Fantasy Premier League

GW22 FPL stats: Differential Wood the best armband pick

19 Jan 2025
FPL composite

For the second Gameweek in a row, four players are captained by more than a million Fantasy managers

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Among the top five captains for the first time ever, Chris Wood (£7.0m) rewarded the 563,000+ Fantasy Premier League managers who handed him the armband with a goal and an assist for his third double-figure haul of the campaign.

Along with Erling Haaland (£14.8m), he was the only member of the leading captain picks to produce a return.

The New Zealand forward moves onto 16 attacking returns, surpassing his previous season-best of 15, a total he's recorded on three occasions.

He also extended his excellent record against promoted teams in Nottingham Forest's 3-2 win over Southampton, making it 72 points over his last eight starts versus Premier League newcomers.

GW22 most-captained players
Player Captained by Pts
Salah 3,941,531 3
Haaland 2,172,045 6
Isak 1,366,051 2
Palmer 1,316,454 2
Wood 563,681 12

Haaland scored in Manchester City's 6-0 win at Ipswich Town, and now has four goals over the last four Gameweeks.

Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) was the top captain choice for the eighth successive Gameweek but, after failing to get an attacking return against Nottingham Forest in midweek, he blanked in back-to-back matches for the first time since Gameweek 35 last season.

Alexander Isak's (£9.4m) eight-match scoring streak in the Premier League came to an end as Newcastle United lost 4-1 at home to AFC Bournemouth

And Cole Palmer (£11.4m) was unable to repeat his Gameweek 2 heroics away to Wolverhampton Wanderers when the two sides met at Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea star had totalled 17 points in their previous encounter but finished with just two points this time.

With Isak and Palmer both given the armband by more than 1.3m managers, this was the second Gameweek in a row, and the fourth time ever, that four active players have been captained by more than a million Fantasy managers, highlighting the range of viable options.

Early ecstasy for five managers

There was a great start to the Gameweek for five Fantasy managers who Triple-Captained Justin Kluivert (£5.6m) for his hat-trick at Newcastle.

The Cherries winger added an assist to his three goals to earn maximum bonus and a final total of 22 points.

He's the first player to record TWO scores of 20 points or more in a match this season. Kluivert previously achieved the feat in Gameweek 13, thanks to a hat-trick and maximum bonus in a 4-2 win at Wolves.

Best match scores this season
Player Fixture Pts
Palmer GW6 - BHA (H) 25
Schade GW13 - LEI (H) 23
Kluivert GW22 - NEW (A) 22
Salah GW17 - TOT (A) 21
Kluivert GW13 - WOL (A) 20
Madueke GW2 - WOL (A) 20
Amad GW21 - SOU (H) 20

Wood was also the most-bought player for Gameweek 22, snapped up by more than 938,000 Fantasy bosses.

Following a run of six consecutive blanks for the Gameweek's No 1 transfer target, there have been immediate returns for six of last seven top recruits.

But while the "curse" of the most-transferred in player appears to have been banished, it wasn't such good news for the rest of the popular buys.

Wood's team-mate Matz Sels (£5.0m) had kept four clean sheets across his previous five outings, taking him to the top of the goalkeeper standings. But the Belgian could only add a point to his tally after conceding twice, leaving him two short of 100 in Fantasy.

GW22 most-bought players
Player Bought by Pts
Wood 938,679 12
Amad 609,217 2
Isak 421,050 2
Gordon 374,779 2
Sels 364,939 1

Amad (£5.5m) sensationally reached the triple-digit milestone with a 20-point return in Manchester United's 3-1 win over Southampton last Thursday.

More than 600,000 Fantasy bosses added him to their squads for the visit of Brighton & Hove Albion as a result. However, it was a disappointing afternoon for them, with Amad mustering just a single shot as he blanked in the 3-1 loss.

Finally, Newcastle's Anthony Gordon (£7.7m) was unable to continue his own good run of form in the defeat at St. James' Park. The England international blanked for the first time in eight starts.

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