Fantasy Football’s Best Captains Revealed

For many of us, captaincy decisions define a Gameweek. When determining which player will get the armband, managers must weigh up many factors: form, fixtures, class, situation, ownership, and risk, to name a few. This article will look back at the top performers over the first third of the season and explore how consistent or explosive they really were. In a follow-up article l’ll also attempt to speculate as to whether their returns could have been predicted.  

First, a look back. I used Fantasy Premier League (FPL) points to break down their returns into the following categories, ranging from what a Fantasy manager might consider a decently satisfying return all the way up to a season or career-defining captaincy haul named after a certain Argentine delivery man.

Consistent 5-9 pts

Explosive 10-14 pts

Dynamite 15-19 pts

Legendary 20-24 pts

OMG AGUERO!!! 25+ pts

I have also added another column (Max/Total) which notes how many matches the player earned maximum bonus points, as well as their total points for games in which they delivered returns.

Forwards

*Fewer than 10 matches played so far this season.

Interestingly, only five forwards have produced well in at least five matches, though their leader has been unstoppable so far. Obviously, the record-pursuing circumstances of Jamie Vardy place him top for consistency, with returns in an unmatched 11/12 matches so far. However, his hauls are not as big as many of the others on this list, with his average output when he does return points second lowest.

Other players of note:

Odion Ighalo — landing in the second tier alongside more popular choices Pelle and Lukaku, he has likely suffered the most from our price biases so far, as his massive value has seen him benched or even transferred out for some of his strong performances.

Olivier Giroud — his scoring is fairly consistent, but his lack of starts as well as bonus points make him seem to be a fairly safe but uninspiring choice so far.

Sergio Aguero — what is there to say? The Gameweek that titillated a thousand captaincy fanboys actually obscures the fact that he was a massive disappointment, with only two other mediocre returns so far this season. The numbers here definitely challenge the notion that he is all you need for captaincy coverage.

Midfielders

Here we have a much deeper pool than the forwards. Again not surprisingly, the other Leicester revelation Riyad Mahrez tops the list, with an incredible six double-digit hauls out of his 11 matches played; no other player has more than three such performances so far. He is the ultimate combination of consistency and explosiveness.

Other notable players:

Dmitri Payet — those of us who captained him in Gameweek 12 experienced something rare: a Payet blank, though his unfortunate leg injury is the culprit there. He will be seriously missed as a constant provider of points while he spends the next three months on the sidelines.

Mesut Ozil — such a steady source of assists would seem to be the epitome of a solid but unspectacular selection, but he has also notched three double-digit hauls so far.

Kevin De Bruyne — the absence of Silva and Aguero has seen some disappointing results, and a subsequent dent in his reputation, but he has still returned in five of his eight matches so far, including a dynamite performance.

Alexis Sanchez — the Aguero of midfielders, with an even greater range of possible outcomes. When he gets in the scorebook, he is the deadliest per performance name in the league, but he has managed such returns only four times so far.

Phillipe Coutinho — captain of my Never Again squad, he nevertheless has three double-digit hauls so far and might be converting his underlying statistical potential into captaincy gold.

Georginio Wijnaldum — the only other player in the league to deliver an OMG AGUERO!!! this season, he also has notched four other decent returns so far.

Goalkeepers and Defenders

The most overlooked players in this conversation, goalkeepers and defenders are included here as a litmus test for the FPL manager. For those who are interested in low risk, steady returning options, an argument could be made that the players on this list might offer a better choice than many of the names in the tables above. For example, the Manchester defenders have delivered returns more often than any of their attacking brethren, with Vincent Kompany a staggering seven for eight so far this season.

Ceilings are likely to be lower here, though Kolarov’s biggest haul was bettered by only eight of the previously listed attacking stars.