Fantasy Premier League: GW27 Top Captain Picks

After a long and grueling FPL DGW 26, we have another DGW on our hands, albeit a smaller one as we count down to the GW27 deadline.

With Manchester City and Southampton being the only two sides to play an extra fixture, it is expected that picks from these teams will dominate the captaincy for this week.

Although there are some great options available among players with just one fixture who are perfectly viable options – so I definitely wouldn’t rule them out as good captaincy picks.

#5 James Ward-Prowse

This might be a bit of a questionable call, even more so considering I am not mentioning Danny Ings in this article, but I feel that the matchups this week favor the set-piece specialist.

Sheffield United have been prone to set-pieces having conceded the joint-most goals from them this season  (11 goals). They are missing almost their entire first-choice backline.

I personally don’t see Saints’ scoring from open play against Manchester City but with Ward-Prowse being a world-class free-kick taker, he is capable of pulling off something spectacular although it is not something you can depend on.

#4 Harry Kane

Harry Kane was my top pick for DGW26 and even though it didn’t work out perfectly, it could have been a lot better given the chances he had, which you would expect him to convert on most days.

He might just have an SGW fixture this time around but I think he is the standout pick among the SGW players, coming up against a struggling Crystal Palace side who might still be without Zaha.

We all know Harry Kane loves a London Derby and should get plenty of shots away to have a chance of bagging a goal or two.

I don’t think a punt on someone like Son or Bale is the worst idea either, however, I still much prefer Kane in terms of captaincy because of him being on penalties.

#3 Ruben Dias

It is not often that you see defenders being named as serious captaincy options but we have seen that defenders have a history of doing well in DGW’s. Manchester City defenders, in particular, seem to step up in Double Gameweeks.

John Stones’ famous 27-pointer in DGW19 earlier has to go down as one of the most incredible moments of the season, while Stones and Dias were both on the scoresheet last week against West Ham.

Aymeric Laporte’s heroics from the DGW last season is something else that comes to mind. Dias has started the last 5 games in all competitions, which means you can’t rule out him getting an odd rest in the game against Southampton.

I still think he is the most nailed on Man City outfield player and doesn’t really need much rest usually. However, you never know when Pep Roulette might strike though.

Another thing in his favor is that with De Bruyne back in the team and on set-pieces, the quality of delivery should increase, as we already noticed last week. This should work well for the Portuguese.

João Cancelo and John Stones are good options in their own right but they seem to be bigger rotation risks which puts me off them.

If you’re looking to play it extremely safe and are confident of Man City keeping CS in both games, Ederson is a good alternative, albeit having a limited ceiling.

#2 Kevin De Bruyne

Having just come back from injury, De Bruyne is owned by just 14% of the entire game at the moment, with many of these being inactive teams as well.

For this week, you can’t possibly have a better differential than the Belgian maestro.

While his FPL season has been quite ordinary from his standards, with just one open-play goal to his name all season, we all know what De Bruyne is capable of doing as we have seen over the years.

The penalty situation at Manchester City is an awkward one but you would expect De Bruyne to step up to take the next one if they are given one, which is a major thing in his favor.

Even though I do think there’s a good chance of De Bruyne starting both games in the DGW, I have my reservations about his minutes.

With him playing 180 minutes in DGW26, we could see his minutes be limited this week, especially against Southampton.

#1 İlkay Gündoğan

If at the start of the season I would have told you that I would have Gündoğan ahead of De Bruyne as a captaincy option, let alone consider him as a viable FPL option, you would have probably laughed at me.

The German has been immense for the Cityzens in recent months and was one of the major reasons they barely felt the absence of De Bruyne.

He just needed 4 minutes off the bench against Wolves to grab an assist. Having had his rest last week, he has quite a good chance of starting both games in the DGW.

Gündoğan is in the form of his life and you shouldn’t let his price affect your thinking while considering him for captaincy, as we have seen over the last few Gameweeks.

He has been a lot more efficient than De Bruyne this season which is why I feel it is safe to rely on him this week.