Captains Picks Gameweek 22 FPL Fantasy Premier League

As we look through the best candidates for your captain choice for GW22, for many of you, there will already be just one name on your mind and it may well be that he already has the armband in your team selection page. That name of course is Luis Suarez, who in game GW21 produced another double digit return for his merry band of followers.
With Liverpool at home to Villa this weekend, he is, of course, the standout option and his record this season speaks for itself and has already been well documented most weeks in this very article.
There will be those managers, however, that will be looking for the differential and who also recognise that Suarez is not always the week’s highest scoring player – even last week Adam Johnson scored a massive 22pts, courtesy of a hat-trick and an assist vs Fulham, which goes to prove that for the brave ones out there, a “who dares wins” attitude can also pay dividends.
So let’s look through these other candidates and see if we can unearth a hidden gem who can rival the Liverpool striker.

Daniel Sturridge
Suarez’s strike partner returned from injury in GW21 at Stoke and carried on from where he left off pre-injury with a goal and an assist, to excite many mangers keen on the infamous SAS partnership up front. Sturridge has always had a great eye for goal, but wasn’t fancied at Chelsea or City, but seems to have found his home at Liverpool. Despite missing over a third of this season through injury, Sturridge has still scored ten goals and created three assists and as opposition defences focus on his partner, the England striker often finds himself with great scoring opportunities. Villa are not always the most secure, not that the quality of the opponent really matters to Sturridge and Suarez – five goals for Liverpool at Stoke proved that. SAS are back!

Adam Johnson
Johnson is another player of immense talent who found himself surplus to requirements at the Etihad and in all fairness, he hasn’t always shown his best form at Sunderland. However, there are three valid reasons for his appearance in this article. Firstly, his manager Gus Poyet spoke very highly of him last week, saying he has huge talent and he will need to perform at his highest level if Sunderland are to avoid the drop. Well, he certainly repaid his manager’s confidence in him with a match-winning display at Fulham in GW21, which we referred to above. Finally, Sunderland at home are a much more effective beast than on the road and a fixture at the Stadium of Light vs Southampton should give a confident Johnson the chance to show his manager that last week wasn’t just a flash in the pan.

Alvaro Negredo
When City are at home you expect goals – when they’re playing a team in the relegation zone (Cardiff), you fear for the opposition. With goals coming from all angles and with probably the strongest squad in the league, many are predicting another goal fest this weekend and Negredo could well be at the heart of that. Nine goals already in his first season in the Premier League suggests he is the real deal – although some may argue that even Emile Heskey could score goals in this side. Whatever your thoughts, chances will come his way this weekend, confidence is high and he likes nothing better than battering struggling teams.

Sergio Aguero
At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether Aguero will feature this weekend, although the manager and the player have both given the media positive messages over the last few days. We will know more as the week progresses, so treat with caution and keep your eyes and ears on the breaking news and press conferences. If he does start the game, it would be a brave man to bet against Aguero, who has so far notched thirteen goals and created eight assists for his team-mates. Cardiff haven’t kept a clean sheet in five games and that run looks likely to continue here.

Eden Hazard
Chelsea at home to Man Utd used to be a tough game to call – both sides challenging for the league, tough defences, midfield battles etc. How times have changed – Mourinho’s men are mounting a serious challenge for the league, while United languish in 7^th – a pale shadow of the team they were under Sir Alex. Hazard has really come to the fore this season and his stats back that up – nine goals and eight assists, he heads the form stats for midfielders and has scored three goals in his last four games. The Belgian is very much Mourinho’s “Go to” man and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him put United to the sword on Sunday.

Olivier Giroud
Having missed the game vs Cardiff due to illness, Giroud returned against Aston Villa to notch the second goal, which ultimately proved to be the difference between the sides. Though the Frenchman has been unable to maintain his impressive early season scoring rate, Arsenal at home to Fulham suggests chances will come his way and his goal at Villa will have done Giroud’s confidence the world of good. With the Gunners still top, but facing increased pressure from City and Chelsea, Wenger will be impressing on his team the need to maintain performances and results. Let’s face it, Fulham are there for the taking – they’ve conceded 20 goals in their last six matches and haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home since the opening day victory at Sunderland – although Arsenal do not have the clinical scoring prowess of City, a few goals for the Gunners here will be expected and Giroud could well be the chief beneficiary.

So there you have it, the case for Suarez, but a few other possibilities for you to think about it. Whoever you choose, let us know on the chat – maybe you have other names you wish to suggest?

Good luck!

This article was written by Cookie

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