1">
	<th class="column-1">GW31</th><th class="column-2">The Algorithm</th><th class="column-3">The Bookies</th><th class="column-4">The Poll</th><th class="column-5">The Tipsters</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="row-striping row-hover">
<tr class="row-2">
	<td class="column-1">Pick 1 (100%)</td><td class="column-2">Salah (29)</td><td class="column-3">Salah (29)</td><td class="column-4">Salah (29)</td><td class="column-5">Salah (29)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-3">
	<td class="column-1">Pick 2 (85%)</td><td class="column-2">Mane (5.1)</td><td class="column-3">Firmino (5.95)</td><td class="column-4">Firmino (5.95)</td><td class="column-5">Mane (5.1)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-4">
	<td class="column-1">Pick 3 (70%)</td><td class="column-2">VVD (4.2)</td><td class="column-3">Mane (4.2)</td><td class="column-4">Mane (4.2)</td><td class="column-5">Mounie (1.4)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-5">
	<td class="column-1">GW31 total</td><td class="column-2">38.3</td><td class="column-3">39.15<br />
</td><td class="column-4">39.15</td><td class="column-5">35.5</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
<tfoot>
<tr class="row-6">
	<th class="column-1">Grand Total</th><th class="column-2">65.1</th><th class="column-3">63.1</th><th class="column-4">65.6</th><th class="column-5">65.8</th>
</tr>
</tfoot>
</table>
</p>
<p>As expected, Salah takes the top spot for all our prediction methods and it would take a brave man, or women, to bet against the unstoppable Egyptian. Picks 2 &amp; 3 still gives those looking for a cheeky (but risky) differential some food for thought.</p>
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