FPL Captain Call Gameweek 25: Who’s the best pick

Gameweek 25 showed us that Erling Haaland is, in fact, human and not just a Norwegian goal-scoring machine. Haaland managed two miss both of his big chances to score and come away with no return from his fixture against Nottingham Forest, much to the dismay of the majority of FPL managers who captained Haaland. 

Marcus Rashford continued his blistering form with another two goals to bring him up to 14 goals in the campaign and no signs of slowing down. 

This week is a real curveball of a week. Rashford and his United team do not have a fixture. The same goes for Brentford, Brighton and Newcastle. 

Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool and Wolves, however, have a double gameweek in this same week and have two fixtures. Naturally our captain attention should be drawn to these players who benefit from playing 180 minutes. 

Whether you’re looking for a safe pick or a high-risk/high-reward option, we’ve analysed all the fixtures to help you make the best decision for your team.

Check out bookie’s advantage for gameweek 25

Salah, with a double gameweek, would be auto-captain material over the last few seasons since the Egyptian joined Liverpool. However this season both Liverpool and Salah have not been at their best and due to this, Salah is only in less than 27% of FPL teams. 

Salah appears to have hit a vein of form right on time for this double gameweek. After scoring against Everton and providing an amazing assist against Newcastle, he has also recorded a goal and an assist in mid-week against Real Madrid. 

With double gameweek fixtures of Crystal Palace (Away) and Wolves (Home) who are both bottom half teams, I see Salah as the top pick for this gameweek.

Salah has a 71% chance of scoring this week according to the bookies which is the highest of any player. 

After receiving some rough treatment against Aston Villa last weekend, Saka has been in training and looks ready to go for this double gameweek.

Saka has returned in five of the last six gameweeks including two nine-pointer efforts. 

He has also attempted four or more shots in four of the last five gameweeks which indicates he is taking his chance to shoot whenever possible.

Saka faces Leicester (Away) and Everton (Home) which I could see Arsenal scoring at least three goals across the two fixtures and Saka being involved as he is the talisman at Arsenal.

The bookies have given Saka a 51% chance of scoring this gameweek but I believe he is more likely than that, especially against a leaky Leicester side.

Trent was almost my daring differential pick this week but Darwin has taken that crown out this week for reasons detailed below. 

Alexander-Arnold has created seven big chances since the World Cup restart and has returned 18 points over the last two gameweeks. Although Liverpool’s defensive struggles are obvious to be seen, they come up against two teams who have struggled to hit the back of the net this season.

Crystal Palace and Wolves are 17th and 20th for Expected Goals since the World Cup and have had injuries to key playmakers in their individual sides. 

A clean sheet and an attacking return is not out of the question for Trent with those fixtures.

Alexander-Arnold has been given a 13% likelihood of scoring but his main returns will come through assists and clean sheets.

Darwin is the epitome of a daring differential. After missing big chance after big chance in the Premier League, Darwin has scored a backheel flick against Real Madrid in the Champions League. A real wildcard type of player.

Darwin has been using his pace and dribbling ability on the left-wing in recent times for Liverpool and has looked an improved player. This has shown in his FPL scores, returning in both of his last two matches.

As mentioned with Salah, double gameweek fixtures of Crystal Palace (Away) and Wolves (Home) who are both bottom half teams are prime for some goals to be scored.

Take Salah if you want to play it safe, choose Darwin if you love danger and risk.

Nick, also known as StatsmanFPL, is a qualified data analyst with a love for FPL. He analyses the data so you don’t have to. Make sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram.