Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 1 2017/18
Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 1. “The First Cut is the Deepest”. “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”. First come, first served. Love at first sight. Make a good first impression. The first US President, George Washington. The first Tour de France champion, Maurice Garin. The first winner of ‘The Voice’ in Lithuania, Julija Jegorova.
To truly leave your mark or carve out a legacy you often need to make that first step count. Just like Neil Armstrong did in some 1969 Kubrick movie I saw.
Your first FPL captain of 2017/18 has a lot to live up to. Last season Philippe Coutinho topped the GW1 charts with a 15 point haul, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 9 points proved that FPL new boys can hit the ground running. Those of us swerving players from promoted teams may do well to recall Alvaro Negredo’s goal and max bonus point haul on day 1 against Stoke. Oh come on, you must remember him. He played football. Y’know, for that team.
Onto some of the prime candidates for this weekend then. A new face, some familiar old friends, and a huge Belgian who traded blue for red, but I won’t spoil the tension by revealing his identity just yet. First up…
ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE (ARSENAL vs Leicester City)
£52 million. Do you remember when that used to be a lot of money? Arsene probably still remembers, marking as it did a rare splurge for the Gunner’s record-busting marquee signing. Allegedly, Frenchman Lacazette used to skip English lessons at school to play football, and who can blame him. I used to skip geography class and it never did me any harm. Though there was that one unfortunate episode where I had to flee from Parisian cops across the sand dunes of Machu Picchu.
Just the two pre-season strikes against Sydney FC and Sevilla doesn’t give us too much insight into the impact he’ll have at home to the Foxes, but he showed promising glimpses at Wembley in Sunday’s curtain-raiser and was unlucky not to score. His 28 goals in 30 Ligue 1 matches leaves little doubt about the former Lyon hitman’s pedigree.
HARRY KANE (Newcastle United vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR)
Kane polished off the final two games of 2016/17 with a ridiculous 7 goals to become the first player to win the Golden Boot in consecutive years since Robin van Persie. Another goal in last week’s convincing 2-0 friendly win over Juventus at Spurs’ new Wembley home suggests more of the same to come.
An away trip to a newly promoted team, however, ranks as one of the trickier ways to start a campaign. St. James’ Park will provide its usual pulsating atmosphere, surely amplified even further by a return to the big stage after a brief hiatus; and Rafa’s boys will be keen to prove they’ve learned from the mistakes of yore.
But this is Harry Kane, and if you’ve thrown 12.5m of your FPL budget at him to make him ‘one of your own’, then you’ll probably want to give him the armband.
ROBERTO FIRMINO (Watford vs LIVERPOOL)
21 goals and 19 assists in his two seasons at Anfield thus far make the Brazilian an irresistible FPL option for many, spearheading a Klopp team that’s been set up to go for the jugular. Firmino’s productivity can surely only blossom further with the likes of Mane, Salah and (at the time of writing) Coutinho criss-crossing around him like the Red Arrows on methylphenidate.
Watford’s difficult season reached its nadir with a 6-1 thrashing at Liverpool, signalling the start of the end for former boss Mazzari. The Hornets scraped home in 17th, culminating in a 5-0 humiliation at Man City, and their fans must surely be apprehensive about the coming campaign. If both teams carry on where they left off in May, expect the odd Bobby dazzler.
GABRIEL JESUS/SERGIO AGUERO (Brighton vs MANCHESTER CITY)
The phrase ‘to hedge ones bets’ was first used by George Villiers, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, in his 1672 satirical play ‘The Rehearsal’. I don’t know why I brought that up, but there you go.
It’s likely that you’ve got one of Jesus or Aguero. It’s unlikely that you’ve got both. If you have? Well then I can only… umm… OH LOOK OVER THERE! *runs away*
A look at their average points per 90 from last season shows that maybe it IS worth having both Jesus (9.26) and Aguero (6.55). Both have had their injury problems though and City’s squad depth exposes even these two to occasionally being ‘Pepped’. Is that a thing? No? Sod it, it is now. We should be able to enjoy the two of them sharing points aplenty at least until the Champions League rolls into town.
ROMELU LUKAKU (MANCHESTER UNITED vs West Ham)
£75 million. Do you remember when that used to be a lot of money? Nope, neither does Mourinho who had already set the precedent for this summer’s monstrous displays of profligacy with his 2016 purchase of serial woodwork abuser Paul Pogba. Our boy Romelu however, doesn’t need to re-calibrate his shooting accuracy as he’s already shown with a few goals in pre-season.
Being pipped at the post for the Golden Boot by Kane may give him even more fire to reach the 30 goal mark this time round. Starting against Joe Hart will help, a man who should perhaps concentrate less on his head & shoulders, and more on his hands & arms.
West Ham, to be fair, have bought well during the summer and look like an exciting prospect. They’ve been leaking goals for fun in pre-season however, and one would expect Lukaku to make a big impact on his debut.
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Gameweek Tracker GW1-11
Looking for alternative 6m ish options other then J Rod. What do people think of Afobe, seems to have had a good pre season
I’m not sure about Afobe mainly because I haven’t followed Bournemouth’s preseason. The only other 6 mil I’ve been looking at is Mounie at Huddersfield.
I just can’t see him starting. It will be King and Defoe surely
It’s slim pickings. So slim I ended up killing a mid and upgrading to an 8.5m
Yeah same it’s whether I want to take a massive punt on Abraham or go with Firmino. I like Salah though
He’s scoring well Beaker but Defoe is going to come in to take his place surely.
Yeah, suppose it’s hard to compete against Defoe, will keep an eye out
Danilo, Cedric and Ince or
Walker, Dummet and Walters?
Walker, Dummett and Walters but I would probably go with Lascalles instead. I believe he is more nailed on.
1st one but I’m fine with second one as well. I’m not sure Lascalles starts as Clark and new guy have had a fair amount of games together
Whose the new guy, Smash?
Lejeune
Ah right well I haven’t a clue then Hatter haha
How nailed is Danilo? Is there a chance he’ll put Sane there?
Yep certainly at home. We know Sane will get game time
Bit of a risk with Danilo then.
Add to that Mendy. But whoever plays will get points.
Lads, Pancho making us all talk about following the herd has got me thinking. I don’t think I actually like Willian in my side. Don’t think Chelsea will be good attacking wise for the first few weeks. I can’t decide who is the better replacement another 7 mil, which there isn’t a lot of, or downgrading to the likes of Ince or Richtie and upgrading elsewhere, what do you think?
It seems quite a big downgrade Willian/Fab to Ritchie and Ince
Who is to say Ritchie/Ince won’t outscore Fab/Willian. Back to Panchos template v gut instinct.
It might not be but Chelsea midfielder down to Newcastle/Huddersfield I’d expect there to be a big difference in the league table
Not necessarily for the first few weeks due to fixtures.
Not completely against it Chelsea start is tough
Yeah I just have this feeling that Chelsea aren’t going to be as attacking without Haz, with Morata not up to speed and Pedro wearing that cursed Zorro mask. I think it might be wiser to spend the money elsewhere rather than going with Willian/Fab just because others are. It could backfire big time but it’s the only part of my team I don’t feel comfortable about.
Go for it Matt. Theres always next season.
Exactly
I said in my contribution to the debate that I don’t pressure people either way, so do what you want
:hippo:
Don’t even know where to begin with that particular oxymoron Matt
Basically it’s just to get a replacement for Willian. My gut can’t come up with a replacement, stupid thing!! haha
Zaha
I would rate both of them equally mate
Zaha and Willian that is
My gut picked Willian for me, not sure if you can use other people’s guts though or if it has to be your own 😉
Ince or Ritchie?
If it had to be one
Coin toss between Ritchie and Ince both look like decent options
Will definitely need to have another think and study the fixtures and that. Right now I’m leaning towards Ince due to fixtures.
Red VT + Brooky, can you get yourselves into the regulars leagues please.
Make this a hot comment for the time being. May be that’ll help
Nish, i keep posting when different names are posting. But wait till 18-45 on Friday, 40 people come on here and say they knew nothing about it.
:smiling:
Hey elle, did you get my email a while back? Not sure it got to the right place. Would love to get in again.
Hey Col, i’ve mailed you, hope you have the same mail address.
Is there no one who is looking for a 3-5-2? With Firmino Kane and a 4.5mn bench fodder up top?
Nope mainly because it doesn’t seem like there is any 4.5 that even has a slight chance of playing. If there was a player like Anichebe that might get the odd point if it was ever needed I’d consider it.
Cheers Matt
I’ll just put the thought away right now
Haha who were you thinking of in midfield, Nish?
KDB, Willian, Zaha, Pogba/Miki and Ince/Ritchie
With Alonso being the only pricey defender and only one 4.5mn playing goalie
Hmm that’s a nice looking midfield but it sounds like a poor defence which I don’t really like. It depends on how many CS/ goals will be gotten this season, Nish.
Cheers Matt
Kane,Jesus,(J.Ayew SWA 5.0) here
He had good form end of the season , tho doubts with Siggy leaving & not heard of plans to get a quality replacement , Swans could be the quickest to book a place in the Championship.
What are the best options, if any, for 4m defenders and is Davies the best option if trippier is out? Thanks guys.
Think Davies will start as both Trippier and Rose are carrying injuries.
Thanks Elle any suggestions for 4m defenders?
right now the best plan with a 4.0 is not to buy the one with the highest ownership.
IF (& its a big IF) any of the others get a turn on the pitch Rangel is going to hit 3.8 pretty quick