GW26 is back to being a single gameweek which means Erling Haaland with Man City at home will be tough to beat.
Let’s discuss who is the best captain for GW26.
Erling Haaland
- Fixture: Newcastle (H)
- Anytime goal: 52%
- Anytime return: 63%
Haaland (£12.2m) once again showed why he is simply essential to own. It is proving really difficult to captain anyone else in a single gameweek.
He extended his phenomenal tally to 27 goals and 5 assists in just 23 starts.
City play at home where they have scored 41 goals this season and have managed to score in 100% of these games. They are statistically the best attack in the league, scoring the most goals along with the highest xG (57.8).
Haaland has racked up an impressive 49 points in his last 6 games and it is no surprise to see him ranked third for the most in-form players.
It’s worth noting that it doesn’t seem the easiest game on paper with Newcastle conceding the least goals this season (15). Despite this, City have an impressive record in this fixture over the past 3 seasons with results of 5-0, 2-0 and 5-0.
Haaland will be looking to exploit Newcastle’s tendency to concede big chances, as he’s recorded almost double the number of big chances in comparison to the second-highest.
The Norwegian comes equal top in our predicted points model with a projection of 6.2.
Bukayo Saka
- Fixture: Bournemouth (H)
- Anytime goal: 38%
- Anytime return: 58%
Saka (£8.5m), has 9 goals and 9 assists this season from an xG of 7.64. He almost extended this to double figures but for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
The winger is still the most influential with a creation of 52 chances.
On paper the Gunners playing at home to Bournemouth is the best fixture to target.
The Cherries have conceded the most goals in the League (48) along with an xGC of 41 (sixteenth). Every game for Arsenal is a must win, so we could see this being a long afternoon for Bournemouth.
The travelling side have also conceded the most shots and shots in the box in recent games which only furthers the appeal of Saka.
Consequently, this week Arsenal are the favourites to score 2.5+ goals and are statistically the second-best attack in the league.
And you guessed it, Saka is the player tied first with Haaland on our predicted points.
Harry Kane
- Fixture: Wolves (a)
- Anytime goal: 41%
- Anytime return: 53%
Kane (£11.7m) is an exceptional fantasy pick.
He has been ticking over nicely, as he has all season, scoring 7, 6, 8, 2, 5, 6 in the past 6 games.
He’s averaging 5.6 points per game, placing him in the top 10.
The ever-present Tottenham man has been involved in 52% of Spurs’ goals which is the second most goal involvements for a team just behind that of Haaland.
Kane is always nailed for 90 minutes and is on penalty duty so captaining him you can always expect returns.
The FPL GW26 captaincy decision is a 50/50 between Haaland and Saka – assuming you have them both.
With Man City at home, it will be difficult to go against Haaland.
However, Arsenal face Bournemouth where, at least on paper, there are more goals to be had. This could justifiably entice FPL managers to give Saka the armband.