Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 3
Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 3
After GW1’s flurry of 20 odd fairly obvious Capo points to the fairly obvioys candidates it was a bit more down to earth in GW2 for our writers. With no mention of Jesus (just the 38 Capo points) we were left with a defender (Cancelo) top of our pile (22), Haaland (10) and Salah (4) lagging and our differential pick of Bowen flatlining again (4).
But as ever hope springs eternal so let’s go see what they all reckon for GW3…
Haaland v Newcastle (A) by Init
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – AUGUST 13: Erling Haaland of Manchester City plays a pass to assist Ilkay Gundogan of Manchester City scoring his side’s first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and AFC Bournemouth at Etihad Stadium on August 13, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Ok, so last week’s return was a bit of a comedown from what we thought may follow after his destruction of all things West Ham the week before. I did see one reason mooted for not going all perma-Captain on him prior to the game though and that was that he’s all goals and doesn’t do assists. Well, if nothing else, he put paid to that myth, albeit at the expense of his real commodity. And it was a hell of an assist too. None of this ‘Jesus’ nonsense that I’m sure you’ll hear about shortly, with an oppportunistic nudge and a 2 yard sideways pass, this was an assist for the ages.
So let’s address the no goals issue too. He could and really should have had some. And that’s really the main point here, he should have, and subsequently will. Had Foden squared the most obvious of balls then that’s a tap in right there. I heard it said that the City players need to learn that Haaland is always there (in the middle), as they are just not used to that element yet. They soon will be and he’ll get a ton of tap-ins this season. Ironically he almost had a tap in from Foden’s actual goal before it eventually sneaked in of its own accord. He also had other chances later on which he will feel he should have done better with but it does just feel a little like he is sharpening up, on the job.
As for the oppo themselves, Newcastle away is undoubtedly more difficult than it would have sounded in season’s past but then West Ham away felt similar and he made a mockery of that notion. City often start season’s slowly but this one feels different and they look ‘at it’ already and will probably take apart most teams in this league at will.
Which leads me on to Salah and Liverpool, who again you will no doubt hear all about below. Ignore the hype about to be thrust upon you and use yours eyes here; Liverpool look like a team still adapting. Still adapting to no Mane, still adapting to Nunez, now adapting to life without Nunez, and as for Salah himself he just hasn’t looked himself yet.
Haaland and City do, and yes Phil he’s always there, just remember that and we can all stop writing Captain articles as it will become a reduntant question soon enough. Starting with Newcastle. 4-0 to City again anyone? I wouldn’t bet against it.
Maddison v Southampton (H) by Swirly
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 13: James Maddison of Leicester City gestures during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Leicester City at Emirates Stadium on August 13, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Whilst Leicester have been tipped to struggle this season, James Maddison may not be such a bad shout for the captain pick this gameweek, on the back of great form and, of course, the fact the Foxes absolutely love to play against Southampton.
Of course there was that 9-0 result back in 2019 which, let’s face it, is pretty unlikely to happen this time round, however the past five Premier League meetings since that fateful October night have seen 10 goals scored by the East Midlanders. Of those, four alone were in the last fixture between the two sides – a game where our main man Madders just happened to find the back of the net and set another up. There were three goals from the attacking midfielder in the seven other times he had faced the side too.
This record against the Saints, coupled with the fact the £8m player has picked up a goal and an assist in the two game-weeks we’ve already had this season, puts him in good stead to rack up the points in GW3.
Jesus v Bournemouth (A) by Gear
(Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Salah v Manchester United (A) by Stone Frog
(Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Moving to this season, Liverpool have not made an ideal start with two draws and a number of injuries perhaps denting their form. Nonetheless Salah did grab a goal and an assist in the opener against Fulham. Their opponents this week have made a downright awful start though, losing to Brighton and then 4-0 to Brentford. All credit to Brighton and Brentford who both performed well, but Manchester United are now rock bottom of the table and look in trouble. There are rumours of potential fan protests for the match against Liverpool, which brings back memories of this fixture being postponed in May 2021; but there’s no reason not to captain Salah, just make sure to vice-captain someone playing in a different fixture.
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 — Son
Jamesimmo — Salah
Ivan — Haaland
Swirly — Jesus
Horse — Jesus
Matt — Jesus
Loud Atlas — Jesus
Smash — Salah
Kop — Jesus
The Gallant Pioneer — Jesus
Rosco — Jesus
Ellefcee — Salah
Floydeth — Salah
Init — Haaland
Carolyn — TAA
Gear — Jesus
Stone Frog — Salah
OddDane — KdB, but I don’t have him! So Haaland. Or Salah. Ok, Jesus it is! Maybe…
VOTE ON THIS WEEK’S CAPTAIN POLL
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 3. This week’s article was written by Init, Swirly, Stone Frog and Gear
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Thanks for the article guys.
Would you play Sanchez or Ward?
Sanchez I think. Leicester defence not giving Ward much cover and I thought he could’ve fared better on a couple of the Arsenal goals last time out
On paper Leicester should have a decent chance of keeping Southampton out, but I’m not keeping my hopes up for that given their form.
Nor would I rate Brighton’s chnaces to keep a clean sheet against the hammers. A bit of coin toss between the two.
Sanchez for me but not much in it.
I can’t see a way round using my wildcard to get Diaz and a decent 3rd striker. What do you think of this team and am I going to early. I can’t seem to get a decent 11 without at least a 12pt hit
Xx
Darwin and Dalot to Toney and a 5m def (Walker, Cucu etc.) may see you through another week.
Agreed
There are a number of options if you replace Nunez and a mid to say Mitro/Toney and whatever your budget allows. Certainly no need for a WC
The problem is wanting Toney and Diaz
I concur. Darwin + Dalot -> Toney and Walker for a -4 now then do other transfers later.
Yep, this is good. Hold the wildcard and don’t panic yet!
Thank you everyone x
Less attractive but would you consider Darwin/Neto to Diaz and Mbuemo??
Thanks for a great article (and all the others, *think* this is my first post of the season…).
I brought in Toney for Wilson already and have one FT remaining. I like that transfer a lot but I’ve locked myself into three up front now and can’t see how to reach James (losing TAA or Cancelo not appealing much). Don’t really want to touch Salah or Diaz ahead of Utd game and their good run, though Salah to KDB is intriguing (then Walker to James, have to start Andreas).
Downgrading Haaland to bench 4.5(!!), Diaz to KDB and Walker to James would leave 1.4 to spend, which is enough for Bailey to Rodrigo…?? But that’s nuclear and mostly just for mapping potential transfers in the weeks to come… ideally you’d want Haaland, KDB and Cancelo but that’s one for later team value I guess…
Roll?
I think you’ll just have to accept you can’t have ‘em all. As much as I love KDB I wouldn’t be selling Haaland and Diaz to get him.
Haha yes… it’s actually James giving me the most angst though, but I think team structure just means he’s not an option just yet…
Cracking write-up folks. At least noone recommended Darwin right? *phew*
Set-piece takers has been updated;
https://fantasyfootball247.co.uk/fantasy-premier-league-set-piece-takers-2022-23/
And it’s a bit less dour in colour now too!
Great article, fellas!
I’m torn on my choices. On the one hand, City are phenomenal and Haaland should be obvious. But then you think, “Newcastle have back to back clean sheets – their defence is stout this year.”
But the next second, you think, “Sure Newcastle have back to back CS…but by law of averages…doesn’t that make Haaland the top pick again? If Newcastle getting a CS against City was already dubious, Newcastle keeping THREE consecutive CS with City in that run should be mathematically impossible.”
I told myself Salah would be a perma-cap the entire season so long as he’s healthy, and now I’m on the fence. I also know that Salah will score 20 points the very GW I don’t cap him.
This is too much thinking for a Wednesday. This might be one of those GW’s I do some stupid internet challenge and put a dog treat on all my choices for cap and let the pups decide.
What’s even worse this week is that if I ever have 2 or 3 legit options I often just pick the one who is playing in a game I’ll defo be watching. It’s the more fun option. Trouble is I tend to watch the tail end games each day. Check out the schedule for this week….
Ha. Jesus, Haaland and Salah all end the matches on three separate days. Time to let the dog pick.
Hahaha what did the dog pick? I am torn between Haaland and Salah, may end up going Salah but that feels boring.