The short answer
Erling Haaland is the default captain because his goal threat and his ownership are both the highest in the game. Alexander Isak, now at Liverpool, is the forward alternative: cheaper, less owned, and a striker whose returns come from a side that creates chances in numbers. He is worth the armband when Liverpool's fixture is clearly the kinder one and his fitness is not in doubt.
The live numbers are below, including his status, then the checks.
| Measure | Haaland | Isak |
|---|---|---|
| Club | MCI | LIV |
| Price | £15.8m | £9.1m |
| Owned | 78.3% | 17.1% |
| Points | 66 | 51 |
| Points per game | 8.2 | 7.3 |
| Form | 9.0 | 6.0 |
| Goals | 9 | 6 |
| Assists | 0 | 0 |
| Bonus | 14 | 14 |
| xGI | 6.86 | 4.40 |
| Minutes | 709 | 567 |
| Status | Available | Available |
| Next 3 | BHA (H)NFO (A)FUL (H) | ARS (H)CRY (A)MUN (H) |
Every figure is this season’s, from the FPL game. Fixtures are coloured by FPL’s own difficulty rating, green easiest to red hardest.
Check one: the fixture
Start with the Next 3 row in the table above. A home game against a side FPL rates as easy is the strongest captaincy setting in the game, and a hard away trip the weakest. When Haaland and Isak have clearly different fixtures, that is usually the week's answer on its own.
Both are central strikers, so their returns depend heavily on the quality of the chances their sides create. A home game for Liverpool against a side FPL rates as easy, while City travel to a hard ground, is the week to consider the switch.
Check two: minutes
Then the Status row. A player flagged as doubtful, or back from a knock, carries the risk of a short appearance. The captain doubles whatever he scores, including a cameo, and the vice-captain takes over only if the captain plays no minutes at all.
Isak has had spells out injured, so the Status row matters more for him than for most. Captain him only in weeks when he is fully available.
Check three: ownership and your rank
Ownership decides what the armband does to your rank rather than your points. Captaining the more-owned of the two is the protective choice: if he returns, most of the game returns with you. Captaining the other is an attack, worth making only when the first two checks give him a real edge that week.
Haaland is owned by far more managers than Isak, so Isak is a genuine armband differential. That is an attack worth making only when the fixture and the fitness both favour him.
This week's call
The captain page ranks every realistic option for the next deadline. Isak is a captaincy choice for the weeks where the fixture and the minutes both favour him; in the weeks they do not, the protective choice is the right one.