Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 24
Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 24
Hello once again, and a warm welcome back to our wonderful community. We hope you are all ‘enjoying’ your rather enforced FPL break. So stop / start has it been this season once more that even after all this time we still find ourselves stuck in the tail end of the last GW, about a week and a half since the last ball was kicked in it. Odd times indeed.
Hopefully the next few weeks will run a bit more smoothly now though since the PL have finally put their foot down on all the willy nilly cancellations and stated that Arsenal a club must have 4 positive Covid cases to force a game to be called off.
That said we do now still have about 20 games to be fitted in somewhere along the way so any kind of actual normal is a pipe dream at best and you can probably expect pop-up DGW’s at the drop of a hat.
Plan ahead at your peril, etc.
One thing we can plan for though is GW24, which given the above, along with the fact that it begins next Tuesday and finishes on Thursday, ahead of GW25 on Saturday, seems about as immune to any alterations as any ahead.
As such we are chancing a rare Captains Article in the hope that whoever we write about will actually have a game to play in, and no more than one at that….
Smash – Salah v Leicester (H)
(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
All hail the king. The African Nations is almost over and Mo Salah the optimum Captain pick is back! Salah ownership is currently just 36%, the lowest it’s been all season. He has 177 FPL points so far this season, 30 more points than any other player. That’s 16 goals and 10 assists in just 21 game weeks. We all know how great Salah is so there is no real need to dive deep into his stats for the season. There definitely seem to be some agenda’s on this though, depending on whether you can or not own Salah heading into GW24, as there is no way we can really know for sure if Salah is going to be back for sure. Here I thought I would present both sides.
The case against…
Is Salah even going to be back for the Leicester match in GW24? I’ve seen some strong statements on Twitter… “No chance of salah starting against leicester. Klopp isnt that stupid”, “Salah will definitely not play vs Leicester”, “No way on earth”. If you scroll through Twitter you will find loads of strong statements like this adamant that Salah has no chance of playing citing some valid reasons and some clearly false ones.
Salah minutes in January:
2nd: Chelsea 90
11th: Nigeria 90
15th: Guinea-Bissau 90
19th: Sudan 90
26th Ivory Coast 120
30th: Morocco 120
Feb 3rd: Cameroon
6th: Final or 3rd place playoff
10th: Leicester
Salah has had a nine day break before the African Nations kicked off but as you can see he has played a lot of minutes here. If Egypt win it the Egyptian team would go to meet their president, likely on the Monday. Mental fatigue and physical fatigue may be a problem and Klopp may feel they have enough to beat Leicester regardless, giving Salah a bit of time off. Salah has played a lot of minutes in a competitive tournament so it’s possible he needs a break.
The case for…
Salah is the best player in the game and I don’t think there is any doubt he’s not. He’s had a pretty solid African Nations too as you would expect and Egypt are in the Semi-Finals as we speak. There is a four day gap between the final and the Leicester game so he has enough time to get back. Salah will not be travelling by boat so the travel times and the flight time are not a reason why he would not play. Partay and Amartey played within two/three days of Ghana exiting the competition. Two days is standard international break stuff. It’s a 6.5 hour private jet flight with no time difference. You would also think Salah himself would want to get back playing for Liverpool when they are still in the title hunt. To put this into context the South American’s play with a two day gap, with a 10 flight plus time and more of a time difference. Most Premier League players have been playing three games a week while AFCON has been going on so a lot will have played similar minutes to that of Salah/Mane.
Ultimately I think the decision will rest with Klopp and Salah himself. The games come thick and fast now. Liverpool are chasing the title and have the Champions League starting again and does Klopp have the luxury of giving Salah and Mane a break with Minimino/Ox playing instead? Four days is certainly a long enough gap if Salah himself wants to play, which he most likely will.
Rosco – KDB v Brentford (H)
(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Mo Salah will return from AFCON within a week, bringing our captaincy comfort blanket with him. However, there is enough uncertainty around whether he’ll be thrown straight back into the Liverpool starting 11 to warrant one last throw of the dice.
We’re fortunate to have a plethora of alternative options this week, but if you’re going to roll the dice, then make life easy for yourself and back a player with form and fixture who plays for the team averaging 2.9 goals on home turf. Manchester City have scored 32 goals (in their 11 fixtures) at the Etihad this season, and face a Brentford side who have shipped 21 in their 11 ventures outside the Brentford Community Stadium.
In seasons past we’ve had the reliability of Aguero and KDB has been a safe if not always spectacular option himself. This season when KDB was absent from the City starting 11 we’ve seen players like Bernardo and Gundogan flourish, both have gone off the boil in recent weeks and you certainly won’t be entrusting either with the armband any time soon. Foden and Mahrez have both popped up with three double-digit returns and Sterling has two. The problem with all the aforementioned players (with the exception of Bernardo) is, will they play? There are no such worries with KDB (famous last words!). When he’s fit, Kevin starts.
Indeed, since return from injury, Kevin has started the last 7 matches for the Citizens, for context Foden and Sterling have started 5 of those, and before he went to AFCON, Mahrez started 4 the last 7 he was available. In those 7 matches, Kevin has 6 attacking returns (4 goals, 2 assists) and has picked up 11 bonus points, taking all 3 on 3 occasions.
Kevin has hit double-digit assist totals in 4 of his last 6 seasons, and whilst the 2 he has thus far is some distance from the totals racked up in previous campaigns, it should be noted that in those 7 fixtures, no other player can top the 23 chances that Kevin has created. Also, no other midfielder can top his 26 goal attempts in that same period. He’s already matched last season’s goal tally and we’re just past the halfway mark. What’s also reassuring (especially when it comes to getting amongst the bonus points) is that when Kevin takes a shot, there’s a good chance it’ll hit the target, a statement backed by the fact no other mid can match the 10 (shots on target) that Kevin has managed since his return. As if that is not compelling argument enough, it should also be noted that Kevin does his best work at home. In his previous 3 at the Etihad, he has 11, 7 and 16.
If you have doubts over Salah, then why take the risk? There are alternatives, I think Kevin may just be the best one.
Loud Atlas – Kane v Southampton (H)
(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
The last time I wrote about Harry Kane was yester-season’s GW34. How time flies. Since then he’s led England to the final of the European Championship and tried to escape Spurs – both experiences he hasn’t really recovered from. However, his times are a-changin’, with glimmers of peak Kane peeking through.
With four goals in his last six games, Kane’s now second (to Daka) in the form table and ticking along nicely despite his best pal Son Heung-min being sidelined for a spell. Kane’s actually had a break during this international break for once!
In Kane’s last two games, a sizeable 11 points against Leicester but just two versus Chelsea, he should have perhaps had even more against the Foxes and was unlucky against The Blues to not officially score (the touch, or little shove, on Silva being deemed as a foul was a tad harsh I thought).
Kane faces an inconsistent Southampton side who are loitering mid-table in 12th spot. Seriously, they get mauled by Wolves one week (3-1) but can hold the reigning champions to a draw the next (1-1) – we don’t know which version of the Saints will turn up! They’ve had no clean sheet since GW16 (conceding 10 times since then) and lose 55% of their away games (they sit 17/20 on the Away Form table). Let’s not forget Kane scored against them only last month in the 1-1 draw at St. Mary’s.
With new Juventus signings Bentancur and Kulusevski likely to strengthen Spurs’ attack, Kane should be getting much better service. And remember there are still three fixtures to be rescheduled in the coming weeks.
If you’re undecided, go for Kane if you don’t have any other premium options (or indeed have a certain knackered Egyptian). He’s rested, Spurs’ main man, shows signs of improvement and is also in good form. Oh, and he takes a terrific penalty.
Kop – Bowen v Watford (H)
(Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
When picking a captain two of the key indicators are a player that’s in form and an opposition that’s not.
Look no further.
In his last six games, Bowen has racked up three goals, five assists and six bonus points. Given his returns over the past six game-weeks his stats probably aren’t as good as I would have expected. He ranks 4th for touches in the opposition area with 34, 8th for goal attempts with 15, 10th for attempts on target with 5 and all the way down in 36th for chances created with 7. Look, just forget about his stats and concentrate on his returns!
Then there’s the opposition. Watford! Talk about s**t. They’ve taken just four points from their last 10 games, conceding 22 goals in that period. And just when you think it can’t get any worse for them, they go and appoint Woy as their new gaffer. Now, I’ll admit, I can’t stand Hodgson. Nevertheless, leaving my dislike of him to one side, I believe football has left him behind just has it has done with the likes of Jose & Rafa, and they were a damn sight better managers in the first place. Ok, this is supposed to be about Bowen not Woy. Let’s just say that I don’t expect a new manager bounce!
The confessional…
This is where we ask our entire writing team to tell us who they think they will pick this week…. There are more caveats and get out clauses than a Lionel Messi contract but this is their initial gut feeling based upon who they actually own.
DMC — Mohamed Salah
Jamesimmo — Jarrod Bowen
Ivan — Cristiano Ronaldo
Swirly — Mohamed Salah
Horse — Jarrod Bowen
Matt — Mohamed Salah
Loud Atlas — Harry Kane
Smash — Mohamed Salah (I have a VC!)
Kop — Jarrod Bowen/Joao Cancelo (I won’t own Mo!)
The Gallant Pioneer — Mohamed Salah
Rosco — Mohamed Salah (or “KDB if I get him”)
Elleffcee — Mohamed Salah
Floydeth — Cristiano Ronaldo
Init — Bowen. He’ll get 1 goal and 22 points and I’ll be happy enough wit that.
Mito — Mohamed Salah
Carolyn — Mohamed Salah
VOTE ON THIS WEEK’S CAPTAIN POLL GW24
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Best bench order for Sanchez, Diop, Dennis?
Cheers!
Good call Kop! Thank you. As I hadn’t actually considered him until I read your piece.
Not earth shattering, and the others lurking have the potential to smash it, but I’ll always settle for a middling 22 off the capo.
As per usual, I didn’t take my own advice!