FPL Best Captain for Gameweek 22

We take a look at some of the top candidates and pick out the FPL best captain for Gameweek 22. Using the Fantasy Football Scout members area we can access its underlying stats and fixture ticker to come to a conclusion.

The player you select as your captain will earn you double points in any given round. Captaincy is one of the biggest contributors to your overall score and rank. Because of this, picking the best captain for Gameweek 22 could be key.

Gameweek 22 fixtures

Below we can see the fixture ticker – it has ordered the matches in difficulty order. According to the ticker the teams at the top have the easiest fixtures and the teams at the bottom have the toughest fixtures.

The fixture ticker can be very useful when trying to pick out a captain but other factors should also be considered.

The Options – Julian Alvarez

Manchester City sit second on the Fantasy Football Scout ticker this week. In terms of results they have now won a huge seven matches on the bounce and scored between 2-5 goals in six of the same games. They also remain first in the division for goals scored this season.

Newly promoted side Burnley lay ahead for Manchester City. When looking at their defensive data Burnley rank second worst for goals conceded (42), second worst for shots on target conceded, and in the worst five teams for other key metrics.

The news that Erling Haaland is very unlikely to start this week makes Julian Alvarez (£7m) extremely likely to start. The Argentine leads the Manchester City attack in the Norwegian’ absence whilst also taking penalties. In terms of non-penalty expected goal involvement Alvarez sits fifth amongst all players in the league. He also ranks in the top five players for total attempts and big chances on goal.

Ollie Watkins

Aston Villa have been excellent for most of the season. However, recently results seem to be largely inconsistent – winning two, drawing three and losing one of their last six matches in all competitions. In the same period they also scored between 2-3 goals just twice. Overall this season Aston Villa also rank fourth best for total goals scored.

Newcastle sit ahead for Aston Villa. Normally Newcastle would be a team we avoid as FPL managers but that seems to have changed as of late. When looking at their recent defensive stats Newcastle sit as the worst for goals conceded, the worst for shots on target conceded and the worst for big chances conceded.

The best player to target the Newcastle defence is of course Ollie Watkins (£8.9m). Watkins has racked up a massive nine goals and eight assists this season so is having a brilliant campaign overall. From a data perspective Watkins has slipped out of the top 10 players for key metrics like non-penalty expected goal involvement and big chances in the last six Gameweeks.

Bukayo Saka

Arsenal also have a great fixture this week. Results have been mixed for Arsenal recently – losing three, winning two and drawing one of their last six matches in all competitions. In that time they also netted less than one goal in four of them.

Arsenal have an interesting game against Nottingham Forest up next. Forest have been really struggling defensively recently. In fact, they have conceded at least one goal in five of their last six matches. In the same period statistically they sit mid-table for several metrics but they also rank in the worst five teams for goals conceded and shots in the box concede.

The standout pick in the Arsenal frontline is Bukayo Saka (£9.1m). Saka has been wonderful this season – bagging six goals and registering seven assists. When it comes to his recent stats in the last six Gameweeks he ranks fourth best for non-penalty expected goal involvement, second best for total attempts on goal and third best for shots in the box.

Who is the best captain for Gameweek 22?

Ollie Watkins could be a great option. However, the fact he isn’t on penalty duty and his underlying data has dipped gives the other two options the edge.

Saka is also a good captaincy pick this week. The only factors that go against Saka is that his recent form in terms of actual output has been disappointing and the attacking returns seem quite spread across Arsenal frontline.

Julian Alvarez is the best captain for Gameweek 22. Alvarez has leads the most potent attack in the league, takes penalties, has good recent data and faces a very poor promoted side defensively.