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]
Don’t know if I’m going ahead with this but this is my current team
Krul (Henderson)
Mert Chico distin (chambers and Demel)
Hazard yyt sterling Mirallas (Amalfitano)
Rooney Suarez lukaku
Currently have 4 players doubtful
To this WC team
Mignolet (Henderson)
koscielny Zabaleta fonte (Chester and Luna)
oscar silva Gerrard Ozil (delph)
Lukaku Suarez j rod
I would have 0.8 in the bank to then drop ozil to Ramsey when fit then upgrade lukaku to aguero when fit
NIN or JEET Top 4 or anyone else take a look much appreciated
Maybe upgrade your goalkeeper u should alway have 2 first team keeper maybe Marshall or mannone maybe use some money to upgrade Delph maybe some like Mutch,ki sung yueng or Huddlestone !
Thanks JEET ill play around with it a bit much appreciated
am4r77 – It’s a much better squad in my opinion,though you could pick two playable keepers who would be cheaper then Mignolet and a backup non-entity like Henderson,i’m not sure of all the pairings that work well but Speroni/McGregor is 0.5m cheaper than your current two,you could use that 0.5m to get a better mid than Delph?? Baker is also 0.5m cheaper than Luna so there’s another small saving,Joel Ward is 0.3m cheaper than him too,it’s definitely an improvement but i think a little more tweaking would see you right mate.
Thanks NIN much appreciated i will play around with it a bit mate
I have absolutely no idea how i’m going to replace Walcott with… Has anyone get any good suggestions besides Ozil or Ramsey?
milo – It’s the $1m question isn’t it? Haha,aside from the two you’ve mentioned,Gerrard,Coutinho,Eriksen,Lallana,Silva,Nasri are probably the best shouts in my opinion,or if you feel like taking a gamble then maybe Santi Cazorla will interest you…plenty to work with there anyway.
Yeh, there’s a mass of players to choose from, it’s just trying to find a player with the same quality as Walcott points wise! A real blow…
Santi Cazorla is a decent bet, i can’t really afford Ozil, and i’m not too keen on the others.
Cheers anyway man!
milo – I’m pretty sure Stevie-G is back in business,might be best to consult Liverpool fans on that one though.Yes,replacing Wally’s points is very difficult to achieve,to be honest,it may not be possible,Cazorla would be a great shout if he can find his finishing touch,from what i’ve seen he’s playing well but not producing FPL wise so there’s an element of risk there..
Is Gerrard definitely back and fit btw?
Yep!
Oscar/Coutinho.. Even Lalana because of fixtures?
Your teams not linked so cant see who you have already?
Ozil for now as Ramsey still unfit
Mock exams are over! Wooo :beer: now I can look ahead to the weekend..
..do we think it’ll be a high scoring week? All my XI face lower side opposition…
jamesimmo – Great stuff!! I think this GW has the potential to be a whopper one,there’s no really big clashes so the potential is there,a GW average of 50-ish is quite possible
NiN – biology, chem, physics, maths and further maths, I’m drained! Yes, yes it could be, I just hope it’s not because of all the high scoring WC teams haha!
jamesimmo – I’d say so mate,at least it’s done now though,happy days!! WC teams will always have a short term advantage,it’s whether those squads can keep it over time is the key,if not well planned then 1 big GW wont hurt you at all,and you still have yours so the ball is in your court really…
Nin,
Remember you said to me not to try and go it alone? Well here I am mate! 😉
Team linked and done Wally to Ozil.
Its Rooney (doubtfull), Yaya (perhaps) & Cabaye (highly unlikly!) that are causing obvious concern!
As I see it, options are
Sit tight and start all 3 and let bench cover any non starters
Take a hit…..probably 4 Cabaye?
Play wc (really didnt want to do that!)
Any help appreciated!
B-Bash – Indeed,there’s no harm in seeking advice whether we’re doing great,or shite haha!! Firstly wait and see what Pelligrini says about Toure,Moyes wont give anything away regarding Rooney so that’s a hit and hope situation i think.If Yaya is good to go then i wouldn’t make any more changes,if he is out then i think i’d make a change,and it would depend on the length of yaya’s injury,so it really boils down to the big Ivorian mate,if i was in your position i’d be reluctant to play WC too.
Cheers Nin.
No rush at mo. Will sit and wait ! :manic:
B-Bash – No problem,and yes,no rush,it would be a sin to sell Yaya in a hasty move only to see him turn out at the weekend,and be his usual self.Sit and wait is a pain in the ass haha,but it’s the right thing to do mate,assess tomorrow.
Hey guys think I am almost there with my wildcard team just need one more midfielder with a top price of 8.9m current mid’s are
Ozil Yaya Hazard & Januzaj
1) Gerrard
2) Oscar
3)Eriksen
4)Lallana
What do you think? Or maybe someone totally different?
Full time – my picks, based in your mids, are: Eriksen > Gerrard > Lallana > Oscar
As personally I think Haz / Oscar is excessive, but Oscar is good value, your call.
i’d rule out oscar bcs you have haz
it depends on the rest of your team really, for the short term i’d look at lallana or erik they have good fixtures. in the long term, gerrard but you need to see if he will perform as well as he was before the injury
This Game Week has been a headaches for all of us with injury to YYT & Walcott and of course our WC do u agree ? But there is still a little headaches left in me with who ! To captain SURAEZ is no doubt the best shout but he would have to at least score 2 goals or get assist to be consider a great (c) choice.do u guys think SURAEZ will run riot against a tough stoke team at the Britannia ???
Jeet – I don’t think he’ll necessarily ‘run riot’ as in the last he has – but that’s 20+ points standard – he could still easily bag a brace! and given Hull and Newcastle are also solid at home I’d say he’s still the best option this week.. especially now then has unfortunately bowed out.
What about LUKAKU at Home against Norwich could be the perfect time to bag a couple of goals ?
Lukaku would be tempting, if he had scored more than 1 in his last 8
+1 not convinced by luka and i have him but his form isn’t great