FPL Captain Call Gameweek 26: Who’s the best pick

Who would’ve thought that Gabriel Martinelli, of all people, would be the man to top score in Gameweek 25 with a whopping 26 points? That’s the largest gameweek score of the season so far and an excellent target for our future captains to aim for!

Our top 3 captain picks all delivered a very handsome return to their believers. Salah earned himself 11 points, while Saka and Trent Alexander-Arnold recorded 15 and 13 points respectively. These players covered the majority of captaincy armbands so there wasn’t much to split managers this week.

On to the next gameweek!

We have a tame and rather boring standard gameweek this week but that just opens up more captaincy opportunities. 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 26

Saka has returned a goal or assist in eight of the past eleven gameweeks. He is the talisman man and also penalty taker at Arsenal who are back to top form after a 4-0 win over Everton at home.

Arsenal have another chance to pile on the goals as they take on Bournemouth at the Emirates. Bournemouth have conceded in every away match this season and have conceded 2+ goals in nine out of twelve fixtures.

Arsenal have scored 31 goals in 12 Home matches and are at full flight at the moment.

The bookies have given Saka a 40% chance of scoring this gameweek, but I believe he is more likely than that, especially against a leaky Bournemouth side. Bournemouth are top for penalties conceded with six this season, so don’t be surprised to see Saka lining up a spot kick.

A rare week in the 22/23 season arrives where Haaland is not our top captaincy pick. This is because Manchester City faces a sturdy Newcastle defence at the Etihad.

Newcastle are top for clean sheets this season with twelve and have only conceded seven goals across eleven away matches, only losing one of these fixtures.

The positive for potential Haaland captainers is that Newcastle main man Bruno Guimaraes is a doubt for the weekend with an ankle injury picked up in his return from suspension. Newcastle are a clearly better overall side with Bruno in the lineup and his exclusion from the lineup allows Manchester City to control the ball in midfield and feed Haaland much easier.

Haaland tops the bookies’ goalscoring odds with a 53% chance of scoring this week and is a solid captaincy option.

After almost being written off completely as an FPL option due to rotation with new singing Leandro Trossard and missing his strike partner Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli bounced back in style.

As mentioned earlier, Martinelli scored 26 points through scoring three goals and earning six bonus points across his double gameweek fixtures.

For all the same reasons that Saka is our top choice, Martinelli needs to be in the same conversation. Saka edges out Martinelli in our eyes due to penalty and set piece duties as well as consistency of results. If Eddie Nketiah is back in the starting lineup, it could negatively affect the Brazilian.

Martinelli has been assigned a 34% chance to score by the bookies and he could make a mockery of this prediction if his form from the previous week continues.

We are all likely still accustomed to seeing a Liverpool fixture and thinking it’s tough. However, that is definitely not the case at this point in time.

Liverpool have conceded 19 goals in 12 away fixtures this season. They travel to face Manchester United at Old Trafford who have scored 2+ goals in all fixtures this year except for one.

Rashford has 12 returns in his past 10 fixtures and has looked like the Rashford of old ever since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The bookies have only given Rashford a 36% chance of scoring but I believe this is selling his chances short. A great differential opportunity.

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.