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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Please Vote – Fantasy Football Blog Awards
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Don’t forget to vote on our Captains Poll
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De Gea
Clyne – Baines – Coloccini
Sterling – Hazard – Sigurdsson – Di Maria
Ulloa – Aguero – Naismith
Bench: Krul – Vlaar – Duff – Albrighton
I have 1.1 in the bank. I would like to bring Pelle in as my number 1 priority along with Chambers for either Vlaar or Coloccini. With both of Hull’s keepers out for most likely at least a month Jakupovic at 4.0 could be a good bargain to possibly bring in. My main concern is that I may have to get rid of one of my midfielders which i am leaning to out of sterling and di maria but know they are capable of going big.
payntonmackey – I think i’d drop Sterling here as your strikers need a lot of improving. Naismith is a decent 3rd striker but Ulloa has to go. I would suggest Mane, Downing or maybe, as a punt and also to hang onto Liverpool cover (if you wish), Henderson.
Thanks Bryan, awesome article
Loving the halloween theme 😉
I have the ability to swap Terry for Davis (Hull) and Sterling for Sanchez.
Should I do it?
Hi jamal, do you have 2 FT or would this be for a -4 hit?
I have 2 FTs
Well, Sterling was rested yesterday so he should be fresh for the weekend. But if you really want Sanchez and are willing to downgrade in defense to get him, I don’t think those are bad moves. I wouldn’t do it for a hit but if you’ve got the 2 FTs then that’s not an issue. It does leave you a little lightweight in defense, but with that strong forward line something has to give somewhere, ha!
jamalsauce – Tough week to drop Terry. Do you have enough to do Sterling -> Sanchez?
I wouldn’t drop Terry this week and wouldn’t want to bring in Davies.
Something wrong with Fantasy Football Fix, since yesterday it refused to show the players that are dropping. Just the +NTI’s if that makes sense. So can’t see when Falcao will drop, or any other player for that matter. >.<
Raz, I don’t think their alogrithm or whatever is 100% accurate yet. They had Jagielka set to rise last night and he didn’t. And Sakho has gone up twice recently, and both times he was only around 94%. Costa also dropped lat night and he was at like 97% I think.
Still, they are the most accurate price predictors by far. But I wouldn’t count on it being exactly right each time. If there’s a move you need to make and it’s close, better to do it and not wait until the last minute if that .1 is crucial to your plans.
I know Red, but at the moment only green arrows work for them. Meaning the players are being dropped are not in their current algorithms, which mean you can never see if someone is about it drop or what is happening. If you go to their site and pricechanges you’ll see what I mean. Last night for instance I was really surprised Costa was set to drop but his arrow per hour was green. His arrow shouldn’t be green since people are massively dropping him still there are just a few people that are buying him. Anyway, I think I was correct since he did drop last night.
Raz – The %’s are still okay i think. Falcao is at -55% from what i can see so he’s a couple of days away from a drop, i would imagine.
Red – Yes, their alogrithm isn’t 100% yet. They have an article on here that they posted recently. If i remember correctly, they said that because they’re not 100% accurate yet that players who are 90-100% could, “could” drop. This was evident last night with Costa. Once it’s 90% or higher, there’s a chance the drop will happen early.
@ NiN
English isn’t my native language. Don’t know a better way to explain it than as I did above.
Yesterday afternoon FFF said Costa would be dropping, he was -1.7 percent or smt (per hour). Towards the evening he was +0.18 percent. I was like, wtf? So I figured he wasn’t injured anymore. Than looked at the rest and nobody was in the red anymore. Even Falcao is at 0 percent and has a green arrow. Which can’t be the case. SO something is off.
The ummmm players being dropped are not being noted and the players being bought are.
Raz – I understand what you’re saying. I actually didn’t notice the 0.00% on Falcao. I suppose if we keep an eye on it to see if the overall % is changing. If it is, then we can work off that.
He’s at -55.4% now, so i’m going to give it an hour or so and refresh the page and see has it changed.
It hasn’t changed since last night. So unless they fix it this hour it won’t change. Not a big fan of ”Totalfpl” but that one does tell you that Costa has –4,391 NTI’s and Falcao -2,621 NTI’s. Anyway, because of TotalFPL I knew something was off with FFF yesterday. Actually just by looking at FFF I knew it, everthing was on 0, not just Falcao. Costa at +0.18 can’t be right either.
Anyway, it’s not super relevant or anything But do hope they fix it. So you can predict when certain players will drop, could e key if you want to buy in certain players.
It hasn’t? Okay, well that’s a sure sign that the site is having problems.
That’s what I’ve been preeching NiN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rant:
We recently made a minor change to the code which adjusts the NTI’s slightly at several points though the day. The progress per hour is based on the hourly rate of NTI’s, and it appears the periodic adjustment increased everyones NTI slightly, hence showing a green arrow. I will fix this as soon as possible.
With regards to accuracy, it is much more difficult this season, so at the moment you should be wary of anyone within around 10% of their target. We are getting better all the time though and will improve even further over the next few weeks.
FFF
Thanks for the update :thumbup:
Cool mate. It’s a working progress, I get that. You’re the closest out of all of them though. Website looking great and apart from ff247 it’s the only fantasy football site I regularly visit. Great job.
Sanchez or Hazard who should I captain?.
Hazard, for me.
Hazard for me too, he looks like his on the boil of a big haul and i think Sanchez’s 2 goals flattered him last time out.
I really don’t think it was all luck man. Sanchez had a goal and an assist the game before against Hull aswell. I’d cap Sanchez out of those 2.
In his career, Sanchez is 0.30 goals per appearance (including subs) which is a lot for a midfielder. And those appearances are in fairly tough leagues.
Hi Guys
I need your expert advice to sort my team out…i have 1 ft and 0.0 itb
i will do 1 or 2 transfer if need, thx in advance
which captain you would be choose in my team?
Can i downgrade Tadic to get Mane…
any news regarding costa & sakho?
Thanks
I’d wait till late Friday. Anyway. Ummm…… Read today that if things go as normal Costa and Ramires will be both ready/fit for the QPR game.
fcsh – As it stands, it looks like Costa is going to play so your (c) is fine, however, i would suggest either Sanchez or Aguero as (vc) over Tadic, just in case Costa doesn’t feature. I don’t know how fit Sakho is so cant really comment on that one. Tadic -> Mane… nah. There’s a good case for keeping your FT this week, once your strikers are fit of course.
Raz & NIN
I got it….thanks again with your suggestion…
will keep the FT to make a extra move on next GW..
thx
fcsh – Sakho has a shoulder injury and has met with a specialist. I think the results from the tests will be released today. Right now he’s not likely to feature against Stoke. Wait and see what happens.
Alright Cordy…
just wait and see the result..
thanks
fcsh – Sakho will not feature in West Ham’s next game.
Cody
OMG…
how should i do? Can i change it? But 0.0 itb…
who would you recommend?
Or just let Boyd to the line up?
fcsh – Sakho -> Naismith/Eto’o. Do some searching to see if Eto’o will get game time this weekend. Ask other people on here. They might have way better options for you. I gotta go sleep now. Good luck with your decision fcsh!
Hey guys, come here and help fcsh out will you? Thanks. Good night.
Hai Cody
thanks for your recommend.,,,
will consider it Naismith and Eto’o….
just on me still didn’t have this confident with them against Swansea…
Do you think any Palace, Newcastle, Stoke player will make a Miracle in this week? Or Ulloa will be back to top again?
Hey fcsh your back 5 are ok no need to touch these @ present I would also leave the MF you could change Sakho for Berahino for a couple of games if he is out which I thk he is otherwise keep FT and leave team set as is & put Hutton as first sub Capnis much harder but I will toss a coin between Costa & Sanchez the later is a bit more favourable I thk Costa will start Sakho out for @ least a wk
Hai silver
i didnt have enough credit from Sakho To Berahino…i also wish for that…but can’t….
just in this moment what i can change is only below £5.7…