FPL GW1 Captain Picks – The Premier League is Back!

#4 Michail Antonio vs Newcastle (A)

“When he is fit, Antonio is almost unstoppable”, I think most of us would have been tired of hearing this statement by now because of how often and easily his hamstrings give up, luckily, for GW1 we don’t have to worry much about that as he would be well-rested, fresh and ready to go after a successful preseason.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are suffering from a crisis of their own with their goalkeepers as Martin Dubravka recently suffered an injury while Karl Darlow recovers from Covid; there is a good chance that Freddie Woodman starts in goal for Newcastle.

Antonio would be licking his lips at the prospect of that. Newcastle are a great fixture to target for captaincy regardless and they haven’t really strengthened their team in the transfer market enough.

Antonio also had the highest Non-Penalty xG per 90 in the Premier League last season. There is also a slight chance that he takes penalties this season after he jokingly mentioned about taking them after Declan Rice missed one towards the end of last season.

All these factors make him the best GW1 captaincy option outside the premium players for me.