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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What do people think of this?
Foster (Krul )
Jones Davies Chester (Taylor Hutton)
Ramsey Hazard Mata Sigurdsson (Davis)
Rooney(c) Costa Long
I have a spare 1.5m (I just changed Pelle to Long).
Is it worth bringing in Terry for Davies? (I have rotation worries for both)
EBC
Having Terry may be a good move. Treble Chelsea for the first two games may be a wise move. Is that Neil Taylor in defence?
Really fine midfield there.
Yes, Neil Taylor.
And Phil Jones.
EBC, I would use it to get someone other than Long for the first gameweek at least. if the transfer goes through on Friday, is he going to play straight away?
Balls. I didn’t realise he was moving. I had him in based on Hull’s good fixtures.
What do you think about Jelavic?
EBC: Jelavic is more attractive to me now that Long is off- he should be the main man upfront, even allowing for their Euro fixtures, and resulting rotation
I like him a lot but just wonder how he’ll do without his mate Long. They seemed to have a good understanding together last season for the few games they played together.
Someone mentioned Hulls Aloko (sp?) on here earlier. Cheap and listed as a midfielder. Could be a great shout if Long goes as I think he had a decent spell upfront last season for a while and could get his place back now.
Can’t fault that Team EBC
Thanks.
Terry or Davies.
Thought I’d give my opinion 😛 At this point both can be seen as risk rotation, how about Luis leaving you .5 mil?
Terry for me
Evening all, my team hasn’t changed since yesterday …. i must be missing something??? Please RMT
madhatter
Very similar team to mine, looking good. My only question is what’s your plan when united’s good fixtures run out and DDG won’t be getting clean sheets( as your second keeper is week)
Will address keeper on a FT or a WC, other keeper won’t play a part. Cheers mate
Hi Mad you have sacrificed your Def for your MF which is very strong Fwd line not to shabby either Check your 4/5th def rotate with @ least 2 of your main Def or downgrade 1 MF & upgrade Def
MadHatter- very similar team to mine: I have bottled the Bojan call though as I don’t like having to rotate him with Siggy- the thought of getting it wrong each week and having funds/points on the bench is killing me. I think you’re all set with this though.
What do you think about Chelsea defence? I currently have Terry, but if I dump him for Chambers as you have, I have 2m in the bank to play with suddenly….
I’m liking the Chelsea defence (and team) for the first 2 weeks but they have a hard game every second week after that so I’ll maybe dump one or two then when the bargains have emerged and it’s clear who is first choice.
Pippin
I’m getting the same thought about bojan… who did you switch him to?
duthers: I axed him for Zamora, who won’t play; I might swap him for Vaz Te though as I don’t want to lose points if people transfer out Zamora (he’s on 4.5% or so). I’m playing a 3-5-2, aiming for a fearsome midfield, and I don’t want to rotate (as explained) apart from my defenders. Team is currently:
Speroni, Hamer
Chambers, O’Shea, Caulker, Coloccini, N.Taylor
Ramsey, Mata, Lamela, Sterling, Sigurdsson
Diego Costa, Rooney, Zamora
with 2.0m in the bank! I don’t now know where to spend that…
Could take Fabregas/Hazard in for lamela or maybe upgrade that defence
Upgrade Zamora lol
MadHat: Zamora is a benchwarmer- I don’t want to have, at least initially, to cope with rotating my potentially goalscoring players. I want a great starting XI, plus rotating defenders, and then to just reap the rewards haha
Are Stoke really that solid at the back any more? Hughes plays a very different style to Pullis. I’d go Palace instead I think.
Wisdom and Davies not nailed either by all accounts. And Chambers obviously will be out in wk2. That’s a few changes you might need to make. Got a plan?
Defensively, Stoke are amongst the most solid at home, and amongst the most leaky away.
Interesting. Cheers Tekno. So maybe he can be part of yet another cheeky rotating pair then?
Yep, Stoke + Swans rotation is so great it’s borderline orgasmic.
Is Szczesny injured or something? I’m not seeing him in many teams… I reckon Arsenal will do allright defensively
is he nailed on? the new guy has not been bought for the bench…
Bunch of pricks in the premier league making this so hard for me!!
I like having Szczesny in my team last season, now I don’t know who to move De Gea out for…. FFS!!
McButcher- I went for Speroni. No CS against Arsenal I’d imagine but great fixtures thereafter. Willing to deal with a tough opening game to avoid a transfer later.
Speroni is an option, I had him too last season…
McButcher,
I think people see more value in Debuchy and Chambers for Arsenal than the GK. And I do have a feeling Wenger really likes Ospina.
Do you need to move out DDG?
I don’t need to, I just have doubts about him… reassure me please
Why doubts? Do you see Lindegaard taking his place?
I’d have thought he is the most assured (along with Howard) of the premium keepers.
And Man U start with a great run of games.
De Gea is a great keeper, but my doubts are more about Man U defensively, that run of fixtures is what made me pick him in the first place, but reading everyone’s comments about the Man U defence is making me worry and doubt myself.
Maybe Howard, if his price drops in the first few weeks he could be a bargain
Maybe
Bunch of pricks?
Making it hard for you?
…must….. keep….. thoughts…… to…… myself………..
Yes please do… 😛 you dirty dog you haha
McButcher I think its more that Debuchy is only 5.5 and very few would fancy doubling up unless there is a really great fixture or form reason to do so. (And if you did, Chambers and Debuchy would be a lot cheaper for the first game or two at least.)
I haven’t seen many premium keepers on here at all actually. DDG is popular because of his price vs the other top teams keepers.
Re. Ospina. I think Sir Chesney will be ok until he has a couple of bad games or is Ospina plays an absolute blinder in a cup match.
Chin, LOL you just reminded me that I have Debuchy so I don’t need Szczesny. Seriously the stress of this is making me go crazy.. Nice one pal
Ha! Yes, it can get a bit much can’t it?! I’ve only got two names on my team sheet so far.
I thought it easier to pick the names I definitely want and build the squad around them. Problem is there are just so many options out there. Who to pick? Who to pick?
Sod it, i’ll leave it as just Bardsley and Bojan tonight and sort the rest out tomorrow.
LMAO!!!!!
Evening all, now listen you useless lot, apart from the 10 teams already in, don’t you fancy toppling reigning doubles champions Init + Elle ? if so get your partners + get your butts into action, e-mail me at elleffcee@gmail.com
And as an extra incentive, there will be a cash prize for every team that finishes above Elle and Init.!!*
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* Not true. But sign up anyway. It’ll be fun.
Won’t cost us much then chins 😉
Gonna be a cheap season then. :big-lol:
Look at you two!!! 2 peas in a pod!!
Peas / Scousers. Pod / Bed. Whatever.
If only Ashley Young were listed as a defender.
For 5.5 he’d be worth a punt. How’s the team raz? Did you keep Eriksen and Hazard after all?
Unfortunately hes listed as a mid, but hes still crap, he’d be even worse as a defender.
Any thoughts on my “current” team?
Duthers, can’t add much mate I love it! Some talk earlier on Van Aanholt being under threat but not sure. So long as you feel Luis is nailed I’d say you can put your feet up with lot.
inittobojanit
I’ve actually thought about isla from Qpr, ill decide closer to the time. Thanks for the kind words, I think I’ve changed that midfield about 20 times haha
Duthers, I think Isla could be a good call. Whenever I go to put him in though, I get put off by Caulker and his potential for goals. Tough one, as I definitely won’t want 2 QPR defenders.
chins and bojans
the attraction to isla is the thought of him steaming down that right side and putting in a inch perfect ball on zamoras big head. An extra .5 mil for caulker would be nice
Caulker and Isla are the same price
Duthers, I hear you mate. It’s a toss up between: Predicted number Isla of assists x 3 points, vs Predicted number Caulker of goals x 6 points.
Guess that Caulker might bag 3-4 goals in a season from corners / set pieces, given his record. If you can see Isla getting 6-8+ assists then go for it.
oh, I thought isla was 4.5 mil… guess im back on the hunt!