Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 26
Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 26
We were on the verge of beginning this article by lamenting DGW’s and once again asking why we all chase them like golden rainbows… and then Saka (C – 30 points) and Salah (C – 22 points) put paid to that. Sort of. Well ok, at least they both showed up in their 2nd games having been conspicuous by their absence in their 1st ones. As Captains, said 1st game did at least add 6 points to both their totals, if nothing else. Which funnily enough eclipsed Nunez’s total for the week of 4.
Why pick on Nunez you may ask? Well, because he was our 3rd pick last week. Or more to the point that of OddDane…. so let’s pick on him instead! 
We jest of course, we pick on nobody here. After all the writers are simply playing devil’s advocate. For the record they all picked Salah on their own teams.
On which note, let’s go see what lies they can all peddle this week… before they all captain Haaland!
Smash – Haaland v Newcastle (H)
(Photo by Manchester City FC/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)
Captain Haaland
It’s boring but sometimes you just have to be boring in FPL. Haaland has broken the record for most goals in a season by a Man City player, previously held by Sergio Aguero (26). We have had a month off in this time for the World Cup and it’s still only February. When Haaland plays at home you captain Haaland. There might be an argument when he plays away but at home he is formidable. 4, 17, 6, 6, 1, 5, 13, 6, 23, 17, 17, 5… these are not the lottery numbers these are Haaland’s returns when he plays at home this season. 120 of his 193 FPL points, or a whopping 18 of his 27 goals in the Premier League have come when he plays at home. The Norwegian powerhouse has only blanked once at home all season and that was against Brentford, even when he only played 45 mins against Aston Villa he still returned. The fixture could be easier but this means the big Norwegian is more likely to play closer to 90 mins against Newcastle.
Haaland unsurprisingly has the highest xG this season with 18.56, the next best is quite a way behind with Kane on 13.08. If you look at xGI the gap is even bigger. He is also 8th for big chances created so even if he doesn’t score he’s also likely go pop up with an assist. Haaland has also missed more big chances than anyone this season so the 193 FPL points could have been even more. It’s very difficult to go against Haaland for captaincy at the moment, double gameweeks will give us a chance to do it, but I don’t feel this is the week to ignore the obvious for the captaincy. If you read this and still decide to buck the Haaland trend I wish you good luck, you are going to need it!
Gear – Rashford v Liverpool (a)
(Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
So, Smash has presented you with Haaland, a man who has absolutely creamed it this season. He has some impressive stats, 27 premier leagues goals so far, wow. Whilst that is a compelling reason to entrust him with your armband, I would urge you to hold that thought. You see, there is a man in better form, and as we all know, this game is based on current form. To break it down, in his last 5 PL games Haaland has scored 2 goals and grabbed 2 assists. This has help him accumulate 24 points (4.8 points per game). Now Marcus Rashford over the same period has bagged 6 goals and an assist, netting 50 points (that’s 10 points per game for those who are really bad at maths).
Form is with Marcus and as I am going to argue, so is the fixture. 12 months ago Newcastle at home was the easy pick, especially when compared to a trip to Anfield, however things have changed. Newcastle have conceded 15 goals in the league all season and they now have Bruno back. Liverpool on the other hand, have conceded 28. To give them their due, they have collected 4 clean sheets in their last 4 league games, after adding another against Wolves. I would however argue that they were lucky not to concede against the 10 men of Newcastle and the Everton game wasn’t exactly plain sailing.
I will leave you with a final thought, I probably don’t need to mention the Real Madrid game, but I want to plant that seed. Rashford, playing for a good team, versus that defence…
Init – Saka v Bournemouth (H)
(Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
At the time of writing last week I didn’t own Saka but I was dead sure I would be buying him. And then I didn’t! I decided to stick with Martinelli, and I was obviously glad I did in the end, but it was a close call! For the record an armband on Martinelli would have yielded 52 points! By that logic I probably should be coming on here telling you to take risks and stick it on my man this week, but I’m not. Although I suppose if you like a differential you could certainly do worse as he looks to have gotten over his post World Cup blues all of a sudden.
Why Saka then? I said last week that he looks like Arsenal’s most threatening player and that seemed the case again vs Everton, and he underlined that with yet another goal (10 of those now) and yet another assist (yep, 10 of those too). That leaves him 2nd for midfielders with 146 points but it should also be worth noting that team-mates Ødegaard (142) & Martinelli (137) are now 3rd & 4th. Which probably tells you all you need to know about why Arsenal are top of the league and flying.
And fly they did against Everton. This was supposed to be a potential banana skin after their slip up at Goodison not so long back but they made it look easy are were absolutely purring come the end. I see little reason why this will not continue on Saturday at home to 2nd from bottom Bournemouth.
The confessional…
This is where we ask our entire writing team to tell us who they think they will pick this week…. There are more caveats and get out clauses than an Ivan Toney confession but this is their initial gut feeling based upon who they actually own. And they promise that their picks will not be banned for 6 months if they get it wrong…
DMC — Haaland
The Gallant Pioneer — Saka (again)
Jamesimmo — Haaland
Ivan — Kane
Swirly — Haaland
Matt — Saka
Loud Atlas — Haaland
Smash — Haaland
Kop — Haaland
Rosco — Sak… Haaland
Ellefcee — Haaland
Floydeth — Haaland
Init — Haaland
Gear — Haaland
Stone Frog — Haaland
OddDane — Darw… No, Saka? Hmm, Haaland. Well, one of them.
VOTE ON THIS WEEK’S CAPTAIN POLL
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 26. This week’s article was weird by Gear, Smash and Init.
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FTx1
ITB:0.6m
Thinking
Salah->Mitoma and Patterson->Cucurella (or other Chelsea defender)
(Mitoma ready for gw27, and Chelsea defender ready for gw28)
Still have FH, BB and WC left
Are you going to want Salah for Bournemouth next week though?
I would sack any idea of a Chelsea defender right now hammerfan.
Well, hadnt thought about Salah v Bournemouth next week to be fair.
Should I just play Shaw, seeing as Ten Haag said he should be available, or play Trippier?
I could always do Neves->Mitoma this week.
Just play one of those yeah.
Thanks GP
Should I do the Neves->Mitoma move, or just roll the FT and do it next week?
Hello everyone. Hope you’re all doing well. Thinking of doing my wildcard this week. Attached is a before and after. Thoughts? This leaves me with 0.7ITB.
I would take in a couple of (reliable) Brighton players I think.
Many seem to be going with a Wild Card?
I just did Ward-Prowes > Bruno.
Is this team okay?
So here’s the plan, 6.7 itb, emergency funds for Toney to Kane, WC 26, 27 Save my ft, 6 dgw’ers, 28 Haaland to Kane if Toney still not in football prison,, 29, BB, hopefully 2 fts Shaw and Bruno for Zinchenko and Odergaard, 13/14 dgw’ers 30, Haaland back for Southampton and then finally FH 34/37, this plan was inspired by FPLGoat and FPL El Loco, not sure where it all started
Sound plan – go for it!
Pressed the Wildcard button. Team is set for the blanks and double game weeks. Will bench boost in the 2nd game week. No MITB
Raya/Ward
Mee/Saliba/Shaw/Webster/Tripper
Rashford/Odegaard/Mitoma/Maddison/Saka
Kane/Haaland/Toney
GW 27 – 5 x Players DGW
GW 28 – 11 x playing, 4 x Blank
GW 29 – 10 x Players DGW (Bench Boost)
No worries there. Looks good.
WC seems very popular this week. Not had much time to think about it so I feel its a bit rushed to do it now but don’t want to fall behind as my rank is around 6k. Not that keen on having salah and Darwin. I have 1ft and 3m itb but not sure what to do. Maybe Darwin to tone? Or Salah to maddison?
Darwin to Toney and Keep Salah for Bournemouth – you might even captian him next week!