Captains Picks Gameweek 31 Special Edition – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League
Welcome along to a Special Edition of Captains Picks. What’s so special about it we hear you ask? Well it’s not just that its a double gameweek and your captain selection will be crucial to this weeks success but more than that we have FPL royalty in the FF247 offices this week! This weeks captains picks are brought to you by the man of the moment himself, B-Bash. Many of you will be familiar with this unassuming chap from the boards as he chats away happily both giving out and seeking advice but he has a not so dark, not so hidden secret – he’s only in the running to win the bloody thing! We have chartered his steady climb this season which culminated in a season high of 5th place overall for him only this past Saturday. He did let himself down a bit on Sunday by plummeting to 7th though! Anyway we felt it would be folly of us to allow him to escape from the offices, having helped himself to all of our coffee and biscuits, without asking him to dispense some of his wisdom upon on our avid readership. So without further ado, over to the man himself….
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Well its here!! Double gameweek 31! Possibly the most anticipated gameweek of the season so far. FPL managers worth their salt will have been planning for this. Having gone through the pain of gameweek 29, we have been busy loading our teams with as many DGW players as possible. Some will be taking big hits too to accommodate this, but the one thing that can aid the recovery of any hits you take, is giving the captains armband to the right player! Those of you who captained Hazard as I did, will be feeling the frustration of a poor choice and know how it can affect your league rankings! Now double it!! So let’s have a look at the options, and you will notice the aforementioned Hazard will sit this one out, for the simple reason that he is only playing once this week.
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Luis Suarez
What more can I say about this fella that hasn’t been said before. The stand out FPL player of the season so far! Liverpool’s recent shift to the midfield diamond has seen Suarez benefit, with 2 goals and two assists in his last two outings. Even if the final assist did take some sorting out by the powers that be at FPL. Suarezs’ first game is an away date with second to bottom Cardiff City, who were victorious in their last home game, however that was against Fulham and with Liverpool averaging over 3 goals a game on the road, you have to expect Suarez to be in the mix for points. Liverpool then play host to Sunderland and Suarez has netted 4 times in their last two meetings, and I’m trying not to be biased, but I would expect something similar on the 26th.
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Daniel Sturridge
You can’t mention one without the other. It’s the law! However, Sturridge had been looking like the automatic captain choice, as he scored 59 points in 5 weeks, but then Rodgers changed things around in gameweek 28. The last 2 games have seen Suarez and Sturridge as a front 2 and he has managed just 1 assist, despite the reds scoring 6 goals. The boy cannot be overlooked though as Rodgers could just as easily switch things back, and he is in great form this season. That with the fixtures in this gameweek, there is no reason to suggest Sturridge won’t be back amongst the big points once more.
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David Silva/Yaya Toure
With the likelihood of Aguero missing some if not all of the DGW, I would be looking to their two star midfielders to cash in on the points. David Silva reminded us at the weekend just what he is actually capable of with a goal, an assist and 3 bonus points, and Toure kept his consistent season going with an assist and bonus points. Man City host bottom of the table Fulham, who have conceded 34 goals on the road, and I can’t see it getting any better for them this weekend as they face Silva and Toure who scored 10 and 14 points respectively, the last time the two teams met. City’s second fixture in the gameweek is a tricky visit to Old Trafford for the derby, but I do predict City to score there as United struggle for form.
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Romelu Lukaku
Well, most of us rushed out and bought him, only to watch him draw a blank at the weekend. The thing is, he was actually quite unlucky not to score as Everton made hard work of beating Cardiff City. But don’t lose heart, because Everton have arguably the best fixtures for the DGW, starting off with visit from Swansea, who haven’t won since the beginning of February, followed by a trip to Newcastle, where we would hope Lukaku can reproduce a display similar to the one he gave us when the two teams met in September, with 2 goals, an assist and 3 BP’s.
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Wayne Rooney
I have to mention this lad, because despite being an Evertonian that plays for United, I like him! If I had the money I’d buy him too and would be seriously considering giving him the armband for this week. Ok, so he drew a blank against Liverpool, but prior to that he had 2 goals, 1 assist and 5 bonus points away from home. Can he score? Of course he can! First up for Rooney is a trip to West Ham, which isn’t the easiest fixture as West Ham haven’t lost at home since they hosted Man City back in January, but Big Sam’s men do seem to have hit a blip in form, losing their last two and conceding 3 to Stoke last game. Next up is a home derby with City. In 2 of their last 3 meetings, Rooney has been the stand out United player, displaying the lads appetite to perform and win!
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Other notable mentions
Edin Dzeko – If you own him I would be very tempted to give him the armband. With Sergio Aguero likely to miss part if not all of DGW 31, and the home fixture against Fulham before the derby, the Bosnian could well be up there among the top scorers.
Olivier Giroud – With a double gameweek ahead, albeit, the first away to Chelsea, Giroud could be a good differential as in the second game of the week Arsenal play host to Swansea, and as I said before Swansea’s form is questionable and they may suffer at the hands of Giroud.
Steven Gerrard – I believe this homegrown talent is having one of his best seasons for a while. I haven’t owned him this season, but I am sorely tempted and current form cannot be ignored. 43 points in his last 5 outings, against arguably better opposition than he’ll be facing in this gameweek cannot be ignored.
So hopefully I have covered most options there, but no doubt other names will appear, which I’m sure will be discussed in full on the boards. Here’s hoping for big points this week, so good luck to all!!
Thanks for reading Captains Picks Gameweek 31 Special Edition, this article was written by B-Bash
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Here’s where I stand after doing 2 transfers, but no hits and 0.7 in the bank:
McGregor* (Mannone)
Coleman* Koscielny* Cahill (Chambers) (Gab)
Yaya* Nolan* Mata* Hazard (Noone)
Suarez* Sturridge* Lambert
Would you…
1. Do nothing, not take a hit, stick with Mata, and have 7 DGW-ers
2. Mata to Silva only for -4
3. Mata to Gerrard only for -4
4. Lambert to Lukaku and Mata to Henderson, Mirallas, or Johnson for -8
5. Mata to Silva and Gab to Flanagan for -8
6. Mata to Gerrard and Gab to a Hull, Newcastle, or West Ham defender for -8
Denon – I’d wait a few days to see if we get any update on Aguero’s injury and, if he stays out for both games, I’d sell Lambert for Dzeko. Otherwise I’d stay as you are.
Interesting. Hadn’t considered that. With Dzeko would you keep Mata still? Or go Mata to Gerrard and Lambert to Dzeko for -8?
I’d keep Mata, not a fan of doing so many hits! But go with your gut mate, Mata to Silva or Gerrard could pay off.
Denon, if you did nothing you would have 8 dgw players.
Good catch on that typo. I know some have as many as 10 (or even 11) for the DGW but I don’t see the need to bring in players I don’t want in the future for a hit just to get more in. I’m okay with 8-9 as long as they are the right ones.
Anyone know what happened with Collins last gameweek? Tomkins/Reid were awful. Is it possible Collins will play again?
Noone can say for sure Raz, we could only speculate. I wouldn’t coun’t on him playing much more.
Raz – Big Sam said he wanted to freshen things up. Judging from his comments after the game I wouldn’t be surprised to see Collins back http://www.whufc.com/articles/20140315/big-sam-rues-defensive-errors_2236884_3715159
That’s what I was thinking. Same was really mad at the bad performance of his defense. Think I’ll just have to take the risk. If it doesn’t work out he’ll be replaced by another defender.
I brought him in last week Raz and I’ll possibly take the risk that Sam brings him back!
Hmmm, my gravatar not allowed? Shite.
Did you change your grav?
Too much hostility in my old avatar. 😉
New one had Stewie sticking up his middlefinger. So I figured it was RT rated? Or whatever ratings they use. A bit abusive but not really bad. Guess this site only allows nice avatars.
Funny thing is that I don’t even watch Family Guy. 😛
Just change the rating Raz. I like to see Stewie putting his middle finger up. :finger:
Done. :finger:
Even more hostility coming from Stewie though. He looks like a mean mofo.
Having played my WC last week (with a good result so far – 61 pts) I’m leaning to save my FT this week as I’ll have 10 DGWers + Hazard or 11 if I decide to bench him and play one of Chester or Colback.
Adrian (Mannone)
Coleman, Zabaleta, Dummett (Azpilicueta, Chester)
YYT, Sterling, AJ, Hazard (Colback)
S&S, Lukaku
Any suggestions?
Sounds like a good plan Albertini to hold your FT.
Cheers Horse.
Is it a good idea to play Hazard and bench Chester and Colback (or even Dummett)?
Albertini,
Hold onto your FT and play Hazard over Colback as he may not even get game time.
Thanks Odd1, that’s also my thoughts.
Hey guys
Could you give some thoughts on my team ?
Mannone
Merta,Collins,Ivan
Haz,Nolan,Yaya,Gerrard
S&S,Kaku
Subs:-Adrian,Cahill,Chambers,Oviedo
Did an early transfer to avoid price rise.. lallana to Stevie G .
Do I take a hit to get Baines in place of Cahill ?That way I’l have 10 DGW players.
Tricky call. Baines is good for this week but Chelsea’s run in afterwards looks ok and two of their defenders may be better than Baines. For transparency, I have the latter but will still have two Chelsea defenders by GW32.
any other moves that you’d recommend?
Guys, please give me your thoughts on this:
Ruddy – Davis
Azpi – Kolarov – Parr – Chambers – Olsson
Hazard – Yaya – Gerrard – Lallana – Noone
Studge – Lukaku – Suarez
0 FT, 3.5 itb
Option A: (-4)
Parr/Chambers -> Zabaleta
Option B: (-8)
Kolarov -> Zabaleta
Lallana -> Silva
It might seem sideways to replace Kol with Zaba, however I have a H2H against NIN that I need to win and Zaba + Silva gives me nice differentials (not going for Baines as my opponent has him). Zaba is usually on fire against United as well, so wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a goal.
Where is your Everton coverage though? Everton have easier fixtures plus they have Baines/Coleman. I myself have both Yaya and Silva. Tempting to go with a 3rd City player but also tempted to go with Everton coverage since they also have 2 DGW’s.
Raz
Originally planned to bring in Baines, however needed a differential to him. Everton haven’t kept a CS in ages and with Baines and Coleman not getting many points I do believe they can be ignored, albeit with a certain risk.
Anyone else go an input on this?