Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 1
Finally, GW1 one is upon us and brings with it fresh hope for each and every one of us with new teams, new players and a renewed sense of belief. Anticipation, excitement, everybody’s happy, well everybody aside Jose Mourinho, but he’s never happy so don’t let him bring you down.
Picking a successful GW1 squad is a lottery at the best of times, throw in a World Cup and we have so many variables to consider, it’s enough to make even the most astute FPL manager lose their damn mind. You can study every pre-season game, fry your brain with endless stats and you’ll still be kicking yourself for ignoring at least one player ‘who you had’ in at least one of your 1001 pre-season drafts, sadly, that’s just how it is.
So what can save you from instant FPL-induced self-flagellation? Well you can start by stepping away from that Daniel Sturridge punt, cast aside your second and third £4.0m defenders, and for the love of god, don’t believe anything Jose says.
Seriously though, nobody can predict what will happen in GW1, or any other game-week for that matter. What we can do is make educated decisions, pick players who may not hit the ground running, but will in all likelihood bare fruits over the course of the season, but most importantly of all, pick a decent bloody captain, I mean how hard can it be, right?
Each week we’ll peruse the options, study the stats and offer up a selection of players who will hopefully have you patting yourself on the back rather than hitting it with a big stick. Let’s do this!
Mo Salah – West Ham (H)
‘£13.0m? I’m not paying that, look at what a great side I can make without Salah’. Well, aye that’s canny mate, my iPhone looks a bobby dazzler without a case but I’ve dropped my fair share of phones to know it is best to have a little protection. Starting the season with Salah offers exactly that. Protection against his 50%+ ownership, protection against most of those sticking the armband on him every week, protection against the inevitable ‘I told you so’ when he does what he does. There is of course the flip side to the argument, if Salah flops it will be those without who’ll be laughing, but lets face it, it’s a damn sight easier to get him out, than in.
I’ll get onto the opposition and stats in my next pick, if you’re spending £13m on Salah, surely you’ll be captaining him most weeks home and away, regardless of opposition.
Still going without Salah? Hahaha, seriously? Oh! You are serious! Well good luck with that hun. You probably have a plan, but as Mike Tyson said ‘everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’. I’d rather not argue with Mike.
Roberto Firmino / Sadio Mané / Naby Keïta– West Ham (H)
If you’re one of the cool kids this next pick is for you. No Mo? No problem! Simply pick one if not two of his teammates to ‘cover’ his points, stick the armband on them in the games where Salah is heavily captained and you’ll be golden right? It could work, I mean it might, there’s a chance…
Lets not get into the gazillion permutations or the relative merits of how not owning Salah can potentially benefit your FPL team, instead lets focus on his ably capable teammates. In the 2017/18 season Liverpool were unbeaten at Anfield, winning 12 and drawing 7. They scored 45 goals (only Manchester City and Arsenal scored more at home), and whilst admittedly Salah scored 19 of those 45 goals, there was still enough to go around.
Brazilian Bobby chipped in with 8 goals and 3 assists and Sadio Mané despite playing significantly less minutes scored 6 and grabbed 3 assists. Its unclear how new signing Naby Keïta will factor into the Liverpool line-up this season, but his 6 goals and 5 assists in the Bundesliga last season suggest that at £7.5m, he could be a canny punt for your FPL side, although it may be too soon to hand him your captain’s armband.
It’s the Hammers up first at Anfield. They’ll be hoping to improve on their 2017/18 stats, which saw them lose 12 of their 19 away games and ship 42 goals on the road. Liverpool won 4-1 in the corresponding fixture last season with Salah, Mane and Firmino all getting on the score sheet, FPL managers will be hoping for more of the same.
Alexis Sánchez – Leicester City (H)
We’re not here to talk about Mourinho but it’s hard not to at least acknowledge the current goings on at Old Trafford, all of which seem to revolve around whatever mood Jose Mourinho is in, which these days seems to be a perpetual state of misery.
For those of us without affinity to Manchester United, it was hard to watch his post-match interview following their pre-season defeat to Liverpool and not chuckle, man alive, even for Jose this was a new depth of pain and suffering. Nobody seemed safe from his scathing assessment; whinging about missing senior players? Check. Deride the performance of the players who were there? Check. Complain about transfer activity or lack thereof? Check. He pretty much called Antonio Valenica a fat b@stard, even the referee did not escape his wrath. He did have some nice words for Eric Bailly, but the words were barely out his mouth and he was critiquing his leadership credentials, jeez who’s your mate Eric? Hopefully things will improve now that he’s ‘invited’ senior players to return early from their holidays, I imagine they’ll be tripping over their Gucci flip flops in the rush to get to the airport.
There were positives from their US tour. The most noteworthy, the form and condition of Alexis Sanchez. After an inconsistent start to his Old Trafford career, Sanchez is showing signs that he is ready to hit the ground running for his first full season with the Red Devils. He had a hand in both goals during last week’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid, and his performance in that match and over the course of the two week US tour was head and shoulders above his teammates.
Leicester head to Old Trafford for the season opener this Friday evening. Quite how they will cope without the departed Riyad Mahrez is anyone’s guess, one thing is for sure; they’re a much worse side without him. In 2017/18 the Foxes lost 9 times on the road, which included a 2-0 loss in the corresponding fixture at Old Trafford. With question marks over returning World Cup players, this match could be the perfect time for Alexis Sanchez to cement his name in FPL teams once more. All you ‘Salah-less’ loonies, this could be the one you’re looking for.
Best of the rest
For those of you unfamiliar with how our Captains articles usually work, we list 4-5 players we deem worthy of your Captaincy, but I’ll be honest, sometimes it feels like one or two of our picks are never really going to be Captained by anyone with a modicum of common sense. Then we have the Mo Salah / Harry Kane conundrum; last season it felt like most people were simply picking one of those two towards the latter half of the season, and who could blame them.
So here I’ll list a few players who I feel warrant your attention, even if at first glance they don’t seem the ‘obvious’ choice.
Harry Kane – Newcastle (A)
Will he play? Will he be ready? Who knows. Harry played all the way through to the World Cup third place play-off, wining the Golden boot on the way, but come on, that was weeks ago! ‘He doesn’t score in August’ I hear you cry, but seriously, would anyone be surprised if come GW1 he started and scores, breaking his August hoodoo and the FPL template in one fell swoop? I’ll be at St James’ Park on Saturday hoping he won’t, which probably means he will.
Sergio Agüero (or whichever City asset you own) – Arsenal (A)
Some people glance at the fixtures and see a ‘tricky’ away fixture for the Cityzens, and that’s enough to discount their Captaincy credentials. Remember though, this is the same City side that won 16/19 away from the Etihad, including a 0-3 win in the corresponding fixture at the Emirates. It wont be long till we’re all lamenting the Aguero/Jesus rotation, but for now it looks Kun will be the man to start the season. Last season his minutes were curtailed, yet he still finished with the best points per match of any forward (6.8), scored 21 goals, 6 assists and picked up 22 Bonus Points. He scored twice in the Community Shield prompting a surge in ownership, Ignore him at your peril.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Man City (H)
It’s time to see if the grass is greener on the other side, with new manager Unai Emery at the helm, there is a sense of renewed optimism amongst the ever fickle Gunners fans. Whilst they could not have been given a more difficult opening day fixture, at least its on home turf, surely that has to count for something? It may of course make little difference to the final result, but one man who could help Arsenal take home advantage is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It often takes January signings time to settle in their new surroundings, not the case for Aubameyang; 10 goals, 4 assists and his 6.7 PPM were second only to Sergio Aguero. With almost 25% ownership there are clearly a lot of FPL managers who think Aubameyang will pick up where he left off last season, they may be on to something there.
Good luck in GW1, don’t be too disheartened if you don’t start with a flourish. It’s all about the long game, have faith in the players you’ve picked and if all else fails just remember, it could be worse, Jose Mourinho could be your boss.
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 1. This article was written by Rosco
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Umpteenth draft. Any thoughts?
Looks good – I like the forward line. I would probably go for somebody a bit more nailed than Hudson-Odoi as your bench is pretty thin. Bellerin feels like a punt as we don’t know how the new Arsene-less Arsenal will perform and they have very tough fixturs for the first 2 GW’s. I doubt Mata will get a regular start once the WC players are back.
That’s what the transfers are there for. 😉 He could be a god punt for a couple of weeks. How important is the bench this early on in the season? Who would you have in for Bellerin for the first couple of weeks at 5.5? Coleman??
I have been playing around with NOT having Salah and the team just seems way more balanced. King-> Firmino, Salah -> Mane, Mata-> WIllian/Moura. Surely Mane and Firmino together will score more points than Mo??? No?
For 5.5m main choices are PVA/Coleman for attacking threat but probably not clean sheets, or Bailly for clean sheets. Mata should be fine to start the season.
I’ve done the calculations for Salah – chances are that Mane & Firmino will outscore him, but bear in mind you can stick the captains armband on Salah every week with confidence, which makes it far harder to cover him.
Mata is a world class player with a manager that hates him. He’s a good punt of the price. He might start with other players not been ready.
He needs to be at a different club.
Luton would give him a try out
Here’s my almost ready team with a whopping 2m to spare. I had 2 swaps in mind over the 1st 3gws depending on form or shocks.
Bobby to Kane. And Lucas to miki.
However is how heart going to ruin my keeper plan? Should I drop Ryan to a 4m and make Heaton a 5.5 pick and stick?
Any other points would be great
I know my reasoning but what’s your reasoning behind Van Dijk over Bobbyson?
He scored a good header pre-season and was unlucky not to have more. I think assists a side he would get more BP.
What’s your reason?
Your first reason.
Set pieces and bp’s
Yes mate, I’d defo look at the keepers
Heaton to Ederson yeah.
Cheers GP. That’s the keeper I had in mind
Really feel I need a better striker than Barnes, any ideas?
You could do Jota to Richarlison and Barnes to Jimenez?
I like that GP. How does it look with Mhki?
Yeah that’s good too.
Not that many good options at 6 million, maybe Agustin or Deeney.
Try Rondon since Newcastle can handle any big team
Interesting thought, but those fixtures…
Ok thoughts on KDB and Stephens or Eriksen and Neves
Depends if Stephens needs to play
Not at all but want to have a better option in the event of injury
If it’s bench just go for Stephens (or Gunnarsson). Not sure if McDonald of Fulham is a certain starter but if so he’s another option. 5m on a bench midfield player is .5 wasted.
@Kralin – McDonald’s likely lost his place to Seri.
Hello guys.. The time has come to buckle up and try various combinations for the last few days and then hope you start well…:p
Need a few thoughts:
1. DDG + 4m Back Up or 2*4.5 Keepers?
2. KDB +Firmino or Mane +Kun Aguero?
3.Any United Defence suggestion or rather skip them?
4. Rashford or lingard?
Personally I like Kun, DDG and Firmino. But KDB’s doubt for gw1 is making me think about all other options..have to keep Kun and Firmino out if I need DDG. Long story short is messed up.. Can’t decide anything..:p
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Cheers
1 – whatever you fancy, both are OK options;
2 – option 2, Kun is in good form, Pep loves him almost as much as he loves B Silva – and KDB may not start;
3 – skip as their defence currently resembles a dressing station
4 – don’t think I’d touch either with a bargepole just yet.
Agree with this but I would side with the premium goalkeeper route.
I’m currently torn between flying Fab solo or Pickford and a 4m. I’ve a feeling this one’s going to go to the wire. I don’t normally rotate – just find it frustrating (Foster gets 1 point, Fab on bench has 12 points). Life’s difficult enough.
This time tomorrow I’ll be advocating rotating two 4.5s…
Cool.. Now at least I some reconciliation about what I’m going to do..
If not rashford or Jesse? Any other option? Or use that fund to strengthen defence? Because I have 1-5mil and rest are average 4.5 and one 4mil def
May not be a bad idea to put up an image of your side, or write it out. Much easier to er ‘advise’. What we’re suggesting you may already have, etc.
Hi charanraj,
Looking at question 3 it looks like you want access to Utd back line, so maybe DDG is way to go (as only Utd certainty at mo). Though I should say I have 2 rotating GK’s Fab and Pat.
2. I’d go Mane and aguero. KDB unlikely to start in GW 1, poss not GW 2 either as city home to Huddersfield ‘only’.
4. I’d avoid any Utd mids or striker at mo, though Pogba interests me a little later on once things settle because maybe the Fred purchase will allow Jose to finally push Pogba further forward.
Pog is the only Man U player I currently have on my watchlist. Am watching their defence very closely. Gave up on the idea of Shaw.
Yes. Even I thought Shaw would be an alternative but no idea on how they will line up with Jose going mad before season start.
Yes. Thanks mate for the suggestions. I think it’s more clear now. I have trouble usually selecting players with possible score outcome vs. players I like.. who said fantasy league is actual fantasy coming true.. It’s a nightmare
I wouldn’t overthink it. I’d just go for City and Liverpool players – both sides look in good nick and will create umpteen chances over the next few weeks. Then fill in the gaps. Arsenal’s fixtures look good, arguably from GW2.
Loads of people have put sides up here so there’s plenty of inspiration.
One more query.
Any other option for 5mil defender? I have Liverpool Cover and Keane from Everton.? Worth it? Or replace Keane??
Hi all,
Anyone got any idea on Utd defence for Friday? How long is Valencia out for? No pre-season minutes for Young. Smalling to be sold? Bailly off injured (but just a precaution?). Jones -cr@p.
So short term are they looking at Darmian, Shaw and….. I did have Bailly but now concerned.
Thoughts on best short term mid for City? I’m bringing in KDB as soon as he starts game time but before then…Sane no WC worries, Mahrez a slight knock, thinking Bernardo Silva may just pick up a few early season minutes and some assists on the way. Budget no issue as cash will be left in bank for KDB transfer.
Cheers
I recall Jones being fantastic for bonus points last season. One huge error I made was not starting with him.
Having said that, the Man U defence seems ravaged by illness and neglect, so I’m avoiding.
I’m in the B Silva camp. I can’t believe nearly a third of sides have KDB.
+1
Thanks Kralin,
I can’t decide whether the Utd thing is just Jose up to his tricks or they really are in disarray. I think I may change Bailly but those Utd fixtures look so appealing from a defensive point of view…. hmmmm.
I’m with you on B Silva. Have a mate who is City season ticket holder and thinks B Silva will be the new D Silva!! Think KDB is the man at 10mln but 7.5 for B silva really opens up cash resources elsewhere.
Tempted to buy crystal ball on eBay!
Yeah, crystal balls are very good after a pipe or two of opium. One peers into them through turbid eyes and the world’s mysteries resolve themselves.
(Regular poster) Chipster and I have tried to track down The Aleph, but have yet to succeed.
No United defence for me and I think Bernardo Silva is looking good to start.
Where do you think the stand out defence is GP? I have Robertson and Mendy. Normally a Utd def or GK is a definite. Arse poor fixtures, Chelsea new manager and system, Spurs bought no-one and all on hols, Everton shipping goals for fun pre-season and Burnley in Europa. Where to go????
Go to the Palace.
I think Luiz may be worth it from Chelsea. Monreal next. They’re fixtures are OK after the first two.
Yeah Palace cover in there too I think.
Have palace coverage with obi wan (Palace only let in 37 in last 31 games last season once Woy got his feet under table and played City and Utd away). Obi wan done well in pre-season and started games at end of last season. Think he could be £4mln of gold dust!!
Chelsea… Luiz….. Still can’t believe I might start a FF season without Utd defensive coverage. Feels wrong!!!
Even in skeptical now about United Defence. The only sure shot way into the United def is DDG. I made a mistake last year to leave him out for first few initial weeks but luckily had Jones instead.
You never know if Jose is playing some tricks or he really thinks that they are shitty this season without new players.