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            <p>Fantasy Football Hub's resident Fantasy Premier League (FPL) captaincy expert <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisTanFPL">Chris Tan</a> takes a close look at the key fixtures and best FPL captain options for Gameweek 21.</p>
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<h2><strong>Best FPL captain for Gameweek 21: The candidates</strong></h2>
<p>This is the first week in a while where <strong>Mohamed Salah</strong> isn’t an automatic captaincy pick.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly, he will have the highest effective ownership but there should be some variety amongst the engaged players.</p>
<p>The problem is, he’s just so good and rarely blanks. If you’re going with someone else, who are you willing to place your trust in?</p>
<p>Read on to find out whether you should stick with Salah or if not, who to go for.</p>
<p>These are the main candidates this week:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Cole Palmer</strong> v Bournemouth (H)</li>
<li><strong>Mohamed Salah</strong> v Nottingham Forest (A)</li>
<li><strong>Alexander Isak</strong> v Wolves (H)</li>
<li><strong>Erling Haaland </strong>v Brentford (A)</li>
<li><strong>Bruno Fernandes</strong> v Southampton (H)</li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best FPL captain for Gameweek 21: The fixtures</h2>
<div id="attachment_69942" style="width: 559px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-69942" class="size-full wp-image-69942" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FPL-Gameweek-21-Best-Captain-fixtures.png" alt="" width="549" height="931" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-69942" class="wp-caption-text">FPL Gameweek 21 Best Captain - fixtures</p>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best FPL captain for Gameweek 21: The reverse fixtures</h2>
<p>It was a high scoring week for defenders last time around.</p>
<div id="attachment_69948" style="width: 612px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-69948" class="size-full wp-image-69948" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FPL-Gameweek-21-Best-Captain-reverse-fixtures-Gameweek-4.png" alt="" width="602" height="886" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-69948" class="wp-caption-text">FPL Gameweek 21 Best Captain - reverse fixtures (Gameweek 4)</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div id="attachment_69947" style="width: 612px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-69947" class="size-full wp-image-69947" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FPL-Gameweek-21-Best-Captain-reverse-fixtures-Gameweek-4-team-of-the-week.png" alt="" width="602" height="725" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-69947" class="wp-caption-text">FPL Gameweek 21 Best Captain - reverse fixtures (Gameweek 4) team of the week</p>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best FPL captain for Gameweek 21: Poll</h2>
<p>Even with some enticing fixtures, it's so one-sided among my followers:</p>
<div id="attachment_69758" style="width: 612px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-69758" class="size-full wp-image-69758" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FPL-Gameweek-20-Best-Captain-X-poll.png" alt="" width="602" height="279" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-69758" class="wp-caption-text">FPL Gameweek 21 captain poll</p>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best FPL captain for Gameweek 21: Players' records</h2>
<p>Here are some notable records for our captaincy candidates:</p>
<p><strong>Haaland</strong> - has returned in each of the last three games against Brentford, including a brace in the reverse fixture, however he only recorded an assist away last season.</p>
<p><strong>Fernandes</strong> - has a good record against Southampton, but he did blank the last two home games against them.</p>
<p><strong>Isak</strong> - scored in every home game against Wolves to date.</p>
<p><strong>Salah</strong> - has only returned against Nottingham Forest at Anfield.</p>
<p><strong>Palmer </strong>- picked up an assist at home last season, but has never scored against Bournemouth.</p>
<div id="attachment_69946" style="width: 805px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-69946" class="size-full wp-image-69946" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FPL-Gameweek-21-Best-Captain-record-against.png" alt="" width="795" height="481" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-69946" class="wp-caption-text">FPL Gameweek 21 Best Captain - record against</p>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best FPL captain for Gameweek 21: Members' stats breakdown</h2>
<p>The stats are filtered 'per start' for the individual players and 'per appearance' for the team stats over the last six gameweeks.</p>
<p>See the latest stats on the Hub's <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta">Opta page</a>.</p>
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