Captains Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 10 – Fantasy Premier League 2014/15
Hallowe’en is a time when ostensibly sane people wear a Scream mask and carve a stupid face into a large orange cucurbita fruit. The really dedicated step beyond the fantasy and embrace paranormal phenomena, perhaps by ghost hunting or gathering the family around a Ouija board. That being said, I don’t think anyone expected Liverpool to get a clean sheet on Saturday.
Keeping in spirit (gone early there, sorry) with things, this week’s Captain Picks celebrates the spooky season through the medium of word alchemy. Have fun trying to spot all the gory puns, but don’t try it at home. It’s addictive and can be hard to Hallo-ween yourself off.
Speaking of scary looking individuals – a quick word on Diego Costa – clearly if he is fit and plays vs QPR he will be a very popular Captain’s choice this week, maybe even the main one, however, after his recent spell on the sidelines this article looks at the next best options in case Costa is not about this weekend.
Starting (with the commendable intention of building tension) at number 5, let’s crack on and see ‘witch’ 5 captains you should be casting an eye of newt over this week.
5. Sadio Mane (Hull, A)
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[/three_fourth]After only 4 appearances, one of the Premier League’s brightest new stars already has a bewitched St. Mary’s under his spell. With a highly potent midfield partnership brewing with Tadic, and both feeding the ever-improving Pelle to their reciprocal benefit, life is looking good for the South Coast team right now. Recently it’s been looking especially good for Sadio Mane. It’s hard to know what to take from anyone’s role in Saints’ supernatural humiliation of Sunderland but against Stoke he complimented his 2nd goal on the bounce with a 95% pass completion ratio, 14 of which were in the attacking third. 273 minutes of game time is an inadequate sample size, but if the initial steep curve of his improving BPL stock is any evidence that this boy could be the Mane man then he’s very likely tomb make an impact at the KC Stadium this weekend.
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4. Alexis Sanchez (Burnley, H)
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[/three_fourth]Along with Mane and Tadic, Arsenal have arguably the most in-form midfielder right now. The Chilean World Cup star has been haunting defences of late with a series of scintillating performances, most notably against Man City, Spurs, Hull and Sunderland. He hasn’t just been good to watch, he’s racked up the fantasy points too. Saturday’s brace at the Stadium of Light saw the Gunner claim his 5th goal in 7 games. On Saturday alone he had 5 shots and 3 on target. This notoriously hard worker ranked in the top 5 for passes, chances created, take-ons, ball recoveries and even tackles! Wenger brought in Welbeck to add firepower to the team, which he has inadvertently done so, though perhaps by bringing Sanchez to life.
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3. Romelu Lukaku (Swansea, H)
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[/three_fourth]Ask anyone who’s ever captained Lukaku and they’ll likely bemoan, “He scored me 4 points”. The frustrating thing about the Belgian isn’t any lack of talent, but that he shows it when no-one’s looking. The most famous example being on the last day of the 2012/13 season when even those chasing the FPL crown left him racking up a Hawthorns hat-trick on their bench. This season Lukaku’s lived up to his old Trick or Treat routine, but of late has shown signs of consistency with 2 goals in 2 appearances. One would envisage him ghosting into the box and goblin up a few chances against an underwhelming Swansea at Goodison Park this weekend.
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2. Sergio Aguero (Man Utd, H)
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[/three_fourth]Last week he scuppered all but the bravest of us by failing to bury any chances against the Hammers, but to Count on him replicating such a failure too often in the future could be a grave mistake. Much is made of Sergio’s injuries, but he’s completed the full 90 minutes in his last 3 league games. Whether from the bench or from the start, this fella’s ghoul per minute ratio is frightening. Even at home to a defence as generous as Man Utd’s it’s always a slight concern backing a striker in huge games like this. Nevertheless, Sergio has proved in the past to be fixture-proof and with both teams boasting ridiculous attacking riches, in the cauldron of a Manchester derby, it could well be a high-scoring Thriller.
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1. Eden Hazard (QPR, H)
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The finest things in life are often the most easily spoiled. A corked vintage; a scratched Ferrari; a hamstring-prone £32mln Spanish striker. Though Costa may well make the QPR game, captaining him right now is sure to test the nerve of FPL managers. A safer bet therefore may lay with Chelsea’s ever-present midfield wizard. Cesc Fabregas has rightly shared Costa’s headlines so far, with more collaborations than Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes combined. However, those bearing witness to Hazard’s recent performances will pay testimony to his resurgence in form. Despite coming away empty-handed against the Red Devils he was unlucky not to score and was at the core of almost every Chelsea attack. Cesc may still be Fab, but it may soon be time to get ready for some monster point hauls from an enchanted Eden.
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Thanks for reading Captain’s Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 10. This article was written by Bryan Munich
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Hi !
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Im a little concerned here people. Already thrown cautio be to the wind and Made my 2FT last night (like a boss)..
Now I’m starting to get all panicky like a little girl cos I don’t really think that Mannone is going to play this weekend and I only have him as playing keeper.
I know, I know.. hits for keepers, right… But.. Is that better than no keeper ? I’ll wait for more news… But whatcha think in your brain box right now ?
x x
I think I’m on the wrong page here…. Anyone fancy coming across ??
Hey Demise why you saying Mannone won’t start
Potent said something the other day, maybe yesterday. Let me dig the quote out
That means Italian keeper Mannone, 26, could drop out for Monday’s trip to Crystal Palace, with summer signing Pantilimon coming in to make his Premier League debut for the club.
Poyet said: “Normally I don’t change the keeper when they have a bad game.
“Sometimes, you need to accept mistakes in the overall performance, be it from a keeper, a manager or a No. 9.
“But if it’s two bad games, then he starts to have a problem.”
Demsie – I don’t think taking a hit for a GK. If Mannone plays and you get 2 points off him then that’s basically the same as getting a GK that keeps a CS + taking a hit. I would keep the FT and attack the GK problem next week.
“…for a GK is worth it”*
I mean, you don’t have a FT to keep, but… don’t make the transfer. Hahaha oh God.
Ha ha Cody mate, let me get this right… You’re saying you would deffo take a hit in this situation ??
Demise don’t take a hit for a GK @ best 6-7 points if CS with a 4 hit which side will keep a CS
Nonononono hahahahaa deffo not!
Demsie – I reckon Mannone will play. It’d be really tough to make a hit pay off, unless you got Courtois or something. Stick.
NIN – Poyet was pretty damning of his performances last 2 games.
Did you see the Sanchez goal. Piss poor by Mannone.
Yeah he’s having a shocker, but i still think he’ll play.
I dont think he will play but I think you are stuck with it
That’s what I was afraid of mate
Hey there. Hope you’re all OK.
My team of Premiership first-timers (no PL minutes before this season) got me 60 pts in GW9, but have to say I was lucky rather than skilful. I got problems, and would appreciate advice. Have a squint at this lot and tell me what I could reasonable do…1FT and £3.5 ITB.
By no means your typical template clone team, so I need some out-of-the-box thinking here, beyond the usual suspects that most managers have as their stock-in trade. The gauntlet has been thrown down…
Have been hoping that Ulloa is eventually going to get into gear again – fixtures favourable, on the face of it – but the evidence is lacking. Sakho would have been the obvious choice except for injury. Am minded to keep Costa (unlike most of you guys, buying Aguero is definitely not an option for me). Falcao? Haven’t seen enough of him, tbh, his game time’s been v limited so far – is he really going to be a regular starter?
Midfield underpowered – Sanchez, Mane and ADM and not much else. Tadic is the obvious addition – but three Soton in the front 7 is not on (that was almost poetic), and I’d have to ditch Alderweireld. What do people think of Mason from Spurs? Three decent-ish matches to come.
Backline: Really need to send Dier on his way. Think Cresswell might be worth a shout but on the pricey side. Moreno…been on the point of selling him on, but holding back at last minute. Really think I should be worrying about further up the field, just now…
Thanks, guys, woild be glad to know what you think.
are you intending to keep it to first timers?
Hey, Dreamers. Yup – that’s the self-imposed restriction. Means I had to compose a watchlist made up of all players with zero premiership history. Took me ages to research. It’s surpising just how many there are ( but of course not all get regular first-team game time).
My hope is to finish in the top fifth of the overall league – the equivalent of a Champions League spot. So far I’m on target: 428K, which is very modest by the standards of most players on this site, but I’m determined to slug it out…
thats some restriction. fair play.
Yeah, but it’s fun! Keeps me awake at night! And I’ve found myself having to look for help through sites like this? Used to look at Fantasyfootballscout, fantasyfootballgeek, and now through this site I’ve discovered FFFix. Have you checked it out? They got this really amazing animated diagram of transfers by position – it’s like a spidergram which changes as the transfers are made. Not sure if it’s realtime (don’t think so) but it’s a very novel way of showing volume and direction of transfers…
Cheers
Hey QWkid not much wrong with this team I like the idea great stuff Ulloa bit of a worry Cresswell good shout also like the look of Robertson Sakho might be a better shout when he’s back keep it going
Hey, Silverback
Thanks for that. Agree with you about Ulloa. I need the balls to sell him and hope he doesn’t blow a massive raspberry by suddenly re-finding his mojo…Pity Sakho is crocked just now.
In midfield I thought about Montero, who finally got some points for the Swans in GW9 – but their next three matches are dire. Mason (Spurs) is unknown but has good gamepoints last three GWs.
I thought about Robertson in defence too – but Hull fixtures look horrenodous, don’t they?
So you can see I’m being forced to consider some unusual options, but it does get me outside the standard knowledge base a bit. I’m hoping to get snippets of hidden information here and there, so if you know of any undiscovered gems…
Cheers
What about Felipe Luis as a short term option qwk ??
Hey Demsie – Filipe Luis was in my team at start of season, but Mou found a winning back four. When Azpi got this red, I thought about Filipe Luis again. I wonder if he’ll hold his place when Azpi’s ban ends?
Doubt it QW, Mou is a big fan of Azpi.
QW I like this idea I will try & have a look see who else when I get time Did Berahino play before if not two very good fixtures also Austin starting to find the net good luck
berahino played 1419m minutes last season, so out for me. Austin’s a good shout though, and Vargas too! Or is signing anyone from QPR a leap too far?
Hey Raz, Think you’re right.Soon as Azpi’s out of jail, Mou’s gonna put him straight back in the starting line-up and then it’s hasta la vista Filipe Luis. It’s partly why I haven’t signed him and at the time the short-term investment had to be a banker, which I doubted as two of the relevant matches were ManU and Pool away. Even though both those teams have been misfiring, they do have the scoring capacity to make CS difficult, no matter how large the bus to be parked…
Hi all,
Why is it only 10 people voting for pelle as skipper?
His two goals tonight might have just edged it for me…
I guess i need a differential captain with my ranking!!! :cuckoo:
Fixtures.
Chelsea vs QPR
City vs United
Arsenal vs Burnley
Everton vs Swansea
Newcastle vs Liverpool.
There’s a shit load of goals to be had in those games, more so than Hull vs Southampton. Well, in theory.
Fair point, but a man in form isn’t going to be stopped by hull is he?
In reality…
Most I see on that list…Costa/Haz/aguero/alexis/sterling ..are limited to 2 goals imo… like pelle…
Having said that hull drew 0-0 to pool, did you see that game? were pool woeful or hull actually defended well?
He might be! Hull seem to be tightening up a bit, but Liverpool were poor.
Should I captain Bony or Tadic? Both players have tricky away games.. Leaning towards Bony though. Thoughts??
Trenade – Post your team. Out of those two I would go with Bony, Everton are known for conceding a lot.
Cheers, Bry. Up the owls!