Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 1
Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 1
With 45 attacking returns (36 goals, 9 assists) in the 22/23 season, it’s hard to imagine betting against the Norwegian meat shield (that’s Earlng Haaland to the uninitiated!) in any given game week. However, a closer look at his numbers and you’ll see that 30 of those 45 returns came at the Etihad so if you’re going to go against the masses at any point this season then I’d recommend that you limit those dalliances to the weeks that City are playing away.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not recommending that this is something you should do on a regular basis, and indeed there is every chance that in doing so you end up worse off, but on occasion, you ‘might’ end up better off looking elsewhere. With that in mind, we’ve asked some of our greatest minds (ahem) to come up with this week’s best alternatives! And him…
Just before you go asny further though, we have been quite busy in pre-season so don’t forget to check back over the previous articles where you will find analysis of all three promoted teams, as well as our comprehensive guide to pre-season friendlies which The Gallant Pioneer has updated meticulously as they have happened.
As for our core articles please check out these four beauties –
Rosco – Rashford v Wolves (H)
So, with City travelling to Burnley in GW1 we have one such opportunity, but, are you brave enough to go against Haaland and his 85%+ ownership? If you are then Marcus Rashford at home to Wolves is certainly worth the conversation. A disappointing 21/22 season saw Rashford come in at just £6.5m (in 22/23) and he proved to be something of a bargain, finishing the season with 205pts, some 31pts higher than his previous best. 32 starts produced 24 attacking returns (17 goals, 7 assists), much like Haaland, Rashford excelled at home, starting 18 matches at Old Trafford and picking up 18 attacking returns (13 goals, 5 assists.
The Red Devils face a Wolves side that struggled for much of last season. In their 19 away games they managed just a single shutout and their 38 goals conceded was the fourth worst in the league, whilst it’s a new season and defensive recruitments have been drafted in, the jury is still out on how Julen Lopetegui’s men will perform this season. So, I guess once more it comes down to your risk profile, the gains are there to be had, but the risks should not be dismissed out of hand!
Kop – Haaland v Burnley (A)
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
I’m all about the easy life, so when the call went out for GW1 writers I immediately plumbed for the Norwegian as capo…
I could obviously bamboozle you with stats at this stage, but given that he currently features in 86.3% of teams, I don’t really see the need. He scored 36 goals last season and nobody will be surprised should he better that tally this season.
How’s he done in pre-season? I honestly have no idea. However, if you were to tell me that he’s spent the summer selling sausage rolls at the local Greggs, I’d still give him the armband in GW1!!
I hope you all enjoy this article, as there’s unlikely to be a need for many of them over the course of the season…
OddDane – Saka v Forest (H)
Next in line is a genius move, if I may so boldly say, and I will… In fact I just said it! Forget what you´ve read so far and most importantly, ignore the Norwegian pony-tail guy.
Saka is your pick, and I´ll tell you why in two words.
Nottingham Forest.
That´s right my friends, your captain is playing Forest up next. At home. The team that lost 5-0 against some Rennes team, that´s surely some kind of mustard, right? (Okay, okay, that´s a good team I´ll admit…). It is also the very same team who lost 2-0 against Leeds (that’s not good, surely!). In fact, they haven´t scored in (or won!) any of their last seven friendlies (apart from the 2-1 win against Levante, and.. err.. a 1-0 win against Notts County seven games ago… Wherever that is). Yes, impressive right?
So that´s the clean sheet secured! And Haaland doesn´t get any of those, that´s the beauty of it – you´re already ahead in the count!
Next up, Saka can take corners. Haaland does not. Assists galore!
And goals? Saka has two goals and three assists in pre-season, and Haaland has how many pre-season goals? Erm, also two you say..? Moving on…
(mumble mumble Saka gets one more point from goals… mumble, mumble, shush now! Don´t tell the silly Haaland holders…)
Well, he´s on pens! (Probably. Having just missed one, the verdict is maybe not certain) And Haaland? He gets subbed off and City loses in a penalty shoot out. Ha! Got you there!
Finally to end on a high note, Forest ended the league with 68 goals conceded and had the third worst xGA record. They´ve also lost their star keeper (well returned him from loan more like it) and are signing Arsenal´s Turner who is 2nd choice between the post (or was he 3rd in line?). Granted, they may get Henderson or some other unlucky fella. Alas, not in time to stop you getting these genius, yes genius, captain points!
The confessional…
This is where we ask our entire writing team to tell us who they think they will pick this week…. There are more caveats and get out clauses than a meeting with Daniel Levy but this is their initial gut feeling based upon who they actually own. And they promise that their picks will be allowed to leave for free if a better offer comes along…
Loud Atlas — Haaland
Kop — Haaland
Rosco — Haaland
Ellefcee — Erling
Floydeth — Haaland
Init — Haaland
Gear — Haaland
Stone Frog — Haaland
Jamie Mc — Haaland
Smash — Same as everyone else in the game
DMC — Same as Smash
The Gallant Pioneer — Haaland
Jamessimmo — Same as Smash and DMC
Ivan — Rashford
Swirly — Haaland
Matt — Saka
OddDane — Probably not the same as Matt
VOTE ON THIS WEEK’S CAPTAIN POLL
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 1.
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I think this is it for me. Any last thoughts? Is Bruno on penalties ? Ideally prefer Rashford but not sure where to cough out another 0.5m
Click on image to enlarge:
Yes I think Bruno is on pens, but if you would like rashy then I would downgrade udogie to another 4m defender and start chilwell for potential attacking returns
More tinkering but I think I’m happy with this one. Please rate my team
Click on image to enlarge:
Triple Brighton could be overkill but I do like the rest of the draft.
I have noticed lots of managers not spending all money this year for later. Can’t see advantage of this. Isn’t it better to save transfer in GW2 have 2FT for GW3.