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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 36.</p>
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<h2><strong>Best FPL captain for Gameweek 36: The candidates</strong></h2>
<p><strong>Mohamed Salah</strong> was our pick last week but a weakened Liverpool side left him frustrated and he was outperformed by most other contenders.</p>
<p><strong>Kevin De Bruyne</strong> impressed and now has the advantage of a great fixture - if he starts.</p>
<p>With the relegated sides there for the taking this week, it’s time to decide who wears the armband. Read on to uncover the best captaincy option.</p>
<p>These are the main candidates this week:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Kevin De Bruyne</strong> v Southampton (A)</li>
<li><strong>Bryan Mbeumo</strong> v Ipswich (A)</li>
<li><strong>Chris Wood</strong> v Leicester (H)</li>
<li><strong>Jarrod Bowen</strong> v Manchester United (A)</li>
<li><strong>Eberechi Eze</strong> v Spurs (A)</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_72699" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72699" class="size-full wp-image-72699" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GW36-captaincy-candidates.jpg" alt="Gameweek 36 captaincy candidates" width="798" height="650" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-72699" class="wp-caption-text">Gameweek 36 captaincy candidates</p>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best FPL captain for Gameweek 36: The fixtures</h2>
<p>The captaincy candidates all have good fixtures.</p>
<div id="attachment_72686" style="width: 612px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72686" class="size-full wp-image-72686" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FPL-Gameweek-36-Best-Captain-fixtures.png" alt="" width="602" height="930" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-72686" class="wp-caption-text">FPL Gameweek 36 fixtures</p>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best FPL captain for Gameweek 36: The reverse fixtures</h2>
<p>Mbeumo has had a quiet two games after he smashed Blank Gameweek 34. If he could repeat what he did last time against Ipswich then he'd certainly be my captain of choice.</p>
<div id="attachment_72691" style="width: 612px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72691" class="size-full wp-image-72691" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FPL-Gameweek-36-Best-Captain-reverse-fixtures-Gameweek-9-team-of-the-week.png" alt="" width="602" height="701" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-72691" class="wp-caption-text">Reverse fixtures team of the week</p>
</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div id="attachment_72692" style="width: 541px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72692" class="size-full wp-image-72692" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FPL-Gameweek-36-Best-Captain-reverse-fixtures-Gameweek-9.png" alt="" width="531" height="931" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-72692" class="wp-caption-text">Reverse fixtures (Gameweek 9)</p>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best FPL captain for Gameweek 36: Poll</h2>
<p>Mbeumo is the favourite again despite blanking his last two.</p>
<div id="attachment_72696" style="width: 612px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72696" class="size-full wp-image-72696" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FPL-Gameweek-36-Best-Captain-X-poll.png" alt="" width="602" height="269" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-72696" class="wp-caption-text">FPL Gameweek 36 captaincy poll</p>
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best FPL captain for Gameweek 36: Players' records</h2>
<p>Here are some notable records for our captaincy candidates:</p>
<p><strong>Wood</strong> - Braced in the reverse fixture. He also scored against them for Newcastle the last time they were in the league.</p>
<p><strong>Mbeumo</strong> - Scored 15 points in the reverse fixture.</p>
<p><strong>De Bruyne</strong> - Didn't play in the reverse fixture. He's returned in five out of five of his previous starts against Southampton, however his record is assist heavy.</p>
<p><strong>Eze</strong> - Has returned in each of his previous two starts against Spurs and has never blanked when they've been managed by Ange Postecoglou.</p>
<p><strong>Bowen</strong> - Scored in the reverse fixture but he's never returned against Manchester United at Old Trafford.</p>
<p>For the purposes of the metric, I will rank De Bruyne the same as Wood and Mbeumo given the difference in sample size.</p>
<div id="attachment_72690" style="width: 793px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72690" class="size-full wp-image-72690" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FPL-Gameweek-36-Best-Captain-record-against.png" alt="" width="783" height="478" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-72690" class="wp-caption-text">Captaincy candidates' records against their opposition</p>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">Best FPL captain for Gameweek 36 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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