Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 32 2017/18
Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 32. Savour this article. As it may be the last one for a good while that doesn’t bang on endlessly about DGW’s! And BGW’s for that matter. Our Fixtures article did, and our Tips article that will follow almost certainly will. That’s not our MO here though, we are here to talk about GW32 and GW32 alone. So much so that you could almost also consider this as a player tips article for this week alone, except for the fact that we can only see 3 viable options! Armband or not, if a player makes this shortlist then you can be sure that he’s one that you should probably at least aspire to want in your ranks for the week ahead.
We say the above because a certain Egyptian has almost made this article itself a redundant issue. We know who you will probably captain this week. You don’t have to be of Mystic Meg proportions to suggest that Mo Salah will get the majority of overall armbands for GW32. It’s only natural. Even before his 4 goal haul last week he grabbed 88.8% of the armband’s from the top 10k*. If that’s not borderline 95% this week we will be very surprised.
*As an aside, we’ve used the top 10k as a marker there rather than the overall as at least we know it is representative of manager’s who are still active. The overall table last week saw 3 of the top 5 spots (roughly 30% in total) taken by players who didn’t even have a game. And 2 of those were also injured for good measure!
Other candidates are available of course and as such we shall spend some time assessing them and do our best to convince you why you should at least consider them instead, and then finally try to rubbish the credentials of Salah, which may be difficult… Before you just slap it on Salah anyway.
Romelu Lukaku – Swansea (H)
Does anybody else feel like they have been missing out at a bit on Lukaku recently? Maybe, maybe not. He’s become a bit of a lost soul in the FPL wilderness as he’s viewed as a premium striker in a relatively conservative team but still he’s managed 3 goals and an assist in his last 4 and has grabbed 5 bonus points to boot. The truth is that he’s just not been top of anybody’s shopping list given the other options available in his price range. He suddenly becomes relevant again though given that he has 2 DGW’s on the bounce, and it helps that he is in form and scoring. From a DGW point of view there’s not a lot not to like here in all honesty. His 4 DGW games are against West Brom, Bournemouth, Brighton and West Ham. But hey, that’s not why were are here right now…
As for GW32 he’s at home to Swansea and the Key Facts in this one are as follows –
- Swansea have conceded 23 in 15 away games, or an average of about 1.5 per game.
- United have scored 33 in 15 home games, or an average of 2.2 per game.
- Lukaku himself has scored 9 of his 14 league goals at home.
- In terms of points split he’s got 82 of his 144 points at home, or 57%.
- He has only breached the double figures mark on 3 occasions (13, 12 & 12) but all of those were at home.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Stoke (H)
PEA, or Auba (take your pick) has sort of hit the ground running since his £56m transfer in January having already clocked 3 goals in his 5 games so far. And the other 2 were against Spurs and Man City, games that they lost and in all honesty weren’t expected to compete in, never mind win. And that’s not a sly dig at Arsenal, it’s just the reality of their current status. The other 3 games were against Everton, Brighton and Watford, games that they were expected to win, and they did. Handsomely. Scoring 10 goals in the process. The term ‘flat-track bully’ springs to mind (‘someone who dominates inferior opposition, but who cannot beat top-level opponents’ – yep, even the Collins English Dictionary has your number Arsenal!). Which brings us nicely onto Stoke….
Key facts –
- Stoke have conceded 33 goals in 15 away games, or 2.2 per game.
- Arsenal have scored 39 in 15 home games, or 2.6 per game.
- Stoke have managed to concede 28 goals in the 8 games they have played against the top 5 teams, or 3.5 per game.
- They have played those teams in 4 away games and conceded 7, 5, 5 and 3 for a total of 20, or a nice round average of 5 per game.
- Arsenal are not in the top 5!
- But the point stands, especially as Arsenal are a ‘flat-track bully’, and much like the actual top 5 do like to score big against crap teams.
- Stoke are a crap team.
Mo Salah – Crystal Palace (a)
He scored 4 last week, so of course he will also score 4 this week too… Ok, he won’t. But let’s face facts here, he’s now bordering on ‘perma cap’ status. If it wasn’t for Liverpool, somewhat unhelpfully, not having a DGW at all we would probably all just captain him from now until the end of the season and forget about it. DGW or not that may still be a plan as he has games like Bournemouth, West Brom and Stoke on the horizon. Unlike his 2 ‘rivals’ though he’s actually away from home this week so could that swing the balance a bit? Let’s go find out with our Key Facts –
- In his and his ‘rivals’ last 5 FPL games he has scored 62 points, Lukaku has scored 33 and Auba has 26.
- Palace have conceded 23 in 15 games at home, or just over 1.5 per game.
- Liverpool have scored 35 in 15 away games (the most by any team), or 2.3 per game.
- Salah has hit double digit points 14 times this season! Let that sink in…
- In his other 17 games he’s got over 7 points in 7 of those. So even when he’s not in ‘explosive’ mode he’s still registering consistently.
- Never mind double figures, he’s got 15 or more points on 4 occasions now.
- We may have found a slight in his armour though as he’s only scored 104 of his total 266 FPL points away from home, or 39%.
- That said, take out last weeks ridiculous home haul and the figure rises to 44%, so still not too shabby!
- He has however only scored 11 of his 28 goals away from Anfield. Again though, separate out last weeks and it is still almost half, sort of (46%).
Conclusion:
Captain Salah!
Sorry, we did our best to find someone to rival him, but we fear we may have failed.
If you are either very brave or simply need a differential for a mini-league reason then we would certainly consider one of the other two candidates. And Aubameyang would probably be our preference for this week, mainly because of Stoke. If you are playing the bigger picture in terms of DGW’s though just remember that Auba doesn’t have a DGW in 34, whereas Lukaku does.
Whatever you decide this week we wish you the best of luck with it. And we apologise for interrupting your WC and Chip planning… crack on with that in the comments below!
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 32. This article was written by inittowinit.
Vote on our Captain Poll Now
The League Codes for FF247 for the 2017/18 season are as follows:
The main public FF247 League , which anyone is welcome to join, can be accessed using the following code 1503-553 (auto-link below).
We are delighted to say that this has a prize pool of £300 which will be split between the top 3 and this has kindly been sponsored by STARTING ELEVEN Please take a minute to click on the link and visit their wonderful Live Daily Fantasy Football game.
Join Our League – Quick Link
League Code: 1503-553
View league standings
Our Regulars League for 2017/18 is now open and has a cash prize pool of £300 paid directly to the winners from the FF247 management team. The first 5 places are paid out in a tiered system.
To enter this one you need to be an active and recognised site member and you need to e-mail us for the league code – Elleffcee@fantasyfootball247.co.uk
*terms and conditions apply and are available upon request. Management reserve the right to review membership of this league on an ongoing basis. If you enter and win a prize you have to have commented on the site at least 10 times for 3 consecutive months between January 2018 and March 2018 or you will not be considered for a prize.
Gameweek Tracker GW32-38
Thank you Inittowinit!
You forgot the main flaw in the Salah armour though. Who backs a Saturday lunchtime captain?? :winktongue:
This will be interesting . . . . .
Hi Guys,
Sorry for another RMT post, but I’m flying off to get married tomorrow, so I kinda need to have this wrapped up today.
I’m on a WC, with 0.2 ITB and my plan is to FH in GW35 & BB in GW37. So I’m trying to build a solid team for DGW34, whilst making sure I attack DGW37 with the BB.
Should I be concerned with the gametime of my defence?
Should I be getting in Aubameyeng, when there’s a very good chance he’ll be the fall guy for Kane come DGW37? It’s such a shame Morata isn’t nailed and firing.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions then I’d really appreciate it, as I seem to be going round in circles here.
Thanks very much.
Congratulations Banjo.
Glad to hear it.
I think Auba is a good shout and he and Son could become Kane and Gross/Lingard etc when Harry is back.
I prefer Morgan over Chilwell for an extra 0.1 as club captain he should be more nailed on.
Usual concerns over game time for Smalling and Christensen but there don’t seem to be many alternatives in that price range maybe Vert for one of them and look for a cheaper alternative to Ki.
Have a great time and by the time you get back Pompey may be in a play off spot
Cheers Horse. Good shout on Morgan. I’ve done that.
The Vert idea is interesting. It’s kinda annoying though, as I’d prefer double Man U, and it’d mean a significant downgrade of Ki. Hmmm.
Who knows what could happen with Pompey. As soon as I give up on the season we seem to tie a few results together. I’m just gonna stay as given up and see what happens!
I woudn’t get Smalling, other than that team looks good! Also I am impressed by your dedication to FPL, posting RMT’s before the marriage day
I have friends who do fuck all whole week and still forget to change the team !! Anyway congrats and all the best 😉
Thanks, Snookie! We don’t actually get married tomorrow. We fly to Sri Lanka tomorrow and get married the following week. But still feel I need this sorted today, as I’m not sure how much she’ll let me look at this whilst we’re away!
Yea Smalling is a pretty big risk, but I really like the look of United fixtures and I cant see an obvious replacement without damaging elsewhere?
How about Smalling to Vertonghen and Ki to Kenedy
0.2 short of that
Congrats (in advance) Banjo, have a brilliant wedding mate!
Thanks, Cookie. Much appreciated.
I’m still unsure whether marriage will mean more time for FPL or less. We shall see.
it should mean more, much much more 😉
Congrats Banjo! Think you are set.Looks like my team but yours is better because of team value. Morgan is probably more secure than Chilwell so I’d do that. Think I’d prefer a Kenedy to Ki but not much in it
Thanks, Smash. Aside from the unpredictable rotations, Kenedy or Ki will only feature in BB 37, where its Kenedy with WAT (A) & TOT (A) or Ki with BOU (A) & SOU (H). Based on that alone I’m currently on Ki, although Kenedy would free up a small amount of cash.
Nobody has commented on the lack of City… Is that not bordering on suicide?!
Next 3 are not easy. And soon enough god knows who’s going to play. They have so many options there is no guarantee you pick the right player for City coverage anyway. However later on we could come crawling back
Issue with City is their schedule and then trying to predict their inevitable rotation once the season is secured. You might have Sterling and Sane and see neither of them play in a DGW!
Congrats Banjo, have a brilliant day mate! You can do it!! 😉
Best of luck Banjo, hope it all goes well and have a great time.
Team sorted?
Banjo
Congratulations pal hope it all goes well for you and you’re happy with your final choice.
Good luck getting married too! 😉
Thanks everyone. Got the masters starting the evening of our wedding night, and it’ll be about 11pm where I am. I’ve a feeling that might be pushing my luck.
Init, I think I’m gonna settle on the above, with Morgan in for Chilwell. Not too comfortable with Smalling & Christensen, but can’t see any better options.
Many congratulations for your wedding! You’ll have an incredible day that’ll fly by – step back and take in every second.
FPL wise, how about an Arsenal defender like Mustafi or Monreal instead of Christensen or Smalling if you’re not 100 per cent about them?
Thanks swirly. I did briefly look at the gooners, but I don’t have huge confidence in them, and I’d kinda need that to go with players who don’t have a DGW34.
Fair enough, bud. Always go with your gut in FPL!
Been bored so have been lurking on Fantasy football scout. Really is not up to this site by the way. They are all in love with Alonso I could not wait to get rid of him on my wildcard he did my head in
Smash,
There is a much broader cross section of folk on there.
Some good people with great knowledge interspersed with selfish people who just want RMTs and offer no help to others.
Alonso I have played wrong all
season!!
Yeah I’m happy with their podcast and this site. That’s enough for me. Yeah all that is true. Yep I’m done with Alonso
Lol just bought Alonso into my WC :smiling: Hopefully have better luck!
Uh oh!! I need to cut out the RMT’s
Nah, you just gave a ‘+1’, so you’ve done your deed for the day 😉
Phil Jones back in training. Personally avoiding Smalling, too much competition at CB.
Johann Gudmundsson with a knock now, that’s a potential 5th mid gone then.
I saw that earlier, is it serious?
Saw it on twitter, should wait for pressers to confirm these.
Great article Init. Think I’m going Auba this week. Calculated risk.
Enough of all this WC nonsense, how’s my team?
Anything stand out for £0.8? Walcott to Mkhi, bench Shaq?
AT,
Walcott to Mikhi makes sense.
+1
Or sort out your defence!
I could be think I might bite the bullet this week – would be for a hit as already done Wilson to Auba!
Who you thinking for a hit?
Who needs a defence just bring Mikhi in
AT, if you doing it for a hit, then Mikhi does makes sense. But it’s a big gamble. I might just see this week out.
Mitro – Mkhi in would be for a hit.
Cheers Smash. We think alike
Keethan – it would be calculated though – Arsenal on paper should get at least 3 against Stoke, and you bet Auba and Mkhi are involved. Walcott and Shaqiri have tough fixtures for the next two, and one would have to play each week!
Poor Smash…
I feel blessed!
I’d be gutted
Evening everyone. I think I am very close to having my WC team sorted out but which of these two teams do you prefer?
A.
DDG/ McCarthy
Dunk/ Chilwell/ Rudiger/ Lowton/ Robertson
Mahrez/ Eriksen/ Young/ Willian/ Salah
Murray/ Vardy/ Lukaku
B.
DDG/ McCarthy
Dunk/ Chilwell/ Azpi/ Lowton/ Dummett
Albrighton/ Eriksen/ Young/ Willian/ Salah
Firmino/ Vardy/ Lukaku
Hey Matt, I like be ddw or not Bobby can sore a good return. Not a fan of young in either team, playing left back I think you could find better. Any money left over with either team?
Be is meant to say B *
Well in Team A I have 5.7 to replace Young. and in Team B I have 5 mi to replace Young
1st one for me. Though I’d swap Young and Robertson I think. Not sure on Rudiger but think he plays every week now
I wasn’t sure on Young either to be fair but can’t see much at that price. As for Robertson Liverpool have some nice fixtures coming up
They do but I’d be surprised if he plays both the next two. You can get enablers for Young for cheaper that offer same returns.
Matt, what’s your chip plan again please?
Hey Init, More than likely it’ll be BB 34, FH 35 and TC 37. But I might even do TC Willian in 34 as a puny and BB 37. It’s a backup idea though.
If you’re BB’ing in 34 you may as well max out and go 14 Plus Salah and just play the numbers game then. In which case it’d be A minus Robertson.
If I was TC’ing anyone in 34 it’d be Lukaku.
Yeah A is definitely the way I’m leaning. Willian was just an experimental idea. BB is most likely.
Would you have Rudiger, Vertonghen and Mccarthy or Alonso, Stephens and Ryan.
Last decisions I need to make… Thank God haha
Just say out loud the 3 teams involved in each scenario and you have your answer
Haha perfect. Cheers mate.
No probs. Don’t forget to breathe in and out as well :hippo: 😉
That’s how you do it?! Maybe now I won’t black out as much :hippo: