Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 28
It looks like a right mixed bag for GW28 in terms of the armband. We have a raft of teams (and players) with doubles, but not really the teams (or players) who you would want to have them, and then a few teams (and players) who have singles, who really are the teams (and players) you would rather have a double, but may still be better off with a single.
To make sense of all this we have asked Kop, Matt and Init for their input on what looks like a strangely confusing S/DGW to pick from….
Single Gameweek Players
Kop – Salah vs West Ham (H) / Kane vs Everton (H)
Yes, I realise there’s a double gameweek this week but it’s hardly worth getting your knickers in a twist about. Particularly when it comes to your captain. Are you really going to entrust the armband to someone from Villa, Southampton, Wolves, Leeds, Norwich, Newcastle or Watford? Granted, some of them have decent fixtures but it’s not like any of their players scream ‘captain’!
Don’t fall into the same trap that many of us fell into in GW27. Wout Weghorst!
Instead, go with some of the old reliables. Namely, Salah and Kane.
Do I really need to make a case for Mo? Ok. He has scored 19 goals to date, seven more than anyone else in the league. Only Jarrod Bowen (13) can top his 11 assists. In previous seasons, it was often felt that he was on bad terms with bonus points but that has changed this season as he’s racked up 25 baps with only TAA leading that with 28. As a result, he’s picked up 47pts more than the next best. I won’t bore you with his stats because he tops most charts. Look, don’t overthink things, keep it simple and give Mo your armband.
I’ll be honest, it’s not quite as easy to make a case for Harry Kane. Anyone who watched Spurs recent win over City on Sky Sports could have been led to believe that Kane is the second coming, such was the nonsense being spouted by the commentators regarding his performance. They clearly hadn’t seen Spurs play Wolves, Southampton & Chelsea! Since putting three past City they have been held scoreless by Burnley & Middlesbrough, while they put four past Leeds. As has been said many times over the past week or two, the key to frustrating Spurs is to adopt a low block. Despite Everton frustrating City last week, I’m unsure if they’re capable of backing that up this week and frustrating Spurs. Instead, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a relatively open game on Monday night. Something that will suit Kane. There’s no doubt he’s a riskier bet than Salah, but he’s probably a better bet than any doubler!
Matt – Adams and JWP vs Villa (A) and Newcastle (H)
If you are looking for some differentials this week then I have two that are owned by a combined 13.4% of managers, James Ward-Prowse (£6.5) owned by 8.3% and Che Adams (£6.9) owned by 5.1%. Neither player has the calibre or excitement that the likes of Bruno, Salah or Kane would provide but these two lads are actually not far off the bigger names in terms of points. Well, that is except for Salah but he’s in a league of his own this season so we won’t worry about that. In fact, they are two of the most in-form players right now. Adams is the most in-form striker with a 6.8 ranking and this ranking is well deserved as the Scotsman has 3 goals and 1 assist in his last 4 games. This has probably been a bit annoying for most managers (or maybe just me!) as most went for his much cheaper strike partner, Broja, who in those same 4 games only got 1 goal. Broja has been the player most have had their eye on all year largely due to his price, but Adams has been the better player, getting more points. I think if you have the funds, I would go with Adams over Broja and if you need to catch someone in your ML’s then Adams might not be the worst choice.
JWP is in the top 20 midfielders so not as great but there are the likes of Salah, Son, Bruno, Mane and Sterling to compete with there, so he has a lot sterner competition. JWP offers a lot for Southampton and FPL managers alike. He is the most influential player in the Saints side and FPL have him as being the 3rd most influential player in the game such is the impact he has on his side. JWP is pretty much guaranteed to play every single game and play 90 minutes at that. He is on set pieces and is probably the best free-kick taker in the league so plenty of opportunities for assists or goals. He has 6 goals and 4 assists this season so far which actually makes it his 2nd best Premier League season in terms of returns so he must be high on confidence. Now he seems to have cooled off a bit lately as in his last five games he has only got 2 assists but in the five games before that he was on fire with 4 goals and 2 assists. If you have space for a midfielder or are on a WC then JWP might just be worth a punt coming into a double and then a tasty run of fixtures all the way until the final two games of the season.
Mendy / Rudiger vs Burnley (A) and Norwich (A) –
Now I told Init I would be writing about Mason Mount for this section but then I thought that’s no fun and doesn’t really live up to my “off-the-wall” pick gimmick that I like to go with. I then started thinking “Oh maybe Rudiger is a good idea” but no, he too was not good enough to make the crazy picks that you all deserve! Or was he?…
This led me to go a bit deeper on the pitch to the man between the sticks, Edouard Mendy (£6.1). Mendy is actually the exact same price as Rudiger and isn’t actually too far off him in terms of points, Ruds has 108 to Mendy’s 89. You would think Rudiger should be a lot more ahead considering he has clean sheet potential, an attacking threat and more opportunities for bonus points but the centre back only has one extra clean sheet and four more bonus points. Mendy has 9 clean sheets and 3 bonus points. Rudiger has also only missed one game compared to Mendy having missed four so I actually think Mendy could be a brilliant set and forget keeper for the remaining fixtures as they are amazing. If you pair him with a cheap keeper that plays in 30 or even a Sá or Ramsdale for one week, you could have a top-notch keeper and also cover top defences like Cancelo, Trent, White.
I mentioned the great fixtures Chelsea have for the rest of the season and they couldn’t get much better than their next two in Burnley and Norwich. I am expecting Chelsea to want to put the Carabao cup defeat behind them and turn up the performance levels with the FA Cup and Champions League still a possibility. This should mean that coming up against two sides in the bottom three in a double gameweek should be ripe for clean sheet points from a captain. Two clean sheets and 90 minutes is 12 points doubled is 24. Any captain that gets you 24 points is a good one. Norwich and Burnley are the two worst scoring teams in the league with 22 goals scored for Burnley and only 15 goals scored for Norwich. Chelsea are the second-best defence with only 18 goals conceded so it really is a team with a massive strength facing one with a massive weakness! I am really talking myself into hitting this WC button and putting Mendy into my team as I write this…. I might just do it! Who wants to join me?! Anyone?
Init – Raphinha vs Leicester (A), Villa (H) / Coutinho vs Saints (H), Leeds (A) / Jimenez vs Palace (h), Watford (H)
Great. This is what happens when you play the nice guy and tell the others to choose who they want and say that you’ll pick up the slack. Slack would be putting it mildly here. So much so that I won’t waste much of your time attempting to convince you to place the armband anywhere near any this lot.
Two of them haven’t scored in the last 3 games, Raphinha bucks that trend having notched a few weeks back but even that was his first in 5 weeks prior to that.
I could try to blind you with stats, as per Kop, or I could try to blind you with optimism like Matt. Both appraoches are futile here. Pick one if you want but don’t go blaming me…
Don’t me wrong here, they are all crucial to their teams, they are all good enough picks, sans any armband, and on a WC they could probably make the cut, especially as they all have two games. Armband though?! I won’t go as far as to say ‘do me a favour’, as some may see them as extreme differentials, but if you do then…. DO ME A DOUBLE FAVOUR!
VOTE ON THIS WEEK’S CAPTAIN POLL GW28
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Evening all great write up thanks.
Got 2ft
1.6 itb
Weghorst to Kane
Bruno to coutinho
Look good moves here?
Maybe king to broja aswell
Solid moves there! I like it
Cheers Mattx
Evening folks.
Pick a combo of keepers for me please.
1. Sa or Ramsdale
2. Forster or Foster
Ramsdale and Foster would work better for the rest of the season. Whilst for this week Sa and Forster are better.
Thank you Kop, Matt, and Init for this article! I thought I was crazy for considering Rudiger (c) but it’s a serious possibility now.
I’d appreciate some help with my WC team, not entirely satisfied with it but also not sure what to change. I have the cash for Rudiger >> Robertson in GW29, so I can take advantage of both their doubles. However I feel like Rudiger could be a good long term pick, and I’m thinking about ditching Cancelo, though this is risky due to his ownership and I’d lose a lot of value. If so, I’d get Robertson this week in his place, and use the rest of my cash to get Coutinho over Bowen (who I’m also not sure about selling!)
Essentially, Cancelo + Bowen or Rudiger + Coutinho for the rest of the season?
This is what the other option would look like, which is better?
Before I pull the trigger on these transfers (and say goodbye to at least 0.7 in team value with Cancelo and Bowen), who would I bench this GW other than Richardson and Brownhill??
It feels very wrong to leave a DGWer or a premium on the bench
Oh Veer that is tough! See I’m currently in the ‘screw it’ camp so I’d risk it and got Ruds and Couthino but Cancelo and Bowen are two of the best players this season and have some decent fixtures. It’s safe versus risk and it really depends on how you are trying to finish the season.
It truly is safe versus risk – I currently have a narrow 3 point lead in my ML which could suggest playing it safe. However I also want to try to beat my last season’s OR of 173k, currently I’m at 340k
Okay well then the question becomes which do you care about more OR record or winning your ML?
If its ML then you have to play safe if it’s OR then go for it!
Always ML! Bragging rights is where its at
Thanks guys! Though I could easily reverse the Coutinho move in GW31 when West Ham’s fixtures turn good again, I’m planning to FH in GW30 as well
I’m not entirely sure what to do here. Is Weghorst > ASM / Adams worth it for a -4?
I’m not feeling that move unless ASM is 100% going to play
ok, updated team so far for gw28.
ftx1, ITB: 0m.
Still have FH (although used the other one last week, WC and BB. Considering using wc soon, BB in gw36. As for FH, was going to use in gw30, but currently have 7 players, so not sure).
Any ideas as to what I can do, bring in, but not mess with any double players for next week?
I’m in a similar situation as you. I’m learning towards a WC.
I would say the same for you here, think you could WC, BB in 29 (be selective for having a team to put out in 30) then save the FH for another GW when you need it
my only concern with a wc is, who do i pick that has doubles this week, next week, but I can bench for gw30.
originally the bb was going to be for gw36, which Smash mentioned a while ago. Wondered if he was still doing similar
Hey Hammerfan – have got a good idea. If you just take a -4 pt and change out Antonio + Dennis/King for like Jimi/Watkins + Broja/Adams? That gives you 3 DGW strikers.
I know you don’t want to sell Bowen, so I won’t suggest doing that, but for this week you could put Martinelli in your 11 (against Watford). You’ve already got one CHE defender – otherwise I might suggest you trade Bowen for Mount or someone like that (but I won’t! ).
Does this give you enough short term possibilities to stave off the WC? It would be a pretty attractive team for this week and next!
Just thoughts, but then again, I ain’t no expert! Hope you are okay!
😉
Cheerio!
AJW
Hey AJW, thanks for the reply, and hope you have had a good day.
They are good suggestions mate, and some of those have been on my tinker strategy for today.
With Ben Crellin’s update today on twitter about gw33 being a potential big dgw (9 dgw teams), and also dgw36 (10 dgw teams), keeping hold of the wc and other FH, and BB seems vital.
One other option, for a 4ph I have is:
Antonio->Watkins/Jimi, and Sanchez->Dubravka
That way I would have a striker for gw28,29,30, and a goalie for gw28,29, and Ramsdale for gw30
How would that look?
Yeah I’d say that’s solid reckoning HammerFan! You get to have your team and keep your Bowen too!
Go for it. Wish you guys all the best at Anfield! Should be a ripper of a match! Cheers! 😉
Cheers AJW – yeah would rather keep Bowen than Antonio if I had the choice (could always get Antonio back on the wildcard.)
At least I will have a few extra dgw for gw29 – just who is better, Jimi or Watkins…lol
Think Pool will destroy us at the weekend mate, unfortunately
One for anyone who’s much further on in their DGW/DGW/BGW and chip strategy planning than I am…..
Dead simple, what’s my best path here please?
Something like Maguire and Fernandes to Rudiger and Son?
Or Maguire, Fernandes, Weghorst to Rudiger, Willock and Kane. Although if you do that you may as well replace Carson and bench boost.
And Please get Salah and TAA off the bench!
Thanks SF, so you wouldn’t see any need to WC at all?
Now you didn’t mention you had that. I would be tempted to WC. Teams OK, but WC could attack 28-30 well, BB 29 and have a FH for later.
WC seems quite solid here, especially if you don’t have 2FTs.
BB29 is decent asSF suggests imo
Thanks both!
And yeah, would have helped if I’d actually put the 2nd pic up. You know, the one with all the crucial bits of info!
I’ve gone with the WC and aim to BB 29 and not use a FH in 30. Leaving them for 33 and 36.
Looking at your team, it might not be the worst strategy for you as well. GW29 you’ve only got 3 DGW players and not many playing in GW30.
Cheers Gears, that’s what I’ll be doing then.
I’ll send you my ideas tomorrow morning, as I am dozing right off atm and will be quite incoherent (or even more so than usual!) if I start now! I think a WC is the way to go – seems the optimal time!
Zzzzzzzzzz…..
Thanks AJW, look forward to it. Or at least I’ll look out for it afterwards as I’ve quite a busy work day tomorrow.
I don’t need much…. I just need a chip plan, week by week, and a full WC team sorting for me….
Hey Initt,
I’ll just give you the rationale behind my personal thinking, in order for you to structure your own thoughts. Plan is:
– GW 28 – WC
– GW 29 – BB (get it out it out of the way with 10 DGWers, to be able to ‘shave’ team down for the run in)
– GW 30 – FH (I think!) – to attack it and leave the 2nd FH for one of those huge Mega-GWs!
Here are my teams (GW 27 + latest WC team) :
And current WC team, which was amended yesterday, to take advantage of the CHE DGW, and to hopefully anticipate the move towards Chelsea assets (can’t pin down any mids or attackers yet, but will be able to move for Mount, Havertz or Ziyech when it settles), and later Leicester and Arsenal, depending on their evolution.
I did have Son, but I just couldn’t keep him, have 2 CHE defenders, and also hold Cancelo + TAA, so I traded Son for Kulu.
For GW 29, I will be trading Coutinho for an Arsenal mid and maybe T Silva for Gabriel or another ‘doubler’.
That’s the plan, Stan, for the moment, and I feel pretty good with the look of the team for the foreseeable future, with the possibility to ease out the NEW assets to make the team more reactive.
Your team has a good base for WC-ing, with certain assets you’d want to keep, but also value assets such as Bruno, Bowen, Maguire, Ederson, Weggie & Dennis who you can release to free up the necessary funds.
I hope all this helps in some small way Initt – I’ll have a look at your team after brekkie (Toast and Vegemite, what else???), as I don’t think I’ve really done you justice for the moment (and I’m frigging starving!).
Cheers! 😉
Initt – I had a look at your team (with value etc) and I’ve worked out you can set yourself up with the following (or similar):
Ramsdale – Dubrav (9.5)
Rudiger (for Maguire – 6.1)
Kulusevski + Martinelli (for Bowen + Coutinho – 11.3)
Kane + Adams (for Weggie + Dennis – 19.1)
Just a few suggestions to get you through the coming period! Prolly not perfect, just some ideas and possibilities.
I’ll let you take it from there!
(P.S. I finally got in Anthony Gordon from you guys. I’m really chuffed – love this player!). See yah! 😉
Hey guys, init/AJW. .lol…. Need help with my team. . see post 11 above. .lol.. thanks