Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 20

Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 20 2017/18

Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 20. Boxing Day footy is one of the great traditions of a British Christmas. Whether one dons their hat, gloves and scarf to attend the matches or settles down on the sofa to watch on tv, we are set for a football feast. And in FPL terms, this is a great time to make great strides on ones mini-league rivals who may easily miss a deadline or not keep up with press conference comments.

There are of course other Boxing Day traditions and let’s look at some as we explore and analyse who is the best candidate for your all-important FPL armband in GW20.

The Fox Hunt
Richarlison – home vs Leicester
Despised by many, yet still enjoyed by some the fox hunt is a tradition that dates back to the 16th century. Boxing Day is one of the most popular days to don the tweed jacket, jodphurs and boots and we have our very own FPL fox hunt as Watford entertain the foxes of Leicester.

Leicester shipped 3 goals at home to Palace in GW18 and have only kept one clean sheet on the road this season. Watford’s form may be somewhat questionable of late, but we know that there are normally always goals when they play. Ok, it’s not always evident in which net the goals will fly, but with Boxing Day matches generally bringing goals, the skippering of Richarlison may yet be the key to a rise in the rankings. Starved of Troy Deeney, Richarlison will be key to Watford’s chances of a win and despite him being somewhat wasteful in front of goal, the fact that he is getting himself on the end of these chances suggests a haul is never far away.

The Boxing Day Test
Man City midfield away vs Newcastle
Yes we’re talking cricket here and yes I know most of you probably either hate the game or have never seen it. Despite your lack of cultural understanding, I forgive you and won’t hold it against you. We can still be friends. The most famous Boxing Day test match takes place in Melbourne – and this year it’s even more special as England are the visitors. Sadly the Poms are 3-0 down already and the Ashes are lost. The Aussie machine have totally outplayed their opposition – as have of course Manchester City in this season’s Premier League. Whether your City midfield representative is KDB, Sterling or Sane, we would happily recommend giving him the armband this week. City haven’t lost in the league vs Newcastle since 2005 and have scored at least two goals in each league meeting in all but one of their last 16 clashes. With all three midfielders being in such hot form and with the Toon struggling in their return to the top flight, there is no reason to suggest that the City juggernaut will not power on. And the Aussie machine will likely continue the trend also

A Day at the Races
Harry Kane home vs Southampton
Boxing Day racing is one of the most popular days on the racing calendar with meetings held all over the country. The most famous of which is the King George meeting at Kempton Park. FPL’s own thoroughbred is of course Harry Kane – 21 goals in 2014/15, 25 goals in 2015/16, 29 goals last season and 12 goals already this term illustrate that he is always a hot favourite to back when selecting your captain. He has suffered to an extent this season given the form of City and Liverpool, while Spurs are not dominating matches or indeed the scoring charts as they have in seasons past. However a match vs Southampton should provide Kane will plenty of opportunities to reward his backers – with Southampton facing a couple of injuries at the back and the future of Virgil van Dijk still uncertain, the odds on a Kane goal or two are fairly short and seem like a stable bet to me. It may well be that a Prince Harry is the way to go rather than the King George this Boxing Day.

The Boxing Day sales
Eden Hazard home vs Brighton
Despite many online sales now starting as early as Christmas Day, for some reason some people still like to spend their Boxing Day shopping on the high street. Of course, there are few more civilised places to shop than on the King’s Road in south west London. First made famous in the Swinging Sixties, the King’s Road retains its charm and appeal, but it is events just a block away that garner our FPL interest in GW20. Chelsea entertain the minnows of Brighton this Boxing Day and while Eden Hazard may not be the bargain we are looking for, the quality remains worth the money. The Blues haven’t lost a Boxing Day fixture for 14 seasons, winning four of the last five and while the form of Pedro and Willian is inconsistent, while the game time of Alvaro Morata is in doubt, Hazard is the one constant, the ace in the pack, the penalty taker, the one true world class attacker in the team who has shown of late that he is on top of his game, despite that maybe not translating to FPL points, but he is, regardless.

The Boxing Day walk
Mohamed Salah home vs Swansea
For many folk the favoured recourse on Boxing Day is to walk off the excesses of the festivities of the day before. Whether it be a hangover or a full stomach a good walk in the country on a crisp yet bright Boxing Day morning is just the ticket to get yourself back to normality.

For Mohamed Salah this season has been a walk in the park. Having failed at Chelsea, the attacking midfielder plied his trade in Italy for Fiorentina and Roma before joining Liverpool in the summer. He would not have been near many people’s prediction as leading scorer at Christmas, but such is his form, this is where he finds himself. Right at the top of the tree. It’s truly been a star-studded half a season for Salah and with Swansea the Boxing Day visitors to Anfield, many FPL managers will skipper the midfielder and walk with the Egyptian.

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 20

This article was written by Cookie .
Follow @SteveCook9

Gameweek Tracker GW20-24
This includes all of the festive fixtures. This will be your best friend at Christmas. Take a screenshot and save it somewhere on your phone…