Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 24 2017/18
Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 24. To be honest; I couldn’t wait for GW22 to end. The Christmas fixtures started so well, green arrows in GW19 and 20, but quickly followed by two reds in 21 and 22 resulting in ending up pretty much back where I started. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it (honest) but usually the pain of a bad game-week is over in a matter of days. GW22 was like an episode of Downton Abbey, tedious, something I don’t want to watch and overly drawn-out. The FA Cup was a welcome break, which is saying something as prior to last week, Newcastle had failed to reach the fourth round since 2012! If all of the above sounds a little ‘woe is me’ it’s not meant to, but sometimes we all need a break.
I went into GW23 feeling refreshed and optimistic, and what a cracker it was too. If this weekend’s games taught me one thing about the Premier League, it’s that the gulf in class between the top teams and those languishing at the foot of the table is vast, gargantuan in fact. On Saturday I made my pilgrimage to St. James’ Park, it was a dire affair, no need to bore you with the details. In stark contrast, the match between Liverpool and Man City was master-class in attacking football (defending? not so much). The final score doesn’t do justice to just how good Liverpool were, they raced into a 4-1 lead in slick style, it was joyous for FPL managers who had kept the faith in Salah and Firmino, if only Bobby hadn’t threw away his shirt and with it any hopes of getting any bonus points!
If you’re the indecisive type then this game-week is not for you. It feels like one of those weeks where people will be jumping between potential captains right up till the deadline, I often find these are the most exciting, but can also be the most frustrating! Lets dive in!
Sergio Aguero (Newcastle, Home)
My allegiance to Newcastle holds no influence over my FPL team. Maybe if I’d been playing 20 years ago it would be a different story. I’m so desensitized to the mediocrity of my hometown club that they (sadly) rarely factor into my FPL strategising. If ever there was a game that epitomizes this, then it was Newcastle’s last league game at the Etihad. Back in the 2015/16 season, City beat Newcastle 6-1, Sergio Aguero scored 5 goals in just 20 minutes. When he scored his 5th, I actually smiled, safe in the knowledge that Aguero was my FPL captain; 50 points in the bag, my heart is made of stone.
We all know what Aguero is capable of, in seasons past often considered essential; a go-to captain choice. The injury to Gabriel Jesus has brought Aguero back into our thinking. Despite limited minutes his scoring record is right up there; 13 goals in just 1421 minutes, that’s a goal every 109 minutes, Only Kane, Salah and Austin can better that this season.
Newcastle have actually (unbelievably) picked up wins in our last two away games. We won away to Stoke (0-1) following the 2-3 victory against the Hammers, but I’m under no illusion that we will continue the trend at the Etihad. If Aguero is not in your team for this one, you may want to hide behind your sofa, that’s where I’ll be regardless, feel free to join me.
Mo Salah (Swansea, Away)
There’s no question that Liverpool are worse off without Philippe Coutinho. The question for FPL managers however, is whether the loss of Coutinho will see a regression in the output of 18 goal Mo Salah. So I had a quick look at the stats; Salah has played 8 games without Coutinho, scoring 67 points, that’s an average of 8.4 points per match. Salah’s score in the 14 games Coutinho did play? 112 points, averaging 8 points per match. After watching their 4-3 win over Man City, I have a feeling they’ll be just fine.
Swansea once again find themselves in mid-season relegation trouble and currently sit bottom of the league. Ex-manager Paul Clement was sacked just before Christmas, the third December in a row that they’ve disposed of their manager. They’ve only kept 3 clean sheets at home this season – against Huddersfield, Bournemouth and fellow strugglers West Brom, not the best form to face a Liverpool side that has scored 29 of their 54 goals on the road this season.
My GW18 Captain article suggested we ‘always stick with Salah’, hardly radical thinking. Unfortunately I’m incapable of following my own advice; I’ve only captained Salah once. Had I simply done as suggested, I’d be 78 points better off….just outside the top 500, ouch.
Harry Kane (Southampton, Away)
I’ve embraced Twitter over the past few months. Whilst I don’t do a whole lot of ‘Tweeting’, I have found it to be another excellent source in my quest to fill every waking minute of my day with FPL (I really should get out more, maybe move closer to Silvers!) Prior to GW19, twitter was awash with people keen to ditch Harry Kane. A disappointing 3 points in GW17 and 18 in addition to a blank game-week on the horizon, it was a brave move that could have paid off. Back to back hat-tricks followed, the #Kanexiters duly punished. Then came the double game-week; Harry got sick, then got better, starting the game-week on the bench, he came on, did nothing and finished with 3 points. Particularly painful if you used your Triple-Captain chip. Last game-week Harry was back doing what he does best, goals 19 and 20 of the season, 26 points for those who kept the faith.
This week the opposition are a Southampton side who sit joint bottom of the form table; 3 defeats in their last 6. They haven’t won a home game since November, conceding 8 goals in their 4 home games since. Harry likes to score his goals in multiples, he scored a hat-trick in Spurs last away game, that was against a Burnley team with far better defensive credentials than the team he faces this week. In the corresponding fixture last season, Tottenham won 1-4; Harry scored one and sent a penalty kick over the bar. Which Harry will turn up this week? Who knows, but the fear is real, Hat-trick Harry can turn up in any given game week.
Marko Arnautovic (Bournemouth, Home)
Owned by just 9%, Arnautovic is still something of a differential. Were it not for his double game-week back in GW22 that number would probably be even lower. Arnautovic struggled to establish himself at the London Stadium following his £24m move from Stoke in the summer, failing to score in his first 13 outings for the Hammers. The arrival of David Moyes has seen a change in fortunes for the Austrian, 6 goals and 3 assists in his last 8 appearances. In West Ham’s 1-4 win at Huddersfield, Arnautovic was unplayable; a goal, 2 assists and maximum bonus, finishing with 16 points. He’s now scored 52 points in his last 5 games, level with Mo Salah.
Bournemouth will be full of confidence following their 2-1 victory over Arsenal, a result that lifted them 4 points above the relegation places. However, the Cherries away form suggests they may struggle this week. In their 11 away games this season, they’ve let in 18 goals and failed to keep a clean sheet since November. If Arnautovic plays as he did against the Terriers, he could easily grab another double-digit score. I almost ditched big Arnie last week, thankfully a wise man (Uncle Init) advised against it, if only I had stuck the armband on him, hindsight is a wonderful thing…. although I may just do that this week, good luck kids.
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 24
This article was written by Rosco.
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Gameweek Tracker GW24-29
Brilliant read brother!! Stop raising the bar 😉 I’m between Sterling and Salah right now.
Haha cheers brother!
Sounds very kinky. 😉
Yeah it’s all sorts of kink right now mate!!! 😉
Something a bit different. Gone for Vardy over Firm and stuck Mane in their instead of Sane as can’t be sure where he’ll play (if I knew he was nailed I would play him). Need to take chances as rock bottom of my league.
Thoughts?
I like it MH.
Main concern is how nailed on Shaw is.
Yeah gonna take a chance on him keeping out Young for a while
I like that slant on it Hatter. Best of luck. :ok:
Cheers all. Kane needs to chill for a couple of months for this to work though!
Looks good Hatter, some great differentials in there! As I said yesterday, you now need to just give them time and don’t jump off the plan! I usually give player at least 3 GWs! Good luck hunting down your ML!
Cheers Rosco, this is why I’m trying to make sure I’m happy with the team so i won’t need to change anything …. bar Shaw not keeping his place that is
I like this Hatter bar two things. I’d probably go with Smalling over Shaw if you can find the funds there. Also Martina??! That could be decent but from watching him and talking about him to Init. I can’t see how he’s even a footballer!!!!
Yeah funds are dictating Martina and Shaw if I want to keep Alonso.
I’m guessing you only have 4.4 to replace Martina? What about Francis? Bournemouth have so decent fixtures coming up bar the Chelsea game. There really isn’t much until 4.5
What about this instead? If Gomez doesn’t play the odd game I have back up. No Vardy and Firm instead. Lingard instead of Pogba, Sane instead of Mane and Wilson can play if i need him where as Quaner would never play.
It definitely feels safer but it probably won’t give the differentials you wanted. It depends on how much ground you need to make up and since you are rock bottom. Maybe just stick with the first draft and see how it works out!! Hopefully it will.
Which would you prefer for a back 5…
Alonso, Martina, Shaw, Ogbonna, Tomkins
or
Christensen, Stones, Shaw, Cresswell, Martina
First one, if Shaw holds onto his spot
+1 unfortunately I agree with the teddy bear.
Right then, I think I’m getting somewhere (probably not). I think I’m happy with the attack and midfield and have decided Alonso is probably impossible to get without taking a hit.
I have 2FT but nothing in the bank. As such, this is what I’ve come up with:
1. Jones and Vertonghen to Shaw and Walker
2. Daniels and Vertonghen to Christiansen and Danilo (bench Kenny)
I admit that both have risk involved. Either of them worth it? Should I go back to the drawing board? haha
Team for reference:
AT, i assume you´ve got 10.7 to spend if you lose Vert and Daniels? So what about Bellerin and Duffy (bench this week)?
Cheers, Magpies. I do indeed. Not sure about you but Arsenal aren’t instilling much faith in me at the moment! I can’t see Bellerin scoring every week to counteract that either! Everton, Spurs, City after Palace and Swansea too.
What do you think about Maguire and Cresswell?? You should have enough I think.
@AT
That duo hardly sound like they set the world alight 😉
In seriousness, I probably will bring in Maguire or Schmeichel at some point, although I already have Adrian
(and Arnie) – not sure I back WHU that much!
Done Richarlison to Ox and 2 more moves and I am happy. Christensen to Alonso or Lingard to Pogba or stick as I am? If its Pogba it leaves me 0.1 to upgrade Kenny to Hegazi if he loses his place to Coleman by GW 28. I will see Chelsea’s team tonight and hope Alonso’s price does not rise as fplstatistics shows him at 82%.He would leave me 0.3 to upgrade,so a price rise would not be too bad, and either move would be a -4. If both prices do not rise I will do it after the deadline with no hit.
@Kruz, I really like Pogba, but his position is a bit confusing. The week before he was given license to roam forward and he was involved in everything dangerous. Last game he went back to his position next to Matic, did he pull the strings from deep? Yeah, a bit, but not exactly where an owner would like him to be positioned. He only took 2 shots, one was blocked and the other was a free kick deep into extra time. I honestly think that if he were played advanced all the time he quickly rise to 50% ownership. Plus his 2 assists, well one of them was kind of fluky. Square ball to Valencia that probably would have been a cross to Lukaku most games, but Antonio cuts in and sends a rocket towards goal. So not sure on Pogba. But he is piling up assists and he should occasionally chip in with a goal, so that is a move that could work, plus if Alexis comes Lingard could be in jeopardy, whereas Pogba is probably the first name on the team sheet.
If Christensen is going to keep his spot with Cahill out then he looks good value and might be worth holding for a bit.
This on Seamus from 6 days ago. “He is a considerable amount of time away. Introduced to [full] training and we monitor on a daily basis.” Considerable doesn’t sound that close, but perhaps a situation to keep an eye on.
Cheers Mito. I am leaning towards Pogba as I think Lingards place is in jeopardy from the Sanchez arrival. Although some of Pogba’s assists are jammy,an assist is an assist! I saw somewhere that Mourinho said that the team were playing Pogba’s way. He does seem to be in the game more and makes Utd tick.
If Christensen gets rotated I have got Kenny or Ogbonna to step in off the bench,but it depends how long Cahill is out and whether Luiz is back in favour!
Just saw the news that Ronaldinho has retired! The man was an absolute genius and just wish he had graced the Premier League even if it was in his twilight years.