With the new season just hours away, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers focus on the first armband dilemma for Gameweek 1.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (£14.0m) once again assumes the role of chief protagonist.

However, the Norwegian faces stiff competition with assets from Manchester United, Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion providing the main challenge to his mantle.

As usual, the Captain Sensible article is here to highlight which assets have the best chance of hauling.

First, we will assess the fallout of the captain poll, before then analysing the best options, Rate My Team (RMT) and the Premier Fantasy Tools ratings ahead of Friday’s 18:30 BST deadline.

THE CAPTAIN POLL

Claiming over 66% of the votes cast, Erling Haaland is the runaway leader of our maiden 2023/24 captain poll. 

Owned by a gargantuan 86% of Fantasy Premier League managers, Manchester City’s marksman can be forgiven a lean summer scoring streak after his record-breaking 36-goal Premier League debut season. 

The Norwegian has blanked in his last six competitive starts for Guardiola’s team but heads to Turf Moor on Friday night to lock horns with Vincent Kompany’s Burnley backline, which registered 21 clean sheets in last season’s Championship victory. 

Faith in Haaland’s team-mates Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m), Phil Foden (£7.5m), and Julian Alvarez (£6.5m) is practically non-existent, with the combined trio commanding less than 5% of the total votes cast. 

Of the three, De Bruyne is the form player – he has two goals and four assists in his last six Premier League matches – but has managed just 26 pre-season minutes (excluding the ample injury time!), in Sunday’s Community Shield against Arsenal.  

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (£8.5m) leads the chasing pack, backed by over one in ten of our users, with confidence particularly high in Arteta’s attackers following their break-out season. 

Saka has been in fine fettle his summer – scoring twice and supplying three assists over five pre-season matches – with his penalty miss against Barcelona the only blot in his copybook. 

With 26 attacking returns last term, courtesy of 14 goals and 12 assists, the right-winger recorded his best point tally in Fantasy (202). 

Arsenal hosts a Nottingham Forest defence with a single clean sheet in their last 11 road trips, providing an early opportunity for Saka to haul. Yet there are several convincing alternatives elsewhere in Arteta’s frontline. 

In terms of double-digit hauls at the Emirates, Martin Odegaard (£8.5m) has matched Saka’s four, while Gabriel Martinelli’s (£8.0m) tally of three is bettered by just those two attackers among his Arsenal counterparts. 

Interest in Manchester United’s attacking assets is on the rise following Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves departure, and the West Midlands club are without an away clean sheet since January.

Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford’s (£9.0m) registered 18 attacking returns and seven double-digit hauls at Old Trafford last term. 

Alternatively, Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) once again proved his pedigree as an elite FPL asset, averaging 5.33 points per match since the post-World Cup restart, returning points on 12 occasions despite sometimes operating from a deep-lying midfield position. 

Roberto De Zerbi’s high-flying Brighton and Hove Albion welcome newly promoted Luton Town to the Amex Stadium, with wing-wizard Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) a stand-out option – he has seven goals and eight assists in just 24 starts for the Seagulls. 

Meanwhile, Brighton’s new recruit Joao Pedro (£5.5m) has caught the eagle-eye of Fantasy managers by assuming penalty duties in pre-season, notching from the spot against both Chelsea and Rayo Vallecano.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) has dazzled this summer, producing nine attacking returns in pre-season, extending his electric second-half season form which saw the Egyptian return in 15 of his last 18 matches. 

Klopp’s side travel to Stamford Bridge to face a Chelsea side under the new stewardship of Mauricio Pochettino, with the Argentine keen to tighten a Blues rearguard that managed just 10 Premier League clean sheets last season. 

Thomas Frank’s Brentford conceded the fifth fewest goals (18) at home last term and welcome Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane (£12.5m) for the season curtain raiser. 

The England captain has been the subject of Bayern Munich’s protracted courtship this summer but remains for now, proving his sharpness with five goals in pre-season as he aims to top his record point tally in Fantasy (263) set last season. 

THE PLAYER STATISTICS – LAST SEASON’S DATA