The captain checklist
- Will he play 90 minutes? Check the injury list and recent minutes. A captain subbed off at 60 minutes loses a big share of his potential points.
- How hard is the opponent? Weaker opponents concede more goals. Our fixture grid scores every match from 1 (easiest) to 5 (hardest).
- Home or away? Players usually score more at home.
- Is he in form? Recent goals, assists and chances matter more than reputation.
- Does he take penalties or set pieces? These add extra chances to score or assist.
- Does his team play twice? In a double gameweek, a good player with two games usually beats a great player with one.
Safe pick or differential?
If most managers captain the same player and he scores, you keep pace with them. If you pick someone else and he outscores the popular choice, you gain ground. If he doesn't, you fall behind.
- Protecting a good rank? Go with the popular choice most weeks.
- Chasing a mini-league leader? A differential captain is one of the quickest ways to catch up, but pick one with a genuinely strong fixture.
Avoid these mistakes
- Switching captain at the last minute because of one social media post.
- Captaining a defender for a clean sheet. It's possible, but attackers usually score more.
- Forgetting to name a vice-captain who's likely to play. If your captain doesn't play, the vice-captain gets the double points.
Our captain picks page ranks the top 20 options every gameweek using expected points, form and fixture difficulty.
Last updated October 2026.