Captains Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 7

Captains Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 7 – Fantasy Premier League 2014/15

An ageing board of directors, a squad in decline, and a deep laceration – all situations that require fresh blood. Not so with the Captains Picks articles though, where Chins and Bellies, Bryan Munich and The Gallant Pioneer have been doing us all proud up until this point, so quite what I’m doing here remains to be seen; I suspect I’ve been drafted in to make them look even better by comparison.

Now, in all the furore of weekly transfers and unused wildcards being mulled over, the captain choice is very often overlooked until the last moment. How often do we see cries of panic on the boards and on twitter between 11.00 and 11.30 in the AM on a Saturday morning asking whether so and so has made the correct captain call? To stress the importance of captaining your top points-earner each GW, I use myself as an example: having totted it all up from the first six GWs, had I made the best choice out of the players I had each GW then I’d be 38 points better off and would be nestling nicely inside the top 10,000 (prior to the final game on Monday night) instead of languishing outside the top 200,000. So pick wisely! “Why should we listen to someone who has chosen so poorly?” I hear you ask. Well, because my first five choices were all Rooney, and due to his crazy antics at the weekend I can’t be recommending him to you, so buckle up and let’s get to it.

1. Robin van Persie – Everton at Home
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[/three_fourth]This flying Dutchman does not seem to be doomed to float around aimlessly without ever reaching a goal, having put away two in his last two games, and you have to feel he is just warming up. After being eased back in after a World Cup in which he played more games than most would have expected, van Persie hasn’t come close to his devastating best yet, but has still put himself in positions where he has had some very make-able chances. One would expect him to get sharper as the games go by, so we can probably look forward to (or dread) more clinical finishes from the ex-Gunner over the coming GWs. With Di Maria and the newly-generous Falcao both offering tasty supply lines, he could do some serious damage against the leakiest defence in the league so far.

Thankfully this is just the Captains Picks article, so I needn’t discuss the potential points rewards vs the high cost outlay here – that’s for you to decide in your own time! However, if you are among the low 2.1% that own him, with Rooney out this could be the perfect opportunity to make some big gains, and where better to start than captaining the game’s most expensive player? Where? “Costa!” you say? It was a rhetorical question! But very well, let’s move onto the big man next.

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2. Diego Costa – Arsenal at Home
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[/three_fourth]Potty and myself were musing before the season started as to whether the Brazilian/Spaniard/Whatever-suits-him-next would take after his uncle, the successful owner of Costa coffee, or his brother-in-law, the unfortunate owner of the Costa Concordia. I think we can all agree that blood is thicker than, er, water-turned-blood here!

What else is there to say about him? His seven goals were the best start to the first four games in the Premiership’s history, and he added an eighth last time out and was also unlucky to miss out on his first assist due to a technicality. Already at least 10 points clear of all other players in the FPL game, Costa is fast turning into this season’s Suarez – captain him at all costs or face the consequences. Up against an Arsenal side that had the second-meanest defence last season in terms of clean sheets, but are yet to find their groove this season amidst a plague of injuries, it would be no surprise to see big Diego bagging at least one goal here.

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3. Sergio Aguero – Aston Villa Away
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[/three_fourth]Most players would do all they could to prove their worth when handed a full 90 minutes, but Aguero here seems determined to cement his status as a super-sub, scoring all four of his goals in bit-part appearances while doing diddly squat in the two full games he played in. I jest of course. About the super-sub bit, not the four goals bit, which is mighty impressive for someone who is still clearly short of full fitness at this stage. While others have similarly impressive tallies thus far, with some of them you can’t help but wonder how much longer this will continue. Not so with Aguero; the only wondering to be done there is how much longer until his legs give out. You would be advised to make hay while his legs are still operational though… Scratch that, I mean captain him while the sun shines… I’m confused.

‘Tis a good time to be playing Villa too – after conceding just once in the opening four games they then let in three goals twice on the bounce. You can expect City and Aguero to be intent on seeing that trend continue.

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4. Raheem Sterling – West Brom at Home
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[/three_fourth]FPL players in Scotland need no longer worry after the No result in the recent referendum – you will still be able to use Sterling in your teams. Judging by the fact that he’s owned by half of all players (well, 49.9958%), it’s a safe bet that a good number of managers out there will be turning to him to hopefully bring in the big points this GW. Many were baffled at Rodger’s management recently, electing to rest him for most of the game against Villa (which they lost), but then play him for 120 minutes against lower-league opposition in the Carling Cup (that’s what I’m calling it; if you don’t like it just be glad I don’t still call it the Coca Cola Cup) soon afterwards. This led to speculation he’d be partly rested for the derby, but, true to his word, Rodgers gave him a full run-out, and this will have done much to allay fears over his starting position this weekend.

Looking like Liverpool’s main threat going forwards, the silky teenager has notched three goals and an assist already, and is their best prospect for captain with Sturridge unlikely to play and Mad Mario yet to find his form in the Premiership the second time around. West Brom will not go down easily though, with three clean sheets already this season including one away to Spurs.

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5. Angel Di Maria – Everton at Home
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[/three_fourth]Not since a certain armada’s ill-fated trip a few years back has there been such an invasion of England by Spanish forces as there has been in the Premiership recently by players who previously plied their trades in La Liga – Aguero, Silva, Cazorla, Ozil and Michu to name but a few. Unlike their predecessors though, this current crop are not left with that sinking feeling soon after arriving (well, apart from Bojan). Leading the charge this season are Costa, Sanchez, Herrera and this man, Angel Di Maria. Just six points off top spot in midfield, having only started in GW3, he has looked very lively in his games so far. Whether you think his shots are intended crosses, crosses are intended shots, or that he is actually that good that he intended them all (he is), the truth is that he is putting all sorts of balls into the box, and with RvP and Falcao to aim at he could easily hit double figures in assists alone. If he continues to bag the occasional goal too then all the better.

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Best of the Rest:

Ulloa – CS merchants they may be, but opponents Burnley are looking like they already bought their Championship return ticket in advance to save cash. Leicester seemingly bought no such ticket, and will be looking to consolidate their solid start by beating last season’s closest rivals, and Argentine acquisition (he’s half Welsh, you know) Ulloa is their best bet to be among the goals with five to his name already.

Pelle – Four in four with an assist to boot, the former Feyenoord man is hitting his stride. Away to Spurs, otherwise would have featured higher up.

Falcao – I know, I know, how many Man United options do I want to tip here? But with such mouth-watering options can you blame me? Falcao would have expected to have made a stronger start to Premiership life, but has at least apparently added assists to his repertoire now. Now if he can just find that first goal he could be set to explode.

Dzeko – Another forward that would have hoped to have made a better start, Dzeko would have been most pleased with his brace at the weekend. He’ll be eager to add to it before Jovetic comes back to push him to the sidelines once more.

Lukaku – Who can forget his hat-trick against United on Fergie’s last day in charge? The hot-and-cold striker absolutely has the ability to hurt the big teams, and this ‘big team’ has been woeful in defence so far. He could punish HGV’s team.

Sakho – The Hammers’ forward that is! You’ll never see me recommend a defender for captain… Two goals and an assist in his last three, and facing an unimpressive QPR side at home.

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Thanks for reading Captains Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 7. This article was written by Calvin Clyne

Follow @AharpyBoy86

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The FBA Awards
You may have noticed a new banner on the right hand side of the site. We have been entered into the Football Blogging Awards in the category of ‘Best New Football Blog’. This is quite a prestigious annual event and we have to say we would love to win it! If you get the chance we would appreciate it if you would vote for us via the links. But that’s only if you agree!

Our friends over at Fantasy Football First are endorsing our bid in the ‘Best New Football Blog’ category and as such we encourage you to vote for them in the ‘Best Established FPL Football Blog’ category. We have, but again that’s up to you! To vote for Fantasy Football First simply copy and paste the following into a tweet and send it –

I’m voting in @TheFBAs for @fanfootfirst as the Best #FPL Football Blog

Thanks on both counts if you do.

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