Captain Picks Game-week 25 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League

Last week was a bit of a disappointment as far as captains were concerned. Suarez managed an assist, Sturridge, Giroud and RvP just a goal each, while other big hitters like Hazard, Adebayor and the City crew all came up with nothing. In fact none of the usual suspects had anything much to write home about and you would have been better off with an Ivanovic, Nolan, Adam, Chamberlain or a Lambert. But let’s face it these weeks happen now and again and you really would have been a brave manager to have taken a punt on one of that lot. We are hoping for much better this week though from the chosen few with a few teams having some really nice fixtures for their main men to get their teeth into. Lets take a look at who we feel may be the main contenders for your armband then for GW25.

Robin van Persie

Man Utd host a struggling Fulham side at home. Last season that would have been all you needed to know and we could have finished the article right there and we would all be checking how many points a hat-trick meant for our teams. The way this season is panning out for United though this could actually be classed as a tricky one! We jest of course, sort of…. RvP returned a couple of game-weeks back once he realised that Mata was in town and has wasted little time in bonding with his new mate, converting with a classy finish from an even better assist at Stoke, to begin what United fans and Moyes alike are hoping will be a very fruitful partnership.

RvP now has two goals in two games since his return which bodes well for this week as Fulham have by far the worst defensive record in the league and have actually conceded more goals away from home than they have at Craven Cottage, averaging three goals against per game in their last five away trips. If you have him in your team already then this perhaps seems like a no-brainer this week. If you don’t then you may have to do some transfer conjuring as he is still the most expensive player in the game at £13.6m and this may well rise come Saturday. With good reason. It may be worth bearing in mind though that United have only actually won six of their twelve games at home this season and have not won any of these by more than a two goal margin. This should change come Sunday.

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Edin Dzeko

Having been somewhat schooled by Jose and his boys on Monday night, City will be keen to get back on the pitch, dust themselves down and get back to the all conquering unit that they were fast becoming before that little set-back. With Pellegrini admitting after the game that Negredo was still not 100% fit we are backing Dzeko this week to be the main man once more and fire City back into form. Having barely featured in the first half of the season, the advent of Christmas has seen a remarkable turnaround in Dzeko’s fortunes, mainly due to the fact that he has been afforded pitch time and since GW19 he has started every game, scoring four in the process and helping himself to two assists. Over the last six weeks he has helped himself to 41 fantasy points at an average of 6.8 per game.

This week sees him visit a Norwich team who are on the slide having only won one of their last eight games. They have the fourth worst defensive record in the league and we all know that City have by far and away the best scoring one so this one may be a mis-match to say the least. This all points to City getting back to what they do best and steamrollering Norwich and we expect Dzeko will have chances aplenty to justify his selection as captain this week should you choose to do so.

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Eden Hazard

Hazard was sensational against City, pivotal to everything Chelsea did and was many people’s man of the match but such is fantasy football that he ended up with three miserly points! It happens, but the fact that his form is excellent indicates he may be on the verge of big points again, and Chelsea have Newcastle at home this week, so expect some! He has actually been a little quiet in fantasy terms for the last three weeks which may put some managers off but despair not. Nine goals and eight assists this season have made Hazard one of the must-haves so far and we expect he will regain his momentum as Chelsea move through the gears toward a final title charge.

As is usually the way under Jose, Chelsea have been impeccable at home and are undefeated in twelve having won ten of those. Opponents Newcastle actually defeated Chelsea in the reverse fixture earlier in the season and have an ok away record but this was all prior to them deciding to sell their best player in Cabaye and then their star forward Remy, getting himself sent off and banned, as he is for this one. Add into the mix that they are without their best defender in Coloccini due to injury and that is pretty much the spine of the team missing. You can start to see why we fancy Chelsea, and their best player Hazard may be relishing the visit of the Magpies this week.

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Adam Johnson

Had you told us prior to Christmas that we would seriously be including Adam Johnson in a captains article anytime soon we would have laughed you off site but a mere few weeks later and we are doing just that! Such is the turnaround in fortunes for Johnson that Roy Hodgson is actually making his first ever trip to the Stadium of Light as an England manager this weekend and he is only going for one reason. And it’s not the pies. Johnson has been in sensational form recently getting six goals, two assists and a total of 46 fantasy points in the last four weeks alone. The man of the moment sparked off this recent run of form with a hat-trick away at Fulham. Many, if not most, will have missed out on that one and it is no wonder as it came out of the blue somewhat, but he has shown remarkable consistency since and rewarded those who decided to take a chance on a potential form player allied with a potential form team possibly meaning potential gold, which it has.

Do not despair if you have not jumped on the Johnson bandwagon though. This may be the end of his good run this week as Sunderland have an horrendous fixture list coming up! Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool all away as well as a blank GW28 will probably see to that. The blank one actually looks the most enticing! This week is what we are concerned with though and it’s Hull at home.Their away record is very poor having only won one on the road this season and losing nine. Sunderland will be looking to nail this one then ahead of a tough run and Johnson will be crucial to that.

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Luis Suarez

You didn’t think we were going to forget your default captain did you, surely? Well we haven’t but the fact is that just for once there are actually quite a few viable alternatives this week. Suarez is liable to explode in any game and it will feel risky on any given week to look past him and rightly so. He has returned double figures in ten of his nineteen games so far which is remarkable. One of those when he didn’t though was at Arsenal earlier in the season when Mertesacker and Koscielny kept him quiet and helped Arsenal ease to a comfortable 2 – 0 win. Liverpool at home are a different proposition though, averaging almost three goals a game at Anfield. The fact that Arsenal boast the second best defensive record in the league  will count for something. We expect a tight affair and if Liverpool are going to breach the Arsenal rearguard expect Suarez to be involved. He usually is….

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Also consider…

Yaya Toure

The same logic applies here as with Dzeko above. City will more than likely pick up from where they left off and Yaya should be on penalties in the absence of Aguero and has his share of direct free-kicks too. He didn’t look quite the same player without Fernandinho by his side on Monday night as he looked like he felt that he should take more defensive responsibility but it just didn’t suit him. Surely against Norwich, City will just unleash The Beast?

Adam Lallana

The Saints enjoyed their trip to Fulham last week but then who doesn’t at the moment! Lallana is becoming a model of consistency this season as he looks to push for a seat on the plane to Rio. He now has seven goals and six assists this term and we would not bet against him adding to that as Southampton welcome Stoke as the visitors this week.

Alvaro Negredo

If Negredo was 100% fit and guaranteed to start he would probably be up there instead of Dzeko and for all the same reasons, plus the fact that he is so much more lethal and consistent than the Bosnian. The fact is though that there seems to be a question mark on his fitness and this was all too evident on Monday night. With the Barcelona ties looming in the CL it may be a case of wait and see as to whether Pellegrini and his medical team decide whether it is best to rest him or indeed play him to build up his fitness. If they decide that playing him is the best option then he is definitely a captaincy contender.

Whoever you choose, we wish you the best of luck. Be sure to chat on the boards, to ask for advice if you’re unsure of who to captain or want advice on potential transfers and also don’t forget to vote on our Captain’s Poll below.

This article was written by inittowinit

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