Captain Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 3

Captain Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 3

GW2 was a great reminder how important your Captain selection is. Those who went with Costa, Hazard or Ramsey were well rewarded, whilst those who went with Rooney or the returning RvP were let down by a lacklustre performance and their gameweek suffered as a result. This week presents us with some tough decisions – with Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and United all playing away and with Everton and Spurs hosting two of the aforementioned, we are left with Manchester City who appear to have the standout fixture as they host Stoke at The Etihad. The problem lies with the fact that many teams do not own any City players, at the time of writing, due to their opening tough looking fixtures. So will you be bringing in a City player for this week? Maybe it’s not the worst decision. Let’s have a look at who the best choices for the armband are this weekend.

Captain Choices
Sergio Aguero (home vs Stoke)
“But he may not start”, I hear some say. “They’re easing him back into the season”, I hear the nervous suggest. “His legs are made of glass”, I hear the desperate claim. Well, I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with any of the above statements, but c’mon, we all know how clinical Aguero can be. Pellegrini brought him on at Newcastle in the 83rd minute and it took him just seven minutes to score. Against Liverpool, it took him just 23 seconds to find the net!! The manager clearly is easing him back, he got 23 minutes on Monday night, so one can only assume that he will play more minutes vs Stoke. Whether he starts or not doesn’t really matter does it? He will feature, he will get chances, not many of us are that impressed by Stoke on their travels and City are kicking into gear. What more do you want? Well, maybe a small loan from your FPL bank manager as he ain’t cheap at 12mln – but come May we may well be reminded that you get what you pay for in FPL.

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Stevan Jovetic (home vs Stoke)
For those that cannot afford Aguero, Jovetic is hardly the worst alternative this week. Full of confidence after his brace against Liverpool, finally injury free and continually talked up by his manager, the Montenegrin will be hopeful of carrying on his good form at home to the Potters at the weekend. With Nasri, Navas, Silva and Yaya pulling the strings behind him, he is almost assured of goalscoring chances and his two finishes on Monday showed he can be as clinical as Aguero given the opportunities. Described by some as the poor man’s Aguero, sometimes a decision dictated by budget and an unwillingness to take a hit proves to be the smart and shrewd move and the striker is almost certain of a starting the game due to the injury to Dzeko and the building up of fitness of Aguero.

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Diego Costa (away vs Everton)
Two goals in his first two Premier League games prove Jose’s assertion that Chelsea have finally got their replacement for Didier Drogba, which is a tad bizarre seeing as that they have recently re-acquired the original. Anyhow, with their new Beast onboard and with the supply line of Hazard, Fabregas, Oscar and Schurrle creating chances aplenty, it’s a brave man who would bet against Costa adding to his tally. Everton, of course, are traditionally pretty tight at home, but consecutive 2-2 draws including letting slip a two goal lead vs Arsenal last week suggests it is a defence which can be breached. While many feared (incorrectly) that Drogba may have started vs Leicester, there can be no doubt that Costa will start at Goodison as Jose attempts to preserve Chelsea’s 100% record and win one of their tougher matches on the road.

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Aaron Ramsey (away vs Leicester)
Two goals in the opening two matches this season has seen the Welshman become the most popular midfielder and as last season proved, he loves to get on a run of scoring. Woe betide those who have the view of “surely he can’t score again”! Away to a Leicester side which has conceded two goals in both matches so far, Ramsey will be raring to go, having missed the Champions League 2nd leg match vs Besiktas. With Sanchez taking his time to settle, Ozil still building up fitness and form and Giroud injured, the one constant is Ramsey and while he continues to enjoy this rich vein of scoring, he is hard to ignore. Another plus point for the midfielder is that with Wilshire and Arteta sidelined, Ramsey is likely to retain his midfield place and not be played too far up the park, which as most Gooners will tell you, sees Ramsey in his best and most effective position.

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Best of the Rest
Eden Hazard / Cesc Fabregas (away vs Everton)
While everyone was raving about Cesc’s debut masterclass, Hazard owners were looking at themselves wondering why they went for Hazard instead. The Belgian repaid the faith by notching his first of the season in the home win over Leicester, although you can’t keep Fabregas down, as he got credit with the assist! So whichever one you have, don’t bet against them putting on another show.

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Wayne Rooney (away to Burnley)
In years gone by, you would have given the United striker the armband with a fixture such as this without a moment’s thought. However, United and Rooney have started the LVG era slowly, as the manager himself predicted they would. Surely it is only a matter of time before they give their new manager something to cheer and it may well be this weekend in this derby fixture. The arrival of Angel di Maria should lift the Reds and if the Argentian makes his debut vs Burnley expect an increased attacking threat from United and Rooney. His Premier League record speaks for itself and he is never far away from the action – it may well be this weekend that United turn the corner and as we are all aware, once they get on a roll, they can be pretty tough to stop.

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Daniel Sturridge (away to Spurs)
The England striker suffered a disappointing night at the Etihad but will be keen to bounce back vs Spurs on Sunday. He did show glimpses of his skill though and was always looking to take on the defenders and shoot on sight and did, of course, provide the cross for Liverpool’s consolation. Despite two clean sheets, the likes of Eric Dier and Danny Rose will learn at the weekend that Premier League football is more than playing QPR and West Ham every week. Liverpool will be looking for an immediate response and with the possibility of Mad Mario up alongside him, those with Sturridge may well be well rewarded this week.

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Gylfi Sigurdsson (home to West Brom)
Siggy has certainly hit the ground running since his return to the Swans and a home fixture vs West Brom should present a great opportunity to continue to please his happy owners. One goal, two assists and three bonus points have seen managers desperately buy him, showing him to be exceptional value even at these levels. Those who have him will be tempted to skipper him, those who don’t will face a nervous 90mins on Saturday afternoon.

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Punt of the Week
Daryl Janmaat (home to Crystal Palace)
While captaining a defender is a risk, a gamble, maybe even a crazy decision, what else do you expect from a “punt”? Janmaat was Newcastle’s most effective attacker in their goal-less draw at Villa last week and facing a Palace side who were humbled at home by West Ham, suggests confidence is low and the inner troubles within the club are starting to affect the players. Given licence to roam down the right flank and not afraid shoot, there is every chance Janmaat can repay a gambler’s faith.

Thanks for reading Captain Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 3. This article was written by Cookie

Follow @SteveCook9

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