Gameweek 35 FPL stats: Salah eclipses Haaland to reward backers

More than 900,000 Fantasy Premier League managers were rewarded for handing the captain’s armband to Mohamed Salah (£13.0m).

With Erling Haaland (£12.4m) blanking in Manchester City’s 2-1 victory over Leeds United, Salah took advantage by scoring the only goal in Liverpool’s 1-0 win at home to Brentford for a 10-point return.

Salah has now outscored Haaland in back-to-back Gameweeks, having mustered 18 points in Double Gameweek 34 to the Norwegian’s 16. That haul helped him become the first player to surpass the 200-point mark in six successive seasons. 

Fortune favours the brave

Salah could prove a canny differential captain in the race for managers to be crowned Fantasy Premier League champion.

Indeed, Nori Pro was one of just two people brave enough to go against Haaland among the top 100 managers, moving up over 20 places thanks to double points from captain Salah.

The other manager who went against the grain was Michael Gaber, ranked 36th overall heading into this round of fixtures. He’s opted for Kaoru Mitoma (£5.6m) for Brighton & Hove Albion’s appealing home encounter with Everton on Monday.

Mitoma has blanked in each of his past five appearances, but the underlying numbers suggest he’s been somewhat unfortunate. He’s taken 12 shots in the box over that period, the joint-most among Brighton players.

Meanwhile injuries to regular Everton right-backs Seamus Coleman (£4.2m) and Ben Godfrey (£4.3m) enhance Mitoma’s prospects.

GW35 most-captained players

In truth, Haaland was unlucky to blank in the win over Leeds.

He took six shots and was presented with three big chances, the joint-most he’s had in a match this season. And much to the frustration of his owners, he even let Ilkay Gundogan (£7.3m) take a penalty.

Joining Haaland and Salah among the most-captained players is Gabriel Jesus (£8.1m). 

The Brazilian is in good form ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Newcastle United. He’s scored five goals in his previous six matches and has had nine big chances in that time, second only to the 13 of Haaland. 

GW35 most transferred-in players

Callum Wilson (£7.0m) topped managers’ shopping lists ahead of Gameweek 35.

Wilson has notched three double-figure hauls in six matches despite starting just two of those. With a Double Gameweek to follow in the next round, more than 330,000 Fantasy bosses snapped up the Newcastle forward.

Pervis Estupinan (£4.9m) amassed 16 points across his two outings in Double Gameweek 34, the most of any defender, prompting 293,000+ to recruit him.

Encouragingly for his new owners, he’s taken 10 shots and created 14 chances over the last six Gameweeks, both placing in the top three in his position.

The most-selected midfielder in Fantasy, found in more than 45 per cent of teams, Marcus Rashford (£7.2m) has been bought by 1.6million people over the past three Gameweeks.

He’s averaged 7.5 points per start since the FIFA World Cup and his impressive form shows no sign of abating, with just one blank in five outings.

He needs six points in Manchester United’s match at West Ham United to reach 200 points for the first time in his career.

GW35 most transferred-out players

There was relief among those who ditched the three most-sold players as they all blanked. 

More than 301,000 parted company with Kevin De Bruyne (£12.2m), who recovered from injury to start versus Leeds. But he was unable to add to his eight attacking returns across his previous four starts.

Diogo Jota (£8.9m) was unexpectedly named in the Liverpool first XI having been a doubt to play and he endured a disappointing afternoon, with nothing to show from two shots in the box and three chances created.

Ivan Toney (£7.4m) also blanked in that encounter, his fourth consecutive two-pointer in away matches.

See: Fantasy Premier League stats

Also in this series

Part 1: FPL GW35 Bonus points