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
Ok lets take a crack at this attempt of a squad…
Foster Elliot
Trippier Alonso Bertrand Yedlin* Rangel
Pogba KdB Ramsey* Murphy Carroll
Lukaku Kane JRod
* will change due to injury
Could swap Bertrand, Murphy and Ramsey to Cedric, Atsu, D.Silva/B.Silva/Sterling
Seems like Atsu has had a very good preseason
No Liverpool attack could backfire.
Yeah you right
Maybe bring in Firmino for JRod… Atsu for Murphy… Cedric for Bertrand… then Ill have 5,5m for a Mid to take Ramsey’s place…
Mids will be too weak then
Back to the drawing board… unless I downgrade my defense
I’d start with Pogba tbh mate – you already have Kaku and I wouldn’t be too keen on doubling up in attack on a side that recorded only 49 and 54 goals in their last two seasons.
Yeah I get that, but this year Miki is settled, Martial and Rashford have learnt from the previous season… Matic is holding now so Pogba can do what he does and Lukaku is the focus point (surely he wants to get that golden boot)… Also its Jose’s 2nd season syndrome…
I really believe that United will be scoring more goals and Pogba and Lukaku will have great seasons
United fan, Pan?
+1
I like the team, but no Pool attack is not something I’ll be mimicking.
Yeah I’d prefer Salah or Mane but seem to be stuck with Firmino. I can see Liverpool scoring more than United. I’m not sure why United are suddenly going to win the league. They have replaced Ibra with Lukaku and ain’t done anything else attacking wise
I actually chose to switch to Firmino, but I can see why you would prefer Salah/Mane. Can see Firmino being quite assist focused this year, but hopefully he stays on penalties. They should get plenty this year.
I’m not going with Pool cover for now. Might regret it but think I have better options especially if Coutinho doesn’t start
Then go with Salah – could be even more rewarding!
He won’t play as well without Coutinho
Which 4 mil defender to choose to sit on bench that will play?
Can’t see any playing. At the moment I think Mason is your best bet, but don’t rely on him.
I’m just picking one with low ownership and not expecting them to be needed.
Maybe my final team… Maybe….
If coutinho isn’t fit he’ll be replaced my Mané and Bertrand will become cedric.
I’m aware of my lack of gunners but I just can’t se how to get them in. Kompany to Bellerin Maybe…
Kompany could be Kolasinac and Coutinho could be Salah
I very much like Kolasinac but Kompany is absolute key to Man City defence being strong enough for this season. If he is injured they will not be champions.
Doesn’t make him a better FPL-asset mind
Great start to the Captaincy articles! Great work Bry, I learn so much from your articles, usually nothing about FPL 😉 but I still feel better for it.
Sup dudes, long time no see.
I’m not convinced by the cheap options in midfield and attack; hence, I’ve opted for a 4-3-3 to start the season. Mili is clearly the weak point, but I don’t think it’s worth downgrading say Alonso or de Gea to get in someone like Ritchie for him. Lascelles and Mee will rotate for the 4th defender spot. I had Trippier in place of Danilo before his injury, and the injury news regarding Mendy and Trippier will determine if I go with Danilo or Davies.
Whatchu guys think?
And of course, many thanks for this Bry. Entertaining article! I’m going Lukaku myself.
Doesn’t look bad, I mean you know is going to be a nightmare picking your 3rd mid every week, but other than that you look solid in the other 10 positions. I went with Dummett for NUFC I think, I thought he was the safest of the Newcastle back 4.
Danilo probably has the most potential out of the City defenders over the first few weeks. You think Pep will just wait until after the Break to give Mendy a game?
Pep said 26th July that Mendy had a small injury and would be ready in 2-3 weeks. Whether “ready” means injury-free or match fit I don’t know, but it’s noteworthy that City have a friendly against Girona between GW 1 and 2 so he could get minutes there and be match fit before the break.
I had Dummett also, but someone asked which Newcastle defender was the most nailed on and someone mentioned Lascelles as both nailed on and a threat on set pieces.
I’m not sure lascelles starts. Clark and new guy have been starting in pre season so I’ve gone Dummett as Yedlin is out
Didn’t know that Smash! Maybe I’ll swap back to Dummett then
How are we Tekno Danilo not nailed on , maybe change Las to Hegazi WBA rotate nice with Bur (Mee) . I’m not sure one 5m & two 4.5m will cut it although Carroll has been promising pre season not a bad team overall good to see you back 😉
Sup Silvers, I’ll look into WBA and Burnley rotation. Weak 3rd mid I know, but allows for a stronger team overall.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO