Before departing for the Africa Cup of Nations, Mohamed Salah (£13.2m) rewarded the 2.4million Fantasy Premier League managers who handed him the captain's armband him with a 16-point haul.
The most-captained active player, the Egypt international maintained his flawless record of never blanking against Newcastle United at Anfield.
He scored twice and supplied an assist to scoop the maximum three bonus points in Liverpool's 4-2 win, although a penalty miss prevented him from claiming an even bigger return, reducing his tally by two points.
In seven home appearances versus the Magpies, Salah has now produced seven goals, four assists and 72 points.
His participation in AFCON could see him miss up to four rounds of matches, the biennial tournament takes place between 13 January and 11 February, spanning Gameweeks 21 to 24.
GW20 most-captained active players
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Salah | 2,435,797 | 16 |
| Watkins | 1,012,381 | 8 |
| Son | 994,755 | 9 |
| Alvarez | 802,963 | 7 |
| Saka | 269,272 | 7 |
All five top captain picks from active players produced a return in Gameweek 20.
Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) ended a run of indifferent form to delight the one million Fantasy bosses who handed him the armband.
Watkins had failed to produce a return in four of his previous five outings ahead of Aston Villa's 3-2 win over Burnley, but he supplied two assists for an eight-point score.
Like Salah, Son Heung-min (£9.9m) played his final match before departing on international duty, where he will represent South Korea in the Asian Cup.
He scored in Tottenham Hotspur's 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth to register his 17th attacking return of the season, one more than he managed in the whole of 2022/23 Fantasy.
Bukayo Saka (£9.0m) completed the top five active captains, with Julian Alvarez (£7.0m) in fourth.
Saka ended a run of four successive blanks with a goal and seven points in Arsenal's 2-1 defeat to Fulham. Despite a lack of returns, Saka has significantly upped his goal threat over his last five games, averaging 3.4 shots in the box per match, compared to 1.5 for the rest of the season.
GW20 most-bought players
| Player | Transferred in by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Alvarez | 732,871 | 7 |
| Foden | 463,488 | 12 |
| Alexander-Arnold | 404,103 | 0 |
A combined 1.1m managers were immediately paid back for their decision to recruit Alvarez and Phil Foden (£7.8m) for Gameweek 20.
The Manchester City duo topped managers' shopping lists ahead of their home encounter with Sheffield United.
The pair linked up for the second goal in the 2-0 win, with Foden teeing up Alvarez for a simple finish, having earlier provided the assist for Rodri's (£5.6m) opener.
Foden was rewarded with the maximum three bonus for a 12-point return, his best score of 2023/24 Fantasy.
He created a match-high six chances against Sheff Utd, while his three shots took his tally to 43 for the season, only three fewer than his total for the last campaign.
Alvarez continued his fine form in the absence of Erling Haaland (£13.9m). The No 1 transfer target has scored in three successive matches across all competitions, notching four goals and one assists.
In contrast to Salah's heroics, Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m) recorded a rare blank in win over Newcastle.
The third most-bought player for Gameweek 20, he was in outstanding form ahead of the contest having produced a return or collected a share of the bonus points in each of his previous eight appearances.
But a yellow card and two goals conceded resulted in zero points for his 404,000+ new owners.
Haaland falls off No 1 perch
For the first time in 51 Gameweeks, Haaland is no longer the most-selected player in Fantasy.
The Norwegian has been sold by nearly 3,650,000 managers over the last four rounds, which has dropped his ownership from 85 per cent to 53 per cent. Saka, who is found in over six million teams, is the new most-owned player.
Top 100 managers' GW20 captains
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Salah | 53 | 16 |
| Alvarez | 25 | 7 |
| Watkins | 11 | 8 |
| Son | 10 | 9 |
| Foden | 2 | 12 |
| Haaland | 1 | 0 |
Salah was the No 1 choice among the top 100 managers, with 53 handing him the armband.
That number included the overall leader heading into this round of matches, tis vaishakh from the USA, who extended his advantage to 14 points.
Ireland's Darragh Kelly moved up from sixth to second place. The Manchester United fan received double-figure hauls from Alphonse Areola (£4.2m), Cole Palmer (£5.6m) and his new signing Foden.
And Australia's Michael Han-McEvoy captained Son as he went from eighth to third, just three points adrift of Kelly.
Also in this series
Part 1: Palmer show punishes half a million FPL managers
Part 3: Gameweek 20 FPL bonus points
