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
I’ve been on two City attackers for a while now, but not having Kaku is worrying me given his ownership and fixtures. I don’t think any of United’s mids will compete with him for points, even factoring in the price difference.
Would you prefer KDB, Jesus and Martial/Pogba/Mkhi or KDB, Kaku and Zaha/Fab? Really is a tough decision as I think City will be awesome this year.
2nd option , and probably go for zaha . Ive just turfed Aguerro for Kane , lost Alli for KDB and brought in Mili
Cheers Yogis. If Martial starts tonight I am very tempted to stick with what I’ve got, but going without Kaku is a huge risk given his ownership and fixtures (and quality!)
I’m in exactly the same boat AT. Currently going with Miki instead of Lukaku but trying everything to fit him in.
Very tricky, ain’t it? I’m hoping Mkhi/Martial plays awesome again tonight and I don’t have to do anything haha.
Very tricky indeed
My logic when picking a pair between Lukaku, Kane and Jesus (Aguero) is to compare the midfield options in the said teams.
To retain some diversification in the beginning I am looking to have a big hitter from all of the above teams.
Therefore I look at what options exist in the teams midfield.
Alternative to Lukau: Mikhi, Pogba, Martial both at 8M.
Alternative to Kane: Alli, Eriksen both at 9,5M
Alternative to Jesus (Aguero): KdB at 10M
I find it more likely that the value vs points of Mikhi/Pogba is higher than both the Spurs and City midfield players.
Therefore I have (currently) decided to drop Lukaku for Mikhi, and thereby be able to field both of Jesus and Kane.
Well.. at least it’s an attempt at making a rational choice.. 😛
Yeah, that’s what I try to do, but it’s coming down on that decision you so easily wrote down that is the tricky part! I think it will be tight between the top mids this year. Should Mkhi and Martial get a lot of game time this season I think you are right. I would be more than happy to ditch Lukaku for such high-scoring mids, but with Rashford and Lingard (lol) as well as anyone else Mou might try to bring in I’m having my doubts on their game time. Neither truly cemented a spot last year, although Mkhi was on his way and has had an impressive pre-season (the pair of them have).
Pogba may work but it is alien to me to choose an out-and-out central midfielder for FPL. Matic may ‘release’ him, but that remains to be seen.
Who’s a 4m defender guaranteed a start?
Sadly Ziddy, I’m not sure there is one. Mason looks the best bet, but even still I doubt it (unless I haven’t spotted any recent injuries to first teamers).
Morning gents,,
Any overall thoughts so far? Just started to tinker with my team..
What do you think of Mikhi? I think he have looked good in the few matches I have seen, but what about his gametime?
Also, I can’t seem to see anyone picking Pedro – any particular reason for not picking him?
My plan is to rotate Mee, Suttner and Francis.
Not sure about the 3rd striker spot as well.
Have 1M in the bank.
Comments and thoughts are appreciated as always.
I can’t see Miki not playing given the pre-season he has had. Pedro probably carries the same risk as Willian in terms of rotation once Hazard is back.
You reckon he’s a better bet than Pogba?
I back Pogba to have a massive season. Jose loves him, he will play all the time and that small signing of Matic means he is free to go forward… unfortunately Martial/Miki are rotation risks with Rashford/Lingard/Mata/etc
+1
That’s what I’m thinking Pan. I much prefer Miki but for that reason that’s why it’s on Pogba and hope your right on him
I think you should keep Austin as a third striker. He’s in my team too. Although his playing situation is not very clear,favourable fixtures at the beginning make me take that risk. Worth taking a shot.
About Mikhi,and this is United fan speaking, I think he will do well,but Pogba at the same price seems much worthy to me. Honestly i have neither,cause I’m going with Lukaku,but between those too,i’d rather go with Pogba.
Cheers
Krca have you seen any of Man United in pre-season. How has Pogba looked because I don’t think he has a goal or assist to his name.
That concerns me a lot
I guess he’s only played 45 minutes (was it?) with Matic in the side which is what most are basing a spike in form on.
hi guys rmt plz
foster
blind lascelles cedric
kdb salah willian knokaert
lukaku(c) kane gayle
bench: myhill loftuscheek suttner hudson
any advices plz?
I’m not 100% sure lascelles starts. The other 2 have been preferred so I have Dummett currently. Gayle is a doubt but looks good
Hi Smash, was he not suffering a minor injury? I also have him in my current squad. Might go for Dummet to be on the safe side.
Is Yoshida going to be a starter? Or rather go with Cedric?
Or is it worth finding another 0.5m for Bertrand?
Yes, yes and yes
I’m going Cedric. He played 60 mins and he weren’t off that long on holiday plus will have another weeks training
See Im currently on Bertrand… however Im playing with options and that 0,5m extra can go a long way
Bernardo Silva, David Silva or Sterling?
Bernardo, it may seem kinda risky,but i believe he’ll have instant impact in city offense
David is safer
City… great attack… tooooo many options
I wouldn’t be confident with any.
+1
Sterling’s pre-season attracts me, but I really can’t see any of those three being 90 minute players week-in-week-out. KDB is probably the only one that will get near that, maybe Jesus and Aguero depending on formation.