If you’re willing to go against Erling Haaland (£15.0m) with the captaincy in Gameweek 24 of Fantasy Premier League, both Bruno Fernandes (£9.5m) and Gabriel (£6.9m) have the form and fixture to outscore the Manchester City star.

Haaland heads to Tottenham Hotspur this weekend in his worst form of 2025/26 Fantasy, scoring just one goal over the last six Gameweeks.

Due to his huge 72 per cent ownership, the Norwegian was the most-selected captain in all of those six Gameweeks, handed the armband by at least 6.8million managers on each occasion.

As the table below shows, Haaland has collected a total of 15 points across his last six appearances, an average of only 2.5 points per match (ppm).

That’s in stark contrast to his seasonal form, with the forward averaging 7.5 points per start (pps) on his way to the top of the player standings on 166 points.

Arsenal‘s Gabriel is identical to Haaland over the season on 7.5pps. But the centre-back is in far better form, with 40 points amassed across his previous six matches – that’s an average of 6.7ppm.

Manchester United‘s Fernandes, meanwhile, is the top-scoring player in Fantasy over his last six matches, averaging 9.0ppm.

Crucially, both those players have very favourable fixtures this weekend – Gabriel visits Leeds United and Fernandes is at home to Fulham.

Those two, along with Haaland, are among only six regular starters in Fantasy who have averaged at least 6.0pps this season.

Best players comparison

 
Last six matches
Season

Player
Pts
PPM
Pts
PPS

Haaland
15
2.5
166
7.5

Gabriel
40
6.7
121
7.5

Fernandes
54
9.0
121
6.1

Rice
40
6.7
126
6.0

Munoz
42
7.0
90
6.0

Cherki
27
4.5
80
6.0

Scroll across on mobile to see the full table. PPM = Points per match, PPS = Points per start

Similarly to Fernandes, both Declan Rice (£7.4m) and Daniel Munoz (£5.8m) have outperformed their seasonal points per start average across their last six matches.

Having recently returned from injury, Crystal Palace wing-back Munoz is found in only six per cent of squads ahead of the Eagles’ trip to Nottingham Forest.

The Colombian’s average of 6.0 points per start this season is identical to Arsenal’s Rice and Man City’s Rayan Cherki (£6.6m). Munoz has produced 42 points across his last six outings, rising to 7.0ppm.

Who’s had the most attacking threat recently?

An assessment of the goal threat statistics over the last four Gameweeks shows the peerless form of Brentford‘s Thiago (£7.2m) ahead of the Bees’ visit to Aston Villa.

The Brazilian’s 16 shots in the box rank top among all players, with Haaland, Benjamin Sesko and Kevin Schade (both £7.2m) his nearest rivals on 11 each.

When it came to big chances – situations where a player is expected to score – Thiago’s total of eight is at least TWICE that of any other player apart from the five of Villa’s Ollie Watkins (£8.8m).

Fernandes’ numbers are all the more impressive bearing in mind he missed one of Man Utd’s last four matches through injury.

He has created seven big chances as well as having two of his own, which means he was involved in a total of nine big chances across Gameweeks 20-23, joint-top with Thiago.

The table below also shows that Chelsea‘s Enzo Fernandez (£6.7m) has been involved in twice as many big chances as Haaland during this spell.

They both had three big chances, with Fernandez creating a further three to the zero of Haaland.

Chelsea also have a more favourable fixture than Man City this week, with a home match against West Ham United on Saturday evening. 

Goal threats stats, last four Gameweeks

Player
Shots in box
Big chances
Big chances created
Big-chance inv.

Thiago
16
8
1
9

Fernandes
2
2
7
9

Schade
11
3
3
6

Fernandez
5
3
3
6

Watkins
8
5
0
5

Sesko
11
4
0
4

Castellanos
9
4
0
4

Calvert-Lewin
8
4
0
4

Haaland
11
3
0
3

Scroll across on mobile to see the full table

Who’s facing the weakest defences?

A look at the team data across the last four Gameweeks lends further weight to Fernandes’ captaincy credentials.

Fulham are conceding an average of four big chances per match during that spell, the most in the league.

Bryan Mbeumo (£8.3m) is another Man Utd player who can profit from those frailties. Moved up front by head coach Michael Carrick, he scored in both their wins over Man City and Arsenal to collect 19 points. 

Sunderland‘s Brian Brobbey (£5.5m) also ticks the form and fixture box here, with a home match against Burnley on Monday evening.

The forward has scored in three of the last four Gameweeks to claim 27 points, placing him joint-fifth among all players along with Fulham’s Harry Wilson (£6.1m). 

The data also shows that Munoz’s hosts Nott’m Forest have been fortunate to keep concede only four goals and keep two clean sheets over the last four Gameweeks.

They allowed their opponents 12 big chances – just one less than Sunderland, who have conceded eight goals and failed to keep a clean sheet during this period.

Team defensive stats, last four Gameweeks

Club
Goals conc.
Clean sheets
Big chances conc.

Crystal Palace
7
1
16

Fulham
5
0
16

Burnley
7
0
14

Man City
4
1
14

Sunderland
8
0
13

Nottingham Forest
4
2
12

Scroll across on mobile to see the full table

So, who is the best captain?

While going against Haaland will always be a risky tactic due to his hefty ownership, Gabriel’s potential for points at both ends of the pitch means he has been just as reliable as the Norwegian over the season as a whole.

The centre-back has form and a more favourable fixture than Haaland and there would be no surprise if he does outperform him.

But it’s Fernandes who is showing the most potential here, with both the player and the team data pointing to the Man Utd star.

While Mbeumo could also be another option, it’s worth noting that Fernandes’ many routes to returns means he’s delivered twice the number of double-figure hauls this season, leading his team-mate by six to three.