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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***NEW ARTICLE – CAPO PICKS GW1***
Many thanks to Rosco and Odd Dane for a valiant, but probably somewhat futile attempt, to present the case against Haaland. And congrats to Kop for the shortest lived retirement in FPL history….
I tried…and I’ll try again!!
Is anyone going to risk not captaining Haaland at any point in the season?
I think if one was going to try, opening weekend would be the time.
Assuming Haaland stays healthy and has any kind of a return, this will be an interesting article as the year goes on trying to convince people to take a dare. But yeah, I’ll be boring and stick with the herd on this one.
Hello everyone,
I decided to give FPL another go this season after taking a break last year. How is my team looking?
Areola will become Turner when he’s confirmed as a NFO player
Welcome back! I’ll be honest. It looks like most Salah teams. Seems like the great debate right now is to start with Salah or Kane. Personally I’m sitting on the Kane route this evening but that’s changed multiple times since Monday. I like the team honestly.
I think I’m going to raise 0.5 by switching Odegaard to Martinelli, which I can use to upgrade Mee to Chilwell and also switch Mings to Pinnock so I still have Brentford defense
Getting Chilwell is good, my only quibble would be that your defence looks a tad light at present (two premiums will do that though).
Welcome back Veer!
Strong squad. Few different names. Don’t mind it.
Hi everyone, good to be back. Which of these 2 drafts looks better and anything else I could improve on? Thanks
Or keep chilwell and replace estupinan for 4 mil bench fodder
Or instead of fernandes get rashford and a 4 mil defender?
Yeah Kane will be ripping this to bits shortly!
Benching headaches in the first one. What will you do if Kane goes?
Jackson + Rashford OR
Darwin + Bruno Fernandes?
Prefer Jackson + Rashford
yup easy one that… jackson and rashford
Jackson & Rashford