Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 27 – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16

Has it really been four months since last I graced these hallowed halls? Four months since last I spoke to my football-loving friends? Four months since last I frantically searched my address book to issue a frantic plea to Cookie and Init for a last-minute extension? Four months since I last cobbled to together a waffled intro? Yes, yes, maybe, depends on what you think of this intro.

So many things have happened since we last spoke! I found professional happiness for the first time in my career and, having done so, wish the same fate for each and every one of you. Mourinho did not find the same happiness and has now gone to wherever he and Stoke fans spend their time during the week. Rumours have him going to Manchester United, and I have to ask my United friends: do you really want Chelsea’s sloppy seconds? That’s just going to make it odd when you run into each other at a party you didn’t know the other team was going to attend. Sure, you’ll make small talk and pretend everything is okay, but you know deep down that Chelsea are thinking, “we had him first” and, when you see that corner of their mouth uptick into what you perceive as a smirk, you’ll know it’s true and you’ll have to start planning how you can sneak out the front door when no one is looking.

A friend I turned on to this sweet sport committed the vilest bit of treachery by declaring himself a Spurs fan and, while I have agreed to keep his identity secret (Josh!), St. Totteringham’s Day this years will be all the bit sweeter. I have enlisted his better half to place speakers on his nightstand to play Arsenal chants while he sleeps and have beseeched the aid of the Centres of Disease Control in hopes they develop an antidote before this fandom takes root.

Finally, it appears a Black Cat got caught playing with the wrong kitty and might spend some time in a cage as a result. And with that, let’s take a look at the fixtures we have to work with this week…

Sat 27 Feb 12.45
West Ham vs Sunderland

Sat 27 Feb 15.00
Leicester vs Norwich
Southampton vs Chelsea
Stoke vs Aston Villa
Watford vs Bournemouth

Sat 27 Feb 17.30
West Brom vs Crystal Palace

Sun 28 Feb 14.05
Manchester United vs Arsenal
Spurs vs Swansea

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5. Diego Costa, Chelsea (at Southampton)
Some of the faithful will still have them in their side, hoping he can rediscover last season’s form and start scoring at will. Many will have used their transfer this week to swap him in for Kun Aguero who is not playing this week. If so, why not double-down and slap the captain’s armband on him? He’s tallied four goals and two assists in his last five league matches and opened the scoring against Manchester City’s “who the $@%! is that team” last weekend in the FA Cup. Southampton’s defensive form speaks for itself but we think the Rocky Balboa of the Premier League will find a way to get one past Soton’s defense. Play him this week then dump him before they release another bad sequel. Yo Adrian!
Price: £10.7
Form: 6.3
One more reason to pick him – he’s not in my team this week, which all but assures him of at least a brace.

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4. Mesut Ozil, Arsenal (at Manchester United)
Some will finger this pick as me playing favourites, and perhaps so, but please keep your fingers to yourself. With Alexis Sanchez on vacation this season, and the usual rash of injuries to Arsenal’s midfield, the offensive impetus has rested squarely on the shoulders of the talented German. All he’s done is respond with four goals, a league-best 17 assists, and an amazing 28 bonus points. While he enters on a shaky bit of form, the last time these two played it was Ozil that proved the difference netting a goal and assisting on another. If Arsenal are going to contend for the title this season they have to win this game, and that will begin and end with Ozil’s ability to contribute in the final third. As goes Ozil, so goes Arsenal.
Price: £9.9
Form: 5.8
One more reason to pick him – do you want those eyes haunting your dreams if he turns in another 13-point effort against United?

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3. Dimitri Payet, West Ham (v. Sunderland)
After a massive effort against Norwich last week it’s hard to ignore the Frenchman this week against a Sunderland team that is just awful. The Black Cats have surrendered at least two goals in half the games they’ve played this year and at least three an amazing seven times. They are tied with Norwich for the league’s leakiest defense having given up 50 goals. West Ham have scored 40 league goals this season and Payet has been involved in more than a quarter of them. See where this is going? We like the maths as much as we like the match. To sweeten the pot, he had an assist and 8-point outing when these two played to a 2-2 draw earlier this season.
Price: £8.3
Form: 6.0
One more reason to pick him – it’s an opportunity to pay-et forward…

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2. Harry Kane, Spurs (v. Swansea)
There’s no questioning the form of the North London Nose. What concerns us is his inability to pick up bonus points. He’s scored five goals across his last five matches but has managed a paltry 4 bonus points for his goal-scoring exploits. Similarly, he boasts 16 goals on the season (tied for second best) but has collected just 21 bonus points as a result. Maybe it’s his limited involvement in other areas of the pitch or maybe the people that run the game think they can’t award bonus points to a Toucan. Swansea have managed just one clean sheet in their last seven, and we think that makes Gonzo an easy (and smart) choice for captain this week. Start him, captain him and put your feet up on the desk. You’ve made a smart and safe choice.

Price: £10.1
Form: 7.0
One more reason to pick him – I get to keep pointing out the bulkiness of that beak.

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1. (tie) Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, Leicester (v. Norwich)
This is the easy, safe pick. Top of the table Leicester play relegation fodder Norwich. Leicester have scored a league-best 48 goals; Norwich have allowed a league-worst 50 goals (tied with Sunderland). So the question really becomes, which of these two do you fancy? Vardy seems to have rediscovered his early season form and has four goals across his last four league matches. In the same span, Mahrez has contributed a goal and three assists. The pair are the most-owned players in the game and are the highest scoring players at their respective positions. Making sure you have both of them in your team is priority one this week. You can’t go wrong with captaining either, but Mahrez’s 38 bonus points this season tips the scale slightly in his favor.

Price: £7.5 and £7.2
Form: 7.3 and 7.0
One more reason to pick them – the possibility of paparazzi nicknaming the duo J-Yad.

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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 in a few week’s time.

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Thanks for reading Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 27. This article was written by LawDogg

Follow @PlanoGooner

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