Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 36 2017/18
Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 36. I’ll be honest here I spent a good while looking at the fixtures to try and pick out a differential from one of the lower teams that still have ‘something to play for’ as Cookie would put it and I was close to including a West Brom player with the form they are in; but then I thought Init may kill me because why waste time on writing about players that no one in their right mind would have? Jay Rodriguez was the only West Brom player I had in my team this season, but that dream ended a long, long time ago. If you still have him because you started back in September, forgot your password and haven’t touched your team since, why not stick it on him? It’s the run in…. take a risk! Well there’s my differential pick snuck in without hopefully getting me told off but don’t worry I have remembered there are other teams and games going on and have stuck with the ‘go-to’ players for the most part! Have a read of this and decide which of these takes your fancy. Good luck to who ever you pick just make sure you have that VC on a suitable candidate too, so you don’t get stung by rotation that this risky time of year brings.
Mo Salah – home vs Stoke
I’ll start with the most obvious… Henderson! No seriously, Salah is the go-to of go-to players and if you don’t have him you need a smack upside the head. I won’t offer any reasons as to why you should captain him because it is clear, 31 goals, 11 assists, wadda wadda wadda. Instead I am going to give you guys a little bit of a warning for him as to why the Egyptian might be a bit risky. Firstly, there is the whole Saturday lunchtime kickoff and not picking a captain in the first game of the week so that could turn a lot of people off him straight away. Salah proved last weekend against West Brom that no matter what time the kickoff is he can score, so if you are playing it safe then stick the armband on him, sit back, but have that vice-captain on someone decent. The other reason you may not want to go with Salah as captain is a much more realistic one and that is the small matter of Roma. The match against Stoke comes smack bang in the middle of Liverpool’s crucial Champions League semi-final legs. With Liverpool wanting to reach the final they will no doubt have eyes on that second leg in the Stadio Olimpico so depending on how the first leg goes, Salah may get benched or miss out altogether. Keep your eyes open on the site as he will be highly discussed I’m sure and hopefully the team will be leaked!
Olivier Giroud – away vs Swansea
With Conte possibly realising that everyone’s man crush is better than Morata and playing him, our loveable French stud could be a brilliant differential pick for those that need to make up ground in their mini-league. We saw both Morata and Giroud start up top together in Chelsea’s last outing in the league which saw neither find the net in the 2-1 win over Burnley but in the other game of Chelsea’s DGW, FPL managers and Chelsea fans got to see exactly what Giroud can do when he came off the bench to score a great double to grab the win for Chelsea. Giroud has not played a full 90mins much in his time with the Blues but with Morata being in the type of form that wouldn’t see him score in a brothel, Conte must be looking to the Frenchman to try and boost Chelsea’s attack and propel them into the top four spot. Giroud is only owned by 1.8% of managers so if you are looking for a differential that is in a top team then Giroud could prove a shrewd investment. Most will have the likes of Hazard or Willian but with Pedro getting minutes and Conte possibly playing two up top, Hazard’s minutes and Willian’s in particular could get cut into. Overall, Chelsea are coming up against a Swansea side that just got smashed for 5 goals against City so morale may be down and prime for the picking for the Frenchman and co.
Harry Kane / Christian Eriksen – home vs Watford
Contrast to Salah and Liverpool, Kane and co. play in the last game of the week and have nothing else to play for except for a place in the top four. This is good news for people wanting Spurs cover as they will be going all out and do not have any other competitions to contend with so there should be minimal rotation to worry about. Spurs have a few options in attack with Eriksen, Son, Alli and Kane but this weekend I would favour one of Kane or Eriksen. I’ll start with why the Dane is a good option and this is largely due to the great run of form he is on. With 4 goals and an assist in his last five games Eriksen has been a largely overlooked asset in most FPL teams as people have favoured the cheaper Son. If you are one of the few that opted with Eriksen then look at his form, his set-piece duties and really consider choosing him over Kane for that armband. If you want to play it safer with the Spurs cover then it has to be Kane! Kane is seen as a must in the FPL world and that is because he gets all of their goals anyway so no matter who you pick Kane will get the credit? In all seriousness, the Spurs team are obviously doing everything they can to try and get Kane the goals he needs in order to catch a certain Egyptian so expect ‘Arry to be amongst the action. A home game against a Watford side that are very much on the beach could be a tasty fixture for Kane to make some ground in the race for the golden boot.
Any Man City player – away vs West Ham
This one is a bit risky, but City players needed to be included in this article. The main reason I am deeming these players risky is largely due to the fact City are champions. The fact the league is all sewn up leads me to worry that Pep may rotate some positions as he has the freedom to give the youngsters a chance to play (Do City even have a youth system?!). No matter who plays Pep will not want his players to take their foot off the gas, so I can still see goals in their remaining games. The likes of Sterling, De Bruyne Sane and Jesus are the key players to have and most likely to succeed with the armband. These are young players so shouldn’t get tired and will want to enjoy the next few games as champions meaning they will be flashy and be trying to prove their worth before the World Cup squads are announced.
Romelu Lukaku / Alexis Sanchez – home vs Arsenal
This game used to be known as quite a fiery affair but with Jose in charge I’m sure he’ll suck all the exciting attacking football out of it. (Ed. touchy touchy). If you were really stuck and wanted to take a risk then Lukaku or Sanchez could be nice captain picks as Arsenal will, like Liverpool, be preparing for a European semi-final second leg and with top four well out of their reach winning the Europa League is the only chance they have for Champions League football next year so Arsene may want to rest players or take it easy in this game. Another reason why I fancy one of Lukaku or Sanchez to perform against Arsenal is the poor defensive form of the Gooners; they have only kept two clean sheets since December and they came against struggling sides Stoke and Watford so don’t bank on them keeping a clean sheet against one of the top sides even if it is a team led by the boring Jose Mourinho. (Ed. get over it!) Lukaku has 2 goals and an assist in his last five games which he could add to against this poor Arsenal defence. Sanchez is the better option in this game with the slightly better form of 1 goal and 3 assists in the last five games and coming up against his former side I’m sure he will want to prove he moved onto bigger and better things.
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 36. This article was written by MattX
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 GW36-38
**Captaincy Article**
Many thanks Matt, anyone you don’t like for this week? 😉
Technically he’s picked 17 players
Many thanks Matt, will have a proper read later.
Thanks MattX! I’m thinking Kane or Jesus…but will wait for AnfieldExpress first!
Even if salah starts he won’t play 90 mins. Especial if we go a few goals up. I see city scoring big in the rest of their games.
Gavy, its tough to Capo a City player with the threat of rotation or reduced minutes hanging over them. That’s my opinion anyway.
Plus…. Salah got reduced minutes last night! 2 goals and 2 assists!
And there’s a few days before the trip abroad. And they’re in a great position after the first leg… unless AnfieldExpress say he’s out, it’s tough to look elsewhere (unless you think Kane is going to destroy Watford)
Has anyone else noticed what Salah did last time he played Stoke?
Yeah Ben.
I remember it well!
Lol GP! Ok so I better say it openly for those who don’t: Salah scored 13 points last time he played against Stoke. He was on the pitch for 23 minutes…
I think I captained him that day as well.
Hi guys, need some assistance. Desperately trying to catch my bro in my ML, currently 16 points behind, he’s just played WC and we both have BB left.
My team followed by his, 0.7 ITB any tips?
His…
16 points is nothing it could be a captain decision. You have very similar teams as well. He don’t have Kane so just stick with it.
Thanks Smash. Concerned about my keeper situation for the BB DGW.
Thinking potentially Elliot to McCarthy this week (and starting him) with McCarthy and Ryan for the BB.
Otherwise will wait to see the leaked team news for Liverpool – potentially a Salah to KDB move might be worth it at this stage?
Yeah McCarthy prob makes sense. I think Salah starts he got pulled off pretty early last night
Lucky git
With Salah getting pulled off early, and if (if!) AnfieldExpress says he’s starting, it would be a brave man who doesn’t captain him!
Ziddy – next week I would suggest Barnes —> J Ayew. This week Barnes is a good choice (scored 2 in 2 and facing Brighton at home). Also your bro has him so you need to keep him this week.
But next week Barnes has only one game (v Arsenal) and J Ayew has two (v Southampton at home and Bournemouth away) so if (if!) your bro doesn’t make the same move, then this could close the gap.
Top man, great suggestion!
So Hart can’t play against his parent club, so that means Adrian will face City. How does that affect people’s views of:
(1) whether to captain a City player (presumably Jesus given Aguero injury)?
(2) whether Hart is a good idea for a DGW37 BB player (i.e. whether he will have lost his place to Adrian)?
Don’t think it does affect whether to captain a City player. Jesus is a decent option anyway. Salah and Kane are both at home though so would favour them personally and they have a higher ceiling.
Don’t think you can tell depends how Adrian does I guess against City. Hart has made mistakes so could be vulnerable
Good point there Smash, Moyes said just last week that he had a decision to make re who starts in goal. Hart got the nod last week but with Adrian playing this week, if he has a stormer……
Smash and Cookie thanks for your responses, this is what I feared, my team requires a 4.3/4.4m sub GK if my WC team is going to work. So either I hang my hopes on Hart or downgrade DeGea to Lloris and use the spare change to upgrade Hart.
Ben,
Get McCarthy surely?
Cookie soz I meant 4.2/4.3. So McCarthy doesn’t work.
The only nailed on GK at 4.3 is Foster. No DGW and his one game is v Spurs. Might have to downgrade DeGea… or chance it with Hart…
Get Lloris
Cookie you’re right. You’re so right. Feeling emotional. Had DeGea all season. Hard to let him go.
Cookie I did it. Got rid of De Gea. Difficult difficult lemon difficult.
I wouldn’t bother with either given the choice, just get someone else who is nailed on instead.
Great read brother Matt! Looking for an excuse not to go Salah and you’ve certainly given me food for thought!
Thanks Matt, cracking article my friend. Its almost certainly between Salah, Kane & Eriksen – it appears i’m as decisive as you 😉
Do like a Monday night capo, though we all know the dangers of not capo’ing the form man – saying that i’m sure Stoke will defend better than Roma did!
I think even the French and Italian armies would defend better than Roma.
I can’t believe how di Francesco let that happen last night.
Even his players looked surprised are the tactics he implemented (supposing they were following them properly).
Morning GP,
It was incredible wasn’t it – played just into their hands. Play a ball over the top and outrun the oppo!
Take nothing away from the dippers, they took full advantage.
Even if you hand picked the best three defenders in the world I still wouldn’t have fancied them against Liverpool’s attack in a three v three playing that high. To somehow think Roma could handle it with Fazio and Manolas in there is stupidity and he’s blown a golden chance to get to a European Cup final because of it.
Tell you something, at 2-0 the likes of Juve or Napoli would have changed it to at least stay in the tie.
Match fixing is the only logical explanation.
Must be.
Throw them both out without trial and tonight’s the final 😉
You know me too well
I don’t think you can play that high a line accidentally- they must have been told to. Crazy.
Which I just can’t understand in any instance.
I thought Bayern be the best match-up for LFC because they would be similar to City and give LFC space to run in behind them. I thought Roma would bunker down and make it a one goal type of game. Not risking much and being happy going back to Rome with a 1-0 loss. Instead they do that shit. If I known they were going to do that crap I would have been wishing Madrid got them instead.
Very surprising Mito.
As naïve as I’ve seen at that level.
Hala Madrid tonight. :ok: