Mohamed Salah (£9.4m) could be the first midfielder to emerge as a genuine contender for the Fantasy Premier League captaincy.
As a rule, managers prefer to give their Gameweek armband to a forward.
Either Romelu Lukaku (£11.6m) or Harry Kane (£12.8m) have been the top picks over the season.
But both failed to score in Gameweek 11, as Salah left them trailing.
His new role
The Egyptian thrived in a new central role against West Ham United.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp employed a 4-2-2-2 formation at London Stadium, allowing Salah to partner Roberto Firmino (£8.5m) up front.
And the fit-again Sadio Mane (£9.3m) returned to the teamsheet for the first time since Gameweek 7, as the Reds' attack roared back into form.
Salah scored twice – both from Mane assists – to supply his biggest tally of the season (15 points).
Just over 250,000 managers, or 4.8%, trusted him with the captaincy. But confidence in the midfielder could now increase.
The key factor
Salah’s consistency is the key to his appeal; he is yet to go more than two Gameweeks without a goal or an assist.
The underlying statistics also show he can compete with both Kane and Lukaku.
Level with the Manchester United forward's seven goals, he has produced 32 shots inside the penalty area to the Belgian’s 31. Only Kane (39) has more.
And Salah is peerless for shots on target, his 24 bettering both Kane (22) and Lukaku (18).
Salah v Kane and Lukaku
| Salah | Kane | Lukaku | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goals | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| Shots in box | 32 | 39 | 31 |
| Shots on target | 24 | 22 | 18 |
Liverpool’s fixtures improve markedly, with eight of their next 10 matches scoring two in the Fixture Difficulty Rankings (FDR).
That schedule, together with his growing 38.8% ownership, will guarantee Salah closes the gap on Kane and Lukaku in the weekly captaincy battle.
