Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 11 – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16
Time.
Some things seem to take an interminably long time to come to fruition: the Chilcot inquiry; Rooney’s next goal, or the end of a Manchester derby. Then there are things that happen routinely: Mourinho getting fined; Leeds Utd changing manager, or Artur Boruc scooping the ball into the path of a smirking opponent. Time, whether frozen or in fast-forward, is a precious commod…..
Oh sod it. Did you see that FIFA presidential candidate’s name, Gianni Infantino? Hahahahaha. Oh my days. Sorry, couldn’t hold that in any longer.
This week’s fixtures, in complete contrast to last week’s famine of choice, provide FPL managers with an embarrassment of riches to plunder. Free-falling Bournemouth go to rivals Southampton; Spurs host new basement tenants Aston Villa; Man City sharpen their knives for some more lambs/canaries to slaughter, and then there’s Everton salivating at the prospect of visitors Sunderland.
But only 5 players will make the cut, and time waits for no-one, so here goes.
5. Dimitri Payet (Away vs Watford)
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[/three_fourth]A close call for 5th spot this week, with Ross Barkley looking to continue his fine season at home to the Black Cats; and though one would still expect the Toffees to win, Big Sam’s victory in the Wear-Tyne derby showed it’s probably not the shoe-in most pegged it as a few weeks ago; and so Dimitri Payet edges it. Not that FPL’s top point scorer should have to ‘edge it’ anywhere. The French international has either scored or assisted (though curiously never both) in each of his last 6 games. The Hammers are the second-best attacking unit in the league and with 4 wins and a draw, have the best away record. Only in their 3-0 victory at Anfield did Payet fail to register any notable FPL contribution on their travels. Watford have shown themselves to be the hardest to break down of the promoted clubs, chalking up 3 of their 4 clean sheets at Vicarage Road. However, they haven’t been facing West Ham every week, and they haven’t been facing Dimitri Payet.
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4. Jamie Vardy (Away vs West Brom)
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[/three_fourth]Things must seem pretty surreal for the former Stocksbridge Park Steels hitman right now. An international debut in June; leading the Premier League scoring charts in October; netting in 7 consecutive games. It’s literally Roy of the Rovers stuff, and all at the wrong end of his 20’s. The next thing you know, Claudio Ranieri will be fielding an offer from Real Madrid. Imagine! Well, before he joins Cristiano and Gareth at the Bernabeu, our Roy Race incarnate has a trip to the Hawthorns to focus on. When a striker looks at his team’s schedule for the season, he usually pinpoints Tony Pulis’ club and writes that fixture off. But this is Jamie Vardy, with more shots on target than anyone this season. More chances created. More goals. West Brom will need all 8 of their centre-backs fit if they’re to keep the Sheffield-born sharpshooter from continuing his pursuit of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 10 game record. The Tinkerman may keep us all guessing about his Mahrez selections, but Vardy has missed only 9 minutes all season, and that was on the opening day.
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3. Graziano Pelle (Home vs Bournemouth)
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[/three_fourth]In 1687, Isaac Newton formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation. With 2 consecutive 5-1 defeats and 13 goals conceded in their last 4 away games, he can hardly have envisaged that over 3 centuries after his discovery AFC Bournemouth would be obliterating it with their own physics-defying freefall. Yet to find a clean sheet away from Dean Court, the Cherries will surely still be sore from their recent maulings. Saints fans will be delighted at the timing of this, the first meeting between the South-Coast clubs since 2011 in League One and Ronald Koeman will happily settle for a repeat of the 3-1 victory that day. With Sadio Mane fortuitously able to serve his suspension midweek in the League Cup, Graziano will have his main foil right by his side. The two have turned in some fantastic performances this campaign, with Pelle scoring 5 goals and grabbing 5 assists owing no small debt to his Senegalese colleague. Southampton have racked up double-digit goals over their last 4 home games, and with Bournemouth conceding the same amount in 8 days, the Italian’s 2 game drought should surely come to an end when Eddie Howe’s beleaguered troops traipse into town.
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2. Harry Kane (Home vs Aston Villa)
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[/three_fourth]When you don’t return to a place for a long time, it can seem so alien. New people and new decor. Freshly tarmacked roads. Perhaps that jazz club you used to frequent has been converted into a cytology training centre; or the serene park you and Betty from the IT college used to feed pigeons at has been annihilated to make way for a sewage treatment plant. It can feel like everyone’s moved on. But Harry Kane is finally back where he belongs, on the hallowed turf of Captain Picks, where he permanently resided last season. Though falling short of the 4-goal heroics of Aguero and Wijnaldum, last week’s hat-trick propelled him past the likes of Gomis and Giroud in the FPL standings. More importantly, it could well breathe life into what had been a pedestrian season on a personal level. If Kane does fancy a crack at joining the aforementioned quartet club, he may not get a much better opportunity than against Aston Villa. Bottom of the table; Sherwood sacked; Stan Collymore relieved of matchday programme duties (writing, not selling), the Villans are in utter turmoil. Welcome back Harold; make yourself feel at home. Don’t mind the smell, that’s just Betty.
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1. Kevin de Bruyne (Home vs Norwich)
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[/three_fourth]In the absence of some injury-prone Argentinian bloke, de Bruyne has become the new FPL pin-up. He’d be mine too were my wall not already covered with Smash Hit magazine cuttings of Kevin Kilcline and Carlton Palmer. The Citizens may still not be quite at their prolific best, but with 12 points from 5 games, they boast the best home record in the division. It’s easy to forget that the young Belgian only started in GW5, such has been his smooth transition to the Premier League. 3 goals and 3 assists to date have helped fill any voids left by illustrious absentees, Messrs Aguero and Silva. City’s Etihad demolition jobs on Newcastle (6-1) then Bournemouth (5-1) show how ruthless they are at home to struggling outfits. Such a struggling outfit arrives on Saturday. Norwich are the kind of team Tony Pulis must wake up sweating about. No clean sheets all season and still smarting from a humiliating thrashing at crisis club Newcastle, the Canaries are the antithesis of everything the Baggies boss stands for. All of this naturally adds up to another miserable away day for Alex Neil’s green and yellow army, and a Kevin de Bruyne masterclass.
Triple Captain Chip
Just a quick word on the new feature this season. It pretty much does what it says on the tin and trebles your points for your captain on whichever game-week you choose to deploy it. We shall touch on this as and when we feel the opportunity presents itself to use it effectively but this in all likelihood is one to save for when we encounter double game-weeks later on in the season.
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Thanks for reading Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 11. This article was written by Bryan Munich
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Fixture Tracker
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First ever comment on this site, currently sat just outside the top 10K.
My team is:
Cech (Hennessy)
Walker Darmian Bertrand (Martin) (Oxford)
Sanchez Payet De Bruyne Barkley (Mahrez)
Martial Bony (C) Berahino
I have 1.9M in the bank with 0 FT
Does anyone have any thoughts or advice for my team? Considering the AoA chip this week?
Welcome to the site Razza great rank , maybe Berahino to Luk or Pelle looks a good strong side
Thanks Mate, Not sure i can quite afford that but will have a look.
AOA is an option, but benching Berahino is also an option cause you have good 3 defenders for this GW.
I was just thinking Berahino against a weak Leicester defence could be points left on the bench? Would you bench Mahrez or Berahino?
Play Berahino, if Leicester concede he’ll be involved – and they haven’t exactly got the best defensive record…
Leave it as is, for me.
Thanks Bry. Great write up
Not sure how you overlooked Tokyo Sexwale as a FIFA candidate. Could be a character straight out of Viz!
SAF, I know, right? I only saw his name for the first time today. Gutted!
I will be lucky if I have anyone to field soon 😉
Squad Players on the Suspension Tightrope…
Barkley Yellow cards – 2 3 away from suspension
Pellè Yellow cards – 3 2 away from suspension
Costa Yellow cards – 3 2 away from suspension
Vardy Yellow cards – 3 2 away from suspension
Souaré Yellow cards – 2 3 away from suspension
Cook Yellow cards – 2 3 away from suspension
You should only worry about them when they are on 4 YCs.
what midfielder would you get in for Mata? Have 1 FT and 2.5 itb so have 11.3 to spend. Other midfielder’s are Sanchez, Mahrez, Wanyama (Non-playing) and de Bruyne
Mane
Eriksen if you dont have Kane, Barkley if you dont have Lukaku, or Mane or Payet. You need check Payets fixtures though I dont remember if they are good or not.
Man U and Everton fixtures are good, and Spurs have amazing fixtures soon.
2FT and 1.3m itb.
Want to do Martial and Zouma to van Dijk this week.
Thoughts? Should I keep Zouma for the liverpool game? Also thinking about getting de Gea next week since Myhill’s fixture become terrible.
You need to wait on Walcott’s injury news.
He’s going to be on my bench this week if I get Kane anyways.
Cup Games’ Lineups:
Manchester United XI vs Middlesbrough: Romero, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Carrick, Fellaini, Lingard, Pereira, Memphis, Wilson.
SaintsFC: Stekelenburg, Yoshida, Caulker, van Dijk, Targett, Wanyama (c), Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Juanmi, Ramírez, Pellè.
Villa team: Guzan, Hutton, Clark, Crespo, Amavi, Bacuna, Westwood, Richardson, Sanchez, Agbonlahor & Gestede
City XI: Caballero, Zabaleta, Demichelis, Mangala, Kolarov, Toure (C), Fernando, Navas, De Bruyne, Bony, Iheanacho
CPFC XI: Hennessey; Mariappa, Delaney, Dann, Kelly; Jedinak, Ledley; Zaha, Mutch, Bolasie; Bamford.
LFC: Bogdan, Clyne, Toure, Lovren, Randall, Allen, Brannagan, Teixeira, Ibe, Firmino, Origi
Bournemouth starting XI: Federici, Smith, Distin, Francis, Daniels, Stanislas, Arter, MacDonald, Ritchie, Pugh, Kermorgant.
Nice one, thanks B. Hoping I don’t catch any surprise injuries tonight to screw up my plans.