Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 21 – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16
Hello ladies and gents, and welcome to the Captain Picks for GW 21! This game-week sees several of the big teams in tough matchups, with Man City welcoming Everton after coming up short against them in the Capital One Cup, Leicester going to White Hart Lane for the second time in a matter of days, and Liverpool hosting Arsenal at Anfield. In such a GW it might be hard to get the captaincy right as several of the usual choices face tough teams. For example, Mahrez misses out in this article as he’s failed to deliver in recent weeks and goes up against the meanest defence in the league in Tottenham. Last GW was low-scoring for many of us and there is a fear this GW will pan out similarly due to the fixtures, but let hope abound that they will turn out to be entertaining goal fests instead. Nevertheless, let’s go look at the different captain picks for this week.
[clear]Harry Kane (home vs Leicester)
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[/three_fourth]Tottenham and Leicester will face off against each other only a couple of days prior to their PL match in the FA Cup, so we’ll get a hint as to how this match will pan out beforehand. Regardless, Kane has been hot and cold recently, blanking in 3 of his last 6 matches and getting 3 goals and 1 assist in the other 3. Spurs actually sit 2nd in the form table, and are the 3rd highest scoring team in the league alongside Arsenal with 34 goals, 11 of them being scored by Kane. While Leicester have been known for both scoring and conceding plenty of goals, they have scored none and conceded only 1 in their last 3 matches, and sit 3rd in the form table. As Leicester really don’t know what defensive football means, expect an entertaining match with chances for both sides, with Tottenham as favorites to take all 3 points in this match, and with Kane as the focal point of their attack.
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Romelu Lukaku (away vs Man City)
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[/three_fourth]While Everton have not performed so well recently, sitting 15th in the form table, Romelu Lukaku has performed week in and week out. He has only blanked once in his last 10 matches. While going to the Etihad might put you off, I expect Man City and Everton to go at each other with an attacking intent, creating plenty of chances for both sides. In the Capital One Cup, it was City that had the most shots with 18, yet Everton looked more lethal and even had 2 goals disallowed despite having only 8 shots (7 on goal). City have only kept 1 clean sheet in their last 8, in a scoreless match against Leicester that honestly shouldn’t have ended scoreless. Hence, City should be expected to concede and Lukaku has been the top attacking player for Everton this season, as he proved when he scored against City in the Carling Cup. Lukaku’s fitness is currently uncertain, but early news suggests that he’s likely to be ok for this match as the injury wasn’t too serious. Keep an eye out for more news.
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Mesut Ozil (away vs Liverpool)
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[/three_fourth]With their team sitting atop of the league, Arsenal fans mostly have one man to thank for that – Mesut Ozil. The Frog-Eyed Playmaker has provided 16 assists and scored 3 goals, and has finally shown us why he was considered world class at Real Madrid. While he has blanked in 2 of his last 3 matches, Arsenal only scored 1 goal in the matches he blanked, so his lack of points in those matches is no fault of his. In the other match, he scored 1 goal and assisted another – meaning that he was involved in two-thirds of Arsenals goals in these matches, so don’t jump the gun and think that his form has waned yet. In fact, you will have to go all the way back to GW 6 to find the last time he blanked before these last matches. His opponent, Liverpool, sit 13th in the form table, and while they have kept 2 clean sheets in their last 3 matches, they have been defensively unstable under Klopp, conceding 9 goals in recent matches against Newcastle, West Bromwich, Watford, and West Ham – all teams that, in theory, are inferior. I see no reason to believe that Liverpool should be able to prevent Arsenal from scoring in their quest to stay top of the league, and Ozil will certainly be in the middle of it all if and when they do.
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Odion Ighalo (away vs Southampton)
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[/three_fourth]I never thought I’d say these words when you look at the big names in this article, but Ighalo is perhaps the safest pick this week. While most of the other captaincy candidates have tough matches, he faces Southampton, a team that sits 18th in the form table with 4 losses, 1 draw, and 1 win – that ironically was against Arsenal – in their last 6 matches. Against Arsenal, Southampton also kept their only clean sheet in their last 8 matches. Ighalo blanked for the first time in 8 matches last round against City, but he came close a couple of times and was a constant pain to deal with for Mangala (who isn’t!), and scored 4 goals altogether against Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham in the matches before City. In other words, he has proven that he has no problem scoring even against big teams, and given Southampton’s form, there is little reason to believe that he won’t torment their defenders as well, and I would suggest that he’s very likely to pick up points in this match.
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Sergio Aguero (home vs Everton)
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[/three_fourth]While he is still nowhere near his top form, Sergio Aguero shows improvement with every match, having scored the winning goal against Watford and assisted Navas’ goal against Everton. He completed 85 minutes against Watford and played the entire match against Everton, proving that he is fit enough to now go the 90; it is currently his sharpness that is lacking. While his returns this season have not been anywhere near what we are used to, he has played better in recent matches as he has been more involved in the attacking play, venturing out of the box to contribute to the attack as well as going back into the box to finish the attack, in contrast to previous matches when he remained immobile in the box, rarely getting chances and being quite invisible. Still, his finishing is nowhere near his usual, clinical self as we witnessed on several occasions against Everton. However, we all know what he is capable of and with him showing improvement, I think it is merely a matter of time before he proves his worth and starts scoring consistently, and as he faces an attacking minded and very little defensively minded team in Everton at the Etihad, this could very well be the week he starts doing that. If you think he will, then he represents a differential captain as he is owned by 14.3% of teams – many of them inactive.
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Diego Costa (home vs West Brom)
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[/three_fourth]Another player that has failed to live up to expectations this season is Chelsea’s Diego Costa. Or rather, the entire Chelsea team has failed up to live up to expectations, but they have shown improvement in recent matches, being on their longest unbeaten streak in the Premier League this season by not losing in four matches. Costa has gotten double digits in his last 2 matches, scoring 12 points due to 2 goals and 3 bonus points against Watford, and 10 points due to 1 goal, 1 assist, and 1 bonus point against Crystal Palace. West Bromwich have lost the defensive solidity we expect to see from a team managed by Pulis as they have kept just a single clean sheet in 10 matches, and given Chelsea’s and Costa’s form, he surely represents a great differential option for the armband this week as he is only owned by 6.3%, and I assume a lot of the teams owning him are inactive teams.
Thanks for reading Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 21. This article was written by Tekno Kun
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Ward, Wolly and Toby for me. Monreal would be close too for that 3rd spot but no idea which Liverpool turns up so probably go Toby.
First sign of madness talking to yourself.
I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS! RAZ IS CONTAGIOUS!
What, what? Just putting it out there 😉
Rosco, see above.
Great write-up, Tekno! Brilliant. Ighalo is my top pick for the C, but what does everyone think of Arnautovic? Too much of a gamble even with Norwich at home?
I’m not sure who I will even start next week.
Shrizzine, I think I’d defo play Lukaku if he’s fit and I would leave out either Payet or Mahrez
Thanks Cookie. Do you feel it’s worth holding on to Smalling at his price?
Shrizzine, personally I think Smalling is way overpriced, though in fairness he has scored well. But you can get DDG for a million less.
I wouldn’t be kicking him out until you need to but when you want to raise some cash to upgrade elsewhere he’s one you can get rid of in my opinion.
Apologies for the delay, my friend.
I’m tempted by Arny (c) as well, but too hot or cold. He is explosive though, eh?! Thinking either Kane or Ighalo (c)! We’ll see after the Cup games this weekend.
Oh baby, his goal against United was fantastic!
Hey folks. Interesting Liverpool line-up for the match today. Who are these players? Worth watching?
Bogdan, Randall, Enrique, Smith, Ilori, Brannagan, Stewart, Kent, Teixeira, Sinclair, Benteke
Cheers for the Exeter team Sanchez, where’s the Liverpool team? 😉
Haha, right? Aigt, might as well go back to work then…
It’ll certainly be closer now as a result. Yeah I’d say that’s worth a watch now. Teixeira is highly rated.
Knowing Klopp, he might get these young Pool players pretty fired up for the game (five debutants + four others boasting six first team appearances between them). I’ll prolly have it in the background.
Is interesting the new word for shit?
At first glance, thought so… but willing to give Klopp’s young ones at least 45 mins in a tiny pop-up screen in the corner of my work computer.
Wow. The fans must be pissed.
He’d given prior warning that he was doing it to be fair to him. He’ll still get stick if this backfires as it seems it might.
Please rate my team below as i am the 3rd in my league and still in the cup ??
I wildcard played what is your suggestions please ??
Hi Khaled, how many free transfers do you have and how much money?
Hi Cookie, 1FT & 1.2 in bank
Ok Khaled, assuming both Lukaku and Vardy are fit (and you’ll have to wait for the pressers on Monday & Tuesday) I would sell Wijnaldum or Mata for Delle Alli.
This is an interesting team. Id be tempted to save FT, and use them to adjust Aguero next GW.
Both Mata and Wijnaldum can be good differentials, and both are due a goal.
True, Mata is due, was unlucky against Chelsea
I would go Wijnaldum for Payet
STFU Opta!
Interesting if you’re not a Liverpool fan :/
I’ve just had a look and there aren’t many clubs starting with vowels. Only 8 in top 4 divisions:
*Only Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton in the EPL
*Only Ipswich in the Championship
*Oldham in League One
*Oxford, Accrington, Exeter in League Two
Somewhat unrelated to footy (or very related for some), have you guys seen this? I’m way over the limit according to the “new alcohol guidelines”:
“The new advice says men and women who drink regularly should consume no more than 14 units a week – equivalent to six pints of beer or seven glasses of wine.”
SIX PINTS!!! That’s what one might consume on a single Friday/Saturday evening!
The article goes on:
“Nor should people ‘save up’ their units and drink them all in one or two goes.” Well, duh!
(http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35255384)
Who isn’t?! Thought I was quids in until I realised it was weekly not daily
Haha. I read this just as I walked back into my house w/ a case of beer. You can imagine my dismay.
Tuck in mate it’s the weekend!
I’ll drink to that!