Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 14 – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16
Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Captain Picks for Game-week 14! Many of you still find yourself lower in the rankings than you are used to at this point (yours truly included), hence choosing the right captain week in and week out will prove a vital part of whether or not you will be able to resurrect your FPL pride. Luckily for you, we here at FF247 are here to help you with this endeavour! For all of you still struggling, remember that the seasoned veterans have underperformed so far as well while the noobs have enjoyed an unrealistic positive start to their FPL campaign (in fact, my room mate is ranked 23k in his first season while I’m cleaning his boots at 367k!). Also, you could choose the most rational choice for captaincy and still end up being beaten by someone who chose Barkley or Ayew as captain on a whim (looking at you, room mate!). Remember that FPL is a marathon, not a sprint, so keep calm, remain patient and keep playing with your heads held high, and I’m sure that most of us will be considerably more satisfied 15 GWs from now. So without further ado, let’s get right to it and look at the captaincy choices for this GW.
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Vardy
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[/three_fourth]Having displayed a ridiculous level of consistency, Vardy is the 2nd highest scoring player in the game with 93 points. He has scored in every match besides two this season, and he got an assist in one of those, meaning that he has only one match without either a goal or an assist. In total he has 13 goals and 1 assist this season, not only making him the top scorer in the Premier League, but he has managed to equal van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in 10 straight matches. Scoring in the next match would see Vardy breaking the record, but that might be easier said than done as he goes up against Ruud’s old team, Manchester United, who have the meanest defence in the league with only 9 goals conceded and 8 clean sheets. However, last time out, this fixture ended with a 5-3 win for Leicester, and with Vardy having proved that he can score against the big teams by scoring their only 2 goals against Arsenal and assisting Leicester’s only goal against Tottenham, there’s every chance that he will continue his and Leicester’s astonishing form against the Red Devils on Saturday evening. If nothing else he’ll be the most motivated player in the league this week, which he seems to be for most of them anyway to be fair to him!
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Kane
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[/three_fourth]While Kane was off to a slow start this season, scoring only 1 goal the first 9 matches, his recent performances have seen him once again soar up to become a solid fantasy option. He has scored 7 goals in his last 4 matches, and that run can by all means be extended against a struggling Chelsea. Only 13 games into the season, Mourinho has already lost more matches so far this season than he previously has in an entire season, his Chelsea have conceded 23 goals, and come into this match with poor form, having lost 3 of the last 5. Tottenham, on the other hand have not lost since the opening round, and have only conceded 11 goals so far this season. Last season, this match ended 5-3 in favour of Spurs, with Kane scoring twice, getting one assist, and earning one penalty, and the stage is certainly set for Kane and co to continue their fine form as they go up against a Chelsea team that is a mere shadow of their former self.
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Lukaku
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[/three_fourth]Lukaku! That’s one word. Want another? Inconsistent! That’s two words. Many fantasy managers have a disenchanting romance with Lukaku, a player well known for his unique ability to explode in one match, then be explosively sh*tty for the next few. This season however, Lukaku has sh*t on his critics by showing a level of consistency none of us have ever dared to hope for. He has 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 3 matches, and those stats expand to 7 goals and 3 assists if you look at the last 7 matches. In fact, Lukaku is only 1 goal and 2 assists away from equaling his performance from last season! Everton have certainly performed better than expected this season, sitting in 7th place, while Bournemouth are struggling to break free from a run of poor performances, which sees them 3rd last with 2 draws and 4 losses in their last 6 matches. Everything indicates that the Bournemouth players are at an extremely high risk of being sh*t on by Lukaku this Saturday, so unless you wanna join them I suggest that you get Lukaku in and consider captaining him.
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Aguero
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[/three_fourth]Aguero had only resumed full training 2 days before his return from injury against Liverpool, but that was still more than enough for him to produce a high-quality goal that we have all come to both love and expect from him. He lasted 65 minutes against Liverpool, and a midweek matchup against Juventus on Wednesday will see him further return to full match fitness. While he didn’t see much of the ball last Sunday, that had more to do with City’s awful performance than his own, and he did look better on the ball than you would expect from someone who had just returned from a 2 month-long injury spell. Both City and Southampton are on similar form with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss in their last 5 matches, but City should by all means still be considered favorites to turn things around and win this fixture. In fact, many fantasy managers might prefer waiting until Aguero has returned to full fitness and form to bring him in – or they may be more preoccupied with getting Kane or Lukaku for this round – so Aguero might even be considered a differential captain, which is not an opportunity you’re given often.
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Sanchez & Ozil
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[/three_fourth]When Alexis Sanchez scored a hat trick against Leicester, then followed up with 2 goals and then another against Manchester United and then another against Watford, cheers of joy were heard around the fantasy football world as many assumed that he had returned to the explosive consistency he had last season. In the 4 matches after that, he continued that fine form by accumulating 0 goals and 0 assists. While such impressive returns are not surprising given the player’s abilities… wait, what? No goals and no assists!? Dammit, maybe he hadn’t returned to form after all. Nevertheless, against a Norwich City that have only kept a single clean sheet and have conceded 24 goals (even worse than Chelsea!), Arsenal will certainly expected to produce goals. While Sanchez hasn’t produced in his last 4 league matches he certainly put paid to these ‘tired / needs rest’ rumours on Tuesday evening as he exploded back to life with 2 goals and an assist in the Champions League and so the stage may be set for him to finally produce the fantasy points that we all expect from him.
Alternatively, if you want a less explosive but more consistent choice, look no further than Mesut Ozil, who has produced 1 goal and 9 assists in his last 7 matches. While he is rightly considered less explosive than Sanchez, he does have an average of 8.7 points in his last 7 matches, so you’re less likely to be disappointed if you go with Ozil than if you go with the hot-and-cold Sanchez.
That wraps up the Captain Picks for this week. Good luck!
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Thanks for reading Captain Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 14. This article was written by Tekno Kun
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Leaning towards Lukaku. Ozil VC.
Definitely not Vardy. And Aguero will get ~70 mins I reckon.
Team at the moment
Kolarov ahead of Richards surely?
May change my mind depending on champs league but gut feel tells me Kolarov is due a rotation and Villa will be pretty tight after an arse kicking last week.
Some good options there tekno..but, u dont have any doubts on my choice. Its going be Sanchez all the way. Cheers all.
*i* dont have..sorry..why should it be you anyways.. 😛
Sanchez will definetly be subbed early if they go 2-0 or 3-0 up and will be unlucky if he doesn’t get assist or a goal among them so will be a risk captaining him !
Sanchez has not been subbed once all season, played the full game midweek too despite being 3-0 up Wenger rested Giroud, Cazola and Bellerin instead. He has boundless energy and always wants to play. Also, we have no wingers to bring on to replace him with.
“Giroud had a little problem on his ankle over the weekend, I decided to give him a breather. Hector Bellerin had a groin problem just before. Of course then I couldn’t take Sanchez off.”
Despite suggesting that he could not substitute Alexis, Wenger indicated that he tried to give the forward some rest while on the pitch, moving him centrally and asking him to do less tracking back.
“I would have loved to rest Sanchez tonight but I had two different options – once it was 3-0 you don’t need him to track back,” Wenger added.
“When you put him central he can spare a little energy up front. It’s not like on the flank, where you have to go up and down.
“I tried to compromise a bit, rest him a bit and give a breather to Giroud.”
Take risk but I have warned !
He’ll more likely get the 2 goals or at least assist if they do go 2-0 up
Nice article. Got lucky captaining Lukaku and having Ayew on last GW. Deciding on captaining either Kane, Lukaku or Ozil. Also unsure of which back 3 to keep. Any recommendations?
kkjay,
Ayew and Clyne will be fighting each other. IMO to choose Kolarov instead due to a double clean sheet (Hart+Kola).
No captain picks for me in your team because there are many choices.
Thanks Tekno, great stuff.
Well pleased by keeping Ayew last week and intended to get him out, but with Pelle suspended and Kun returning and Liverpool waking up, perhaps there are more pressing concerns. And my defence certainly needs attention. Thoughts on the following? I have 2FTs…
1) Ayew and Pelle > 6.0m and Kun (don’t really like anyone for Coutinho? and Rojo (I like Man Utd cover in defence going forward)
3) Naughton and Gabriel > Nyom and Rojo (Watford have nice fixtures for the next three).
Option 3) leaves enough money to do Option 1) later if Aguero doesn’t get crocked….
Naughton/Gabe > Moreno
Oooh, liking that- that’s a great shout! Hadn’t figured much on Liverpool defence, but if he’s pressing high up the pitch he might get involved in attacking too. Their defence is still quite comical without Sakho but the fixtures promise a lot.
it has been a long slog this season, momentum just does not want to kick in. My team is as follows. I have not made any transfers so have 1FT. I am considering dropping KDB and Pelle to get KUN in. Is this worth a hit or do I hold out for 1 more week?
is this even a good move to drop KDB? I always prefer Silva.
Is doubling up on Gunner midfield a good move?
I would appreciate some feedback please guys.
BTW, your site rocks!!!
Tough call! Couldn’t honestly say which move would be the correct one here. Your team actually looks good for this week with that front 7 as it is. Double Arsenal mids looks a good bet for the next 3 weeks at least. I had a look at Silva and KdB earlier as someone asked on twitter about it and they’ve only played together once and KdB got 15 and Silva 8 that week. Apropos nothing really but just thought I’d say!
I have a very similar scenario and I’m not 100% decided yet but I’m leaning toward benching Pelle and playing a 3-5-2.
thanks Mate, I appreciate it, I think I am inclined to lean towards sticking it out 1 more week. When I have to make the decision I would like Silva but in general I think city will be different kettle of fish with Silva, we might even see KDB thrive on that.
I was convinced that Ozil over Sanchez but last night changed my mind…….lol
guess I want my cake and I would like to eat it.
Who you leaning towards skipper choices
Lukaku or Sanchez. Arsenal have scored nearly twice as many away than Everton so that may sway me.