FPL Gameweek 6 Captaincy: Who To Captain

Captaincy Court, GW6: Anfield Beckons — And Both Our Analysts Point the Same Way

The shortlist this week: Haaland away at Liverpool, Saka at home to Leeds, Fernandes hosting Spurs, and Gibbs-White off to Selhurst Park. Four names, one armband — and for once, our two resident shouters agree on the man, if not the reason.

Haulage King says: Give me Haaland, and don't flinch at the fixture. LIV (A) scares the casuals, but the whole point of the armband is the biggest week on the board, and nobody on this shortlist can go as big — on his day he's good for 13 points before you double it, and our model gives him roughly a one-in-five shot at a proper haul. Compare that with Saka at one-in-six and Fernandes down at one-in-nine. Yes, Saka at home to Leeds is tempting, and at only about 1.5 in 10 owned he's the move if you're chasing — but I'm not captaining a 3-point typical week when Haaland's usually good for 5 and can detonate anywhere. £15.6m buys you the ceiling. Use it.

Cheapy says: Funny thing — I'm landing on Haaland too, and not because of the fireworks. He's the safest armband of the four: nailed minutes, no rotation sweat, and the sturdiest week-in, week-out return on the list — usually around 5 points even when it's not his day, where Fernandes and Gibbs-White are more often 2-point weeks than not. With about 7.4 in 10 managers owning him, captaining anyone else at Anfield week is how you lose ground to the whole world at once. Gibbs-White at Palace is the trap here — cheap, tempting, one-in-ten haul odds. No thanks. Boring armband, boring pick, sleep well.

The verdict: When the ceiling man and the floor man name the same player, you listen. The only real fork is whether you're chasing rank — in which case Saka (H) v Leeds is the low-owned swing, with nearly as much blow-up potential and hardly anyone holding him. For everyone else: it's Haaland, even at Anfield. Captain him and move on.