FPL GW26 captain picks: Salah, Saka, Haaland, the best gameweek 26 captain

GW26 is finally here and it’s another double gameweek! As FPL managers, we know how important it is to choose the right captain every gameweek, and this week is no exception.

With so many great FPL assets to choose from, it can be tough to decide – Salah, Saka, Haaland, Rashford, and Watkins are all fantastic options to consider for captaincy in this gameweek.

With these many options, the question is, who should you captain in GW26? well, that’s the question we’d be looking to answer in this article.

In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at the players mentioned and try to determine which one to captain in GW26. Let’s get started and find the perfect captain pick for our FPL teams!

FPL GW26 captain poll: Who to captain GW26?

1. According to the result of a GW26 captain picks poll conducted by ALLABOUTFPL, Bukayo Saka is the player that most FPL managers are looking to captain in gameweek 26, the Arsenal winger has the most vote, with 49.72% of managers voting him as their preferred GW26 captain.

2. The player who has come in second in the GW26 captain picks poll, is Erling Haaland. The Man City forward is being backed by 22.03% of FPL managers.

3. In third, we have Kane, who is being backed by 8.47% of FPL managers

4. In fourth, we have Rashford who is being backed by 5.65% of FPL managers

5. In fifth place, we have Odegaard, who has picked up 8 votes so far.

Based on the GW26 captain picks poll, it is clear that Bukayo Saka of Arsenal is the most popular FPL GW26 captain pick with a majority of FPL managers looking to captain the winger this gameweek.

Five of the best gameweek 26 captain

Now that we’ve heard from FPL managers, we think it is now time for us to share our thoughts on who we think you should be looking to captain this gameweek.

We have a list of five players, and we think that these five players would perform well in GW26 and that they’d be worth the captain’s armband as well.

5. FPL GW26 Captain: Ollie Watkins

Watkins is a player that we have on our list of great GW26 captains, he’s in fifth place this gameweek and that’s because of his impressive form and pretty decent fixture. Watkins has no doubt caught the eyes of FPL managers with his recent performances.

In fact, the Villa forward has produced a form of attacking return in his last five games, scoring five goals and picking 40 FPL points in that period.

We think that this gameweek could be a great opportunity to captain the Aston Villa man, as he faces Crystal Palace at home. With the way the FPL schedule is taking shape, Watkins is looking like he’d be an essential player pick in the coming weeks.

To find out what other players are essential picks now and in future gameweeks, then you should check out our: FPL GW26 transfer tips: who should you buy in gameweek 26

Even though you might not want to captain him, he’s one that you should be looking to get.

4. FPL GW26 Captain: Mo Salah

Mo Salah has got himself in fourth place this week and we’re confident that he could have a decent return against Man United this gameweek.

The Liverpool man has been really impressive in recent gameweeks and he’s starting to look like his old self again. In his last three gameweeks, he has picked up 28 points and in that period, he has returned two double-digit hauls.

This gameweek he plays against Man United and that could be tricky, but we’re confident that Liverpool can sore against this United side and if they do, we’d be hoping that Mo Salah is amongst the goals.

They play the game at anfield and that in itself is an extra reason to be confident in Mo Salah.

We also don’t want to forget that Mo Salah has a pretty good record against Man United, the Liverpool man has scored eight times in ten premier league games against United.

3. FPL GW26 Captain: Marcus Rashford

In third place we’ve got Marcus Rashford. There’s no doubt that he’d be a great captain in GW26. He’s a player that has been in superb form, a player that can’t seem to stop scoring goals and a player that seems to be benefiting from Ten Hag’s system.

Rashford is a player that could quite easily return double digits in GW26. United face Liverpool and we know that United would benefit and have a lot joy because of the way Liverpool play.

Liverpool always seem to play a pretty high line and if they do that against United this weekend, the chances of Marcus Rashford getting a goal is very high.

We also know that Liverool aren’t the best defensively, we’ve seen them crumble against Madrid, Wolves and Newcastle. Even though they kept a clean sheet against Newcastle, it was pretty obvious that Liverpool gave a way a lot of clear cut chances.

In fact, in Liverpool’s last five games, they have an xGC of 5.95 which isn’t great. If they continue to give a way a lot of chances against an in-form Marcus Rashford, then Rashford captainers would be in dreamland.

2. FPL GW26 Captain: Erling Haaland

Erling Haaland of Man City, is our second best GW26 captain. The only reason why he’s not in first position is because of his opponent in GW26 – Man City face Newcastle in GW26, a team that are pretty good defensively.

We also know that Man City can break down any defensive side. However, this gameweek we think that the player we’ve got in first place is a much better pick than Erling Haaland.

Haaland is not a bad pick. In fact, he’s top of this week’s anytime scorer’s chart which is great and an added bonus. We all know how good he is and that he can score a hattrick against anyone.

You can see more odds and predictions in our: FPL GW26 fixtures, clean sheet odds, point predictions and likely goal scorers article.

We also know that going against him is a big risk, but it is one that we’re ready to take in GW26.

1. FPL GW26 Captain: Bukayo Saka

In first place we’ve got another player that is in really good form and that’s Bukayo Saka.

Once again, he has shown us just how good he can be and last gameweek was a really good watch and one that we’re happy about, because he was the one we recommended as the ideal GW25 captain.

This gameweek once more, we’re looking to captain the Arsenal man. The reason why he’s top of this list is because of the team he plays this gameweek(Bournemouth)

Amongst all the players we’ve got on this list, Saka has the easiest set of fixture. No disresect to Bournemouth, but we do think that Saka at home to Bournemouth is a fixture that we’d want to target.

Saka has also been in really good form. In his last five gameweeks, he has scored 3 goals and has returned 36 Fpl points.

He ticks all the boxes this gameweek, he has got great stats, a nice fixture and he’s a guaranteed starter and for these reasons he’d be our GW26 captain.

To find out some of the best players to transfer into your FPL team this gameweek, feel free to check out our article: FPL GW26 transfer tips: who should you buy in gameweek 26

If you’re on a wildcard, then you can find our GW26 wildcard drafts here: FPL GW26 wildcard team: the best gameweek 26 wildcard FPL teams

To find out what other players are essential picks now and in future gameweeks, then you should check out our: FPL GW26 transfer tips: who should you buy in gameweek 26

To see our FPL calendar that highlights blank and double gameweeks, then check out our: FPL tips: preparing for FPL 22/23 blank and double gameweeks GW22-28