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 we go! No more tinkering, set and forget, stop worrying about Mannone… Bring on the weekend!
Mannone – (Marshall)
Coleman – Sagna – Davies – (Azpilicueta) – (Ward)
Yaya Touré – Hazard – Gerrard – Nolan – (Adam)
Suárez – Sturridge – Dzeko
well set – gerrard and nolan could be great picks
Hope so! My only concern is Mannone – I want Liverpool to hammer them, just hope he can pick up some good points against Norwich. Suárez for captain?
yes I think Suarez for Captain is a good shout, although if chasing Sturridge might be worth a punt
see my squad below – ivs also mannone, and id imagine his saves will be high from the amount of shots they take….id expect liverpool to score 2/3 anyway
1FT and 0 in the bank
Mannone (Boruc)
Bruce/Coleman/Collins (Azpi)(Parr)
Coldback/Mata/Hazard/Lallana/Yaya
Suarez/Sturridge/Lukaku
Im thinking of Mata out and Gerrard in for the DGW……
anything else worth a hit….
daboyo – Bruce, Collins, Parr and Colback are not guaranteed starters, as you know. I’d probably change one or two of those (Bruce and Parr?) instead of Mata.
Ya Collins I thought was nailed on…..not overly bothered about starting Bruce as Azpi will come in for him if he doesnt feature in either game….
Coldback is so cheap I can’t really do anything with him without also selling someone else…..
could offload Parr for someone but is there anyone at that price for this GW
There aren’t many options for that price but you can take a look at Dummett (3.9), he has also a DGW this week. On the other hand, Azpi against Arsenal at home could have a CS, so not a bad shout either.
cheers lad
your not in favour of shipping out Mata so….
Well, if you’re willing to keep all you defenders, Mata to Gerard would be a good move. But it seems a little bit odd for me to ship out a DGWer when you don’t have at least 9 or 10. And we all know he’s a great player and he’ll have his week even playing for Man utd…
Who do people think has the biggest chance of clean sheets in the remaining games this season?
I’m putting all my duckets on Chelsea keeping a decent number of clean sheets for the run in. Currently got Azpilicueta, from next week I’ll be dropping him and playing Cahill and Cech at the back.
I’m actually debating tripling up Chelsea with cech, ivanovic and azpi.. crazy idea?
its crossed my mind too Smiffy
That’s done it.. I hope I will be thanking you Cooks
Crazy but it could work! If you do it make sure you’re playing the long game (keeping them until the end), I wouldn’t do it and then start dropping them again if they have an off game. You’re not evening out the points over different teams so bad games can look really bad at the back but then a clean sheet and add some big green arrows! They have some good games coming up where I’d expect a few clean sheets
Solid advice there Cliff. Appreciate it.
@Smiffy
I have Ivan and Azpil.
Chelsea look like getting clean sheets at the Bridge.
But I have watched them concede recently at Villa, WBA and Fulham.
Only one goal each time but very costly.
I think having all three would be too much.
I have Hart in goal who has 3 more games left.
Nailed on and City are looking more resilient at the back (in the league anyway).
Just a thought.
Mannone could be another option.
Cheers Horse.. my team:
Boruc (Mannone)
Zab Coleman Rosenoir (Chambers, Azpi)
Hazard, YYT, Silva, Sterling (Barkley)
Sturridge Suarez Lukaku
To be honest with you guys, I just tried tinkering with my team to triple up chelsea defence and I had too many chelsea! Completely forgot about Hazard.. long day! Guess I wont be doing that then! Double up still very much on the cards tho!
Right now I’m struggling between Hazard and Barkley for DGW.. got a feeling about Barkley!
Still might consider it tho.. I got a feeling Chelsea are going to keep the most clean sheets and in the long run I reckon could outscore hazard and worth a cheeky change to my midfield… would you (anyone!) consider taking out Hazard?
Nice team Smithy
Martinez said something today about rotating his midfield.
Might be worth checking it out.
Azpil might even be worth a shout against Arsenal this week.
I think Jose will out fox Arsene and get a clean sheet.
@Smiffy
I am thinging exactly that (getting rid of Hazard)
I think they will be more value at the back
Azpil and Ivan in my case.
Thanks Horse.. first year doing fpl and loving it.. sitting on 1770 points at the mo and top of all leagues but one.. do I take risks to regain the lead in all leagues or settle to be second in one? I think this DGW will make or break a lot of people! Have calculated a total of 64 point hits so far.. could be my ignorance, my naivety most likely my impatience!
Link if interested : http://fantasy.premierleague.com/entry/1288706/history/
Who you think in place of Hazard?
@Horse just clocked your team.. very nice! Mata must be doing your nut in no?
@Smiffy
Best thing to do is get your team linked hahaha
I reckon Hazard<YYT as he has 3 extra DGW.
Great season.
Keep an eye on your hit finger though.
Good luck
Did YYT this week for Lallana!
Chelsea, City and Arsenal (great fixture from GW 34 to 38) for me.
fixtures*
Just when i thought i had my team settled i find out smalling is out for a month!
mannone (boruc)
coleman azpi ward (ben turner) (smalling)
yaya mata hazard gerrard (puncheon)
suarez sturridge dzeko
0FT and 2.1 itb
Should i look to swap out smalling for another defender? any suggestions? would it be worth the -4 point hit?
B Bash nice write up indeed.
For me it has to be Suarez with the Armband this huge Matchweek though.
So people,i love my European Football and what a scenario we have on our hands tonight.
At the weekend it Real Madrid v Barcelona.
So tonight due to Madrid’s massive 1st leg lead.
Will they and Ancellotti rest the likes of Bale,Modric,Casillas and the Potugese God?
Your thoughts please.
Sam – Full steam ahead i reckon, Madrid to win by at least 4 and then batter Barcelona in the Classico. I fancy them to scoop the lot!!
Hey guys as there is a dgw this week coming how do these moves sound?
Krul (Henderson)
Coleman ivanovic fonte (moxey and Chester)
Lallana hazard silva Nolan (ince)
Sturridge Suarez j rod
1st Moves: ince out Kim in and j rod out lukaku in and Lallana out Gerrard in and ivanovic out collocini in this is a -8 point moves which leaves me with 0.3 in the bank.
Or
2nd moves: ince out Kim in and Lallana out Gerrard in and j rod out bony in and ivanovic out mertasacker in or some other 6.5 defender leave me with 0.1 in the bank -8 point hit.
Or
3rd moves: ivanovic out mert in and nice out Kim in and j rod out lukaku in -4 point hit and 0.1 in the bank.
any suggestions in to what moves are better much appreciated thanks
am4r77 – I don’t really like any of those moves to be honest. Mertesacker isn’t worth it especially with their fixtures. Not sure why you’re so set on getting Kim in either, he hasn’t done anything all season and Cardiff aren’t that great. I like the Lallana to Gerrard move and to fund that move you could probably do Fonte to a WH defender (Collins/McCartney) and/or J Rod to Dzeko. And don’t double up on Newcastle defense either. So here are some possible transfers for you:
Lallana to Gerrard
Fonte to Collins/McCartney
J Rod to Dzeko (although J Rod is in decent form at the moment)
or maybe even Ivanovic to Zabaleta, although I think Chelsea defense is crucial right now. I’m not saying do all of them, but these are just some thoughts.
dzeko is a hit and miss he rarely scores and Kim was a cheap alternative and is a bench warmer who plays on rare occasions.
Well that’s partly because he rarely plays. But with Aguero out and Negredo not in good form recently, it’s Dzeko’s time to shine. If you need to make some ground in your mini leagues, he could be a good differential.