Captains Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 1 – Fantasy Premier League 2015/16
Welcome to the first captains article of the season!
The Premier League has finally returned, and while many of you have probably come pretty close to a settled squad by now, you also need to select a captain to help you start off your season with a good score. Well, that’s what we are here for. Whether that’s double points or treble will depend on whether you take advantage of the new ‘Triple Captain’ chip but more on that later. So without further ado, let’s get right to it and look at the best captaincy options for Game-week 1.
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[/one_half]Eden Hazard
Chelsea may have lost to Arsenal in the Community Shield, but expect Mourinho and his players to shrug off that result and start the season strongly. Chelsea play Swansea at home in their opening fixture, a match that ended 4-2 last season, while Chelsea won 5-0 in the away match. In other words, Chelsea enjoy playing against the Swans, and while Hazard scored none of the goals against them last season, he has been impressive in pre-season and should continue that form into the opening matches of the Premier League. As Costa struggles with his fitness and has been poor in pre-season, the responsibility for the offense falls on Hazard, and he can easily flourish under such a responsibility. He will probably be the most popular captain choice this game-week, and rightly so.
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[/one_half]Wayne Rooney
United begin the season with a home match against Tottenham, who have played Real Madrid in Munchen this evening and then will play either Milan or Bayern on Wednesday – three days before the season opens and having taken a squad consisting mainly of their preferred starters who you’d imagine will at least feel some fatigue. Typically, United win this matchup, and while United have bought well and strengthened their squad, Tottenham have been a bit more anonymous in the transfer market. The additions of Schweinsteiger, and Schneiderlin should boost United’s midfield platform and allow the likes of Mata and Depay to concentrate on creating more opportunities for Rooney. While he had his weakest FPL season last season, he looks to start the season in his natural striking position and should flourish in his preferred role.
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[/one_half]Raheem Sterling
City have not been overly impressive in pre-season, conceding 4 goals to both Real Madrid and Stuttgart. They face West Bromwich at The Hawthorns in the first match of the season, and while City have a tendency to struggle against this kind of team, they are much stronger on paper and should be able to get a comfortable win if they play up to their attacking potential. If there has been one light in City’s pre-season, it has been Raheem Sterling, who has scored 3 goals and gotten 4 assists. Pellegrini will certainly look to his dribbling and pace to create havoc in WBA’s defence, and Sterling could be employed either as an attacking midfielder or up top. Expect him to be among the points this game-week.
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[/one_half]Theo Walcott
While no-one can say for sure what Walcott’s role is in the Arsenal team, it is difficult to not see him starting as long as Sanchez is not available for contention. As with Sterling, Walcott’s pace and dribbling will cause problems for West Ham’s defence, hence Wenger could play him up top rather than on the wing. He started as a striker against Chelsea in the Community Shield, and while he was subbed off without any goals or assists, that was against arguably the best defence in the Premier League – this is against a West Ham team that struggles to repel the minnows of the Europa League’s early stages. Hence, Walcott could easily get an explosive score if he gets enough playing time this round.
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[/one_half]Graziano Pelle
As the 4th highest scoring striker last season, 8.0 might seem like a bargain. However, many will remember that he started the season strong, but then became more and more invisible as the season went on. He still managed 12 goals and 6 assists, and has been impressive in pre-season. Southampton play away to Newcastle, a team that may or may not improve under a new manager. Even if they do improve Southampton should still be the better team, and if Pelle can carry his pre-season form into the Premier League, he could start the season with an impressive performance against Newcastle. Obviously, Pelle should be seen as more of a punt compared to the rest of the players.
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Triple Captain Chip
Just a quick word on the new feature this season. It pretty much does what it says on the tin and trebles your points for your captain on whichever game-week you choose to deploy it. We shall touch on this as and when we feel the opportunity presents itself to use it effectively but this in all likelihood is one to save for when we encounter double game-weeks later on in the season.
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Thanks for reading Captain’s Picks Fantasy Football Game-week 1. This article was written by Tekno-Kun
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Don’t forget to vote in this week’s Captain Poll
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Been tinkering all day in work, need help lads.
GKs: Ruddy / Mignolet
(Rotate very nicely till GW8)
DFs: Ivan / Toby / Cedric / O’Shea / Benalouane
(Ivan is Ivan, Toby only has two no go games in first 8 weeks, Cedric is getting a lot of love on here and only has two no go games till GW8, Benalouane & O’Shea rotate well with both only being no go’s in GW7 so I think they offer me the opportunity to always has 3 decent games for my defenders and the potential to go 4 at the back if needs be)
MFs: Hazard / Sterling / Ozil / Ritchie / Sinclair
(Hazard, Sterling & Ozil all to start every game, Ritchie has a few very promising home fixtures if they start off well and he also rotates well with Defoe, Sinclair like Benalouane & O’Shea brings decent fixtures if he is needed in the first few weeks)
FWs: Rooney / Benteke / Defoe
(Rooney every game along with Benteke, Defoe as mentioned rotates well with Ritchie and has good fixtures with him surely being at the end of Sunderland’s ‘lethal’ attack)
Questions:
A better team option than O’Shea? Matthews nailed on?
Sinclair or Hoolahan? Wes has better fixtures but two promoted MFs worries me…
Benalouane surely has to start after costing near 6 mill?
All thoughts are appreciated!
Perhaps you are trying to cover too many GW’s
All very sound reasoning, looks set to me with minimal risk. You not fancy a punt on a promoted 5.5 striker?
Who is the best 4th midfielder on the budget? I am willing to splash maximum 6.5M for the 4th midfielder, and I think that is more than generous.
I have Lens from Sunderland at the moment, and cant opt for Ritchie because I already have Wilson as my budget forward.
Are there any other options that I should consider?
Nope.:dance:
B
Cabaye (if fit) could be the bargain of the season at that price.
Easy, B. Swap Wilson for Deeney and bring in Ritchie. He’s been a mainstay in all my drafts, along with Hazard.
Anyone know who Stoke back 4 are ????
Silvers
My best guess:
Johnson Shawcross Muniesa Pieters
Johnson and Shawcross most assured if fit I think
Not wollschied then? I read Shawcross is out getting his back sorted, so for short term I think you’d be safe to say Wolly?
Hi Guys, please let me know what you think of my team
Holy shit. You must like Blue. Anyway. Baines was terrible last season and he’s not on penalty’s anymore, also keep in mind the hard fixtures Everton have in their first 5. Main reason why I ain’t touching that punani. Same could be said for Lukaku, but he could get his fair share of goals.
Don’t know if I’d want Mahrez as my fourth mid, but Leicester do have decent fixtures. Rest looks good.
Agree with Raz re: Baines. I’ve gone with Lukaku for a week1 blast, and will stick or twist on that performance + Aguero’s return. What’s your thinking behind Baines?
Is Lukaku even fit? I don’t think he’s played in preseason since that hamstring injury.
Martinez said he’d not be risking him in pre-season but it’s nothing major (I think?).
Afternoon all! So, after some tinkering just now – my gut is telling me to go for Wally ahead of Caz and so I’ve downgraded Ander to Gomez to afford the move. Please let me know your thoughts!
Cheers
theswirly — the question is how much rotation will Arsenal mids/fwds come under? Wally was played up front vs Chelski in the Comm Shield but he might be rotated with Giroud, though he might just slot back on the wing if that happens. What happens to the formation when Alexis returns (in regards to e.g. Cazorla)? And so forth. Wally seems like a safe bet and I, for one, am going w/ Wally for now (especially if he plays up front). Another one to think about is Ozil — he might play the no 10 role behind the striker and w/ Wally up front, could be a tasty option. But that’s if Wally plays striker position. And we’re back to square one!
I’m thinking Ozil and Alexis as more nailed on from Wenger’s recent interviews.
There is going to be a lot of rotation in the Arsenal team. Wenger is going to rotate Walcott and Giroud in terms of a fwd role.
When it comes to the midfield Alexis will slot back into the team and Cazorla will play out wide. Ramsey, Coq and Ozil are going to play a large part this season. Not sure if that helps in your decision making.
bottled it and had to change me team to get Hazard in, over 50% ownership . latest offering is this – any thoughts / suggestions ?
Cech (Hennesey)
Cedric, Azpi, Huth (Alderweireld, Marriappa)
Sterling, Depay, Hazard (c), Mane (Fletcher)
Rooney, Tekkers, Defoe
Freddie
Looks good overall.
I’d change Depay to Arsenal coverage though and you’re covered across all the top teams.
+1 and is Mariappa benchfodder?
really wanted Arsenal coverage as my 4th midfielder but had to downgrade to get Hazard in. Suppose its a blessing in disguise as couldn’t decide between Ozil, Wally, Caz and Ramsey… Reluctant to get rid of Depay, think hes going to get a lot of goals and Rooney will probably go to Aguero when fit.
You could try cech to a 4.0+4.5 keepers ie Rudd, Ruddy and Toby to a 4.5 def, then Mane to arsenal? But that’s if you really wanted arsenal!