Captain’s Picks
Welcome to our weekly Captain’s Picks article. Every week we will look to elucidate potential captains for the forthcoming game-week and give you our opinions on the merits of each, but then also delve a little deeper by analysing their recent stats to help make that crucial decision a little easier for you. Our Captain’s Picks for this week are as follows:
Luis Suarez is in fine form since returning from his 10 match ban; he has scored 5 goals and assisted his teammates for 3 in the last 4 game-weeks. He faces a tough challenge away to an Everton side that have conceded just 1 goal in their last 4 games, but will they be able to keep the in-form Uruguayan quiet?
Although there was no contribution by Sergio Aguero in GW11, he has still managed to net a respectable 4 times and assist 3 these past 4 game-weeks. Tottenham Hotspur travel to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City and Aguero will be looking to follow up his form with another impressive display. Tottenham have one of the best defensive records in the Barclays Premier League this term, second only to Southampton, conceding just 6 and 5 respectively.
Loic Remy has impressed of late, although scoring just 2 goals in the past 4 game-weeks, he scored 5 more in the previous 3 so he’s certainly comfortable scoring this term. In GW12 he faces Norwich City at home, a team that has the second worst defensive record in the league with 21 goals against, joint with Crystal Palace and second only to Sunderland who have conceded 22.
Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie have been the main men for Manchester United this season and arguably the only reason that United have managed to climb the table after a bleak start under the new management of David Moyes. Rooney has 2 goals and 4 assists in the last 4, alongside van Persie who has managed a goal in each of the last 4 and 2 assists. With a victory over league leaders Arsenal fresh under their belts Manchester United will be looking to kick on, and with a favourable fixture against Cardiff City, the aforementioned are both potential captain material for GW12.
Goals and assists
We will now analyse the statistics behind the recent performances of our 5 picks from the previous 4 matches in the Barclays Premier League, looking at the key attacking potential they hold, the threat they pose in front of goal, and finally their involvement and creativity for each of their respective teams. Statistics from the past 4 game-weeks will be used to keep player form and statistical data current.
Key attacking statistics
- Suarez is presented with a chance every 14 minutes, under half the time of Rooney yet only slightly better than Aguero.
- 27 – the most attempts at goal of our 5 picks come from Suarez, double that of Rooney but closely followed again by Aguero on 25.
- 90% of Aguero’s attempts have come from within the box.
- Both Suarez and Aguero have had 11 shots on target, more than the other 3.
Goal threat
- Suarez and Aguero see a lot more of the ball around goal, with roughly double the touches in the penalty area than our other picks.
- Rooney leads the group with a shot accuracy of 47%.
- van Persie finishes 37% of his attempts at goal, just under double that of second best Suarez with 18%.
Involvement and creativity
- Suarez has created 33% more chances for his teammates than Aguero, and roughly 66% more than the remaining 3 picks.
- Creating a chance every 25 minutes is the best from the 5 by Suarez.
- Suarez has also received the most passes in the final third of the pitch, whilst distributing the most successful passes in the same area.
- Of the 5 Remy sees least of the ball in the final third of the pitch.
- van Persie is involved in 75% of Manchester United’s goals, although creating joint fewest chances alongside Remy (5).
Summary
Luis Suarez is the stand out performer of the 5, with a chance every 14 minutes and creating a chance every 25 he’s performing at the top of his game.
Although fewer chances come the way of van Persie, he is far more clinical than the Uruguayan with a 36% conversion rate.
Sergio Aguero cannot be overlooked; with 90% of his attempts on goal coming from within the area he can easily net a number of goals in any game.
Even with a good goal scoring record Loic Remy seems the weakest choice of the 5, but with a better conversion rate (18%) to Aguero and Rooney (15%) it proves that no matter how many chances you have, you need to take them for it to count in terms of fantasy football.
Wayne Rooney has the best accuracy with his attempts (46%) but with a conversion rate of just 15% and minimal touches in the penalty area, it seems he is taking his attempts from distance.
Worthy mentions that should be considered although not being included in this article include: Rickie Lambert, Eden Hazard, Aaron Ramsey, Steven Gerrard and Adam Lallana.
Following our analysis of our 5 Captain’s Picks for GW12 we would love to hear your views below on which you are going for and why. Will it be any of our 5 or someone different? Don’t forget to cast your vote on our Captain’s Poll below.
This article was written by Flingy.
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Got in – was feeling a bit conspiracy theory there for a bit….
anyone thinking of buying wallcott again?
he’s back in training apparently and will want to play against his old club right?
iv hear some people guess he’ll start upfront as giroud is getting tired. This seems unlikely to me but i still think he’s uttter class.
thoughts?
Even as winger i want Wally. He brings something extra to this Arsenal and he’s key to their success. If they’re gonna have any. 😉
i agree – the best thing about him is that he’s English though!
two hattys last season – i mean how could we over look THAT???
is it worth terry, migs, and barkley for a 4 point hit?
for 8 i can also do delph -> bacuna (but seems kina pointless as he’d be on the bench!)
2bob – I made the mistake of bringing in Benteke when he returned from injury,it went horribly wrong! Give Theo a bit of time to get match sharp before bringing him in,it could easily backfire bringing him in early,just like Tekkers did for me.
i was thinking barkley -> bacuna
and then later if i want to i can do those other transfers next gw or another time
plus it’d give me 3 arsenal mids (which i dont see as a bad thing) but many would scrutinize against that i think
BillisBob – whats your long term thoughts on Ozil?
not really sure to be honest…
i feel like he’s a bit over-priced for what he give when he decides to preform, but he’s at the center of everything arsenal do at the moment.
i feel like i’ll feel bad if i sell him, but still be annoyed if i keep him.
he’ll get points for sure – but he just doesn;t look as if he has the desire sometimes which is annoying when he is so expensive.
so (at least for now) im keeping him
2bob – Hmm,3 mid’s from one team is outrageously dodgy haha,i admire your bravery though hah!
yes i know – it’d be a guns blazing mid!
originally it’d just be wally and ozil but i just bought ramsey and the week i did he didnt score! 😛
i dont want to sell him yet but hey – risks make this game fun!
if i go for this, i’ll be the one laughing when wally ramsey and ozil are the three highest scoring mids! 😉
2bob – I look forward to seeing how that fairs to be honest,some weeks could be huge..others a disaster,interesting times ahead..
yeah!
if i go though with it i’ll keep you posted on here!
BillisBob – I have struggled with the following:
it doesn’t matter whether a player scores 10:1:1 over 3 games or 4 a week, its their scores over the period that matters. If your 3 Arsenal score high overall they are golden.
well with all this might well just go a head and do it!
i’ll wait another day anyway – no price changes so it isn’t worth the risk imo.
anyway, wenger might hint something in his press conferences – so i’ll probably wait untill then
oh and TD, if you were referring to my ozil post, he’s only done well on home games, so it seems crazy to have to bench a 10.(whatever)mil player half the time
2bob – I would not bring in Walcott yet. Look at Benteke, Coutinho, Brady (less a star player) – but none hit the ground running. Give it a week or two. Its Southampton too – not some cannon fodder.
Nin – your nicknames are catching on …
NIN – I also brought in Benteke – you planning on holding him or what now?
Yeah mate,for now at least
ya I plan to give him more time – I have a mad notion of selling Ozil and Benteke for a 5m odd mid and RVP in a couple of weeks if neither Ozil or Benteke start doing it
TD – I’ve already sold Ozil,the money i saved got me Suarez and Aguero though so it was worth it..-8 hit though which is a pain haha,feck it..the lads are on fire!!
so how mad is my mad notion?
TD – It’s not mad unless Ozil and Tekkers are doing the business..van Persie does seem to be beginning to kick on now though,we all know how how devastating he is in FPL..how about Rooney and a better mid??
Nin – a lot of my competition have Rooney. Overall I just think RVP will outscore him. Dearer but the midfielders are just not consistently doing it – so if I have Rooney and a 8m (not many) or RVP and a 5m – not sure which way I’d go
TD – Yeah i think he will outscore him too,it’s a tough call to be fair..
If Giroud had started again tonight I’d of had Wally down as a good chance of starting up front especially with Arsenal’s big game against Marseille not week. However Deschamps woke up and started Benzema tonight so now I’m not too sure.
I’ll be wanting to have the Giroud – Walcott combination for over the Christmas period.
yeah i guess so…
wally is one of the best in the pl imo
What do you guys think about lukaku for captain (deferential and home advantage and the fact that Liverpool aren’t best at keeping a clean sheet) .
Liverpool should be better with a back four. I think captain could be tough this week but not seeing Lukaku as good option
FDMS – Brave move in my opinion,i think Liverpool are going to hammer Everton to be honest.. i predicted 0-4 in Pottmeisters comp haha.
Suarez captain then NIN? It’s tempting but I always want my captain playing at home. Flying in the face of stats I might have to go Remy
Titleastic – Yep,Suarez for me,i’d prefer to have my captain playing at home too,i just don’t fancy Everton in this game i see the Pool dominating the match..Remy is a good shout too this week
So here’s my plan for the GW..
I’ve decided to get shot of ozil cos, frankly, for a bit more I can get Rooney who I think will out score him. Anyway. I’m thinking this
Lukaku, Ozil, Ivan out
Rooney, hazard, Vlaar in.
That would leave me with both hazard and oscar for this GW. Then next week swap out Oscar for Gerrard..
What do you reckon ?
Demise – Is this a -4 or -8??
-4 mate.. Haven’t made a transfer in what seems like an eternity !!
Could you make those moves over two GW’s?would save you some points..
I could do it Over 2 weeks but that would mean not having Rooney for what could be a pretty lucrative week for him imo..
Demise – Yeah it could be,it could also be the van Persie show!!
Yeah you’re right NIN.. Who knows.
I’ll sleep on it and consider again this time tomoz. Cheers for the replies guys
Nighty night
I’m off, too…
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Demsie – not having Stevie G for the derby – migh cost you, mate ;)…
If u already have Oscar – why not bring Stevie in – this week ?
together with all the other transfers in mind…
Yeah I thought about having him this week.. But I saw a post the other day that the highest % owned players are all playing in the derby and the sou /arse matches meaning it could be a w scoring week.
so I was trying to avoid too many players from those games to see if I could bump my scores up.. Of course that could be utterly wrong, I just thought it made sense when I read it.
But Stevie G is my hero and I would love to have him for the derby.. But that would mean a -8 HL. HMM….
Why a -8 Demsie ?
my logic was – as u already have Oscar, not to bring Hazard this week…
to do now :
Lukaku, Ozil, Ivan out
Rooney, Stevie G. (instead of hazard) , Vlaar in.
and then next week, Hazard in…if u want him badly….
Aaah I see what you’re getting at.. Well that was my reasoning above for not doing that. So I may have a think..
Just that Haz seems to be returning more that Oscar ATM
4 points more???
Well last week it was 11 points more, so yeah.
But I’m not taking a hit it get hazard in for Oscar
interesting…
not really sure
i think chelsea’s def is a bit overrated for their form but i rate villa’s as worse whatever the fixtures.
they are in form though so dont take my word for it – im a little overcritical of villa def and over positive about our strikefore (kinda)!
Rooney i think is one of the few keepers this season and hazard will probably outscore oscar, but there’s no need for both imo.
hope this helps!
Cheers dos bob..
I would only have them both for 1gw til I can ship out Oscar.. And of course I rate Che def over Avl.. But Ivan is a big fat stinking waste of 6.4mil if you ask given he hasn’t returned for 6 god forsaken weeks.. How much worse can I do ? Only 1 or 2 points worse..
Tbh the entire aim of this is to get Rooney in.. So the question is, is it worth it ?
huuuummmmmmm….
yes… and no.
probably
in other words, i dont think it’s worth a hit, but worth the transfers over 2 or 3 weeks.
i think…
Ok how about all time Prem Dream team..
Schmicael
Neville / Desaily / Stam
Beckham / Gerrard / Zola / Cantona / Giggs
Hernry / Fowler
Give me yours…?
Surely no team can be complete without DiCanio and Carbone pulling the strings..?
Titleastic…
Ok, good shout…
Whats your X1..?
For sheer entertainment on a football pitch
Ogrizovic
Luiz, Adams, King
Ronaldo, Viera, Yaboah, Giggs
Fergusson, Bergkamp, Cantona
Tit…
Great team……cant believe i forgot Ronaldo & Viera…!!
Ronaldo has to be in there in my opinion,best player to ever play in the premiership,not many in the history of football have been better than him to be fair,outrageous player.
Jasus BigPopz – thinking at 11.30….
any parameters e.g most prem teams would play with a 4 at back.
Right I’m being a traditional – and going 4/4/2 rigid. NO OUT OF POSITION allowed.
Schmeichel
Neville, Adams, Desailly, Cole (almost went Irwin or Le Saux)
Zola Gerard Keane Giggs (other candidates included Ronaldo (better when left, Lampard, Beckham)
RVP Henry (Fowler, Owen, Bergkamp, Cole, Shearer in contention)
Looking at longevity of players also over a no of seasons and its late ……
Dreamers….
Looks tidy….With Bergkamp..quality..
But never heard of 4-7-7 formation… Lol
Ronaldo has to be in there,i can only think of one player in football history who’s better than him..and he goes by the name Lionel Messi,and he’s just a fraction better in my opinion.. also,you have Zola oop,wasn’t a winger/wide player at all
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristiano_Ronaldo
Look at that goalscoring,amazing really,the man is a beast!!
its pretty close to traditional Nin ….pretty close
have to have Zola in.
Ronaldo a completely different player after united. Great there. World class after.
Zola was better in the premiership than Ronaldo was????? God no haha,not even close.Ronaldo was the best player in the world in his last two seasons at United,Messi fairly took over then though to be fair.
Right,i have an early start in the morning so i’m logging off,take it easy folks
Dreamers….
Its a dream team..fill yer boots..!
amazing who you forget though. I have recollections of Veira taking the ball from keeper beating 5 players (I am not exaggerating) and laying the ball off for a goal… yet history confines him as a defensive midfielder when he was much more than that
Bigpopz – Off the top of my head…
Schmeichel
Adams – Vidic – Terry
Ronaldo – Scholes – Keane – Giggs
Shearer – Henry – Bergkamp
Nin….
Doooh..
Yea your right….completly forgot him…..i mean he’s that good i forgot he used to play in prem…OMG..,!!
Yep,best player United have ever had!!
Nin..
I think with Messi, THE BEST THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN…!!!
Popz – Agreed,just a touch better than Ronaldo.
Adjustment..Zola out for Ronaldo