Captain’s Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 1
Hi all. Following on from Peaky Dave’s fantastic article on “Choosing a Fantasy Football captain”, what better thing to do than, erm… pick our Fantasy Football Captain! With not a lot to go on form wise other than a few pre-season games and what we already know from last season and what we know about a few of the imports (everything), here’s our take on who we think your options are for this week and how we think they may fare. No doubt as the season unfolds, we’ll start to see who’s hot and who’s not. Don’t forget to cast your vote in the poll below as we need to know how you feel collectively. For now though, let’s review the shortlist for this weekend…
Wayne Rooney
42.6% of teams include a Granny loving Mr Potato head. That’s a lot of Managers.
With that sort of ownership, I imagine there will be a lot of you looking to give Shrek the armband this weekend. So, what can you expect…?
Well, 5 goals in pre-season point to a man in form, and with new manager LVG likely to rest RVP for the season opener against Swansea, Wazza is all but guaranteed to lead the attack and be on most set pieces, including penalties.
Man Utd have shown already in pre-season that they are keen to return to their free flowing high scoring days of old. And even in a disappointing season last time out, Rooney still managed 17 goals, 12 assists and 38 bonus points. Based on form and ownership, Rooney is likely to be top pick for the armband in Week1.
Incidentally, this will be the second season in a row that Man Utd open up against Swansea. A year ago Man Utd beat Swansea 4-1, and that was played at Swansea, with Moyes as manager!! Expect goals. Lots of them.
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Stevan Jovetic
With Negredo injured and Aguero not thought to be match fit, away to Newcastle should be Jovetic’s first league start for City since February.
He’s been undoubtedly the brightest spark in Man City’s pre-season, scoring an impressive 5 goals in 4 games and has looked dangerous throughout. In an otherwise forgettable match for Man City against Arsenal on the weekend, Jovetic again showed glimpses of being a man in form, hitting the post with a header and forcing Sir Chesney into a good save with a decent strike.
He’s likely to start up front against what tends to be a fairly weak Newcastle defense (4th most goals conceded at home last year including the teams that got relegated), and with Newcastle looking to attack in front of their home fans, there should be plenty of opportunities for Jovetic in what is likely to be an open game.
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Aaron Ramsey (& Olivier Giroud)
Arsenal start off at home to Palace Last season saw home and away 2-0 wins for Arsenal in this fixture and they’ll be confident of adding to that at the Emirates this weekend.
Unfortunately though for those of us banking on another comfortable Arsenal win, until the season is underway (or at least until Arsenal suffer their usual run of injuries) Wenger is likely to play around with the starting XI somewhat as he eases his German stars and other World cup bigwigs back into the team.
The captain’s armband being the precious commodity that it is means that I’ve not recommended Sanchez in this write up as Wenger doesn’t appear to feel he’s ready for 90 minutes yet. Not to say he couldn’t rack up serious points in 60 minutes, but until we’ve seen him deliver, it might be worth playing safe.
The standout player from last season’s form guide, consistency in Pre-Season and freshness from the summer is Aaron Ramsey. He is also the most owned Midfielder (@ 29% ownership) at time of writing and has a tendency for big point hauls from Midfield (10 goals, 9 assists in an injury hit season).
The other player that might tempt you for Captain – although with an element of game time risk – will probably be Giroud. More of a low-risk/ low-return option, he’s not exactly known as Mr Prolific (at least, not on the football pitch) and he only scored more than a single goal twice in 34 appearances last season. He has however bagged combined goal and assist points on several occasions. Looking back on last season vs Palace, Giroud notched a goal in one game and an assist in the other.
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Diego Costa (& Cesc Fabregas)
Chelsea kick off their campaign with a trip away to Burnley in what will be the first Monday night game of the season.
Although Burnley is often referred to as the ‘Madrid of the North’, this will present a new challenge to Diego Costa as he looks to continue some fine pre-season form with a good start to his Chelsea career proper.
Unlike Giroud above, Costa is no stranger to decent fantasy points hauls. He scored two goals in a single game on an impressive five occasions last season, on his way to 27 league goals for Athletico. He might also be on penalty duty if Hazard doesn’t start.
Whilst Costa will no longer have the talented Jorge Koke to provide most of his chances, his new supporting cast isn’t too shabby either…
In Fabregas, Chelsea have a Fantasy points’ machine. Cecs’s best season in FPL yielded 15 goals, 15 assists and 41 bonus points. That’s 214 points and would have scored second only to Yaya in last season’s listings. Cesc has played an active role in pre-season and so is expected to be part of Mourinho’s starting XI. Despite lining up as one of the deeper midfield players, he’s likely to get forward frequently, has an eye for goal (scored in pre-season) and is a strikers dream when it comes to providing goal scoring chances.
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Daniel Sturridge
Sturridge and Liverpool start their 2014/15 campaign at home to Southampton. Liverpool actually lost the corresponding fixture last season to a Lovren header from a Lallana corner and have tailored their entire transfer strategy to making sure history doesn’t repeat itself. (Liverpool won the other game 3-0, but the joke doesn’t work with that one.)
With Goofy gone to feed elsewhere, many a fantasy manager and Liverhampton fan alike will be hoping that Sturridge can maintain his awesome form from last season. For many of us last season, it was a toss-up which of the SAS got the armband. Let’s not forget, he notched 22 goals, 8 assists and 34 bonus points in 29 appearances. He was the highest points scoring striker (after Goofy) and considered by many as fixture-proof.
After recovering from a minor hamstring injury, Sturridge has also looked lively in the last two pre-season games and despite Liverpool’s fixtures looking unfavorable from Gwk2 onwards, for Gwk1 with in-form Coutinho and Sterling providing support, he could be a great shout for the armband.
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Best of the rest:
Yaya Toure – Last season’s top FPL points scorer with a massive 241 points. Likely to be on Pens and Free Kicks in Aguero’s absence. Man City may be relying on Yaya to hit the ground running as they struggle to get many of their players back to fitness.
Mata – Playing in his preferred central role in behind Rooney. Nice fixture and has looked sharp in pre-season.
Eden Hazard – Game time risk as he’s only played once in pre-season so far. But his stats last season (14 goals, 10 assists and 23 bonus points) make him a good shout if he starts.
Raheem Sterling – Likely to be part of a front 3 for Liverpool. Has looked on good form in pre-season and will be looking to build on last season’s 9 goals and 7 assists.
And finally… For those of you looking to really p*ss off Peaky Dave, why not cash in on that easy clean sheet and captain a defender. You probably don’t need to look much further than your wife’s biggest fan, John Terry. ‘The Pikey’ is one of Chelsea’s top goal scorers in pre-season and has a pretty comfortable season opener against newly promoted Burnley.
Thanks for reading Captain’s Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 1. This article was written by Chins
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How’s this look..
Ashley Young / Snodgrass / Sturridge
For
Stirling / Ramsey / Bojan
Or…
Young / Snodgrass / Sturridge
For
Stirling / MATA / Bojan
Already got siggy, think I should keep Rambo..!
My team…
To go with above swaps…
Biggy, get a 2nd playing keeper, with only Krul you ain’t gonna do much point scoring.
I would stick with your current team, don’t see young racking goals maybe the odd assist ,snodgrass I anm not sure he might even play left wing back, and sturridge won’t get as many goals as he did when suarez was around. As a whole I would stick with it.
Biggie – This one, definitely.
Sturridge is an upgrade on Sterling.
You already have Rooney so don’t need Mata.
Young should get game (unless LVG goes for James instead.
Actually…… I think I prefer your team as it is. With these changes, you’d have to go 4 at the back or play two out of Young / Snodgrass / Barry each week. Doesn’t sound too good. Especially if Young doesn’t play. Any other cheapish options in Mid you could consider? Or downgrade Lovren to another 4.5m that rotates with your bench and use the 1.0m to upgrade Young?
Hi Big stick with Young ,Snods & Str although it dos depend on rest of your team
Silverback …
I think you got me wrong way round…
Sorry mate doing to many things @ once doesn’t work for men :cuckoo:
Evening Silvers, guess what ? I’ve found the skool photo of your mrs, i’ll take it to S/port on the 20th.
Hi Elle have to try & get a copy of you , she is still a good looking girl
#awkward convo!
She is only in the year 2 photo, we must have been split up in years 3 + 4, i’ll give it to your daughter, you get a copy + post mine back to me, is that ok ?
It’s taking every bit of self control for me not to make an (inappropriate) comment on this.
It’s soooo hard though.
Ooops. Did it anyway.
No probs Elle I,ll get copy post yours back
Mito + Chins, calm down, calm down. 😮
Sorry Elle. It’s amazing how much trouble I can get into when i’m only on the computer to look for a job!!
Aah ! Memorys of ‘Boys from the blackstuff’ “giz a job, i can do that, i can lay bricks” says Yosser Hughes, brilliant.
Guys I am really split between this:
Dzeko and davis
Or
Fletcher and lamela
I like the first one because it’s easier to swap dzeko out for a decent premium striker,and I will also only play the 5/5.5 mil for some weeks most weeks would be sigurdsson so it’s really between dzeko and lamela, what do you guys think??
Dzeko & Davis …
FDMS A.S
What do u suggest above post…
Dzeko will score goals but could be a risk with rotation & some difficult fixtures early on big fan of Lamela & if Fletcher can stay fit could be a good buy
RMT please…I keep going back and forth between these 2 squads!
Panti (Krul)
Davies, Caulker, Rosenoir, (Duff, Coloccini)
Sterling, Mata, Fab, Ramsey, (Siggy)
Rooney, DCosta, Bojan
OR
Panti (Krul)
Terry, Jones, Collins, (Duff, Moore)
Siggy, Mata, Fab, Ramsey, (Wanyama)
Rooney, DCosta, Jovetic
I’m having some trouble trying to figure out which 4.5mil defenders have the best fixtures early on and whether it’s more worth my while having strong mid or more balanced squad…any help is appreciated!
Chelsea – prefer the second one. More balanced to me. I’d go alternative to Collins – Perhaps even Ferdinand or Taylor of Swansea.
Swansea and Stoke is a good rotating pair: Taylor and Pieters (if he plays) for 10m, Taylor and Shawcross for safety and 10.5m. In order to get a cheap defence I also did Newc/Sun rotation (Colo and O’Shea) and instead spent money on one top keeper.
Why the hell wouldn’t Pieters play?
Pippin, I reckon Van A will give you more points than OShea mate. Same price too I think.
Just stay away from Brown. That lad is a red card magnet!
I currently have Barton and Davis, but is tempted to have Young + 4.5m instead. Young should be nailed on to play as long as Shaw is injured right? If he manages to net a goal/assist, his price should rocket.
I think it could be a great shout tekno, I’m pretty sure he will start lvg seems to like him they don’t have many other options in the wing…what does the rest of your midfield look like is there no way you can find an extra 0.5?
The other mids are Ramsey, Eriksen, and Sigurdsson. If I had Young I would play him every GW, so wouldn’t really need a 5.0m backup.
Tekno – would think that unless they buy someone, he is well worth a shout.
To Bojan or not to Bojan? That is the question…
Hacko,
I say this with tears streaming down my face…. but I like your first team better. Some Liverpool attacking coverage is key I think, even with trickyish fixtures.
Chins – why the tears (feel I’m missing something – not been on much in a few days)
Dreamers, A few on here have grown close to Bojan in the last 48 hours. Saying I prefer a team without him is like saying I prefer the neighbours kids to my own.
That’s not meant to sound in anyway inappropriate!!
Chins – got distracted looking at my own team. Im actually moving away from him the closer to KO we get to. Not sure he will be in my squad come Saturday.
Who would you think is key chins? For me sterling is the most attractive. I think you could always put him or Sturridge in after a few gwks as you said it’s the tough fixtures that’s leaning me towards team 2.
It’s really close call Hacko. There are arguments for Sterling (looked great in pre-season, always going to go for goal etc) and then you can say similar for sturridge. (Less of a pre-season but his stats from last season and the fact he plays more central are in his favor.)
I’d go with whatever allows you to do what you want for the rest of your team.
Hako – prefer the second team
Has the Long trf gone through? With Southampton’s fixtures, looks like a viable alternative to Bojan if it goes through
Dreamers
Not yet. Personal terms and medical to come. I think Hull have done well to get £12M for him. With Southampton’s decent fixtures after GW1 he could go very well if he settles quickly and plays every week.
Clubs agreed fee is all the BBC is saying. Hull have made a 5m GBP profit is half a year. Not bad business.
Still think the player might be more use than the profit given the europa figures.
Completely agree Dreamers. Not a smart move for me. Thought they were building something pretty good at Hull.
Dreamers/Chins,
I agree too. I’d expect some of that to go back out on bringing another striker in. Not much left with Jelavic, Sagbo and Aluko.