Fantasy Premier League: Mbeumo? Bowen? Isak? Rating the best Gameweek 35 captaincy options

New York Times

02-05-2025

We only have four rounds left, so nailing your captain each week from now will go a long way in ensuring you have the best finish possible in Fantasy Premier League.
For Gameweek 35, there are quite a few options and it isn't straightforward.
With rotation possible for Liverpool and Arsenal, the usual big-hitters, including Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) and Bukayo Saka (£10.5m), are not the safest captaincy picks this week.
Here, we will highlight the best captaincy options, looking at underlying numbers and fixtures.
Mbeumo is the second-highest scoring player in the game with 18 goals and seven assists (212 FPL points).
He has been phenomenal this season and has seamlessly filled the void that Ivan Toney left at Brentford after moving to Saudi Arabian club Al Ahli last summer.
In Gameweek 35, Thomas Frank's side host a struggling Manchester United, who will have one eye on the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Athletic Club. Ruben Amorim is expected to rotate, so we may see a weakened United side against Brentford.
Mbeumo is Brentford's talisman and is one of the few attackers in the league who will play 90 minutes almost every game.
The Cameroon international is his team's first-choice penalty taker and is on corners and free kicks. He has many avenues to points, which is exactly what we want when looking to pick our captain.
Being classed as a midfielder also helps. Midfielders score an extra point for a goal over players listed as forwards, and are also eligible for a clean sheet point.
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Ranking: 9.2/10
Manchester City have the best fixture on paper in Gameweek 35 as they welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Etihad Stadium on Friday.
Omar Marmoush has six goals and one assist in 11 starts, and has already shown he has a haul in him, with two double-digit scores.
Vitor Pereira's Wolves have conceded the fourth-most goals in the league (61) with an expected goals (xG) conceded of 51.2 (sixth-worst).
City haven't been at their best this season but have still scored the second-most goals (66), with an xG of 63.03 (second-best). They will be strong favourites to win and should score a few — even without Erling Haaland (£14.8m). He is back training with the full City team but Pep Guardiola told reporters in his pre-match press conference that even though Haaland is 'getting better', he is unlikely to play this weekend. With or without Haaland, Marmoush would probably make the starting XI too.
Ranking: 8.9/10
Sweden international Alexander Isak has an impressive 22 goals and six assists in the league, and he will be aiming to catch Salah's 28-goal tally and chase the Golden Boot.
Newcastle also have a lot riding on the line as they aim to secure a spot in the Champions League positions.
Brighton have been quite leaky this season. They have conceded 55 goals (seventh-most) with an xG conceded of 46.8 (ninth-worst). Eddie Howe's side, on the other hand, have netted the third-most (65) goals and boast the fifth-best xG (57.91) in the league.
Not many will pick Isak as captain in Gameweek 35, so he is a particularly good option for those chasing rank.
Ranking: 8.5/10
This gameweek is a great chance to gamble on the captaincy with less risk of getting burned.
Liverpool may rotate a bit after wrapping up the title. Arsenal will also change things up before Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
Under normal circumstances, Salah and Saka would be among the best captaincy options but they will be nowhere near as highly captained this week.
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Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) is a great player to buy as the last four fixtures for West Ham United are good for attacking purposes. They play Tottenham Hotspur (H), Manchester United (A), Nottingham Forest (H) and Ipswich (A).
Spurs at home is a great entry point this weekend and he is a great shout for the captain's armband, too. He is only owned by 9.1 per cent of managers overall and hardly any of them will captain him.
Despite nine goals and 10 assists this campaign, he has gone a bit under the radar. Spurs are in the bottom six for both goals conceded and xG conceded.
Kevin De Bruyne (£9.4m) is a fine pick this week also and he will probably start City's remaining league games.
He was an unused substitute in their 2-0 win against Forest in the FA Cup semi-finals, so I would be very confident he starts against Wolves. He also seems to have shaken off his injuries, with De Bruyne saying last month that he is now playing 'pain-free'. This is also evident in his playing time as over the last four league matches, he has averaged 88 minutes per game.
When he plays, he is the one pulling the strings in the midfield and he has goals in him too. His ownership is 7.1 per cent at the time of writing.
Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) is another one who has a favourable fixture this week and is also a good buy until the end of the season after Marcus Rashford (£6.7m) suffered a thigh injury and could be ruled out for the rest of the season.
This means Watkins is nailed on to start as Aston Villa's No 9 and is more likely to play 90 minutes. Villa play Fulham at home in Gameweek 35, knowing they need to win to stay in touch with the Champions League qualification spots.
England international Watkins has 15 goals and seven assists in 34 league games.
The Premier League's fixture announcements on Thursday mean that, according to FPL, there will no more double or blank gameweeks this season.
The two league games which could have been moved to Gameweek 36 due to the FA Cup final on Saturday, May 17, to form a double gameweek (Crystal Palace vs Wolves and Manchester City v Bournemouth) remain part of Gameweek 37 and be played Tuesday, May 20.
Tottenham Hotspur had also requested a change to the date of their game against Aston Villa on Sunday, May 18, due to the possibility of them reaching the Europa League final on Wednesday, May 21, which Villa objected to, and there has been no update on the progress of that appeal.
We're set to have NO MORE Blank or Double Gameweeks for the remainder of the season! 🙅‍♂️
FA Cup finalists Crystal Palace and Man City will have their fixtures remain in Gameweek 37 🦅🔵#FPL pic.twitter.com/4BqHGVEoQs
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) May 1, 2025
No more planned doubles or blanks will be good news for those managers who have already used their chips as they wont have to navigate through another irregular period with only free transfers.
However, those who saved any of their chips for a possible double in Gameweek 36 and a blank in Gameweek 37 will be left a disadvantage as the chip usage won't be as powerful during single gameweeks.
(Top photos: Getty Images)