FPL GW26 Best Captain: Palmer, Salah, Haaland & More
The title race is heating up and another 2 points dropped for Liverpool on Wednesday night mean Arsenal fans’ hopes are beginning to gather pace, we’re having a look at the best captaincy picks ahead of the weekend round of fixtures.
Ahead of GW25 we picked West Ham’s frontman and skipper Jarrod Bowen as our surprise pick, and despite falling to a 1-0 defeat to fellow Londoners Brentford, the Englishman caused numerous amounts of problems for the Bees defence throughout but was unable to impact the final scoreline.
He earned a disappointing 2 points but we feel bringing in the 28-year-old was a risk worth taking.
Let’s hope our surprise pick for GW26 can get among the goals Saturday afternoon!
FPL GW26 Best Captain Options: The Usual Suspects
- Mo Salah (13.7m)
- Expected points: 6.02
The league’s top-scorer continues to set records with his goal in Villa Park on Wednesday night taking him to 4th in the all-time FPL point scorer charts with 2,013, only behind Wayne Rooney (2,338), Frank Lampard (2,318) and Steven Gerrard (2,044).
This weekend, Liverpool travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City in what has been one of the most eagerly anticipated and a top of the table clash in recent years but not so much this season as Pep Guardiola’s side have struggled to keep pace with the Reds.
After suffering a convincing 3-1 loss to Real Madrid and exiting Europe in midweek, the reigning league champions will be hurting. It’s been a season to forget but with a high turnover likely this summer, they will be keen to finish off this season strongly.
For that reason I don’t feel this will be a procession for Liverpool but the nature of their 2-0 victory in this fixture at the beginning of the season told a lot about where both teams are at.
The Egyptian King was on the scoresheet that day and he can continue that trend by bagging again against City’s shaky defence.
- Cole Palmer (11.2m)
- Expected Points: 5.89
Cole Palmer is on a barren run at the moment, he has failed to score in Chelsea’s last 4 Premier League matches. This stat will concern FPL managers as the cost of Palmer continues to grow.
The costly 11.2m fee for Palmer has caused a number of talking points among FPL managers and with his current form, it is hard to justify keeping the English International in your team.
They head to Villa Park this weekend to face Aston Villa after an impressive draw with league leaders Liverpool on Wednesday night. That result will give Villa fans hope that they can overturn Enzo Maresca’s side and after making some exciting signings such as Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford in January, Villa seem to have a new lease of life.
Although Palmer may be struggling for form at the moment, he was on the scoresheet when the teams met at the start of December, that will give owners confidence ahead of this weekend.
- Erling Haaland (14.7m)
- Expected points: 5.07
Haaland has only been on the right side of the result with this weekend’s opponents once in the Premier League, a stat he will be keen to change.
After suffering a convincing loss at the Bernabéu in midweek, City will want to bounce back as soon as possible and a match with top of the table Liverpool, is a perfect chance to do that.
Even though they may be struggling to get results, the big Norwegian’s goalscoring form is in a good place and even as he costs a huge 14.7m, his return of 154 FPL points so far this season makes the price justifiable.
He has scored in 3 of his last 4 league matches but coming up against 2 of Europe’s best centre-back pairings in Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate will pose a stiff task for the 24-year-old.
The City goal-machine will undergo a late fitness test before Sunday’s match but Pep Guardiola will have his fingers crossed his talisman is fit to lineup in this huge test.
- Alexander Isak (9.5m)
- Expected points: 3.75
It’s been an outstanding season so far for Newcastle’s frontman and it’s no surprise he is one of the hottest prospects in Europe at the moment.
So far this season, the Swedish International has bagged 17 league goals for Eddie Howe’s men and interest from clubs around Europe for his signature is growing week-on-week.
He has almost become a must-have FPL asset amassing an impressive 154 points so far this season.
With a tough schedule ahead for the Toon Army in the next few weeks, they will see their match with Nottingham Forest this weekend as a huge chance to gain on the 6-point gap that separates themselves and the over-achieving Forest in the race for European qualification.
Qualification for Europe’s top competition is their best chance of keeping hold of their talisman Isak beyond this season.
FPL GW26 Best Captain Options: The Surprise Pick
- Justin Kluivert (6.0m)
- Expected points: 3.19
One of the stories of the season has been the impressive rise of Bournemouth under Andoni Iraola, Antonie Semenyo, Dean Huijsen and Dango Ouattara are just a few players that have had standout seasons so far that see them sit in 5th place just 1 point off reigning champions Manchester City.
But this week we’re taking a chance on a different midfielder that has been in top form this year for the Cherries, Justin Kluivert. This week they take on Wolves and in the return fixture the Dutch international bagged a hattrick from the penalty spot.
If he can replicate that goalscoring form this weekend, for only 6.0m, it could be a profitable week for those that take a chance on the midfielder.
We feel putting your trust in the in-form midfielder is a perfect differential ahead of GW26.
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