Captains Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 9 – Fantasy Premier League 2014/15
So there I was. A sunny Friday in the spring of 1996. Saffron Walden County High School playing fields. Lunchtime. A slight figure of a 16 year old, desperately needing to finish the week with a win. It was my turn to be captain, and I’d won the toss to pick first.
I surveyed the crop of young men standing in front of me. Who would be first into my team? Who could ensure my bragging rights through free period after lunch, through double Geography and – if my fake ID held up to scrutiny – through a Friday night’s drinking in the White Horse? Decisions just didn’t get bigger than this.
Stuart was the obvious choice, but as I looked at him, something just didn’t look right. I knew the problem couldn’t be me. I was a fine captain. My lack of stature meant all of my players could always play wherever the hell they wanted. In fact some of my finest moments had come from playing the lone GK/defender role, gladly supporting my team as the 10 bigger players shared the 10 striker positions. No, it was something else. “What’s the matter Stu-pot (cos I was captain I could use nicknames that I had not earned the right to use)?”, I asked. “Litter duty” was the reply. “I can only play 15 mins, then I’ve got to pick up litter with the deputy head for getting caught smoking”. Wow, I thought. That’s a blow. Now don’t get me wrong, even 15 mins of an on-form Stu could have the game won. But it was a risk.
“What about you Dave?”, I asked. Flexing my managerial muscles as I dismissed Stu without a second thought. “Yeah, I’m good for the full 40 mins” replied Dave. There was a ‘but’ coming. I knew it. “But…” I was right. “But, I’ve forgotten my trainers so will have to play in my slip ons”. Panic started to set in. “But they’ll give you no purchase on the slippery turf Dave!”. This wasn’t going well.
I could see that my natural 3rd and 4th choices Nick and Rob were distracted by the group of year 10 girls sitting on the side lines. They’d be no use. People were looking at me. I had to make a decision. Lunchtime was 5 minutes old and we hadn’t even picked teams!
And then, just as I could feel that first bead of anxious sweat trickle down the side of my ribcage, from the back of the crowd stepped forward a face that was new to me. “Who are you?!” I demanded. “I’m the new exchange student” was the nervous reply. “But you’re wearing proper football boots!” I exclaimed. “And, wait… Yes! They’re Puma Kings!”. The excitement started to build. “What’s your name?” I enquired. My tone starting to soften. “Diego Pele” was the reply.
“I PICK HIM!”
And so onto this week’s Captains picks, where we also find our apparent cast of plenty, dwindling away before our very eyes. Costa is a doubt, Man Utd and Liverpool might as well be playing in slip-on shoes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Aguero somehow picks up litter duty between now and the weekend.
Let’s have a proper look see, in no particular order…
Diego Costa. Chelsea. Away vs Man Utd.
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[/three_fourth]Captain him by all means. But for the love of Jose, please give proper thought to who gets the Vice Captaincy. Not many things worse than your captain not playing. One thing might be however, realizing that you left the VC armband on the same guy as last week. You know the guy. The one that’s now injured too!
There’s not much to say about Costa that you don’t already know, so I won’t bore you with stats. If Jose shows his hand in the Friday press conference, and it’s good news, he can have the armband. Man Utd’s defence has been generous to strikers this season, and long gone are the days where Jose parks the bus against Utd. This could get messy.
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Danny Welbeck. Arsenal. Away vs Sunderland.
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[/three_fourth]He didn’t manage another hat-trick, but he did at least keep his scoring run going against Hull in Arsenals 2-2 draw on the weekend. A goal that meant a lot for both club and player alike. It means Arsenal go into this weekend’s game against a demoralised Sunderland with something to prove after a disappointing performance against Hull, but not as downbeat as they might’ve been had Welbeck not grabbed that 90th minute equalizer. Sunderland themselves will have something to prove, but who knows how many changes Poyet will make after the 8-0 thrashing last time out. Arsenal have a good record against Sunderland too. Comfortable 3-1 and 4-1 wins last season.
With Arsenals attacking options and a possible Walcott return, Welbs should get plenty of chances. He’s averaging 3.6 shots per game (4th highest in the Prem), and we’d expect him to shoot above that average this weekend.
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Graziano Pelle. Southampton. Home vs Stoke.
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[/three_fourth]Pelle has taken the 3rd highest number of shots per game (4) out of all Premier League players. He scored 2 goals, got an assist and 2 bps last time out, and has scored 5 in his last 3 home games. Another tasty home tie coming up against a Stoke side that lost their last away game to… wait for it…Sunderland! Stoke lost, to Sunderland! That same team that just lost 8-0 to Pelle’s Southampton! Wait, that stat wasn’t even that exciting! Why am I using so many exclamation marks?!
Anyway. He’s got to be a safe bet for good points this week. He comes without any injury risk (at time of writing), and is playing for one of the form teams in the league.
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Sergio Aguero. Man City. Away vs West Ham.
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[/three_fourth]He scored how many? And still had time to miss a penalty. Aguero is the games top points’ earner with a whopping 56. He has accumulated 9 bonus points so far this season, and has scored a goal to go with each of them. No assists yet, but nobody’s perfect.
He is second highest in… [digs out favorite new stat list] number of shots per game with 4.5. Although he may as well be top, as top spot officially goes to Balotelli. Do shots stats count if you never actually score?
Aguero also bagged two of City’s three goals in a 3-1 win last time these sides met. He’ll be in the top three most popular captain choices this week, even if Costa returns.
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Other possibles…
Fabregas, Hazard & Oscar. Fab has the headlines so far this season but Hazard tends to do well against the big teams. Oscar is more of a game time risk but Jose loved him last season and he plays further forward than Fab, and more central than Hazard. Any or all of these 3 could turn in a decent points haul this weekend.
Leighton Baines. A nice fixture against a winless Burnley side that have just shipped three goals against West Ham. Just off the back of a clean sheet, 2 assists and some bonus points. If you’re ever going to risk it on a defender, now might be that time.
Dusan Tadic. It couldn’t happen again. Could it?
Gabriel Obertan. Because sometimes, you just have to finish with a joke.
Good luck this week everybody. I’ll be placing my trust in that man Aguero.
Thanks for reading Captains Picks Fantasy Football Gameweek 9. This article was written by chins and bellies
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Can anyone help!? Can’t seem to come up with an option that doesn’t suck! Trying to get Tadic in and would like to hold on to Costa even though he may not play this weekend. Open to -4 or -8.
DDG, Krul
Terry, Clyne, Wilson, Duff, Chester
ADM, Sterling, Siggy, Downing, Barton
Aguero, Costa, Ulloa
Sorry, 1 FT and 0.8 itb.
Colriles,
You either straight swap Sterling for Tadic or
Terry and Downing out for Tadic and Hutton or Moore.
If you wish to hold on to Costa.
Cheers GP. If Costa doesn’t play then I’d be forced into a 3-5-2 or 4-4-2. How about DDG > Myhill, Ulloa > Naismith and Barton > Tadic for a -8?
Colriles
I’m sure Costa will play mate.
Myhill isn’t first choice and may be back out sooner than later, don’t like those moves and moreso for -8.
IF Costa doesn’t play, then bite the bullet and play your 3-5-2 or 4-4-2, nothing wrong with that for a week.
Hey gang, everybody ready for some CL matches?? I’m hoping Liverpool can up their game and don’t get spanked by Madrid, ha! So I have a quick question for you if anyone is around. My WC is active and with all the possible injuries going around (Costa, ADM, and potentially Aguero at any point in time) I’m trying to think outside the box a bit and set myself up with a strong team even if one of my heavy hitters can’t play.
Current team:
Foster Myhill
Clyne Dummet Duff Hutton Baines
ADM Fabregas Tadic Siggy Obertan
Costa Aguero Pelle
Potential team to handle injuries going forward:
Foster Myhill
Alderweireld Dummet Duff Hutton Baines
ADM Fabregas Tadic Siggy Hazard
Sakho Aguero Pelle
I’d drop Costa for Sakho and upgrade Obertan to Hazard. Clyne gets switched to Alderweireld and I keep my Southampton defensive cover. I’d generally bench Sakho and play a 3-5-2, but if ADM didn’t play, Sakho comes in and I go 3-4-3. If Aguero is out for a game, Sakho comes in and I keep it 3-5-2. Is it crazy to think of dropping Costa at this point? I feel like trading an on again/off again inured Costa and Obertan for Hazard and Sakho makes me stronger all around and better able to deal with injuries. Might leave a few points on the bench from time to time, but I won’t be decimated if someone can’t play. Any thoughts?
Evening Red not sure I would have Fab & Haz in same team maybe Dorrans or Diame would be useful as a 5th MF GK & Def good I would prefer Berahino over Sakco but would need to Chk fixtures would be a risk not having Costa but only the same as me not having Kun going with a lesser MF will leave you cash in bank if you need Costa back by changing him with Pelle
Thanks Silverback, I appreciate it. Lots to think about, just trying to position myself to handle injuries as there will be many weeks when your first sub needs to play. Had Costa since day 1 but there are lots of other players scoring points, and with 63% ownership it doesn’t help you move up the rankings all that much even when he does well.
I’ll keep working on it!
Red
Very similar front eight to me. I too have Fab and Hazard and think that allows me to go it without Costa to be honest. I have Aguero, Pelle and Welbeck but Sakho is my first choice for Welbeck if I need an out move.
Not very fond of the WBA GKS as your only option in goal mate but apart from that, very strong.
Thanks Gallant. To be honest, I’m not to fond of my keepers either, ha! But I needed a 4.5 and a 4.0 backup to afford everything else and my choices were limited. There haven’t been a ton of clean sheets so far anyway, so I’ve decided to go cheap on the keepers.
I think with injuries bound to come up as the season stretches on, having a stronger bench will be crucial.
Evening all,
Thinking of doing duff to alcaraz, good short term move?
Also this is my team barring any injuries or recoveries i.e Costa
What do you think?
Mitro,
I think that is a decent move if you don’t have any other pressing concerns.
I’m not saying for whom, but I’d definitely be playing Costa. Certainty to play against Man Utd in my eyes.
Do want to sort my defence out, but I can live with it for another week or so. Going to give siggy his last performance against leicester then he his gone!!
Do you think Costa will be fit? I know Mourinho will keep everyone in the dark, if ADM is out then I can put him in for him if not it will be between fab or sterling
Which keeper would you rather play this coming GW? I know both aren’t great choices and honestly i’m expecting 2 pts from either.
DeGea (CHE at home)
Krul (TOT away)
I’d go Krul mate. Both teams have leaky defences but the biggest difference i see is Chelsea are goal machines and spurs are just not in that league. 4 nil v QPR aside the goals aren’t flowing, failed to score against West Brom at home…
With DDG you beat bet is another pen save but that ain’t as likely as an unconvincing spurs performance imo
+1
Eagle,
Probably Krul mate.
Thanks GP. Krul it is.
Pool doing better than expected, Real is looking to counter though.
And shite Sterling looks good. Goal captain Ronaldo as I speak.
Balo making crazy gestures to Sterling again. Pathetic.
Can’t see game as travelling. Someone said something about Sterling playing as a second striker tonight….? Can you corroborate Raz? Planning to drop him for Walcott but am just not sure is wise
Pool was looking decent first few minutes but is being picked apart now.
Sterling looks very good. If I didn’t know any better I’d think he’s fine. What happens in that body I can’t tell though. Dangerous game the managers are playing with the young kid.
Looks like Real is set in a different gear now. 2-0 Real.
Looking grim for the Pool
Subtop England is no match for the top of England. 3-0 Real now.
very grim Silver