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.
[divider_1px]
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.
[divider_1px]
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.
[divider_1px]
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.
[divider_1px]
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.
[divider_1px]
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.
[divider_1px]
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.
[divider_1px]
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.
[divider_1px]
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
[divider_1px]
Don’t forget to post in our Captain’s poll!
[polldaddy poll=8265639]
Di Maria is cheaper than Balotelli? Hahahaha!
9.5m is a lot lower than i expected. Hmmm.
United’s good run of early fixtures have come too soon for us fantasy managers in my opinion… in a month’s time we should have a good idea of the (new?) formation they’ll use and who does what – and then – the Rooney / Mata / RVP / Di Maria questions would become easier to answer. At the minute it’s hard to decide who is worth the money. Although Mata scored last weekend I’m kinda glad I offloaded him as Rooney + Mata seems to heavy at this stage given the team’s instability and new influx of players.
At the very least we’ll be more of an attacking threat and have a bit of bite in midfield. Di Maria is quality but i think our defence will haunt us all season. Right i’m off out for a bit. Happy tinkering.
Was thinking the exact same thing about the great fixtures coming in too soon.
Van Gaal said he needs 3 monhts before things will really show off. They were kind of lucky in the pre-season and in all honesty they have been quite unlucky till now. Swansea had 3 chances and 2 of them were goals. Against Sunderland they were quite awful though. The match yesterday only had 1 starter DDG, the rest was shite. Evans needs replacing fast. Yesterday also showed Welbeck, Chicha, Januzaj are all overrated.
Only guy I really like never gets a chance (Shinji Kagawa) and he came off with an injury.
Agree Raz. (I’m agreeing with you a lot today, what’s wrong with me? 😉 )
I really like Kagawa. I don’t know for the life of me why another Premier League club hasn’t come in for him. He’s such a slick, intelligent passer of the ball. Would excel as the star player in a mid-table team.
Afternoon
Even though I got all green arrows last week and am now in the top 100k, I’m not too happy with my team, especially with defence (this week at least). Also unsure about weather to get di maria, eto’o, etc. while they’re still cheap, and about Aguero’s return from injury, and how I’m going to fit in the new forward Arsenal will probably sign! I already used my FT to do El Ahmadi to Cattermole, but his price didn’t rise like total fpl predicted. At least I have a starting 5th mid who can score. Thoughts on this team?
Hi Veer. To be honest mate, the El Ahmadi >> Cattermole move was a bit of a waste of a FT, for me. I would have been more concerned with having to play Shawcross at the Etihad this weekend. I think you’re better off leaving it now and field Baird ahead of Shawcross on the off chance he gets even a few minutes as just 1 point from Baird is likely to be more than Shawcross will get.
Agree with NIN. Looks like a waste of FT.
I would have preferred Baird>Dummet/Hutton etc so that you could have benched ShawX.
Anyway, the team still looks pretty good and should get a cracking score this GW.
Thanks Nin and B, I agree that transfer looks like a bit of a waste now, but do you think I should take a hit somewhere?
No. I’d just field Baird and hope that Shawcross stays on your bench.
Baird didn’t even play the last game. What is it I am not getting here?
Baird featured quite a lot in pre-season, often as an OOP, so I’m surprised at his lack of involvement in the first two games. He’s the only ‘inactive’ player in my squad so I’m shipping him out for a Newcastle defender this week, barring any other midweek injuries.
Afternoon I need some help.
Played my wildcard after 2 GWs of none of my defendcers sterting. Was set on changing to this 352:
Fabianski, Myhill
Dier, Clyne, Dummet, Van aanalt, Robertson
Sterling, Mata, Fabregas, Ramsey, Siggy
Costa, Rooney, Naismith
I did Jovetic -> Dzeko this week as as you can imagine wasnt too pleased with the result. So now I am thihnking mayvbe I should get Jovetic back in. But who to sacrifice from the mid?
Cheers!
Mata
Mata for me Fally
Ey up Cookie. Mata’s price went down last week, and people are continuing to sell him. I know Man Utd are going through the mill, but I’m a bit baffled why he’s recently become so unpopular. He’s done alright IMO. Is it purely the stigma of being in such an out-of-sorts team?
Yeah, makes no sense. Rooney has been the really poor player in the first 2 games.
I think he’s actually scored 4 in the last 5 games or something like that so must be Bryan. People can carry on selling him, I’ll hold on 😉
Hey Bry,
I’ll admit I wasn’t hugely impressed with him pre-season and would argue that we haven’t really seen him produce his Chelsea form in a Utd shirt. Now I appreciate i’ll get shouted down due to his goals – I think its 7 in 18 games or something similar, but they haven’t been typical Mata goals. Two tap ins at home for Giggsy last season (vs Norwich was it?), a free kick vs Saints and a tap in at the weekend from a yard…again.
Now I know in fantasy terms it doesn’t matter how you score them, but playing wise there’s something not right – whether its his lack of pace, the team’s lack of pace, struggling to play with Roon and RvP, I don’t know.
I’m annoyed when I listened to the hype preseason about him – I should have kept with my gut and Siggy, hence I wasted a transfer on it last week.
There’s a lot of chat that United will go to 4-3-3 and how Mata fits into that – I even read something last night that if United got a decent bid for him, they’d let him go. All of this is press rubbish, but the doubts remain and from my point of view increase with the acquisition of di Maria.
Apologies for the short novel.
Interesting perspective that mate! I share your concerns that if they move to 4-3-3, which they probably need to do to accomodate the new signings, you wonder where Mata fits in. He could end up in exactly the same situation as he did with Chelsea last year. i.e. A great player in the wrong system.
Saturday’s game against Burnley will, one way or another, be a real eye-opener.
Another fine article Cookie, quality work banging them out like this, especially while you’ve got the chicken’s job atm.
Cheers CC
Hear hear, Calv.
Thoughts on Dawson joining Hull for 4.8m?
Bad news for the other 2 central defenders there?
Bruce usually plays with 3 centre-backs if I’m not mistaken, so you would have to think that he would join Davies and Chester (when not suspended!). Not too shabby at all.
@ Bryan
Which defender did you ship in?
I haven’t made my transfer yet. Holding on until Saturday, or until price movement necessitate an early change (which looks unlikely). All things being well, will bring in Coloccini for Baird. I don’t have Krul, so would like some Newcastle defensive coverage.
Lets see how long they last in Europe to see if Dawson is a good option
Cap picks great work Cookie now then who shall I pick to many choices