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.
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Gameweek Tracker GW32-38
Well if I did Young to Kenedy I could leave Rudiger there and I would have 6.0 to replace Robertson so I could bring in Vertonghen. Or I could do Young to Kenedy and Rudiger to Azpi that would leave me 4.9 to bring someone in for Robertson.
That’s in reply to you Smash.
Yeah I quite like Vertonghen and Kenedy. For Azpil price you might as well go Alonso but I prefer a Vertonghen gives you an extra double
Yeah I like Kenedy and Vert the only worry I have is Rudigers starting spot. I’d say it’s nailed though.
Evening everyone,
Firstly, sorry for my lack of attendance the past two weeks – busy with work and then a heavy stag do inbetween! Below is my wildcard team as it currently stands, with the plan to TC in GW34 (I’d have 7 DGW players), FH in 35 and BB in 37 (look set to have 13 DGW players with Salah and Firmino the only ones playing once).
Your thoughts would be much appreciated! Have £0 in the bank.
Hey Swirly. I’m not sure on McArthur and Silva in there. Silva still seems to be having personal issues so could miss games like before and McArthur is just McArthur.
Haha, cheers Matt. Yeah, I’ve got McArthur in there just as a cheap fifth mid to stay on the bench, but that’s a great shout about Silva. Especially as Man City don’t have the best fixtures. Who would you recommend in his place?
What about Mkhi??
With having Aubameyang and Monreal there already, would Willian be an option? Or do you reckon Arsenal’s fixtures are that good, it’s worth having three of them?
Willian is definitely an option. I guess the Triple up might not work but it is good.
Cheers bud – appreciate your help
How we doing Swirly been in and out myself , looks ok to me mate , Silva might not play this GW Smalling could lose his place other than that looks solid
Hi Silvers! Good to see you, bud – hope you’re keeping well. I’m up in Southport this weekend! Cheers for that, will take a look.
Hey Swirly how lg long you in Southport for I’m in New Brighton this wknd back Sun.
Heading up tomorrow night after work and then heading back Sunday afternoon by the looks of it bud
Hey Silvers. I’ll be emailing you tomorrow mate we need to sort out our team.
No problem Matt how your team looking ?
Hopefully all done! Yours?
Hey mate team looks good but I wouldn’t want any Bha players strong MF players I like Vert good stuff mate .
Hi Swirly. Just a few thoughts
I don’t think Silva is that nailed on due his family situation. After City win the league he may spent more time in Spain.. William looks a better pick.
DDG looks a better option than Smalling. Change Smalling to vdH or Naughton and Fabs to DDG.
That’s a great idea re: DDG and VDH – can afford that if I then move Silva out for Willian.
I like the Monreal punt, I’m considering him too. The rest is good, except for Mcarthur and Silva like Matt said. Perhaps you can consider straight swaps to Willian and King who have DGW 37.
Also note Jones is back in training, so I’m not sure if Smalling is nailed on since there is quite a bit of competition. (Expect rotation closer to FA cup semis)
Great shouts, Keethan – having a tinker with the team as a result, as I speak!
It couldn’t have been that ‘heavy’, you messaged us at 9.19pm on Friday to say you we’re still sober!
Hope you remember that you later agreed to a sh*t load of Tips articles?!
Haha, I like the accuracy of saying when I messaged! I do indeed remember very clearly both nights, with much more drink consumed in later stages! Doesn’t mean my head felt great either morning though! My wallet certainly felt lighter too!
We monitor everybody’s every movement mate 😉 Think Facebook. But without the…….. ethics
Gents
Thoughts on these:
Is Rudiger nailed onto start or is he a risk?
DeGea or Courtois?
Smalling or Bailly?
Risk
DdG
A risky Smalling!
Thanks banjo
Rudiger’s competition is Cahill. He has been rotated a bit. Think he’s a bit dodgy like Christenson but think they are both first choice.
DDG
Smalling just though a lot think Bailly
I’m hoping Christensen is passed fit tbh! Surely Bailly is Jose main man!
On the Smalling or Bailly thing I asked Cookie earlier (for the Site Team) and he picked Bailly as he’s the no1 CB. He’d picked him over Smalling initially too, hence the query.
Thanks mate
Guys what’s the story with kun? Is he definitely out?
He didn’t play or train much for Argentina. I doubt he plays as City don’t need to risk him. But if you have waited this long I’d wait to see if Pep says anything
Cheers Smash. If I do change him it’ll probably be PEA or Lukaku. What do u reckon between those two?
Do you already have United cover? If so maybe go with PEA.
PEA
Thanks Guys I have Smalling and no arsenal cover.
Jesus, anyone just saw what I just saw on Twitter regarding wildcard advice and hours and times to book in?
Nope. Screen shot?
Below:
P.S not having a go at him just seems very strange to show it like that to the world.
Ben Creelin?
Ha ha just seen it.What time are you booked in… ??
Lol! I’m making a spreadsheet tomorrow with a couple of macros and I might even through in a a couple of pivot tables….
Wow! I appreciate what the guy has done in terms of his spreadsheets. They have helped clarify the BGW and DGWs situation as well as what’s happening with the cups. It must have taken a lot of his time to sort it all out.
But this is getting a bit strange.
He would have been better charging for the spreadsheets themselves.
For myself I enjoy sharing what I have figured out and may help people.
I would be very interested to know what his rank is this season and what it is in previous seasons.
Think he is just inside top 100k this season and finished top 5K last season Horse.Got to admit this is getting a bit odd now.Even odder is people are willing to pay it !!
And say he gives some advice which doesnt turn out well, can people ask for their money back??
Imagine if I had to pay you lot to do my RMTs! I would be broke!
Or worse still a live chat with mito where he would be saying arsenal are shit when im telling him I’m loading up on Arsenal players!!
Ha yeah or players get injured before they bring them in ?
By the way congrats on the rank Horse and enjoyed reading your article.Ive actually been quietly following you for a couple of months now.Youve deffo taught me a couple of things,cut back down on the hits and go back to being patient !!
Good luck on the run in mate !
Cheers Brooky. My secret has been having Quaner in my team most of the season
Thanks for all the tips you’ve given me this season
We’ve been taking about this all week behind the scenes!
There was a reference to this in Rosco’s article
I’m not actually opposed to him charging for his spreadsheets, because the person who pays for it gets something of objective value (at least, if they wanted to make one anyway)
but transfer/WC advice!? Have a word with yourself.
He has carved out a nice niche with his schedules but that does make him an expert on transfers WC as you say AT
Also everyone likes to play the game differently. Some people like taking hits others don’t.
Some people like gaining a high team value others aren’t fussed.
Some people like to play safe consistent options others like more risky players.
Some people like to pick the players from their own team others don’t care.
I don’t see how can tailor his advice to all sorts of different managers.
As you say Init he has lost a lot of credibility
*does not*
To be fair, we give advice on here based on our personal managerial preferences. The difference is that no one on here is charging for it!
Never really got the attraction of his spreadsheets in the first place in all honesty. Have you ever once made a transfer based on a DGW that hasn’t been confirmed, or at least near enough?!
I have played a WC on a DGW that hasn’t been confirmed. Ha ha ha!
I can’t say I have – only started following for some entertainment 😆
What an absolute tit! Talk about a lack of self awareness. It’s been fairly obvious on twitter all week that it all went down like a lead balloon, as did his credibility. I thought he may just do a Homer. Or at worst carry on quietly with what he had. Nope!
We blocked him a long time ago as there was something not right with him from the get go. Glad to see he’s proving our judgement right in spectacular fashion!
+1
FPL was the loser this week.
Every time I see his posts related to money, I just cringe.
This talk about the United and Chelsea defence has made me come up with another bloody question!
DDG and Rudiger or Courtois and Bailly?
Having the same dilemma mate
Yeah I want DDG but Court and Bailly feel like the safer option.
I have Vertonghen
DDG and Vertonghen