Captains Picks Game-week 36 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League

A short time ago in an FPL galaxy very close by… there was a 3 day period of great doubt. Different captaincy options started to appear, threatening to break the stranglehold that the Dark side had over our minds. Could it be possible that a brave bunch of rebel managers would dare take on the Galactic Empire? Perhaps seeing an opportunity to break free from the chains that bound them a la Leia to Jabba, many would now seek to challenge authority sensing vulnerability. While the lord of the Siths, Darth Suarez has to deal with the Chelsea defence; we see his apprentice, Darth Kun (Sith rule of Two, obviously) take on Pulis and his Palace side. Is it time for Wayne Skywalker or even Yoda Mata to step up? Or is there another option like Obi-Wan Ramsey that can help blow up the Death Star? Without further ado let’s get to our captaincy options and see in which pile of dead Padawans you will be left lying in, if you get it wrong.

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Luis Suarez
Easily the most captained player in game-week 35 will now see a great deal of managers turn their back on him. This is not based on anything he has done, for he has remained consistent, even if not as explosive. His goal this past weekend meant that he had delivered at least a goal or an assist in his last 9 games. Chelsea is the reason many will be scared to give him the armband. CFC has shown a capacity to come up with a game plan in big games and their manager will look to frustrate him at every opportunity. A glance through the Uruguayan’s last 3 vs Chelsea shows that he has not been completely bottled up. So don’t be so quick to dismiss his chances; he has 2 goals & 2 assist in his last 3 vs them and a minor snack courtesy of a Serbian. In this same fixture last season he was able to score and set up Sturridge for a goal. Liverpool has won 11 in a row in the EPL and has managed 3.45 goals per game during that streak. So although it is the best defensive side, Luis is still capable of doing very well.

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Wayne Rooney
A very interesting option for this game-week is this gorgeous English International. Rooney has produced three double-digit games in his last six starts and those helped him make it 9 in 26. On top of whatever Wayne might be able to do; one must factor in the Norwich bump. Any decent FPL player, who faces them, in particular when the Canaries are away, should see an uptick in their total score. Norwich City is the worst team in EPL on their travels, managing only 8 points out of 51 possible. Adding to their woes they have conceded 40 goals in those encounters, which is second worst. This is not a case of the stats being padded earlier in the season to make them look worse now. Over the last 8 games they are dead last in points earned and have took in 17 goals in said fixtures. While there is some mystery surrounding how Rooney will be used, now that the “ Chosen One” has been shown the door, me thinks that Giggs will deploy him in a fantasy advantageous way. Rooney did not partake in their first meeting this season.

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Aaron Ramsey
Finally the Welsh saviour has made it back and did he ever make a splash in his first start. Scoring a cool 16 points with a goal and 2 assists he acted like he never left us. When Ramsey went down with an injury back on December 26, Arsenal sat in first place. Luckily for him though, coming back to see his team to 4^th place is something he has experience of during this time of the season. Aaron had 5 double-digit games in a 10 week span earlier in the season before he started to wear down and eventually got injured. He now looks very refreshed and it would not be surprising to see him finish as strong as he started. In his last fixture versus Hull City he had 4 shot attempts which were more than anyone on his team. He looked a constant threat and was a bit unlucky to not add another one late in the second half. Ramsey did not partake in their first meeting vs Newcastle earlier this season.

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Sergio Aguero
With 63 minutes in his last start it would appear that Aguero is closer to the match fitness we all crave. I would expect Pelligrini to slowly add to the workload as he sees the stamina of his Argentinean star improving. There was a marked difference in the City attack when Kun was substituted vs the Baggies in his last fixture. He is really missed when not on the pitch and no other striker they have can fill his void. This is something that should be very noticeable to Pelligrini himself. Sergio has either scored or assisted in 15 of his 20 appearances this season. This is actually an incredible number when you take into account that he played less than 70 minutes in half those games and 50 or less in 5. His ability to produce will be tested though, as he takes on the Tony Pulis led side. Crystal Palace has five wins on the run with 4 clean sheets and only 2 goals allowed in those games. To expand on how good defensively they have been, consider that Palace has not allowed more than 2 goals since December. Sounds pretty strong for a team who were picked by many to go straight back to the Championship. Nevertheless one must still think of Kun as a big threat this weekend. City’s absolute destruction of many a side still has to make you wary of the possibilities.

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Juan Mata
Jose didn’t want him and David didn’t know how to use him. It has been a long time coming for Mata to make an appearance in a captaincy article. I am very sure we have never featured him and if any of our writers ever did, they deserve their fingers cut off. Hoping that Giggs understands where Juan is his most dangerous at, I am choosing to put my pinky on the line. By far the biggest differential of the main candidates he was only owned by 11.9% at the time of writing. All of the same things apply to Mata that did above to Rooney when looking at his opponent this week. If Mata has shown anything recently, it is his capacity to turn it on vs bad teams. I believe Norwich qualifies as a terrible team so this could be a nice haul for the silky Spanish mid not named Silva. He would be a dangerous captain and many who will go for a United player are likely to go for Fellaini…Bwahahaha!!!, sorry this was the only way lampshade would ever grace a captaincy article. Many will go Rooney was what I meant to say. So if you are in a precarious position and need a huge differential, Mata might be your guy.

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Other Notables:

Lukas Podolski/Olivier Giroud: 2 straight games for Podolski with 13 points will get him noticed. With 4 goals and 173 minutes in his last two games, finally owners are not left frustrated with Wenger’s propensity to remove him at the 60 minute mark. Lukas averages 8.22 per 90 minutes played and despite only 11 starts he has 5 double-digit games.

Giroud who never misses a chance off the field and misses all of them on it, makes our notables today. One of these days he is going to get as lucky on the field as he seems to be off it. Olivier probably misses more big chances than anyone in the EPL, so he needs more of them to score well. Just read back my case for Giroud, if you are not convinced, I don’t know what will turn you. 😉 Well that is where a team like Newcastle who is just playing out the season helps.

Newcastle has 5 losses in a row and has allowed 14 goals in those games. This season they have lost 8 games by 3 or more goals to top the Premier League in this dubious category. Only City and Liverpool scored more goals vs bottom half teams, I know what you are going to say, “Newcastle is not in the bottom half” Really?! Really?! Have you watched them play recently? Let’s just treat them like the pathetic side they have become.

Christian Eriksen: 55 points in his last 5 starts. So why is he down here sharing space in the other notables? Because of whom he faces and where he faces them at. Stoke City is the 6^th best home team and their current form at the Britannia reflects it with 5 wins and 1 draw in their last 6. Only Liverpool and Chelsea have been able to score more than one goal on their trips to visit the Potters. The Viking still gets a mention though because of that old saying “form over fixtures” and right now, no one is in better form in FPL.

Thanks for reading Captains Picks Game-week 36, this article was written by Mito21

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