Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 31 – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16
Submitted for your approval: five Premier League attacking players. Each different in style, nationality and team, but nevertheless connected on the football pitch as each strives to score more than the others, all the while totally oblivious to the fact that they are merely pawns in a twisted fantasy game. This is a cruel joke on multiple levels however, for those who play the game are themselves often left dazed and confused, regretting decisions and pulling their hair out. Only a select few find solace in the arms of the fantasy gods, and there’s the rub, as Hamlet so aptly put it; the harsh reality of a points-based sub-game to a points-based sport. Five players for your perusal, but only one can be chosen. Present location? Let’s say, for the moment, in the Fantasy Zone.
Gylfi Sigurdsson (home vs Aston Villa)
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[/three_fourth]In this season’s third quarter (yeah, the American stuff’s slowly rubbing off on me), Siggy Stardust here has come alive and reminded everyone why he was such a strong pick for a large chunk of 14/15. Just in time too, as the Swans were looking good for the drop a few weeks back. It’s just the icing on the cake that they host the utterly hapless Villains this GW, who’ve shipped a staggering 17 goals in their last 5 league outings. It’s like the polar opposite of Leicester last season! “Okay lads, we’re in a bit of a pickle here, we need to win about 3/4 of our remaining matches to have a good chance of staying up..” You can almost picture Pearson and Garde having similar words with their teams, and it’s quite painful seeing the clear lack of results it’s had for the latter considering I studied in Birmingham and spent many a weekend at Villa Park. That won’t matter to those of you that own the Icelandic fella though, as if there’s ever going to be a match where he finally gets more than 1 attacking return you have to feel it will be this one. Every other team in the league has at least one player with 100+ fantasy points; Villa’s highest scorer is Lescott with 72. Let that sink in for a minute. It might be time to double up on Swansea defenders too come to think of it.
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Harry Kane (home vs Bournemouth)
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[/three_fourth]We all wear masks, metaphorically speaking… I don’t know what Harry is thinking though, I mean his mask is totally see-through, we can definitely tell it’s him… It’s doing the business for him though; he isn’t letting a broken nose stop his charge for the Golden Boot. 19 league goals so far, or, as I prefer to put it, 18 in his last 21. Insane level of returns. To give credit where it’s due, Bournemouth have done incredibly well in already all but guaranteeing survival given their early-season injury woes, and are currently enjoying a three-match winning streak, but I expect Spurs to just be too strong for them. They have a rather trying final run-in of games as we approach the end of the season, and with both Arsenal and City 11 and 12 points off the lead respectively, albeit each with a game in hand, Tottenham really are looking like Leicester’s main challengers now. As such, they know they have to make these easier fixtures count, and need this win to keep the pressure on the Foxes. If Eriksen and/or Alli are feeling creative this weekend then it could be easy pickings for Kane given his amazing form.
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Romelu Lukaku (home vs Arsenal)
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[/three_fourth]Fun fact: Everton have scored more than all but three other teams, but still languish in 12th place. One way of explaining this is to look at the amount of high-scoring games they take part in, which effectively cancels out a significant chunk of their goals. While this ensures we don’t touch any of their defence with a Crouch-sized pole, it luckily has no negative influence on us owning the beast that is Lukaku. Already on course to smash his previous best fantasy total score, he’s added a level of consistency this season that has made him a more reliable choice for many players. He’ll also likely still be buoyed by sticking it to former club Chelsea in the FA Cup; how they could have used him this season… He waltzed passed four Chelsea players like they weren’t even there for his first goal, sort of like a Terminator Messi, kinda terrifying really. Add to that Arsenal’s recent but not entirely unexpected mini-capitulation and he could fill his boots here, and you’ll definitely be wanting to double up on that action.
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Sergio Aguero (home vs Man United)
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[/three_fourth]Ugh. This is getting a bit too meta now; every Captain Picks I do has Aguero and I usually add a disclaimer saying sorry for how boring it is having him included but how could he not be.. now I feel I should apologise for always having a disclaimer as that is also getting old. Either way though, here he is once more for your consideration. Not in the greatest immediate form, only scoring an obligatory brace against Aston Villa in the last 4 matches, but was doing very well before that and he also loves his derby fixtures; he’s already joint-fifth in the all-time score chart and only 3 behind Rooney despite far fewer matches. Speaking of United, they’ve had the odd smattering of clean sheets here and there but they haven’t done anything of late to suggest they will be able to resist succumbing to Aguero’s will should he decide to turn up on the day.
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Roberto Firmino (away vs Southampton)
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[/three_fourth]This last spot was pretty much reserved for Mahrez, especially as he faces Palace who haven’t kept a clean sheet in 10, but such has been Firmino’s form over the past few GWs that he warrants the shout here instead, despite facing the defensively impressive Saints. Anyhow, it’s kinda refreshing to not have Vardy OR Mahrez here, right? Right..? Or folly, time will tell. Well, on to Firmino. He’s been directly involved with over half of Liverpool’s goals in 2016, and is brimming with confidence under Klopp’s guidance. It does remain to be seen just how he’ll play if Benteke or Sturridge do get more regular game-time, but for now at least we should make hay while he’s still producing. The Brazilian also has a nice habit of scooping up decent bonus points, which really make a difference when doubled. As usual, this last pick will be more for those wanting to try something a bit more out of left field, most likely to try and close a gap. If you’re more than 50 points off the top of your mini-league then you’ll have to start taking increasingly risky gambles with each passing GW if you do hope to finish on top, so this would be a good one to get you started off with as I doubt many others will go for it but it could still pay off really well.
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Thanks for reading Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 31. This article was written by Calvin Clyne
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Vote on our Captain Poll Now
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Cheers CC…I love a man in a mask 😉 so I’ll probably go with Kane.
Hi lads!
Thinking of doing two moves, can you let me know if they’re the right ones to do please?
Francis > Clichy
Fonte > Mertesacker
Morning all, spent a good amount of time thinking about the best strategy to follow regarding the WC. I think it is pretty conclusive that it is best to use it the game before DGW34 or DGW37 to allow for TC and BB to be used so I won’t spend time considering the possibility of using it in the blanks week of 35 etc.
Undercover yesterday articulated the following strategy:
-Try and get as many players into your team now until 34 whilst also ensuring that you have enough players for GW35.
-This means that the best teams to focus on are Arsenal (definitely!), Liverpool and City for they all have two fixtures in 34 and no blank in 35 (same applies to Newcastle and West Brom).
-However, it is still possible to field 11 the following week by having a bench of non-starters in GW35 (providing injuries etc. fall in your favour) and therefore City, United and West Ham should also be considered (DGW34 but a blank in 35).
-At the moment, most teams seem to have around 4/5 players from the teams with doubles in 34 and therefore it is possible to get 8/9 DGWers in without taking a point hit. When deciding which 4 (or more inc. point hits or if you’re sat on two transfers currently) players to bring in, your focus needs to be on GW35 just as much as GW34. However, assuming the the majority of your current team are playing, this means you currently have around 11 players already that will play in GW35 (unless, for some reason, you have Norwich players!).
-The next thing to do therefore is ascertain how many of your current GW34 double players have a game in GW35 too and then work off that as to how many you can bring in from non-GW35 teams.
DGW37 (wildcard in 36):
The important thing to note is that, whilst it is near the end of the season, GW38 does pose a couple of problems. Namely that Arsenal have Villa at home but no double in 37 and Chelsea host Leicester GW38 but have a good double in 37.
I suggest that you use your FT for GW38 to switch around an Arsenal and Chelsea player. Of course, in playing your WC in GW36 you could save your FT over GW37 and then have two to spend the following week to bring in Arsenal players (or Aguero if you decide leave him out).
The strategy I made yesterday (use of the WC early to get in Arsenal, City and Liverpool players) potentially fails to factor in that you will lose the likes of Kane, Mahrez etc. for the remainder of the season in favour of the DGWers in 34. I think this is worth the risk if you have very few current DGW34 players in your side currently but I think it may hurt you long term.
I am certainly not saying the strategies suggested are ones you should take, they seem to fit best with my team, but may not for yours. I hope this is at least slightly useful for anyone not too clear on what to do yet and serves as a platform for other people’s ideas.
Cheers!
Cheers AT
Morning AT. Useful info. Kind of similar thinking. See post 24 in previous page if you or anyone has some thoughts.
Morning Dreamers. Looking at your WC team, I’m guessing that is for GW33?
Yes At.
Like the Janmaat pick, could be a masterstroke, going to bring him in this GW I think!
4 outfield players that don’t play GW35 is arguably the best way to play for you can maximise DGW players AND have one free transfer to spare in case of injuries if you bank the GW34 one (or are you using that to bin Mahrez?). Sensible to keep a few of the single GW players like Aguero in your team if you’re going early, I think.
Interesting that you pick Otamendi, was so annoyed when Kompany limped off – cracking fixtures but they just never seem to do it without the Belgian. I guess we can see over the coming few how they fair without him.
Cheers AT. The initial thinking was to keep Mahrez.
Morning all, grateful for thoughts on potential plays this week. Have 2FTs and a bit of cash in the bank so was toying with:
Kompany > Gabriel
Willian > Firminho
Happy to take a hit as well if anything’s screaming out for a change.
Lionel – I don’t think we know he is nailed yet. How much does that leave u itb? Who gets dropped in mid?
I have 0.3 in the bank, but obv more if I sell Kompany because I think with Dier, Van Dijk and Simpson I don’t need to spend more than 4.5/5 on his replacement.
Struggling a little on who to bench this week from MF – probably Shelvey as he played quite deep in Rafa’s 1st game and Big Sam teams usually keep things tight.
Lionel – how about Olsson?
Good afternoon guys and gals. Im REALLY looking forward to Pool knocking Utd out of the Euro tonight. All we need is 1 and it should be beyond them. Im thinking full on attack for about 30 mins, try to score and then sit back for the last 15 of 1st. If we concede it doesn’t really change things but a goal would be awesome. Then after the break do the same for 20, before changing to counter. Ideas? Come on you reds YNWA
Anyway, regarding fantasy
Love seeing that the DGWs are out. I was always going to WC in GW33, ready for the bench boost / triple captain in 34 and the reverse in 37 and its looking like the BB might be the best for 34. My reasoning is that you need to BB after a WC in order to get full value, but a TC can be used after a single FT to get full value (am I wrong?). Plus it means the WC in 33 can set up players for final 4 weeks after the DGW, whereas if done in 36 you only get 2 weeks of use from it. Ideas?
On the above idea, I’ve started putting together my WC team for 33, with ways to avoid the blanks in 35, but take advantage of the DGWs in 37 and have hit a bit of a snag. Im short some itb (anyone able to loan me?). I was hoping for some ideas as to a way around it by downgrading, but ive already had to do Silva –> Toure. I was actually thinking of Simpson in, as I need a Def for GW 35 so only need 0.8. Any ideas where I could shave it from? Perhaps Adrian –>Elliot as Rafa’s said he’s gonna focus on Def as its the easiest thing to fix in such a short time. That would also allow me 0.2 to manoeuvre (spelling?)
Any ideas? I know GW33s still a while away and anything could happen, but its always fun planning and tinkering
Advice / thoughts / abuse all welcome. GL and green arrows to all
YNWA
Thanks for the Captains choices CC. Just getting round to reading this.
Good effort mate and I loved the intro. My kind of thing