Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 25 – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16
As midnight chimes in Tuesday morning, I switch the TV off, reducing Sky Sports News to naught but static electricity. I turn to face the noxious wall to my right, solemnly observing the solvent evaporating as it leaves the pigment behind. Through oxidation the exothermic reaction produces heat, and after a few hours the process is finally complete. Tired and intoxicated, I pull myself to my feet and make my way to bed. I fall asleep with the conclusions of the evening rattling around my unsettled mind. Yes, watching paint dry was way more exciting than transfer deadline day.
Stoke were one of the few clubs to show up at the January sales on Monday. Like an eager consumer first in the queue, face pressed up against a store’s locked glass doors, then sheepishly noticing only a smattering of half-arsed punters behind them. Well, if the Potters were one of transfer day’s enthusiastic early birds, Aston Villa were the school dropouts, smoking weed in their bedroom while a fuming mother pounds on the door to an ever increasing crescendo of Nirvana and Led Zeppelin. “Stop wasting your life away young man, or you’ll never amount to anything!”, “Whatever, mum. The Premier League’s for sellouts anyway.”
Thankfully, FPLers must bear no shackles such as January windows, and we can make transfers whenever we want. In your anti-free-market FACE, Richard Scudamore!
Gameweek 25, then and alas, no place for the likes of Alex Pritchard or Leroy Fer.
5. DELE ALLI (home vs Watford)
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]Remember when Harry Kane first hit the scene last season? A fund-friendly carefree FPL option to leave in your eleven and happily cash in the points every week. But it took a while before people felt comfortable captaining him, so wary were people of this ‘flash in the pan’… so surprised were they of his sudden impact. And here we are again a year later with Dele Alli, the latest English Spurs phenom (though much credit should go to MK Dons) to light up the domestic game ahead of what must surely be a galactic career. A goal AND an assist in both of his previous two outings have fired the youngster up the player rankings. At a suspiciously cheap 5.9, giving him the armband could feel justifiably atypical. A bit like going into Harrods and coming out with a new shelf and a tin of spam. But if you want spam, and you’ve nowhere to put it, why the hell not?
[divider_1px]
4. ROBERTO FIRMINO (home vs Sunderland)
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]The much maligned Brendan Rodgers’ legacy will probably be how he got a great season out of Jordan Henderson. The way Jurgen Klopp has begun his tenure at the Kop, we may look back at his best achievement being converting an under-performing Brazilian midfielder into a pretty respectable striker. Naturally this won’t sate the Anfield faithful, but it’s great news for FPL. An out of position (OOP) player is like manna for us. Stick someone 20 yards further forward than he’s supposed to be, and suddenly he becomes highly coveted. Try moving Julian Assange the same distance outside the Ecuadorian Embassy and see what happens. Sunderland meanwhile are in the middle of an unkind fixture run that, following their defeat to City, has them tussle with Liverpool and then Man Utd. With no clean sheets since November and a league-high 47 goals conceded, Firmino as a captaincy option could sail under many a radar.
[divider_1px]
3. ALEXIS SANCHEZ (away vs Bourenmouth)
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]Three of the truest idioms: ‘Behind every good man is a good woman.’ ‘You can’t make bricks without straw.’ ‘Every creative attacking strikeforce needs a decent defensive midfielder.’ Rather predictably, Arsene Wenger didn’t bring in a striker this week, but he did hire Mohamed Elneny from FC Basel. A transfer that will likely have no direct FPL ramifications, but could we see some much-needed solidity give Arsenal their final jigsaw piece? One final cog that could set others whirring keenly into motion. Arsenal have already shown themselves to be ready(-ish) for a title tilt, but with the increased ball retention that the Egyptian will surely provide, one imagines that the likes of Alexis Sanchez will be given all the more license to capitalize. The caveat is that he is, of course, only recently back from a long-term absence. However, he showed plenty in last week’s FA Cup win over Burnley to suggest he won’t need long. Furthermore, 4 of his 6 goals, and both of his assists, have come away from home.
[divider_1px]
2. SERGIO AGUERO (home vs Leicester)
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]One of the most contentious aspects of Fantasy Footy is the Bonus Points allocation. When word of Kun’s BP-robbing yellow card against Sunderland had spilled out into the streets, children wept, women wailed, and grown men thrashed themselves over the head with shelves they’d pinched from some posh bloke outside Harrods. This was merely a microcosm of what people demand weekly from Aguero. Upon his broad shoulders weigh unimaginably high expectations. The visit of Leicester, a team keeping The Citizens off pole position in both the league and the form table; who have allowed only 1 goal past them in 6 games; who continue to defy gravity; will provide no less relief for the Argentinian. #AlwaysCaptainKun, baa the Twittering sheep, and with good reason. So quickly people forget how cherished a 5 point captain would’ve been 2 months ago. 44 points in 5 GWs is a ridiculous return and justifies the hyperbole. So yes, always captain Kun. Unless you’ve got…
[divider_1px]
1. HARRY KANE (home vs Watford)
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]Spurs idol/childhood Gunners fan Harry Kane will take a trip to the Hornets nest on the back of 4 goals and 28 points in 3 games. Look I know you’ll captain Aguero anyway. YOU know you will. But given the respective match-ups, and the incredible form of the Englishman, you probably, maybe, possibly shouldn’t. Watford’s admittedly impressive shutout owed much to a superlative Gomes masterclass and was their first clean sheet since Boxing Day. 7 of their 9 in total have come at Vicarage Road. To cap it off they lie 18th in the form table, as a fantastic campaign under Flores threatens to unravel. The North Londoners, meanwhile have registered at least 3 goals on 8 separate occasions this season; their most recent results being 4-1, 3-1, 3-0. It’s difficult to see Harry failing to add to his 15 league goals on Saturday.
Thanks for reading Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 25. This article was written by Bryan Munich
[divider_1px_dashed]
[row][span6]
Vote on our Captain Poll Now
[/span6][span6]
alright lads!
I was just wondering my main rival has firminho so I going to bring him in also but I have lukaku also. Do I take a hit and do stanislas and lukaku > firminho and another striker or shall I just settle for one of these moves?
i would rather just do Lukaku to another forward firminho has blank gw coming up soon
that’s true but sunderland and villa are great fixtures and I can easily line up 4-4-2 in gw27
Not sure on what to do with my team this week, maybe jusy leave it as it is?
Wollscheid to Cresswell but i alreday have Adrian or getting another stoke defender?
1 ft and 3.2 mill in the bank
looks really good Wafflez.
I wouldn’t go for another stoke defender right now.
can you get a Southampton defender?
Van Djiik might be a great differential only 2,8 % ownership, thanks for the tip there beno.
I can afford wolls to a soton defender
or maybe Cedric or fonte or even bertrand? hmm 😛
Van dijk or Fonte for me. they get goals as well
thank again, will go with the with least ownership i think
Want to captain Aguero but feeling uncomfortable as it’s tge first match :/ Anyone else feeling it?
Great Article Bryan! Hello everyone. Everything was going good this week with a green arrow but Barkley f**ked it up. I got 62pts and a red arrow! Lucky to still cling on to 2nd spot in my minileague despite 3rd place using his bench boost chip and another rival using his second wildcard.
Anyways “enough of the waffling” like my friend Kop likes to say. I have 2FT and £0.4 ITB. I’m thinking Lukaku out since he is out of form, has a blank27 and is injured. I have 3 blank 27 players so getting rid of Lukaku makes sense. I would be keen not to bring in another blank 27 player (City,Pool,Newcastle,Eve)
I’m thinking Lukaku and Ozil out for Kane (10.0 and rising tonight) and a 8.4 max midfielder. Eventhough Firminio has a blank coming up, does it make sense bringing him in for the upcoming two fixtures against SUN and Villa then bench him with the other 2 city players? Or is it a waste of a transfer? Was also looking at Siggy of Swansea.
Hey Eagle, Lukaku our for Kane makes perfect sense, can you not sell Evans to a cheapie to fund it rather than losing Ozil – Ozil played well the other night and could have scored a hatty if it wasn’t for Forster.
Cookie – Can’t get Kane with 1FT so if i sell Lukaku i will need £0.9. Evans selling price is 4.8 so i would need a 3.9 defender. I’m very keen at having a full squad for the blank 27 since already have Sagna and Aguero not playing.
Eagle, hmmmm….How about selling Sagna? Gets rid of another blank for you.
Cookie – Will look at that possibility but i have a lot of value tied up in Sagna. I got him at 5.0 and have made 0.4 on him plus he will have a DGW sometime in the future. If i sell Sagna to fund the Kane move i would need a 4.5 defender.
Yeah I understand the value issue Eagle but don’t forget that Zabaleta is around now which will likely mean rotation and also would mean that Sagna could also play only once in that DGW and Zabaleta the other.
Collins at West Ham not the worst shout.
Excellent article. Annoying to see Alli in there – been kicking me ever since I took the punt on bringing Payet in for him!
Bringing in Lukaku this week clearly didn’t work, is he injured? Thinking of doing what all great men do when they cock up – bin the evidence and move on!
Not a clue who to bring in, fixtures aren’t that appealing for anyone as I’m annoyingly priced £0.1m out of Giroud. Perhaps a punt on Adebayor? Probably got some of the better fixtures. Austin perhaps? But Southampton never seem to score. Would go with Vardy but doesn’t have a nice next two.
Thanks in advance.
hello AT
how about Enner Valencia?
Adebayor isn’t the best option
i would rather go for Afobe
I was contemplating him, but not sure how secure his place is with that new striker.
Just feel like it could be worth a punt haha. Has had very impressive goal scoring records in the past!
And Southampton looked solid at the back with Forster back in net.
AT – what about bringing in Wijnaldun for Alli (like I did).
That City defence is pretty leaky. Vardy is the front runner for me
Cheers Dreamers, neither have done anything! haha
Yeah, really unsure which way to go!
Hello gents, i have a serious question
i have been struggling since the past few weeks. not being able to climb the rankings and falling gradually
still have my WC Saved for the DGW
but the question is
IS IT WORTH SAVING THE “WILDCARD” FOR THE DGW (a high scoring one as i would have 15 of them playing 2 matches each) EVEN IF MY TEAM HAS BEEN STRUGGLING SINCE THE PAST FEW WEEKS?
What i mean to say is that i have been losing a few points here and there the past few weeks which can be solved with a WC
but then there’s the DGW
some detailed explanation will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your patience
Team is
Butland Rudd
Bellerin Zouma Dier Ward Targett
Payet Mahrez Sanchez Alli Gosling
Kane Kun Ighalo
no FT 4.5mn in the bank
Nishant, your team is fine on the whole mate and definitely not needing of a wildcard, especially as we don’t know when the DGWs will be – therefore you can hardly plan for them right now.
Let’s go through your team:
Keepers – not great at the mo, but the least important area. Would maybe look to get someone in for Rudd – someone with some decent fixtures. Butland will be ok when Shawcross returns and good fixtures in GW27 & GW28.
Defence – Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal coverage is perfect mate.
Midfield – Payet should come good, be patient. Mahrez has some great fixtures coming up, Alli is doing it big time for you and Alexis should also be ok, touch wood, he’s a lovely differential.
Strikers – Kane and Kun are perfect – Ighalo should be ok but you may look to Vardy in a coupel of weeks.
How’s that for detail – crazy to talk of a wildcard.
hey Cookie – I don’t have spymare of your machine I promise.
Hi Nishant – I’d hold
Reason:
GK: Stoke are not in great form at the moment and are missing Shawcross. That said, these have a couple of nice home fixtures coming up – no pressing need.
Def: If you were wildcarding in the morning you would pick an Arsenal and Spurs player (check), Chelsea coming back and are showing some form and Palace with Adebayor should gain some confidence, hence improving results. Targett may come back in next week depending on formation.
Midfield – Its probably the template. What Im not sure on is if it should be Antonio instead of Payet (who seems a little deeper) but thats nit picking.
Forwards – cant argue with Kane and Kun – and you have a choice of replacements in the next few gws for Ighalo if you need to
that detailed enough for you
?
thank you gentlemen
that boosts my confidence