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)
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/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.
[divider_1px]
4. Alexis Sanchez (Burnley, H)
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/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.
[divider_1px]
3. Romelu Lukaku (Swansea, H)
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/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.
[divider_1px]
2. Sergio Aguero (Man Utd, H)
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/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.
[divider_1px]
1. Eden Hazard (QPR, H)
[three_fourth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fourth]
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.
[divider_1px]
Thanks for reading Captain’s Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 10. This article was written by Bryan Munich
[divider_1px]
Please Vote – Fantasy Football Blog Awards
Fantasy Football 247 is delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted as a finalist for the Best FPL Football Blog award (FBA). The finals take place on November 13th at the National Football Museum in Manchester. This is an immense achievement for us, bearing in mind we only went live in November of 2013 and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the team at FF247 for all their hard work, given freely and in their own time, for making the site what it is today.
[clear]
[clear]
Don’t forget to vote on our Captains Poll
[polldaddy poll=8266493]
Here is the full @banterburyH2H Help For Heroes Cup 3rd Round Draw, Ties to be played Game-week 10 http://t.co/7ediUIsrwW
transfers done. a -4 hit this week, but hopefully it pays off.
here:s the final team. please RMT
:beer:
Looks good and should pick up some good points.
Would anybody else be insane enough to do an 8 point hit to get Costa and Sanchez in or would you just do a 4 point hit to get one of the two in?
Not until i’ve heard conformation of Costa being fully fit.
I would avoid an -8 hit personally, if it was a double GW then maybe but not just because they both have decent fixtures.
Uncertain if I want Costa at all. Can directly swap him with Falcao. Waiting on Friday press conference first.
How shall i change this (willing to take an 8 point hit)
Is bringing in Hazard for Silva/Sterling worth a four point hit? (no Chelsea coverage and already have Aguero for City coverage)
Silva out first. Sterling can do things on his own and will keep scoring points. At least this week against Newcastle, next week I don’t know. Silva is bad for fantasy points and I don’t thimk he’ll get to play as a #10.
Thinking the same, cheers Cody!
Sterling out way before Silva for me. Liverpool are really struggling at the minute and hit some tricky fixtures soon.
I also disagree about Silva not being good for points. He averages around 150 points a season. And has already grabbed 40 points so far.
Ant, can only get a defender worth 4,5 for Sterling because I bottled that transfer last night! haha
Do you think he is the one to go? Would have no Pool coverage and doubled up City attack still.
I made the switch to get rid of Sterling for Silva last night. Might be a bad move but Pool loom average of late and Sterling is their only threat and easy to mark out of the game. If Sturridge was playing he would have more space to create and score. I’m hoping Silva’s second half against W Ham will get him a #10 position this week and then they have better fixtures. All just speculation though
SAF, I could have done Moreno to Chambers/Dawson last night and had the funds for Hazard but I bottled it with him playing Newcastle.
Now I can only afford a £4.5m defender so who would you suggest? Wisdom/Hutton? (Already have Moore)
Afternoon fellas,
2FT and £1.3 in the bank. Was thinking Sterling -> Hazard (c) this week but the head to head stats in Chelsea vs QPR games do not go in favour of goals.
I’m looking at making ‘point scoring’ transfers at the moment, I know the team needs tinkering but i can hold off on this until i use my WC. I don’t want Aguero or Sanchez. Any suggestions?
It doesn’t need much tinkering Mr Bean that team looks great for this week and should do really well.
inittowinit,
So you suggest I leave the starting XI alone. I need to use 1 of the FT so Pieters -> somebody i guess is your suggestion?
That’s a lot of words you just put in my mouth and my lips never moved! 😉
I’d actually keep Pieters and ship out Taylor. It’s a bit of a moot point give that you will likely want to be starting the current 3 for the next 3 weeks anyway given the respective fixtures of Southampton, Everton and Arsenal? Maybe in GW12 Pieters could be handy as Arsenal have Utd whereas Stoke have Burnley.
With the sigurdsson doubt & tough fixtures ahead for Swansea, maybe have tadic/mane instead of Davies from SOU?
ABCDE,
There’s a few reasons i don’t like that suggestion:
– It would take 2 transfers to make that move, and Siggy is going to get points in those 3 games (Man United GW1 hurt a lot of people).
– I haven’t decided on 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 so unsure whether i will be upgrading or downgrading Davis
– Personal opinion, Tadic and Mane are unreliable bandwagons and i don’t have my eye on either (as of yet)
Well I am surely keeping an eye out for them n with SOU current from hoping they don’t be the unreliables 😉
In a similar situation with Cork n trying to figure out they best way to go.
Great going in the league btw!
Any word on Sakho?
Latest tweet from Ben Dinnery (physio room) suggests he’s out this week but may be ok for GW11 –
@BenDinnery: See how #Sakho responds to treatment over the next 5-7 days for his availability in GW11
just dropped him for Berahino