Captaincy was the hot topic of FPL Gameweek 35 and the game&#8217;s top managers were divided over the best pick &#8211; with varying results.
The weekend&#8217;s matches also saw Cole Palmer end his goalless run and Erling Haaland returned to Manchester City&#8217;s matchday squad &#8211; we cover some of the key talking points below.
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<h2>Top managers split over best captain</h2>
While Mohamed Salah has often been the choice of well over half of the world&#8217;s top 250,000 managers, no player was backed by more than 30% in Gameweek 35.
Bryan Mbeumo topped the list on 29.76% and played his part in Brentford&#8217;s 4-3 win over Manchester United.
There was just a single goal involvement for the Bees&#8217; midfielder though &#8211; and that had an element of controversy, with FPL taking a while to officially award his &#8216;rebounded shot&#8217; as an assist.
Kevin Schade &#8211; in 1.1% of teams &#8211; was instead the man to target. He scored twice for a 14 point haul &#8211; the highest total of the gameweek.
Salah was the next most popular on 21.3%, however his owners were as disappointed as Omar Marmoush&#8217;s (18.49%), with the Egyptians failing to score or assist against Chelsea and Southampton respectively.
Alexander Isak (16.43%) and Jarrod Bowen (4.52%) backers were the big winners. Both came away with nine points.
Isak scored a late penalty against Brighton in an eventful game which saw the Magpies awarded three penalties, however the first two were overturned by VAR.
<div class="mceTemp"></div>
<div id="attachment_72658" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72658" class="size-full wp-image-72658" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Captaincy-split-GW35.jpg" alt="Captaincy split among the top 250,000" width="800" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Captaincy-split-GW35.jpg 800w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Captaincy-split-GW35-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Captaincy-split-GW35-768x624.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />Captaincy split among the top 250,000</div>
<h2>Palmer ends goal drought</h2>
Palmer had not scored for Chelsea since Gameweek 21 heading into the weekend &#8211; a run stretching back to mid-January.
The premium-priced player has dropped to 3.9% ownership in the top 10,000 as a result, what would have been an unthinkable level at the start of the season.
But a 96th minute penalty in the Blues&#8217; 3-1 win over champions Liverpool finally saw his goalless spell brought to an end.
Palmer had a good game before his late goal. He had five shots on goal, two big chances and created one big chance for a combined expected goal involvement (xGI) of 1.7. No player had a better xGI in Gameweek 35.
Speaking after the game, Palmer said of his form:
<blockquote>&#8220;I just felt normal. Obviously it happens, I went three months without scoring but it just gives me more fight and motivation to do more for myself and for the team.&#8221;</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_72659" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72659" class="size-full wp-image-72659" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Palmer-GW35.jpg" alt="Cole Palmer's Gameweek 35 stats" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Palmer-GW35.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Palmer-GW35-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Palmer-GW35-768x626.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Cole Palmer&#8217;s Gameweek 35 <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></div>
<h2>Haaland back on the bench for City</h2>
Erling Haaland has been out since Gameweek 30 with an ankle injury but returned to training ahead of Gameweek 35.
He was named on the bench for Manchester City&#8217;s match against Wolves on Friday (May 2) but did not get on the pitch.
A return looks imminent, although FPL managers would have liked to see him get some minutes before being able to commit to bringing him in for City&#8217;s prime game against Southampton (A) in Gameweek 36.
Manager Pep Guardiola said:
<blockquote>&#8220;I was thinking [about using Haaland], but it was just two training sessions with us and at that moment, it was a little bit difficult, so I decided for the other type of players.”</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_70503" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-70503" class="size-full wp-image-70503" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Haaland-graphic.jpg" alt="Erling Haaland" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Haaland-graphic.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Haaland-graphic-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Haaland-graphic-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Haaland-graphic-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Erling Haaland</div>
<h3></h3>
<h3>How will Haaland&#8217;s return affect Marmoush?</h3>
FPL managers will question what the impact will be on the highly owned Marmoush when Haaland returns.
Minutes wise, Marmoush&#8217;s minutes were still good when Haaland was fit.
Between his league debut in Gameweek 23 and Gameweek 29, Marmoush was in the 11 for all but one and averaged 76 minutes per start. Haaland missed one in this run.
His minutes have been stronger since Gameweek 30 however, averaging 87 minutes per start, so there is the chance of earlier substitutions given he will be competing with the rest of City&#8217;s midfield options.
And without Haaland, his attacking numbers have looked better from a goal threat perspective &#8211; albeit a small sample size on both sides.
For now, Marmoush should be fine to hold. FPL managers can reassess the situation after the Southampton game.
<div id="attachment_72660" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-72660" class="size-full wp-image-72660" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-pre-and-post-Haaland.jpg" alt="Omar Marmoush's stats pre and post-Haaland injury" width="800" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-pre-and-post-Haaland.jpg 800w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-pre-and-post-Haaland-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Marmoush-pre-and-post-Haaland-768x624.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />Omar Marmoush&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a> pre and post-Haaland injury</div>
<h2>United and Spurs heavily rotate</h2>
It was to be expected with both clubs fighting for a place in the Europa League final but United and Spurs both sides significantly rotated ahead of their midweek second legs.
Eight changes were made by Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou, with United fielding their youngest Premier League 11.
Seventeen-year-old Chido Obi got his first start up front in a team whose average age was 22 years and 270 days &#8211; the third youngest of any team in the league&#8217;s history.
It was a quiet outing for Obi, who had two shots but none on target.
Bruno Fernandes was completely rested, while Amad Diallo played 45 minutes as he continued his return from injury. The Ivory Coast international grabbed a goal in the 4-3 loss.
Spurs were without James Maddison meanwhile, who is set to miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury. The full extent remains unknown.
Lucas Bergvall is also a concern, with the youngster also set to miss the remainder of the campaign. Dominic Solanke is in contention to play in midweek though despite missing the weekend with a thigh problem.
<div id="attachment_68668" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-68668" class="size-full wp-image-68668" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Amorim.jpg" alt="Ruben Amorim. Picture by Getty Images" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Amorim.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Amorim-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Amorim-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Amorim-610x407.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Ruben Amorim. Picture by Getty Images</div>
<h2>Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 35: Players</h2>
Here are the gameweek&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a> leaders in full, following the conclusion of the gameweek:
<ul>
<li>Shots &#8211; Julio Enciso &#8211; 6</li>
<li>Shots on target &#8211; Kevin Schade and Julio Enciso &#8211; 3</li>
<li>Shots in the box &#8211; Beto &#8211; 5</li>
<li>Big chances &#8211; Kevin Schade &#8211; 3</li>
<li>Goals &#8211; Kevin Schade &#8211; 2</li>
<li>xG &#8211; Kevin Schade &#8211; 1.21</li>
<li>Non-penalty xG (NpxG) &#8211; Kevin Schade &#8211; 1.21</li>
<li>Key passes &#8211; Alejandro Garnacho, Bilal El Khannouss and Konstantinos Tsimikas &#8211; 5</li>
<li>Big chances created &#8211; Morgan Rogers &#8211; 2</li>
<li>Assists &#8211; Multiple players &#8211; 1</li>
<li>Expected assists (xA) &#8211; Morgan Rogers &#8211; 0.71</li>
<li>FPL points &#8211; Kevin Schade &#8211; 14</li>
<li>Expected points (xPts) &#8211; Cole Palmer &#8211; 10.48</li>
</ul>
<h3 class="mceTemp">Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 35: Teams</h3>
<ul>
<li>Most shots &#8211; Crystal Palace (v Nottingham Forest) &#8211; 20</li>
<li>Highest xG &#8211; Chelsea (v Liverpool) &#8211; 2.92</li>
<li>Lowest xG &#8211; Wolves (v Manchester City) &#8211; 0.46</li>
</ul>
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FPL Gameweek 35 notes: Haaland back in City squad, Palmer ends goal drought

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