Gameweek 10 is a full round of 10 fixtures, starting with Everton v Coventry City on Friday 6 November. The deadline is 18:30 UTC that evening, which is 02:30 on Saturday in Perth.
Here are the fixtures, with Newcastle v Everton on Monday 2 November also falling in this week's window:
- Friday 6 November: Everton v Coventry City
- Saturday 7 November: Leeds v Tottenham, Arsenal v Hull City, Fulham v Newcastle, Nott'm Forest v Man City
- Sunday 8 November: Brighton v Brentford, Crystal Palace v Liverpool, Ipswich v Bournemouth, Sunderland v Chelsea, Man United v Aston Villa
A quick word on our recent record
The last two captain calls in the Lab's briefing both went wrong. In gameweek 8, Bruno Fernandes did not play a minute. In gameweek 9, Haaland played the full 90 minutes at home to Brighton and returned 2 points against a projection of 7.6, while Palmer, the named alternative, returned 8.
Team strengths are also built on only 8 or 9 games per club so far. So treat the numbers below as a sensible guide rather than a verdict. A gap of a point or so between two premium players is not strong evidence.
Captain: Haaland, away at Nott'm Forest
Haaland has the top projection in the captaincy pool at 7.87 points, with a ceiling of 15.19. He takes City's penalties and has a 100% official chance of playing. Forest have scored just 0.67 goals per game and conceded 1.33.
The main argument is ownership. He is in 78.9% of teams, and so many managers captain him that his effective ownership is 153.9. In plain terms, leaving the armband off him is the real gamble. That makes this a safety choice, not a clever one.
If you would rather go your own way, Palmer (6.83) and Tavernier (6.40) are the closest alternatives on projection.
Players to bring in
Palmer (Chelsea, away at Sunderland). Second in the pool on projection at 6.83, with a start probability of 100% and penalty duty. Sunderland have conceded 1.89 goals per game and scored 0.78. The downside is a ceiling of 12.42, so expect a steady return more than a huge one. Chelsea's injury list is long, including João Pedro and James, which is worth watching.
De Cuyper (Brighton, home to Brentford). At £5.4m, this defender is on form of 7.8, with 8.38 points per 90 minutes. He has a projection of 6.63 and a ceiling of 16.63, the highest raw number in the pool. Brighton have scored 2.67 goals per game and conceded 0.78. He is already 44% owned, so he is more of a catch-up move than a surprise.
Tavernier (Bournemouth, away at Ipswich). At £6.6m, he is on form of 6 with an xGI per 90 of 0.489, and takes Bournemouth's corners and direct free kicks. His projection is 6.40 and his fixture difficulty rating is 2. Ipswich have conceded 2.00 goals per game. He also has the runs of fixtures to stay useful, with Nott'm Forest at home next.
Differential: Muharemović (Leeds, home to Tottenham)
Owned by just 6.1% of managers, this £5.1m defender has a projection of 5.53 and a 52% clean sheet probability. He has also cleared the defensive contribution threshold in 67% of his starts, which gives him a route to points without a clean sheet.
One caution: Leeds go to Chelsea next (difficulty 4), and later to Man City (difficulty 5). He looks better as a short term pick than a long hold.
Player to avoid: João Pedro (Chelsea)
He is still owned by 44% of managers, but he has a thigh injury with an unknown return date and a 0% chance of playing. If he is in your team and you have a transfer to spare, this is an obvious place to use it, even though Chelsea have an inviting fixture.
Chips and price moves
The Lab's advice is to hold all four chips. Gameweeks 10 to 14 are all plain 10-fixture rounds, with no blanks or doubles to aim at.
Several low owned players are rising on transfers, including Kudus and Doku. Our briefing treats those as bandwagons rather than reasons to buy. Gonzalo at Fulham is falling after 9,542 net transfers out, so if you were selling him anyway, sooner is better than later.
Check team news before the deadline, as availability can change quickly.