Differential captain Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) produced a season-high 16 points to delight the 440,000+ Fantasy Premier League managers who handed him the armband.
The 23-year-old produced a goal and two assists in Arsenal's 3-1 win over Southampton and claimed the maximum bonus points.
With the top two captain choices, Erling Haaland (£15.4m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) both blanking, it meant the door was left open for those brave enough to look elsewhere.
Faith in Saka pays dividends
Saka's haul is reward for those who kept faith following a disappointing three-point return at home to Leicester City in Gameweek 6.
The underlying statistics suggested that he was unfortunate on that occasion having created a Gameweek-high four big chances and taken seven shots.
He once again impressed in Gameweek 7, matching his tallies from the previous round but this time with a much better outcome.
Across his last two appearances Saka has totalled 14 shots, 10 shots in the box, 15 key passes and eight big chances created, eclipsing his numbers from the other five outings this season.
GW7 most-captained players
| Player | Captained by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Haaland | 5,839,972 | 2 |
| Salah | 1,115,152 | 3 |
| Palmer | 1,063,037 | 6 |
| Saka | 448,323 | 16 |
| Watkins | 282,675 | 2 |
Haaland had averaged 8.8 points per match (ppm) over his four previous matches against Fulham, encouraging a season-high 5.8million people to captain him.
But despite mustering four shots as Manchester City won 3-2, none found the back of the net as the Norwegian blanked for a second successive week.
His main rival in the captaincy stakes, Salah, blanked in the early kick-off. Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 1-0, with Salah missing a chance in the second half and finishing on three points.
Mixed fortunes for Palmer and Watkins
A combined 1.2m managers handed the armband to either Cole Palmer (£10.8m) or Ollie Watkins (£9.1m).
Palmer was also the most-bought player for Gameweek 7 following his 25-point mega haul in the previous round, the best individual score of the season so far.
He didn't quite reach those highs on this occasion as his new owners had to settle for a six-point return, thanks to an assist and a share of the bonus in Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Nonetheless, it was enough to take him joint-top of the Fantasy player standings on 67 points, level with Haaland.
Meanwhile, Watkins failed to register a shot on target in Aston Villa's goalless encounter with Manchester United, bringing to an end his recent run of good form. Before his blank on Sunday, he had totalled 35 points in four matches.
GW7 most-bought players
| Player | Bought by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Palmer | 1,001,986 | 6 |
| Mbeumo | 620,895 | 8 |
| McNeil | 485,733 | 2 |
| Jackson | 466,624 | 2 |
| Gabriel | 403,105 | 2 |
Among the top transfer targets for Gameweek 7, only Bryan Mbeumo (£7.4m) joined Palmer in producing a return.
The Cameroon international scored his sixth goal of the campaign, converting a penalty in Brentford's 5-3 win at home Wolverhampton Wanderers. Up to 51 points, he's currently the most-recruited player for Gameweek 8, with over 110,000 transfers in.
Elsewhere, it was a disappointing weekend for Dwight McNeil (£5.6m), Nicolas Jackson (£7.9m) and Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.2m), who had no more than appearance points to show for their endeavours.
