Our GW15 Captain’s article focuses on three players, who all showed in midweek just how valuable they are, not only to their clubs but also to us fantasy managers. Those players are: Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero and Eden Hazard. Each week we look at our captaincy suggestions using recent form, forthcoming fixtures and back up our thoughts by using a new in-play performance index called Kickdex. (more info on Kickdex is at the end of this article).
Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
As we have seen in recent weeks, Luis Suarez is at the top of his game. We are aware the Uruguayan has been in our Captain’s Poll every week thus far, however, after consistently producing outstanding performances he’s hard to overlook. Scoring FPL points in double figures 5 times since GW6 and boasting a Kickdex value of 35.55 (+6.44, +22.12%), it’s apparent that Suarez is enjoying his time in the Premier League despite the ongoing transfer rumours. Having scored 10 goals and assisted 3 in his last 6 Premier League appearances, we feel there’s no reason his performances and recent form will not continue.
Having considered Suarez’s performance as an individual, it is also reasonable to look at how Liverpool 238.08 (+12.78, +5.67%) have performed recently. It can be seen from the below analysis that Liverpool are playing at a considerably higher Kickdex value than their opposition. West Ham have not won away in the league at Anfield since 1963, losing 29 and drawing 11 of their subsequent 40 trips since. Another significant factor in favor of Suarez is that he has scored one more Barclays Premier League goals than West Ham have as a team this season. Subsequently, 10 of Luis Suarez’s 13 Premier League goals this season have come at Anfield.
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Similar to Suarez’s recent goal-scoring record, Sergio Aguero has not been shy of finding the back of the net. Aguero has scored 10 goals in his last 9 Premier League appearances for Manchester City, as well as providing 6 assists. Seemingly vital in the performances of Manchester City, Aguero has only been unable to get involved in any of Manchester City’s goals 4 times in the 13 times he has appeared, whilst hitting double figures (FPL points) 5 times. A Kickdex value of 26.95 (+0.67, 2.55%) may seem a way off that of Suarez, but worth note is that Aguero has played 311 minutes over the past 4 game-weeks as opposed to Suarez’s 375, valuable time for the Argentinian to be involved in attacks.
Undoubtedly City’s away form has not been the best this season and they will be looking to win consecutive Barclays Premier League away games for the first time since January. It is important to note, however, that although Southampton enter this fixture on the back of a 2-3 loss to Aston Villa, Southampton conceded more goals in midweek versus Villa than they had in all 6 previous home league games this season combined. City showed in midweek that they are capable of turning it on away from the Etihad and with a Kickdex value of 230.05 -0.31 (-0.13%) they are performing consistently well of late – had we seen this fixture 4 game-weeks ago the prediction could have been a lot harder to evaluate, but with 1st choice keeper Artur Boruc injured and 2nd choice Kelvin Davis unlikely to be available, it could well be another fruitful day for City and Aguero.
Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
For the first time we are going to include a Chelsea player in our Captain’s Picks, and a midfielder at that. It was always the case for Eden Hazard of when, and not if, he returns to the form he has previously shown. As some of you may, or may not have noticed on the boards, I have shown how Hazard generally doesn’t play well if Oscar is on the pitch. This article is not going to look at why this is the case, but with a current Kickdex value of 23.36 (+3.93, +20.23%) I’m going to take all the credit I can get for this vague assumption! Scoring double digit FPL points 3 times in the past 4 game-weeks is a good sign that Hazard is performing well, scoring 3 and assisting 4 times in this period.
Chelsea have a good history against the Potters, having won 10 and lost none of the last 12 meetings in all competitions. Chelsea also inflicted Stoke’s heaviest ever Premier League defeat – 7-0 in April 2010, whilst the Blues also inflicted Mark Hughes’ biggest defeat as a coach, with a 6-1 result when he was at QPR in April 2012. Chelsea will attempt to score 3+ goals in 3 successive Premier League away games for the first time since August 2009 and only the third time in the competition. With an increasing Kickdex value over recent weeks that currently stands at 196.69 (-0.56, -0.28%), Chelsea will look to achieve the aforementioned and look to close a gap on league leader’s Arsenal.
Summary
All 3 of our choices look to be hitting great form and are worthy choices of the captain’s armband. Given, the on-going debate on Manchester City’s away form is hard to ignore, especially against a defensively sound Southampton who had conceded just 2 goals at home prior to the GW13 fixtures. Similarly, the form of Luis Suarez can be erratic to say the least, as highlighted in the Kickdex performance index chart above. Many will hope that the Uruguayan will again hit double figures and not a blank as he did in a favourable fixture against Hull. Despite the criticism Hazard attracted early on in the season, he could well be a must have midfielder if his current form continues, and it will be interesting to see how Chelsea carry on performing given their striker situation at the moment.
Quick stats (Past 4 game-weeks)
During the last 4 game-weeks, Suarez and Hazard have created double the amount of chances to that of Aguero.
However, Aguero and Suarez have double the amount of goal attempts to that of Hazard.
Despite this, Suarez has been involved in roughly 60% of Liverpool’s goals, better than Aguero and Hazard, involved in 30% and 40% respectively.
Aguero has had 10 of his shots on target, Suarez has 50% more whereas Hazard has 50% less.
Hazard has completed 50% more passes in the final third than Aguero and Suarez, however, Suarez and Hazard are generally equal in chances created where Aguero falls short at 50% less.
Worthy mentions that should be considered although not included in this article are; Loic Remy, Romelu Lukaku, Aaron Ramsey, Yaya Toure, Mesut Ozil, Steven Gerrard, and Jay Rodriguez.
Following our analysis of our 3 Captain’s Picks for GW15, we would love to hear your views below on which player you are going for and why. Will it be any of our 3 or someone different? Don’t forget to cast your vote on our Captain’s Poll below.
Good luck to you all this game-week,
This article was written by flingy (Sean).
Kickdex
Every player has a single Kickdex value that updates every time anything happens on the field of play. This number represents the player’s contribution to their team. E.g. Suarez 32.2 (-2.34%). The second number shows the percentage difference since their last match.
Kickdex is at the cutting edge of sports analytics. Kickdex uses a complex algorithm using number of advanced mathematical theories. This algorithm is perfect for analyzing team and player form, Kickdex adjusts for the relative strength of fixtures to remove the misconstrued view that form and performances aren’t always directly related to a team’s results and league position. A team or player may perform superbly, but unjustly lose because of a lucky deflection or outside influence.
If you wish to have a closer look at how Kickdex works, or have a look at the Kickdex web application yourself, head on over to:
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Guys what do you guys think about Alex pozuelo, when do you think he will get replaced, at the moment he is a bargin at 4.2.
Hi All…
I have a problem…
I have Rooney who I can sell for 11M and can currently buy at 11.2M… The thing is I have 0.1M in the bank and he is currently on 85.9% to drop (to 11.1M) which means I can afford to buy him back…
Should I take the gamble? Who should I get in then? Giroud seems the logical choice?
Please HELP
Think I will wait for the morning, if his price drops to 11.1M then do it and as soon as the games start sub him back.
I would not loose a FT on Rooney if you count on buying him back anyways! I would bench him (yes kinda bad putting 11 mil on the bench) and hold my FT for next round if you do not have other more pressing matters to deal with in your team?
+1
My team is
Mig, Daniels
Vlaar, A Williams, Dawson, Clyne, Chester
Nasri, Hazard, Ravel, Ramsey, Brady
Rooney, Aguero, Suarez
I have 2FT and 1.2M in the bank (i need 1.1M for Nasri to Silva) and as you can see Ravel and Rooney are suspended and Clyne is out injured and Vlaar is a doubt…
Hence the Dilemma
Shep.
I’m with the others mate. I wouldn’t waste 2FT selling Roo then getting him back next week. It’s just a massive waste to end up keeping the same player.. FTs are precious !!
I have him, I’m benching him mate
Well as it stands my bench is Daniels, Rooney, Ravel and Clyne (all not playing) and Vlaar is a maybe… so running the risk of playing 10 men
I quite happy with my team so not that phased on using my FT’s
Mignolet (harper)
Terry, Clyne, Evra (Jagielka, Turner-cardif)
Lallana, Cabaye, Hazard, Ramsey (Januzaj)
Rooney, Aguero, Suarez (c)
1 FT and 1,2 in the banck.
Thinking of taking yet another 4 point hit and do Clyne+Januzaj for Zabaleta+El Ahmady. Is it worth it? My view is to revert to a 4-4-2 formation for this GW but ultimately have a 4-3-3 formation.
Is it overkill to have Evra, Terry, Zabaleta and Jagielka in one team?
If my gravatar was a hot blonde with big boobs maybe I would get more attention….oh well!
Well who is stopping you? Put a hot blonde up there, it works for The B. 😉
It would certainly give the acronym ‘RMT’ a different angle.
So to speak.
Oh dear…..
I’m back!
Mito (or anyone else), what time does the World Cup draw start? I’ve no idea whether I have to stay up late, get up early, or…yeah… well… I guess those are my two options.
Bryan Munich, the draw is at 4pm GMT.
Cheers Veer! Just As I’d feared! (Wow, that was quite a rhyme-fest)
So it will start at 1am my time and, knowing FIFA, probably finish 5 hours later. How annoying!!
haha! Well just the mere fact of mentioning it already brought attention…so next time you see me be ready to fap and Rate My Titties. 😛
How base of you young man! I was thinking of Rate My T-shirt.
Sure you were…..!! Nuff said about titties..back to the important stuff, footie!!
Would said tshirts be dry?
@James. It comes down to personal taste, I guess. But I think wet T-shirts would see a steep rise in their Kickdex rating.
Pamela in da house ready to give my comments THAT much sex appeal and credibility!
Post your team again in a few hours KungFu. Will be interesting to see how the reply stats stack up post-Pammy.
Haha if it works I guess people would all put Pamela gravatars and that would defeat the purpose of ONLY me getting the attention!
KungFuKingCantona – Not worth it in my opinion,you can field a solid team there mate so maybe hold your FT and make a double swoop next week should you need to,i’d probably play Jags ahead of Clyne though.Yes i think it would be a bit much to have those defenders together,i don’t see much need for change here so my advice is to to hold your FT,assess after next GW.
Thanx for the advice! I am taking too many useless hits these days so its nice when somebody talks sense back into my empty space aka my brains. On paper having those 4 defenders looks good but sure is a waste of money yeah. Will hold on the FT and assess from there. I have been focusing too much on team value and not enough on points. Cheers!
Hey guys! Once again I am at loss for what transfers to do, and also unsure on captain choice. My team is:
Mignolet (Vorm)
Gabbidon Dawson Zabaleta (Coleman) (Lovren)
Oscar Brady Ozil Ramsey (R.Morrison)
Lukaku Suarez Aguero
I have 0.2 in the bank, and I have 2 FT so if I don’t use one it’ll go to waste.
Thanks :bounce:
Possibly Ravel to Oviedo or Bannan both doing well….
Morning guys… I’m having a dilemma, basically I have a bench full of injuries and suspensions:
Here are my options:
1. Sell clyne for perhaps gabbidon
2. Sell ravel for another cheapie mid (sterling/Redmond/bannan/bacuna)
3. Do nothing and hold the transfer.
My team is linked
How many transfers do you have?
Just 1 untouchables…
I would sell Clyne for Gabbidon…
Your only problem would be 2 of your defenders playing Arsenal. But that said they could well keep another clean sheet!? I got Clyne myself and until now has been great value but donno whether to sell him or not. So if you are ready to take a punt on 2 everton players at the back then you could keep your FT.
Fergie – I’d keep Morrison and sell Clyne,Gabbidon seems to be the man of the moment so he might be worth a shout,if you could afford a West Brom defender then it would be worth looking at,3 good games coming up for them.
Cheers guys, much appreciated.