Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 21 NYE Special
Ass Hats
After most us of us got our ass handed to us on a rotating plate over the weekend we thought it wise to bring in the old hands to steady both the ship and the nerves ahead of the next gameweek before everybody loses their sh*t and starts captaining Danny Ings, or something equally as daft…
After the crap shoot that was GW20 then let’s move on swiftly and this week we have Matt, AT, Rosco and Kop all stepping up to calm our nerves and reassure us that our captains will both play and play well…
And Swirly with his annual infographic. But more on that later.
Matt – Jamie Vardy
Let’s get straight to the p(oint)arty (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
My last bit of writing for 2019 and I get to end it with the Vardy Party! Vardy features in 51.5% of teams so capping him is a wise move because if he goes off on one, and you don’t, you could be left in the dust. A few gameweeks back, Brendan Rodgers mentioned how he will need to give Vardy a rest soon but I think we can now forget about those worries. GW20 saw Vardy miss out completely, not because of Rodgers, but because Rebecca Vardy was popping out a baby rather than checking up on Colleen Rooney’s insta feed. Congrats to the couple and thank you as now Vardy has gotten that rest and should be straight back into the team this week. Vardy did blank for the first time in GW19, since GW8, but in both those matches he played Liverpool so I think we can forgive him. Happy New Year people and let’s hope the party doesn’t stop with Vardy banging in a few goals against Newcastle!
AT – Danny Ings!
Despite previously scoring against Spurs, Ings’ team-mates discuss how he could possibly have made it into this week’s Capo article on FF247. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
You’ll have noticed the exclamation mark. I didn’t put it there. I think it’s the editor’s way of telling me I better pull a rabbit out of the hat here whilst simultaneously telling you I’ve lost my marbles; that look you give someone when your mate is chatting utter b*llocks next to you. Captaining Danny Ings is a risk for sure. No doubt about it. Perhaps wrongly, I don’t even have him in my team. Even more disingenuously, I currently have no intention of bringing him in. Now that the sales pitch is off to a flyer, let’s move swiftly onto the stats.
Not long ago, I predicted (rather gingerly) that Spurs’ last three fixtures would all see both teams find the back of the net. BTTS for you (us) betting addicts. If it wasn’t for Heung-Min Son watching The Karate Kid the evening before the Chelsea game, I (now boldly and confidently) assert that it would have been a full house. If I had looked further down the fixture list, I would have had no hesitation in chucking this fixture into the ‘both teams’ bag too. In fact, the stats for Southampton v Spurs so strongly point towards both teams scoring that it probably means they won’t do! That’s the nature of the beast.
You have to go back one year to the day – Cardiff v Spurs on 1st January 2019 – to find Spurs’ most recent clean sheet on the road in the Premier League. This season, Wolves and Everton are the only sides to have just scored a solitary goal passed a visiting Spurs side. Granted, the other eight fixtures have included trips to both Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Leicester and Liverpool but Brighton still managed to put three away and West Ham and Norwich bagged two apiece.
The Saints only failed to score at home on two occasions in 2019; once in the 9-0 drubbing at the hands of Leicester (in which Danny Ings was replaced at half-time) and again in December when West Ham rolled out as 1-0 victors. Whilst it is also the case that Ings’ side has only managed to score more than one goal at home on just two occasions this season (against Watford and Norwich), this hasn’t stopped Ings from scoring 12 goals and grabbing an assist. In the 15 games he has played passed the hour mark, the forward has scored an impressive 11 goals. Having watched the majority of the Boxing Day victory over Chelsea from the bench, Ings will surely be leading the line on New Year’s Day. Three bonus points on six separate occasions so far has helped him amass 24 of the little beauties this season; just one fewer than table-topping Jamie Vardy.
Despite all this, I sense Southampton’s less than impressive home goals record is sat at the forefront of your mind. Push it back. Forget about it. Hassenhüttl’s men had to weather a pretty bad fixture storm at the start of the season. St Mary’s was descended upon by Liverpool, Manchester United, Leicester and Chelsea (in Lampard’s October purple patch). Chuck in away trips to Manchester City, Wolves and Spurs and the picture becomes a little more forgiving. With those games out of the way, the Saints have scored 2+ in five of their last eight matches. A clear improvement on managing 2+ goals in just one of their preceding 12 matches. On a purely individual level, it is worth noting that Ings scored in the reverse of this fixture earlier in the season.
I know what you’re thinking: “if Ings is really as good a pick as you say he is, why haven’t you got him in your team, and, perhaps more pertinently, why aren’t you bringing him in?” Quite simply, I don’t like his upcoming fixtures. If I had him already, I would most likely hand him the armband this week. Sure, City and Liverpool players are going to be strong contenders this week, but Ings is worthy of your serious consideration.
Fortune favours the bold. Except when it doesn’t.
Rosco – Mo Salah
Cpatain Mane, Captain Mane, Captain Mane… #evilSmash (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? After day one (Saturday) GW20 was looking like one to forget, that was of course before a ball had even been kicked on day two (Sunday) when many of the ‘big hitters’ came into play. Rest and rotation looked to have ruined the festive spirits and then, less than 24hrs later it was back to business as usual. Could anyone have imagined just how bad day one was going to turn out? I doubt it. Should we all have just chilled and waited for the Game week to play out? Evidentially.
I saw more than a few ML opponents post scores that showed fewer points than players Played. Ouch. Anyone who took a hit was in dire straits and Jamie Vardy (or are least his missus) chose the worst day possible to welcome child number 25 (I may have exaggerated here) into the world. So as Init says, we’re here to tell you all to calm down, you never know what’s around the corner after all.
I’ll admit, I’m in good spirits, for me, GW20 worked out well, for me. However, for every Mane or KDB captain pick, there’s a Salah (C) who now has him lined up as a GW21 sacrifice, but hold on I say to thee. Over the last four game-weeks, Salah still outscores teammate Sadio 35 to 23 (though Mane has played a fixture less) and whilst the Senegalese frontman may have taken the plaudits at the weekend, who’s to say their roles will not be reversed as we begin the new decade? In truth, I would have headed up this pick as Salah/Mane, but Init pointed out that Smash doesn’t like two-way picks. So, as a mark of respect to my fellow contributor Smash, captain Salah. If you don’t own him, pick someone else and obviously not another Liverpool midfielder who scores a lot and has a stripe running through his hair. Oh and happy new year!! X
Kop – Raul Jimenez
I love going last, I can just kick everyone else in the nuts! (pic by Getty Images)
Before we signed up to write a piece in this article we were given but one instruction, “keep it brief, it’s an unexpected filler so no need to go nuts.”
Not for the first time, AT chose to ignore the instruction and instead he wrote his version of War & Peace. Then there’s Matt who stuck to the brief but seemed more interested in Jamie Vardy’s Mrs and Colleen Rooney. Rosco stretched the brief but didn’t manage War & Peace. However, I’m not sure if Rosco is tipping Mane or Salah, apparently Smash is to blame.
I’ll keep it brief, for once! Jimenez is guaranteed to start. After tearing City a new one last Friday night he was given a rest against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, playing just the last 18 minutes. If we look at the six game-weeks played in December we see that Jimenez has two goals and three assists. These are not earth shattering stats but they’re consistent with his season to date. As GP said recently, “if you look up ‘consistency’ in the dictionary, there will be a picture of this guy.”
I could go on but I’ve promised to keep it brief…
Swirly – Pictures speak louder than words?
A late entry, but a much welcome one. Swirly came with no words this week, rather an infographic which possibly says more.
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 21 NYE Special. This article was written by Matt, AT, Rosco, Kop and Swirly.
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Hello all,
I’ve got 2FT and 0m ITB. I’ve got a few ideas/problem areas based on feedback but can’t work it out.
1. If I try work toward both Salah and Mane it’s gonna hit my team. Only way I could see to free up the funds is to do Rashford -> Ings and Abraham -> DCL. And then Alli up to Mane.
Quite the risk? Particularly when considering the below.
2. Bench needs strengthening. I could move Guilbert to Rico/Saiss/Holgate. Pretty boring but safe move and play them instead of Lundy.
3. Pope will also need improving soon but I don’t have any cash to do so. If I drop Alli to say Martial then it frees up cash. I could also consider Abraham to Jimenez/Ings/DCL given Chelsea’s poor form.
How do I make sense of all this?
Thanks
Beno
Firmino in for Rashford and leave the Salah idea?
Firmino has 6 goals and ALL away from home. Both DGW matches are away. Even the home games are good just now.
Bench doesn’t need a huge overhaul. Maybe just the Guilbert to Rico one.
Good afternoon gents :hi:
1. What to do this week ? 1 FT 0.1m itb
2. Double up pool attack or defense ? Which DGW player will you bring in for gw24?
Lastly thanks to all the writers for the FF247. Hope everyone linked to this site will be in top 10k come end of season. Happy new year! :yahoo:
I don’t trust the Pool defence enough to double up on them. I got TAA and happy with that. If I got Robertson or VVD it would be for the bps or assists/goals and not the clean sheets. And I don’t see how they are worth the extra price.. That 2m I can also spend on midfield or forwards. So I got Mane/Salah/TAA. ANd it will stay that way.
Thanks for your thoughts Raz. 2x pool attack for me means Rashford,Alli,Mads to Salah,Jimmy,Traore. Hmm..
Liverpool have kept four clean sheets in a row; they look (to me, anyway) trustworthy.
Haven’t watched all the games but the 1-0 victory on Sunday could easily have been 1-1! Definitely not ‘solid’ at the back this season
But it wasn’t 1-1; it was 1-0. Fourth clean sheet in a row. The lack of Liverpool clean sheets at the beginning of the season caused widespread abandonment of the two Liverpool full-backs; having both now doesn’t seem overly risky to me (given the other things they bring to the party). Perhaps what we’re seeing now – the clean sheets starting to mount up – is what you’d expect to happen for such a strong defensive unit.
There’s talk from minds mightier than mine that Henderson sitting further back has helped.
Kralin, would you then suggest to double Pool def? TAA & Robbo specifically
Given that regular, points ticking along clean sheets have returned – plus their attacking chops and not forgetting the looming GW24 – I could think of a lot worse doubled defensive options*. Arguably it’s one of the best in the history of the entire universe. I can think of few better in all the time I’ve been playing the game. Chelsea offered something similar a year or two back; Everton and Southampton have had good options in the (relatively) more distant past.
Others will I’m sure double Mane and Salah plus a defender – or maybe even Firmino; or maybe options we haven’t even contempated yet.
* it’s a double my own side dabbles with.
But that’s my point, they aren’t a strong defensive unit. They certainly aren’t the Chelsea if old. Four in a row flatters to deceive.
To make plans for a month in FPL may sounds a crazy idea but we all hope there will be no troubles between. Team with 1 FT and only 0.1 ITB
GW 21-do nothing
GW 22- (2FT) Ramsdale → Pope
GW 23- (2FT) DCL → Kane (5.2 ITB)
GW 24- (2FT) TAA → Lundstram + for one week only Salah → KDB
Don’t think it’s worth disassembling my entire team for this small DGW in an effort bringing any WHU players as I can’t see them doing anything special against the top two teams.
I like how you are going agains the grain by not having TAA
I don’t. I’m going against the grain with Sterling and Salah instead of KDB and Mane and as a result I’m sitting on 750k instead of around 100k which is where I’d be had I not went against the grain. The grain knows their stuff. Get TAA.
Ok, so this is me with 2 FT and 0.3 itb. What would you do?
Tricky. I think you’re pretty set but I wouldn’t want two Norwich attackers. The article should make it clear whom I would go for!
Yeah I would say the same except don’t cap Ings haha
What would you do with this lads? I have 2 fts. I sold TAA on my WC just before the Leicester game so I am kicking myself. I was thinking of waiting till GW23 to bring him back but I could downgrade Moura, Rico and take a hit to bring Trent and two others in. What should I do?
I think I’m bringing in Robbo for a hit in a three transfer move. Hard to know what to suggest without knowing a rough idea of balance, eg. how much is required from the third player if you got someone like Traore for Lucas?
@AT – cheers mate. I would be -1.5 if I did Rico and Lucas out to TAA and Traore.
Hmm. Doesn’t really work that then, unless Maupay or DCL appeals to you for Jimenez. I guess you could bin lucas to a cheapie, play Cantwell and then shave £0.5mish of a defender. I think Kabasele would be where my attention would lie
I actually had TAA and Maupay instead of Baldock and Jimenez but changed it last minute. I shouldn’t have. I might just wait on Trent a week or two.
Hanley at 4.0 might give you what you need to bring in TAA
Baldock plays WHU next round so you could also wait, my thinking was just you’d take him out anyway if bringing in TAA.
Baldock for something cheaper and play rico over Kabasele?
Had the same thinking as you with TAA, but also for Mane, now they’ve both increased well above my selling price. Feel like a fool :slaphead:
@OddDane. Who would you go for instead of Baldock?
my reply accidently appeared above.
If for a hit, how would Baldock, Kabalese and Lucas -> Hanley, TAA and Traore/Grealish/James/Trossard/etc. look?
Hi all
Any suggestions on where to go with this? 1ft and 1.4 itb. Was thinking hold ?
Cheers
Yep
Yup hold this week, looks good
Cheers both
+1