Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 4 – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16
If you captained Yaya Toure in Gameweek 1, Romelu Lukaku in Gameweek 2, Callum Wilson in Gameweek 3 or Riyad Mahrez in any of these weeks, congratulations! You are succeeding more than most. Some of us are holding on to Rooney’s “assist” in Gameweek 1 as the only time we got it sort of right.
So on to the next chance we have – and I’m writing this off the back of two 4 point captain shows – so you may want to look away now, stick your fingers in your ears and pretend you never caught sight of this.
I jest. Like the most optimistic (or sadistic) FPL players, I’m back for more. And this week I’m going to crack it.
[clear]
Gameweek 4 – The Fixtures
Newcastle United v Arsenal
Aston Villa v Sunderland
Bournemouth v Leicester City
Chelsea v Crystal Palace
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester City v Watford
Stoke City v West Bromwich Albion
Tottenham Hotspur v Everton
Southampton v Norwich City
Swansea City v Manchester United
[divider_1px]
My Five (actually seven):
Callum Wilson
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]There was a debate pre-season regarding the price of Wilson and his fellow promoted striker – Watford’s Troy Deeney. Each priced at £5.5mln, each playing in the Premier League after brilliant Championship seasons and each with claims for that difficult “third” striker slot. Well the Coventrian has made light work of finding his way to the top of the striker charts, even if it is at a very early stage. OK so his points were mainly hauled in one game at Upton Park where he bagged his first Premier League hat-trick but Wilson owners would happily have taken a goal a game at this stage so three in one, is of no concern.
So his backers or those purchasing him this week might consider that the armband goes to him – the man is in form after all and Bournemouth as a whole are playing some great passing football. They are very incisive and direct and a hallmark of their promotion-winning side from last season.
Leicester have started brilliantly but consider that they are yet to record a clean sheet and even Sunderland stuck two past them and you might just look twice at the Bournemouth penalty taker.
Although, as we’ll come to later, there are superstars with attractive fixtures this week, looking at Rooney, Aguero and Hazard all being two-pointers recently, maybe taking a chance on a lesser light might just be the way to go. And Wilson will hardly be short of confidence.
[divider_1px]
Riyad Mahrez
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]In the same match, the man of the season so far, Algerian Riyad Mahrez, will be aiming to take Charlie Daniels to the cleaners at Dean Court on Saturday.
Three matches, four goals and a clean sweep of all nine bonus points before him, has the winger as the top midfield point scorer. He has also stuck away the Foxes’ only penalty so far and would be lined up again one would assume, should another fall their way.
At the very least, this man should be in your squad, captaining him may take a bit of bottle but maybe that is the way to go. You could hardly be backing him at a better time.
[divider_1px]
Pedro
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]The Spaniard will find his way in to many teams this week and the good news is that his price should be protected until after the deadline. Many will see Hazard to Pedro and banking some £1.9mln as a worry free move and I have to agree. I think if both fit, Pedro might just match Hazard’s point tally this season. He introduced himself to the Blues’ fans with a goal and an assist in his first start to send Chelsea to their first victory of the season at The Hawthorns and send himself to the 3 bonus points – couldn’t have asked for more from his debut.
A home match against Crystal Palace won’t be easy but you would have to expect Chelsea should win even if it is to keep up with Manchester City (and Leicester). The Barcelona academy product has gone for a reported £21mln, which to me could well be the signing of the summer.
I’d add Diego Costa in here as well – Pedro could be the perfect supply line for the granddad of the Chelsea team. Costa scored his first double-digit haul in the West Brom match and that could be him off and running for the season.
[divider_1px]
Christian Benteke
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]Many will argue that the Belgian is still awaiting his first ‘goal’ in front of the Kop due to the clear infringement of the offside rule which should have resulted in his goal being disallowed. Thankfully moral decisions don’t apply in the fantasy world and the £32.5mln summer signing managed to mark his Anfield debut with 9 fantasy points courtesy of his goal and the 3 bonus to leave Monday Night Captainers rejoicing! He also hit the crossbar in the second half so it could have been more.
Truthfully he should also have added another against Arsenal on Monday evening. Where the plaudits will go to Petr Cech for a fine save, Benteke shouldn’t have given him the chance of a save. What is encouraging, however, is the understanding being shown clearly between Benteke and Coutinho. One can see Benteke having many laid on for him by the Brazilian in the coming weeks especially in the matches at home where Liverpool will see lots of the ball. Next up are out-of-sorts West Ham so there is definite scope there for more goals.
[divider_1px]
Sergio Aguero
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]Home game. Yep. Home to a promoted team. Yep. City playing well. Yep (three in three with +8 goal difference). Already scored this season. Yep.
All the signs are pointing to an Aguero Armband this weekend.
Depending where you are in the overall standings or your own private mini-league, you’ll know if you can take a chance by moving away from Aguero. Common sense tells you that those with him (28.2%) will make him their man so to either stay with the leaders or hold off those challengers, you really shouldn’t be looking any further than your top striker.
This is also the beginning of six decent fixtures for City, so I’d imagine many will be loading up on their players and it also makes sense to captain one of them being as they are in by far and away, the best attacking team in the league.
This leads me on nicely to David Silva, a differential of sorts owing to the expected Aguero love this weekend. Three assists, three clean sheets and two bonus points so far and he should/could have been on the score sheet at West Brom in Gameweek 1. The first goal is around the corner and could come this weekend. As usual, playing in between the lines of the opposition, the little Spaniard is never far from the attacking points. You could do a lot worse than side with him this weekend.
[divider_1px]
As usual, here are the traffic lights . . .
RED (Take a punt if you have him): Callum Wilson
AMBER (Proceed with caution): Christian Benteke
GREEN (If you have him, armband him): Sergio Aguero
A final thought:
This is the last Gameweek before both the transfer window closes and for the hiatus for international football so the next round of matches, Gameweek 5, isn’t until 12 September.
Usually this is the worst time to have a stinker of a Gameweek because you have what seems like an eternity to wait to get back on track. For those of you who have wildcarded, I’d imagine and hope your squad is in good enough shape to bank this week’s free transfer and have two to use come the return in GW5. For those still with the wildcard, then I should imagine many will be activated once this week’s deadline has passed to benefit from that two week period of tinkering and to take advantage of the transfer business still to be completed.
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 later on in the season.
For those wishing to use it before such a double Gameweek, I’d imagine that Aguero at home to Watford is as enticing as a single match gets.
Whatever you do, go with your instinct and have a great Gameweek 4!
Enjoy your football.
[divider_1px]
Thanks for reading Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 4. This article was written by The Gallant Pioneer
[divider_1px_dashed]
[row][span6]
Vote on our Captain Poll Now
[/span6][span6]
Fixture Tracker
[divider_1px]
FANTEAM.COM – FANTASY BETTING
It’s time for your fantasy manager job to finally pay off.
Gather your friends and foes and see who has the best strategic skills in fantasy football!
So some of the premier league sides played last night in Capital One Cup. Almost all of them played secondary teams so it really doesn’t tell us that much. Sinclair and Defoe were the standouts with a hattrick each! Sunderland did play what seemed to be very near their fist team so that should say something for tiredness. Gestede Gestede!! ?
Sometimes lower league opposition is a good thing to help kick start form, Adebayor and Adam Johnson are a couple of players who I remember did very well in fantasy after blowing up in the league cup, I think I’ll pass on the SAFC bus for now though.
Andy – spot on mate. I saw some highlights and reckon Grealish, Traore (Villa) and Rondon showed signs of good form. Thauvin, Jaanmat, Howson, just to mention those that are nailed on in EPL, all scored too so those should be good sings.
Watford lost 1-0 away to Preston but they fielded a rather weak side.
Captain Wilson or Aguero… ahgg I hate this game :cuss:
It seems like a no brainer on paper but then again? Wilson hit form last week and could continue on a run this week. But then again, Aguero against Watford could bag 4 or 5. My decision to make I suppose and hope it’s the right one ha ha :cuckoo:
Twinkle
See my comment below
Did he hit form, or did he benefit from the worst defending we’ve seen so far this season? I lean toward the latter. One goal at most this week, in my opinion. That doesn’t stand up to Aguero at all. Aguero, for me :thumbup:
Twinle – It has to be aguero from those two…
Most of the times the top player of the GW is a total surprise so it seems you would be chasing last GW’s points from Wilson. Don’t get me wrong, I have him too and hope he repeats that 17 pts. haul performance. But is it likely? Don’t think so. Is it possible Aguero scores say 1 and Wilson blanks? Sure is…your call mate and I’m all for punt-capo choices, just seems unlikely in this case that he outscores aguero.
I can even see Diouf outscoring Wilson!
That said he’ll now excel and you’ll be mad at all of us!
*twinkle
Mane & Payet -> Pedro & Ritchie for -4?
Ritchie any good? Or any other for 6.0 or less a better choice?
I wouldn’t get Ritchie mate. Albrighton, Redmond, Montero maybe?
Traore from Villa looks lively.
Good morning everyone.
Thank you for the kind words on the article.
As I was writing it, I was thinking “Why bother – everyone is going with Aguero, aren’t they?” The more I wrote, the more I realised how brilliant a differential any number of any other players could be.
Let’s face it, we know Aguero could go crazy in this match, on the other hand if he only plays well (like Everton) and gets 2 points and you have gone elsewhere, you could be a legend in these circles (sort of
) And look at it like this – even if he does do well – you’ll still get a good load of points for him as you own him and it’s put down to a lesson learned. But it is also very early in the season and nothing is cut and dried yet. Still loads of recovery time. It could be the time to do it.
It may be difficult to look away from City and I am giving serious consideration to my new transfer, David Silva for this weekend.
It’s nerves of steel stuff I admit – but worthy of some more thought.
Thanks GP for the article mate. You definitely present a case for some other players also besides Aguero. I think in the end the fixture decides it for me. Well that and the morale of my team. I can’t have another big setback and a big tumble in the standings. I might run into the FF247 site team if I do. :hippo:
Thanks GP….
Nerves of steel are indeed needed…. I think I’ll play safe and go with Mehrez ha ha :manic:
And just thinking about your logic, it makes sense…. go with Wilson and he scores a brace I double up and if Kun gets several I still win.
Mito,
It all depends on the individual’s attitude as to how they play the game. I’d be far more scared of NOT owning him then not making him captain.
A lot of people still don’t have Aguero. For me there is no reason to find an alternative because of this
Smash
That is a fair point actually. 28.2% ownership I think when I last checked but there may be a shed load of incoming transfers this week as his fixtures brighten up.
Aguero for you then?
Yeah without doubt for me at this stage. Will give me the potential opportunity to pass some people in my mini leagues I hope
GP – I see you on the it’s early days so better to take your chances now then later on for the differential capo. the thing is I did just that on GW2 armbanding alexis instead of kun. Didn’t work, and could have and should have if it wasn’t migs and the post, but two in a row seems to risky for me at this point. Plus, like smash I’m taking advantage of minileague rivals not owning him or needing to take hits to get him this GW. Other fair choices around as you pointed out, such as Silva, Benteke and maybe also the chelsea guys. Would understand those picks, but to go all the way to wilson seems too much!! Well those who dare…
*GW3 I meant.
Morning all,
Thoughts on my team for this weekend? 0FT and nothing in the bank but will point hit if necessary..
Depends on Mertesacker really. Sakho -> Diouf could go well though.
Cheers NIN, i suppose Francis off the bench for Mert could go well.
Reckon that’s worth a hit? Debated it myself.
I think so yeah. Decent chance it works this week and most certainly will in the long run.
Both still at £6.5m, hmm.. definitely worth a think.
Sakho has Payet, Diouf has Shaqiri and Afellay behind him. Both should get chances. Think Stoke can put a few past West Brom though? That’s my only worry.
They might well do. Stoke are looking pretty good these days. One from Diouf would break even. I don’t like taking hits either mate, it always makes things seem iffy.
Hmm..FFF saying there’s 3.9 points (in favour of Diouf) between them in the next 4 GWs hahaha
I’ll have a think, cheers!
Haha, i’ll make my own decisions thank you very much 😉
AT
If Mertesacker isn’t back you have a fair replacement in Francis so I think the defence is OK. Midfield all have good fixtures.
Sakho is the only worry. It’s whether you can find a striker poised for more than 4 points to make up the hit.
GP, Sakho is troubling me but wouldn’t really want a hit for him unless someone is really worth the risk. As NIN mentioned, Diouf could be a good shout I just hate taking hits that could easily back fire…he could get a shed load though!
AT
The Pool have a very tight defence and I doubt Sakho will be on the scoresheet this weekend. Diouf will also be playing against a Pulis defence so could end up the same. Given a push though I would go with Diouf, if that helps :dance:
Twinkle, I think I’d bring in Diouf without hesitation if it wasn’t for a hit.
If Diouf scores he will get bonus points though. Arghhh I hate fantasy sometimes 😉
Is it worth taking a -8.
Hazard – Pedro
Rooney – Aguero
Lescott – Martin.
Thoughts.
Hard one. The hit will just be for Kun, the other transfers are sideways. If Kun does explode like he did last season against QPR and you don’t have him (while most have him capped), you’re out of the competition. So to speak. :p
All depends. Would suck if Kun again leaves us with just 2 points. It’s a huge risk not having him, imho. Don’t get why you don’t have him already. Why didn’t you prepare this transfer in advance? Had other probs?
Yeh, had Walcott who I had to get rid of.
Not for me mate, no. I’m sure there’s a handier way to get Aguero in your squad.
Yeah I’d get Aguero in for a -4
Which moves would that be?
Hazard to 8.5 and Rooney to Aguero. Guess there is some money in the bank
Thanks guys, yes there is 1.2 in the bank.