This article is part of our Top 50 Series, analysing how the best-performing Fantasy Premier League managers from 2024/25—and the All-Time Top 50—navigated the season.
Captaincy can make or break your Gameweek. Picking the right player to hand the armband to is arguably the most critical decision an FPL manager makes each week.
In this section, we break down how the top-performing managers approached captaincy in 2024/25—and what set them apart.
You can access an interactive and more detailed version of the graph in the Preseason Pack on our website. It includes 10 unique tools and features designed to prepare you for the 2025/26 season.
It’s no surprise that Mohamed Salah topped the captaincy charts across all three manager groups. With a record-breaking 344 FPL points, he was the standout premium asset of the season. Despite a relatively underwhelming campaign by his own lofty standards, Erling Haaland came in as the second-most captained player, with 14.0% of the Top 50 and 21.9% of the All-Time Top 50 opting for him.
It’s worth recalling that Haaland started the season in fine form, averaging 12.6 points per Gameweek over the first five matches. That early-season form kept him in the captaincy conversation even after his output dipped.
In 2023/24, Salah and Haaland accounted for over 75% of captaincy picks among top managers. But in 2024/25, that figure dropped to 69.6% for the Top 50 and 67.6% for the All-Time Top 50—reflecting the rise of new viable options.
Chief among them was Cole Palmer, who burst into relevance in the first half of the season. By Gameweek 21, he was averaging 7.11 points per game, second only to Salah (10.55), making him a worthy armband contender.
Another name that emerged was Alexander Isak, especially in Double Gameweek 32, when 60% of the Top 50 and 40% of the All-Time Top 50 Triple Captained him against Man Utd and Crystal Palace.
The trend is clear: top managers gravitated toward premium assets with penalty duties, particularly those priced over £10m like Salah, Haaland and Palmer. However, they also showed flexibility—willing to captain in-form players like Isak, who, despite being priced below the £10m mark, offered premium level returns. This shows that while price is a factor, form and fixtures still heavily influenced captaincy calls.
Surprisingly, it was Bruno Fernandes who delivered the highest captaincy average for the Top 50 managers: 14.73 points per Gameweek. However, he was only captained 0.8% of the time, likely in favourable fixtures. His performances against the relegated teams were particularly strong:
Salah, of course, was a standout performer—averaging 11.16 points per Gameweek for the Top 50 (second best) and 11.66 for the All-Time Top 50 (the highest). While he didn't return in every Gameweek, he was remarkably consistent, rarely blanking in back-to-back matches. In fact, the first time he failed to return in consecutive Gameweeks was Gameweeks 21 and 22. His form dipped slightly towards the end of the season, with just three attacking returns between Gameweeks 30 and 38, but his early-season reliability cemented his place as a go-to captain for much of the campaign.
Interestingly, only two players averaged under 5 points when captained by the Top 50:
The All-Time Top 50 had a few more captaincy flops:
While it’s subjective what counts as a captaincy “failure,” failing to return a goal, assist, or clean sheet is a fair line in the sand. That so many picks fell short of 5 points is telling.
The data shows that the Top 50’s captain pick was most often either the most popular or second most popular option overall. This suggests a risk-averse strategy, avoiding unnecessary differentials in favour of the most likely top scorer.
In essence, these top managers consistently backed the data, form, and majority opinion—and it paid off. If you’re aiming for a high rank, going with the popular captaincy pick more often than not appears to be a winning formula.
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