Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 31

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

Follow @SharpeyBoy86

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