Picking a captain in a Fantasy Premier League is crucial as this position could affect the overall points allocation of the team and decide if they’re going to win or lose the game.
Given that there’s no such thing as a “perfect” fantasy football captain, a set of criteria have been imposed by FPL managers to determine who’s the best fit for the job.
What are the criteria for a qualified captain?
FPL managers consider various factors before they shortlist the potential captain candidates, and some of them include the player’s streaks and overall performance.
It’s a top priority of managers to pick a player who will take home the trophy for the team, so having impressive and consistent performance is already a step towards captaincy.
Take Aguero, Sterling, Mane, Salah, and Aubameyang, for examples.
These players have been the leading contenders for the Fantasy Teams’ preferred candidates in captaincy. And it’s not hard to understand why.
Salah has played 38 games for Liverpool in the Premier League in the latest season, where he scored 22 goals and 11 assists with 259 FPL points. Along with his six appearances in the FPL Dream Team, it’ll be a surprise if Salah wouldn’t be one of the top picks for the position.
Meanwhile, Mane and Sterling have also showcased their excellent skills dedicated to their respective teams. With a score of 234 FPL points from Sterling and 231 FPL points from Mane, you are staring at the brightest and most influential stars in the Premier League wingers.
Moreover, both have managed to stay consistent with their appearances in the Dream Team. They have continually stayed on top of the shortlisted candidates by the managers.
Whether or not you agree, sports could be considered a business. This is why managers have an allocated budget to pay for their players. It’s an investment in the talent of their players, and as they gain popularity, their price could rise.
In this way, it may be hard for an FPL manager to decide the player that could fulfill the captain role responsibly. Lucky for them, they have what we call “budget captains.”
It’s important to note that budget captains are not inferior to their counterparts. Their title is only a guide for managers to handle their finances. Since they are more affordable, the manager could still have a chance to hire them even with a tight allowance.
Some rising budget captains are Ryan Frayer, Van Dijk, Robertson, and Alexander-Arnold. Whereas Robertson was praised for scoring 213 FPL points with five appearances on the Dream Team after his Gameweek 1 statistics last season.
How important is this position?
Being an FPL captain is both an honor and an obligation. If a manager made a wise choice to hire an excellent candidate to fulfill these responsibilities, it wouldn’t be long until they ripe the results from their captain’s points.
Strict rules are applied to captains because they lead their team either win or lose for that particular game week. Each point that a captain would earn throughout the game would be doubled and significantly impact the team’s total score.
If a captain couldn’t play, the vice-captain would take over, and their points are the ones going to be doubled. So FPL managers must place equal importance on picking their vice-captain as this player could either break or make their victory.
