A shock return from injury for Harry Kane (£11.0m) not only frustrated his sellers but also helped Son Heung-min (£9.7m) justify being the second-most popular Fantasy Premier League captain in Gameweek 23.
Kane started after missing the last two matches with a double-ankle injury and he scored the opening goal for eight points before Son added the second in Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion. Son ended up with 10 points.
More than 1.1million managers captained Son, while Kane was sold by 281,000, both the second-highest figures in their respective categories for GW23.
GW23 most-captained players
| Player | Captained by ('000s) |
|---|---|
| Fernandes | 1,949 |
| Son | 1,118 |
| Salah | 958 |
Bruno Fernandes (£11.5m), now the top-scoring player (169 points) and most-selected in FPL (59 per cent), showed why he was the most popular captain as he claimed seven points in Manchester United's dramatic home 3-3 draw with Everton.
More than 958,000 managers gave Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) the armband against leaders Manchester City despite a run of blanks. Although his side lost 4-1 on Sunday, Salah scored Liverpool's only goal for a return of seven points.
GW23 most transferred-out players
| Player | Transferred out by ('000s) |
|---|---|
| Chilwell | 283 |
| Kane | 281 |
| Zaha | 259 |
After failing to start either of Chelsea's last two matches, Fantasy managers lost patience with Ben Chilwell (£6.0m), with a GW23-high 283,000 parting company with the left-back.
That move paid off as although he did start in his side's victory over Sheffield United, he came off on 62 minutes and returned only two points.
Wilfried Zaha (£7.2m), who did miss out through injury, completed the top three most-sold players.
Most-captained by top 100
| Player | Captained by |
|---|---|
| Fernandes | 48 |
| Son | 28 |
| Antonio | 15 |
Michail Antonio (£6.7m) replaced Salah in an otherwise unchanged top three captain picks for the leading 100 FPL managers, compared to the masses.
But the West Ham United forward blanked for only the second time in his last six outings to score only two points at Fulham.
GW23 most transferred-in players
| Player | Transferred in by ('000s) |
|---|---|
| Wan-Bissaka | 318 |
| Antonio | 301 |
| Soucek | 257 |
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.5m) recorded a career-best 17 points against Southampton in Gameweek 22, prompting more than 318,000 to acquire the full-back.
The Man Utd defender managed four points in Gameweek 23, producing an assist.
Wan-Bissaka was chosen narrowly ahead of West Ham duo Antonio and Tomas Soucek (£5.4m). The quarter of a million who brought in Soucek saw the midfielder return zero points after a late red card at Craven Cottage.
See: Fantasy Premier League stats
Also in this series
Part 2: GW23 Bonus points: Dallas and Meslier reap rewards
Part 3: FPL Saturday review: Almiron thriving in new system