There were big rewards on offer for Fantasy Premier League managers who backed a differential captain in Gameweek 29 as the top two armband picks - Erling Haaland (£14.7m) and Hugo Ekitike (£9.1m) - both blanked.
Antoine Semenyo (£8.2m), Bruno Fernandes (£10.0m) and Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) all notched attacking returns - but those with the most to celebrate were the 742,000+ who captained Joao Pedro (£7.6m).
Chelsea's Brazilian scored a hat-trick, supplied an assist and collected maximum bonus to register 19 points - his biggest ever haul in Fantasy - as the Blues beat Aston Villa 4-1.
If you handed him the captain's armband, you've just gained a whopping 38 points!
GW29 most-captained players
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Haaland | 4,704,335 | 2 |
| Ekitike | 1,433,376 | 2 |
| Semenyo | 1,018,239 | 7 |
| Fernandes | 835,492 | 8 |
| Salah | 780,208 | 9 |
| Joao Pedro | 742,004 | 19 |
Joao Pedro was the form player in Fantasy between Gameweeks 22 and 27, a six-match period that saw him deliver 55 points.
However, with Chelsea's fixtures supposedly getting harder, more than 617,000 Fantasy managers sold Joao Pedro over the last two Gameweeks. But form triumphed over fixtures, taking Joao Pedro's total to 76 points in eight Gameweeks.
Only Haaland, across the opening eight Gameweeks, has totalled more points in an eight-match sequence this season.
Best eight-match runs of form in 2025/26
| Player | Period | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Haaland | GW1 to GW8 | 83 |
| Joao Pedro | GW22 to GW29 | 76 |
| Semenyo | GW1 to GW8 | 70 |
| Gabriel | GW3 to GW10 | 68 |
| Foden | GW10 to GW17 | 67 |
Captained by more than 835,000 managers, Bruno Fernandes (£10.0m) created eight chances in Manchester United's 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United - his highest tally in a match this season - as he supplied an assist to earn the maximum three bonus points.
For Semenyo, a goal and seven points in Manchester City's 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest took him to 172 points for the season and makes this officially his best campaign in Fantasy. He's now surpassed the 165 points he amassed in 2024/25.
Salah scored his first goal since Gameweek 10 as Liverpool lost 2-1 away to Wolverhampton Wanderers to finish on nine points. Remarkably, after notching 18 double-figure hauls last season, he has only produced one this season.
There wasn't such good news for his team-mate Hugo Ekitike (£9.1m), snapped by nearly 900,000 managers following his 15-point return at home to West Ham United, as he blanked.