A combined 3.3million managers were brought a little Christmas cheer thanks to the top two players in Fantasy Premier League.
Both Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) and Son Heung-min (£9.8m) scored and returned seven points for their backers, extending their advantage at the summit of the FPL player standings.
Salah resumed his normal service with a goal in Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Arsenal.
His blank in the previous round ended a run of 16 consecutive home matches with returns going back to Gameweek 23 of 2022/23 Fantasy.
Impressively, Salah blanked just twice at Anfield in the 2023 calendar year, notching a goal or assist in 17 of his 19 outings.
Meanwhile, Son rewarded the 1.2m who captained him with his 11th goal of the campaign as Tottenham Hotspur triumphed 2-1 over Everton.
The Spurs star has now scored more goals after 18 Gameweeks than he did in the whole of last season.
GW18 most-captained players*
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Watkins | 2,351,544 | 2 |
| Salah | 2,135,904 | 7 |
| Son | 1,250,609 | 7 |
| Saka | 590,942 | 1 |
| Fernandes | 174,246 | 1 |
*Including vice-captains for managers who captained Haaland
There was disappointment for the 2.3m+ who handed the armband to Ollie Watkins (£8.7m) as he blanked for the third time in four matches.
Aston Villa's 15-match winning run at home came to an end in their 1-1 draw with Sheffield United on Friday.
Much to the frustration of his backers, Watkins looked to have laid on an assist for Leon Bailey (£5.6m), only for the goal to be ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
Not only was Watkins the most-captained player, he was also the most transferred-in, with over 900,000 snapping him up ahead of Thursday's deadline.
But the "curse" of the most-bought player struck once again. For the 13th time this season the Gameweek's top recruit recorded three points or less.
There was frustration, too, for the 590,00+ who entrusted the armband to Bukayo Saka (£9.0m) as recorded a third successive blank. Their misery was compounded when he collected a yellow card, reducing his tally to a single point.
And with Manchester City taking part in the FIFA Club World Cup, Erling Haaland's (£13.9m) absence handed Bruno Fernandes (£8.2m) a place among the top five captains.
The Portuguese has created 49 chances this term, the most among midfielders, but he was unable to convert those strong underlying statistics into points as he failed to return in Manchester United 2-0 defeat to West Ham. Like Saka, a yellow card cut his score to one point.
Also in this series
Part 1: FPL GW18 bonus points
