Captains Picks Gameweek 21 FPL Fantasy Premier League

This game-week’s captaincy choice promises to be an interesting and maybe even problematic conundrum. With injuries to popular candidates Sergio Aguero, RvP and now also Theo Walcott, as well as an ongoing groin problem for Wayne Rooney, there will be some difficult decisions to be made this week. In most cases, the default option for the majority of managers would probably be to hand the armband to Luis Suarez, but we feel there are a number of interesting and viable alternatives to the Liverpool striker. While there are usually just three or four viable candidates for captain in any given week, the fixtures and form of many mean that there are many routes you could take this week and the chances are you will have plenty of  the following in your team already. Let’s have a look at who we believe to be the standout candidates.

Eden Hazard & Oscar
Chelsea kick-off GW21 with a trip to Hull and it’s Mourinho’s star midfielders that could offer managers a lucrative captain’s selection, if they continue their current run of good form. Hazard is now the top scoring midfielder in FPL with 125pts, has been a nailed on starter for Chelsea and has scored 78 of those points in his last ten matches – scoring five goals and creating six assists.
Oscar has very much lived in his team mate’s shadow of late, but came back to form in the win at Southampton last time out, scoring once, assisting twice, collecting 3bps and totalling 14pts. With many managers playing their wildcard this week and looking to utilise every pound available, Oscar at 8.7mln is significantly cheaper than Hazard at 10.4mln and could prove a cheeky alternative.
It’s worth pointing out that Hull have kept things fairly tight at home, conceding just six goals in ten games at the KC Stadium – however, Man Utd scored three times there on Boxing Day, showing that they can be opened up.

Romelu Lukaku
With ownership of 32.2%, Lukaku is still a obviously still a very popular striker for FPL managers and a home game against Norwich will encourage many of those managers to give the Toffee forward the armband. Lukaku has scored six of his nine goals at Goodison this season and despite just one goal in his last seven matches, you get the feeling that the goals could come flooding back at any time. The Canaries have conceded five at Liverpool, four at Arsenal and seven at Man City, which goes to show that they’re not the best travellers, although they have, in fairness kept clean sheets in two of their last three away days, albeit it at Sunderland and West Brom. However, with Everton high-flying and Leighton Baines back from injury, expect Lukaku to be on the end of some first-class crosses, which arguably he has been somewhat starved of in Baines’ absence.

Seamus Coleman & Leighton Baines
As per Lukaku above the two marauding full-backs will be looking forward to GW21. Coleman needs little introduction and is this season’s top scoring defender with 112pts – not bad for a defender that wasn’t even an automatic first choice last season and started this season priced at just 5mln. With five goals already and eight clean sheets, he continues to reward those managers who kept faith with him, while those managers who don’t have him or even sold him are kicking themselves. Coleman has scored four goals in his last six games, in all competitions and will be a contender for the armband for many this week.
Baines, despite missing six matches with a toe injury, has already scored once and kept one clean sheet in his two games since returning to the side. Despite trading at a premium to Coleman, Baines does of course take the majority of set pieces for the Toffees and with the match expecting to be an attack-fest for Roberto Martinez’s men, it is quite likely that both defenders can not only deliver a clean sheet but also a goal or assist, going forward.

Jay Rodriguez
The Southampton striker has not only made his England debut this season, but is also stealing the limelight from his striking partners, Rickie Lambert and Pablo Osvaldo, to such an extent that J Rod is more certain of a start than the other two, even more so this week as Osvaldo is suspended and Lambert is carrying a knock. Manager Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping his striker, who has already netted eight goals this term, will reignite some form into his team, who have struggled of late, but now face a group of fixtures which promises to yield more points, starting with the visit of West Brom this weekend, who haven’t kept a clean sheet away from the Hawthorns since mid-October. With the creative talents of Adam Lallana and Gaston Ramirez supplying him, the Saints’ striker, despite being the cheapest of all the captaincy choices mentioned, could well provide the best retrun.

Emmanuel Adebayor
What a turnaround for the Spurs striker – anyone would think the transfer window is open or contract negotiations are due! With new manager Tim Sherwood clearly favouring the striker more than AvB ever did, his form has been revitalised, scoring three goals and creating two assists in his last four games. The visit of Crystal Palace to the Lane should entice some managers to give Adebayor the armband, especially those looking for a differential captain as the striker is owned by just 4.2% of managers. With Roberto Soldado carrying a knock and Jermain Defoe seemingly on his way out of the club, either to Seattle or West Ham (tough choice that one), Adebayor is poised to start the game and carry on his run of form, despite Palace tightening up under Tony Pulis.

Olivier Giroud & Lukas Podolski
We include both strikers simply because at the time of writing it’s not obvious which one will start up front against Villa. Hopefully that will become clearer nearer the time and although Giroud is expected to have recovered from his injury, Wenger may decide to persevere with Podolski and ease the Frenchman in from the bench. Whoever does start can be expected to be the recipient of plenty of chances against a Villa side that has performed better away from home than at Villa Park. Despite the absence of Theo Walcott, creation runs through the team with Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky and even youngster Serge Gnabry all impressing of late and of course the assist king Mesut Ozil returning from injury. Podolski has already contributed a goal and assist since his return to the first team, while Giroud’s eight goals and five assists speak for themselves.

Wayne Rooney
We include Rooney on the list with a big word of caution. His ongoing groin problem, which the player is managing carefully, means he has to be assessed before every match and even if he does play, it limits his movement on the pitch. Hence, the England striker has been playing a more withdrawn role of late, meaning he’s not been getting in the goal scoring positions he is used to in open play. However, he is still on set pieces, so an assist or a penalty cannot be ruled out, especially with United at Old Trafford! With the Reds struggling of late and having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Swansea last week, it’s clear a win is essential for the team and Moyes – and Rooney can never be ruled out, especially with nine goals and eleven assists to his name already this season. He can be explosive but will you take the chance of him even making the pitch!

Luis Suarez
And so of course back to where we started. No captain’s article would be complete without mentioning Suarez and he is likely to again top the polls this week. His record this season speaks for itself – 19 goals, 12 assists and 25bps in just 15 games – some managers have already decided to just captain him every week. With the return of Steven Gerrard to the side, the midfield will not only have more steel to it than was evident in the defeats to Man City and Chelsea, but the captain will again be expected to plant set pieces on Suarez’s head. Stoke haven’t been the consistent tight unit they were under Tony Pulis and with the continued absence of Robert Huth, expect the Reds to create chances – can Suarez convert those chances and continue to deliver great returns? Many managers will be banking on it.

Whoever you choose, good luck and may he deliver a decent return! Please don’t forget to vote on our captain poll below and share your thoughts on the site.

This article was written by Cookie.

[polldaddy poll=7699948]