More than 4.1million Fantasy Premier League managers were rewarded for their decision to captain Erling Haaland (£14.2m) in Gameweek 36.
The Norwegian delivered his seventh double-figure haul of the campaign in Manchester City's 5-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, with four goals and maximum bonus giving him a 21-point score, or 42 with the armband.
It was his best score of 2023/24 Fantasy and he now leads the race for the Castrol Golden Boot by five goals.
Confidence in Haaland is on the rise with his captaincy numbers up by nearly one million from the previous round.
And that is only set to increase further ahead of Man City's two matches in Double Gameweek 37 (DGW37) when Pep Guardiola's side visit Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur.
GW36 most-captained players
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Haaland | 4,144,198 | 21 |
| Palmer | 944,797 | 8 |
| Salah | 702,522 | 13 |
| Isak | 676,401 | 7 |
| Saka | 664,197 | 10 |
All of the top five captains returned, softening the blow somewhat for those who went against Haaland.
Mohamed Salah (£13.4m) was the pick of the differentials, returning 13 points as Liverpool beat Spurs 4-2.
The Egyptian moved up to 203 points with his ninth double-digit haul of the season, coming courtesy of a goal and two assists.
In reaching that mark, he becomes the first player to record 200 points or more in seven different seasons, surpassing Frank Lampard's tally of six.
Players with the most 200-point seasons
| Player | Seasons with 200 points |
|---|---|
| Salah | 7 |
| Lampard | 6 |
| Kane | 5 |
| Henry | 4 |
| Hazard | 4 |
Bukayo Saka (£9.0m) also claimed a double-figure haul, his second on the bounce, in Arsenal's 3-0 win over AFC Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium.
Saka impressed with seven shots and five key passes, both match-leading totals.
The England international has now notched 28 attacking returns this term, his best tally across his six seasons in Fantasy.
When Cole Palmer (£6.2m) scored after 15 minutes of Chelsea's 5-0 win over West Ham United, he sparked hope among his backers that he could reproduce his 26-point total versus Everton in Gameweek 33, a score which remains the best individual match tally this season.
But it wasn't to be on this occasion, with Palmer unable to add to his strike, finishing the game on a relatively disappointing eight points.
Not only was Alexander Isak (£8.4m) the fourth most-captained player, he was also the most-bought, with more than 485,000 recruiting him for Newcastle's trip to Burnley on Saturday.
Isak continued his good form with a goal and an assist in The Magpies' 4-0 victory, although his seven point score would have been more if he hadn't missed a penalty.
The Swede now has 12 attacking returns and 73 points over the last nine matches, the most of any forward.
Like Man City, Newcastle also have two fixtures in DGW37, hosting Brighton & Hove Albion before travelling to Manchester United.
GW36 most-bought players
| Player | Transferred in by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Isak | 485,657 | 7 |
| Gvardiol | 456,489 | 6 |
| De Bruyne | 402,755 | 2 |
| Haaland | 398,626 | 21 |
| Gordon | 339,090 | 6 |
| Foden | 313,393 | 5 |
Isak's team-mate, Anthony Gordon (£6.3m) also found himself among the top transfer targets for Gameweek 36, snapped up by nearly 340,000 Fantasy bosses.
Gordon supplied an assist in the 4-0 win to earn six points, although he would have been credited with another assist had Isak converted his penalty.
Man City players in demand
More than 2m transfers were made for Man City's players.
Josko Gvardiol (£5.1m) was the most sought after, gaining over 456,000 new owners. He duly supplied his fourth attacking return in four matches with an assist after winning the penalty for Haaland's first goal.
Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m), who had averaged 10 points per match over his six previous starts versus Wolves, disappointed his 402,000+ new owners with a blank, just his second in five appearances.
Haaland and Phil Foden (£8.4m) made it four City players among the top six transfers in.
Foden recovered from the illness that kept him out the win at Nottingham Forest last weekend to supply an assist and five points.
Top 100 managers' GW36 captains
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Haaland | 84 | 21 |
| Palmer | 10 | 8 |
| Isak | 2 | 7 |
| De Bruyne | 2 | 2 |
| Havertz | 1 | 5 |
| Salah | 1 | 13 |
What did the world's top 100 do?
Haaland was captained by the majority of the leading 100 managers in Fantasy, and all of the top 10 heading into Gameweek 36.
Palmer was the main differential choice, selected by 10 people among this elite group, with Isak and De Bruyne finding favour with two each.
Mahmoud Alhasan backed the most in-form player in Fantasy ahead of Gameweek 36, Kai Havertz (£7.5m), who had totalled 100 points since Gameweek 25.
But the risk to go against Haaland didn't pay off, as Havertz returned just five points in Arsenal's 3-0 win.
Finally, Salah did his best to reward 94th-placed Mike Dobson for entrusting him with the armband, but his double-digit haul, the 68th of his career, fell eight points short of the Norwegian's total.