Captains Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 27 – Fantasy Premier League 2014/15
Hello friends and welcome to your Captains Article for GW27. Now this article relates to the original fantasy football EPL game. You remember that one? We used to love this in the days before we were distracted by the UEFA Champions League and Europa League fantasy games, all those substitutions and captaincy changes strewn over the course of nine days for the former or four hours in the case of the latter. MLS fantasy is starting back up which a lot of us enjoy greatly – only the Americans can come up with a game where price changes are based upon your performance in one game, providing you play 45 minutes at least of course, such as is their fascination with fast-paced gaming and basically being a bit different! Apparently now cricket too has been getting big licks with the fantasy brush. So I’ve heard. Let’s be honest, can you really take a sport seriously where Scotland qualify for the World Cup? Anyway back to the real fantasy.
The flipside of the forthcoming doubler in GW28 is that GW27 contains a measly eight matches to rummage around in and pick you out some captaincy choices.
There’s no Chelsea, no Eriksen or Kane either due to the Rumbelow’s Cup Final, so there goes around 50% of the choices. Also, the four teams who play on Sunday will be coming off the back of European matches (Liverpool far-travelled too) and the threat of rotation/injuries/fatigue means a captain from any of these teams could be seen as some form of risk. This’ll be fun!
The Fixtures
West Ham United v Crystal Palace
Burnley v Swansea
Manchester United v Sunderland
Newcastle United v Aston Villa
Stoke City v Hull City
West Bromwich Albion v Southampton
Liverpool v Manchester City
Arsenal v Everton
The contenders:
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[/three_fourth]Diafra Sakho – The Senegalese has, in his debut season, which has been interrupted twice by injury, registered a better than one goal in every two games average. Impressive stuff. He scored last time out against Tottenham and impressed this writer with a very good all-round performance in the Manchester United match. With Andy Carroll again injured and Carlton Cole limping out of the Tottenham match, the quest for goals will rest with Sakho and Enner Valencia but it is the striker with eight league goals as opposed to Valencia’s three, that forms the selection. The Irons play Crystal Palace who have only kept one clean sheet in six.
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[/three_fourth]Danny Ings – The Burnley forward broke through the 100 point mark with his goal at Old Trafford last week, his ninth of the season. A bit of a lad for the bonus points as well, he has 14, the England Under-21 striker could get to double figures in this week’s home game versus in-and-out Swansea. He is aided and abetted by street–fighter Ashley Barnes in a traditional front two and, with respect, Ings has the ability to move on to greater things than Burnley but whilst he is there, he will surely continue to find the net for the Lancashire side. He has an ownership of just 7.2% and can be picked up for less than £6.0M. Will anyone be brave enough to pass him the armband?
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[/three_fourth]Angel di Maria – The United winger / striker / No.10 / midfielder / wing-back (does anyone know where anyone plays at Old Trafford these days?) has three assists in his last two games and is second overall on the assist table to Fabregas of Chelsea (no shame there I suppose). United face Sunderland and this game could go one of two ways – it’s going to be a tight 0-0 or 1-1 (Sunderland are notoriously tight when they want to be) or the Red Devils will score early, add early and cruise it. If it is the latter then surely ADM is going to be involved. On paper, this is the most attractive match for captaincy and whilst Robin van Persie, if fit, may have his supporters, it could be another time for ADM’s 15.1% of owners to put their faith in the former Real Madrid man. Although, a word of caution, he has not scored since GW7. Assists and bonus points (he has amassed 10) could be your hope here.
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[/three_fourth]Sadio Mane – Before he was so rudely called away on Africa Cup of Nations duty, (Koeman should have followed Big Sam’s lead with Sakho by writing a ‘please excuse’ note), the attacker from Senegal scored in three straight games for the Saints. He came back from the ACON and scored the winner against QPR which was his sixth goal of the season. Captaining him is a risk as he was dropped to the bench for the Liverpool match (for being late to the ground – Koeman later confirmed he was due to start the game) but with Tadic, Elia and Djuricic seeing their share of rotation and Pelle sadly going through of ‘those’ spells in front of goal, Mane is probably Koeman’s best bet to try to get Southampton back on track at West Brom.
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[/three_fourth]Sergio Aguero – When it comes to Sunday’s double clash of the Euro Titans (?!), then a watching brief of the preceding continental match-ups is advised. There are many names who could in theory have your armband – Sturridge, Aguero, Silva, Alexis, Cazorla, Walcott, Ozil, Giroud – but it’s who plays first in Europe and who is rested and raring to go for the weekend that matters here. It’s so hard to call but if I was to call one, then it would have to be Aguero who I expect will at least start each of City’s remaining games this season if fit. And he has proved countless times in the past that there are no tricky games when he and City are at the peak of their powers.
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Traffic Signals:
RED: (Take a punt): Diafra Sakho
AMBER (Proceed with caution): Angel di Maria
GREEN: (If you have him, armband him): Sergio Aguero
Final thought:
This week is going to be a very tricky one to call based on the missing teams, teams with commitments elsewhere and some evenly matched fixtures.
Putting a positive spin on it, you could however, with the right captain, make giant strides this week. Why don’t you put the armband on an outsider if you are chasing a mini-league? With no Chelsea about the place, the possibility of Liverpool and City cancelling each other out and Arsenal facing a potentially tricky one, this could be the ideal week to twist.
Just be sure to let me know who to go for!
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Thanks for reading Captain’s Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 27. This article was written by The Gallant Pioneer
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WooFBet
We would like to remind you that our official partners, WooFBet, are again running a whole host of prize competitions, which will please many of you who are slowly building a lovely retirement nest egg, while others continue to persevere in the hope that this week will be their week! If you haven’t done so yet we recommend you get yourselves over to WooFBet.com as this week they have over €500 in free entry prizes and a whopping €4500 in guaranteed pots. You also have the option to create your own tournaments and head-to-head challenges. Choose your rules and buy-in fee, and invite friends or leave it open for the public to challenge you.
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Don’t forget to vote on our Captains Poll
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Raziel and photek,
Sometimes I wonder at the genius of the FL judges. They gave Danny Rose 3 bps for a fluke goal, after he stood there, begging for offside, with Sakho coming in behind him (onside) to score the Whammers second. Rose is a defensive disaster, and they pay no attention.
Its true, I’m still scratching my head that ADM got 3 bps for an assist in a team that lost 2-1!
Maybe the judges were high last week
hi everyone, i hope you are doing well!
GP, good article!
except for suggesting Di Maria… I’m going to captain him that means 4 points at maximum
dawids
:thumbup:
Please advise on this dilemma.
For GW 27, with 1FT and .2 ITB, do I:
1. Replace Wasilewski with Haidara/Bruce?
OR
2. Replace ADM with the juicy looking Silva?
Wasilewski -> Haidara, for me. That way you can field 11 this week. Silva can wait one more week. Just 😉
1st one for me,
Man u have a decent home fixture over Man City’s trip to Anfield, bring in Silva next week and keep him
Thanks guys. I’ve been playing a different game this year, and not acting as impulsively. These two voices of reason make a lot of sense.
The only thing is that with 0.2 ITB I can switch Was to Haidara now, but then won’t have enough for Caz to Eriksen next week (or if Silva goes up again, ADM to him).
Tough decisions.
Hmm, pretty tight budget. I suppose you could go with Bruce then and keep the 0.2m to cover any rises. As a one week swoop i prefer Haidara but if that’s just going to cause a headache then maybe look to Bruce. Either way, watch the price change like a hawk so you’re on top of it.
Thank NIN. Promise to watch hawk-like.
Need some opinions. I would not be able to field 11 players this week. 10 players and already took a hit. Team looks like-
Forster,(Hamer)
PVA,Hutton,Naughton,(Wasilewski,Terry)
Sanchez,Cazorla,ADM,Boyd,(Hazard)
Aguero,Giroud,(Kane)
Is it worth another hit to take out Wasilewski? Only 0.1m left in the bank and there are not many playing options left. Plus PVA’s also a liability. Oh !! I am in such a mess !!
Monty
I’d bite the bullet and play 10 mate.
Not much about that’s worth it for another hit.
Feeling really gutted to take the hit on WIsdom this time. Specially on such a GW where everything can go down the hill. Wasilewski to only Haidara seems to be my only option on the hit. Not looking too great. I guess GP,that’s sound advice. Or should I get Hazard out to Silva and buy him back later. Not sure whether I will be capable of affording him if I do so. I guess sit tight and wait seems to be my option. Cazorla to Eriksen next week. Seems sound enough? Or ADM to Eriksen? Ohhh !! There are so much problems with the team !!
Hi Monty. I cant think of any Wasilewski replacement that would be worth a -4. Only possible worthwhile hit might be Hazard/Kane out but i would probably just bench those as it just adds up the transfers for future weeks. I would roll with 10 men and see what comes of it.
That seems sound NIN. I would do that I guess.
Afternoon all. Any MLS’ers around? Thoughts on this appreciated….
Afternoon Init,
Did you find it a struggle to get a balance? I did.
Like a lot of your picks there. Kane will have international duty at the end of March bit nothing that you couldn’t some with a temporary sideways move I guess. Zardes is in my team from LA.
Think the balance of your playing midfield is just about right. I thought it was so hard to get that. I’ve done Morales, Shipp and Pontius too.
Did you see that Sky have picked up the UK coverage this time around?
Hi GP, yes a little. There are about 4x 11m odd mids in there that all look so tempting but getting that balance is key. I’ve got a fair bit tied up in the fwds that can be easily downgraded but hard to ignore BWP and Keane I guess while Villa is a bit of a punt until we see whether his team are up to providing him with the service. The difficult bit is finding the value players who actually start and that’s the gap in our knowledge really (well defo mine anyway).
Init
My lot. I let go of Pontius on my latest draft to get in Giovinco.
Kane was ‘Keane’ obviously in my first response.
Have you got less money than me? 😉 Or did I just ignore the actual budget bit :oogle: How many of that bench lot play? I’ve pretty much loaded mine with 4m players who I never intend to play. Right approach or do you actually look at a lot of rotation? Think I went my method last season and did ok with it but should I be looking at a better bench?
Init,
I’ve spent my lot.
Lefevre, Cochrane, Francis usually play (going by last season anyway). Deric I read will be No. 1. at Dynamo (fingers crossed on that one).
Bedell, Rodriguez and Peay make up the numbers and are only there until I find out who will be playing at 4.0M (if anyone).
Your bench fillers are a shot in the dark.
Init
When I say “your” I mean “our” not particularly your ones. Hope this clarifies what I meant mate.
Clark, Palmer and Zimmermann are fairly regular I think.
I notice we have two the same anyway so there ya go.
init – I see a few issues here mate. As you know, i’ve been doing my team for about a week now and have been eyeing fixtures for weeks, so, this is what i think, for what it’s worth (not a lot, perhaps)
1. DC United BGW2 – I’m likely starting with Silva myself, but he will be sold in week2. It might be a bit of a stretch to take two DC players from the off. I see you’ve got backup for Hamid, but that is a lot spent on GK’s, especially with the tight budget we have. (Ousted has no BGW’s until 15, + has 2 DGW’s)
2. Gargan – At the very least, keep an eye/ear open for this one. I asked about him on MLSBoss and was told his spot was in jeopardy.
3. Hagglund – Fixtures are so tough that i am staying well clear of Toronto. 7 away games and two bye-weeks in the first 9, plus no DGW’s until 17. Really bad for them. Also may have rotation worries.
4. Serna – I’m not too sure about this guy. He’s one to inquire about as he was quite popular last season but i have heard no mention of him this season. Not once.
5. BWP – No issues with game time here, but personally i’m staying away until i see how they do post Thierry Henry. He was the glue that held them together last season, a lot of the time.
A lot of managers seem to be going with the ‘Big 11’ route and no playing subs. I’m going that route myself as i just cant seem to get the cover i want + have backup. Sorry if seems like i always have a go at you FF teams!!
It’s just i have looked into a lot of these players and found issues with them :thumbup:
Thanks NIN, that’s fantastic. I’ll turn that into a novel and read it later 😉 Seriously though, great stuff, that’s what I needed info wise. I’ll have a mess around with them later.
No worries. I’ve emailed you the schedule from MLSBoss. I’ll post it here too for those who haven’t got the time to go through their site. Save it for safe keeping’s or what not :thumbup:
http://i.imgur.com/S67urao.png
Oh – Lower case fixtures are away games, CAPS are home games :thumbup:
Cheers NIN. Not ventured on there yet but read Reids piece on the official site. Not had much time to prep yet.
NIN
That’s brilliant information mate, thank you.
I’m aware of TFC and there away matches but I’m going in to the Giovinco transfer at least with eyes wide open. I think he could well be gold. Hagglund is the best I can find (from last season, at that price).
I was investigating Ousted myself before I went Harvey. Harvey has very good stats from last season. May still re-visit the double Vancouver.
I dropped Gargan from my first draft for that very reason.
no i know how all you felt when we were talking cricket
Cookie,
That is fair comment mate. Not fancy it even for one season?
Agreed Cookie
Kop,
You in pard’ner ?
Yeah, i did last season GP. To be honest i rarely get to see any UK or European footy, so i certainly won’t be watching any MLS and can’t get into a fantasy game of something which i know little about.
Seems very popular though, which is great and i guess with Lampard and Gerrard there his season, the popularity should only rise.
We’ll be doing Fantasy Indian footy next !!
GP, my interest in playing MLS is matched by your interest in cricket 😉
No worries GP. I’ll post ant little tit-bits i come across :thumbup:
I think Giovinco could be a serious beast too, but i’m really not sure about that schedule. Around mid-season-ish i’ll be buying him i think. A little before maybe.
More importantly NIN, which Afghan should i bring in tonight please?
Cookie,
I’ll answer this one . . ..
you may as well, i’m bottom of Potty’s league!!
S Zadran looked to be the pick of the bowling bunch against Sri Lanka Cookie, I might double up with Hasid Hassan or take a shot with a Scottish bowler (Wardlaw) to spread my bets, don’t fancy any batter from either side but more than likely someone will knock up a ton, picking which one would be a lucky dip.
@init my MLS knowledge is pretty poor but I do know that expansion teams are normally poor so I’d probably steer clear of having Villa as one of my expensive forwards until Orlando show some form.
Cookie – The guy with the beard. You know the one 😉
Thanks lads, so basically i need to get Zadran or Hassan, as long as they haven’t shaved when i see them later?
@NiN, I have already tipped Giovinco in our whatsapp chat, so don’t even try and take the glory from me with that one. 😉
What can be done with this shitty lot?
Foster Pantilimon
Wasilewski Baird Dawson Terry Gardos
Cazorla Ward-Prowse Di María Sánchez Hazard
Agüero Sakho Kane
bank 0.1m
FT 1
U guys reckon taking a hit this GW worth it?
On a positive note I’ve still got my Season long wildcard left to be used
You’ve got a better lot than mine my friend. You can already field 11 this week I guess. SO there’s no problem in that. Maybe ADM to Silva? But I reckon saving the free transfer would come in handy for the upcoming DGW. Best of luck !! And that’s not a “shitty lot” my friend.
Thanks mate for replying.
As far as I see, I can field only 9 players cause Gardos and Baird are out of favour.
What about swapping Gardos to Naughton?
Nice suggestion mate. For this week it would solve the problem but then next two GWs they have spurs and pool where i dont see them keeping a cs