The No 1 transfer target for Gameweek 19 in Fantasy Premier League, Dominic Solanke (£7.0m), became only the fifth top recruit to break the "curse" of the most-bought player.
Snapped up by 543,484 managers, Solanke scored in AFC Bournemouth's 3-0 victory over Fulham. His goal takes him up to 12 for the campaign, level with Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) and second only to Erling Haaland (£13.9m) among all players.
The Gameweek's most-transferred-in player has produced three points or less 13 times this season.
Not only did Solanke avoid that fate but Gameweek 19 proved fruitful all round as each of the three most-popular signings provided instant rewards for their new owners. Just the third time that's happened in 2023/24 Fantasy.
GW19 most-bought players
| Player | Transferred in by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Solanke | 543,484 | 6 |
| Alexander-Arnold | 450,705 | 8 |
| Alvarez | 249,307 | 8 |
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4m) continued his recent good form with an eight-point return in Liverpool's 2-0 win at Burnley. The premium defender registered a third clean sheet in five appearances as he collected the maximum three bonus.
Alexander-Arnold has been rewarded with 18 bonus points so far, the joint-most in Fantasy, and just three shy of his total across the whole of last season.
Julian Alvarez (£6.9m) returned from Manchester City's success at the FIFA Club World Cup to score and deliver eight points as Pep Guardiola's side won 3-1 at Everton.
Encouragingly for his 249,000+ new owners, the underlying statistics suggested that this was his best performance of the season. Bolstered by penalty-taking duties in the absence of Haaland, Alvarez registered an Expected Goal Involvement score of 1.70 versus the Toffees, a 58 per cent increase on his previous match best.
The Argentinian is already topping managers' shopping lists ahead of home meeting with Sheffield United on Saturday, with more than 196,000 adding him to their squads.
GW19 most-captained players
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Salah | 3,238,151 | 3 |
| Haaland | 3,223,137 | - |
| Son | 804,823 | 5 |
| Watkins | 664,357 | 2 |
| Solanke | 359,643 | 6 |
Alongside Solanke, Son Heung-min (£9.9m) was the only other member of the top five captains to produce a return.
The South Korean supplied an assist in Tottenham Hotspur's 4-2 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion for his 16th goal involvement of the campaign, equaling his total from 2022/23 Fantasy.
Salah was the most-captained player for the first time in 53 Gameweeks, but the Liverpool winger disappointed his backers as he blanked at Turf Moor.
The Egyptian was handed the armband by more than 3.2million managers, ending Haaland's dominance, with the Norwegian missing out on top spot for just the fourth time since he joined the Premier League.
But Salah only notched three points, failing to produce an attacking return for the third time in his last five appearances.
Meanwhile, Haaland has now missed three successive Premier League matches with a foot injury and isn't expected to return until January.
Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) blanked for the fourth time in his last five outings as Aston Villa lost 3-2 at Manchester United, much to the frustration of the 664,000+ who captained him.
He'll be looking to make amends in an appealing fixture at home to Burnley on Saturday.
Wood delights Triple Captain backers
Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest forward Chris Wood (£4.9m) delighted the 12 managers who Triple Captained him with a 17-point haul at his former club Newcastle United, netting just his second Premier League hat-trick.
Only once before has he totalled more points in a match. Back in Gameweek 33 of 2020/21 Fantasy, Wood scored three goals and provided an assist for a 20-point haul in Burnley's 4-0 success at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Also in this series
Part 1: Gameweek 19 FPL bonus points