With less than two months of the season remaining, top Fantasy Premier League managers have been busy finalising their strategies for the run-in.
We’ve been tracking the squads of 1,000 bosses with multiple top-10,000 finishes to their name to see how they’ve been approaching the campaign.
Ahead of gameweek 30, one England star was almost unanimously backed by the best.
Kane on the brain
Harry Kane is the most popular player among our elite managers at the moment, owned by 941 out of the 1,000 we have analysed.
The England striker was also their standout captain choice this week with 667 of them giving him the armband – a smart pick given his 13-point haul against struggling Newcastle.
Along with team-mate Son Heung-min – one of four midfielders owned by more than half of the top bosses in our sample – his services will surely be retained until at least GW32 when Spurs are the only team with two fixtures.
Jose Mourinho’s men face Everton and Southampton that week – with the elite looking set to capitalise.
Cool on Chelsea
Despite Thomas Tuchel’s strong start at Chelsea, none of his players would currently feature in an FPL squad built around popularity with top managers.
However, three of the five players whose ownership grew the most among elite bosses ahead of GW30 were Blues defenders.
Marcos Alonso was the most popular signing of all with 197 more owners than the previous week.
Captain Cesar Azpilicueta was third with an increase of 162 and Antonio Rudiger fifth with 117, although their collective lapses in Saturday’s shock 5-2 to West Brom defeat may dampen enthusiasm in the short term.
In the meantime plenty of faith has been kept in Manchester City’s back line, which accounts for three of the five most popular defenders.
Pep Guardiola’s side don’t feature in GW33 however, so their stock could start to dip in the coming weeks as managers look to diversify.
Lack of Liverpool
Another surprising omission from the elite is Liverpool, particularly in light of their convincing 3-0 win over Arsenal.
Mohamed Salah was owned by more than 90 per cent of our 1,000 top managers in early February, but the Reds’ catastrophic dip in form has seen that plummet to fewer than one in three.
Perhaps the collective jury is still out until Jurgen Klopp’s side demonstrate more consistency.
Their performances against Real Madrid in the Champions League may prove a useful barometer, while Aston Villa, Leeds and Newcastle are next in the league
‘I don’t think Liverpool would look at Ollie Watkins, a striker isn’t a pressing issue for them – it’s Arsenal who need one’ Former Reds star explains why his old club don’t need an out-and-out forward this summer
‘He’ll still be playing at 40 at a good level because he’s in such good shape and looks after himself so well. He does everything to be a top professional’: Ex-Liverpool coach insists Mohamed Salah has plenty more miles in the tank
