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Fantasy Football Captain Picks

Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 38

Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 38

Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 38

Welcome to Football Captain Picks Gameweek 38. It’s here: the final Gameweek of the season. How abrupt it seems. Perhaps that’s a relief? Either way, though, there’s an ominously bittersweet feeling in the metaphorical air. If you view yourself as a relatively casual FPL player, hopefully the literal air around you has a summery breeze carrying it, with the scent of freshly mown lawn and a BBQ lagging just behind; if you view yourself as an FPL obsessive, however, then chances are that you’re surrounded by stagnant air whilst frantically checking if Son’s price fell at ~01:20 during the decisive CL matches. ‘Woe betide those who took the risk to sell him before seeing how many new injuries crop up in the semi-finals’, you muse to yourself, before realising that Sterling’s now just out of reach. Having the summer off’s probably for the best…

The phrase “already on the beach” is often chucked around as each PL season draws towards its conclusion in a tame fashion — many teams, whether they’ve been condemned to relegation for weeks already or simply meandered within the mid-table positions, are deemed to have nothing left worth playing for — it’s a valid concern to raise. Without incentive, without drive, where do the points come from? Fear not. The following 5 candidates (the first 4 if honesty matters around here) arguably have better reasons to shine now than they’ve had all season. With crucial mini-leagues in mind, hopefully the same can be said for your FPL team over this final hurdle, unless you’re miles ahead. Top stuff (quite literally) if so.

Sadio Mané Divock Origi vs Wolves (H)

Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images.

Just a quick reminder: one team’s going to finish on 94+ points and still, remarkably, not win the PL title. It all means that Liverpool need to beat Wolves to give themselves the mere possibility that it won’t be their unwanted fate. This would be like finishing 2nd with Riley Reid: it’d be beyond impressive, almost unbelievable, despite resulting in absolutely nothing but a desire for more games and some potentially incurable pain. Sadio will probably have bigger things on his mind come Sunday afternoon. Indeed, if he were moping around on a beach already, it’d be swarming with Japanese spider crabs as the tide brings a storm in. No sandcastles to be seen here.

As for Mané, promisingly, 16 of his impressive 20 goals in the PL have been scored at home. Hypothetically, if Liverpool win 4-0 on Sunday afternoon, then you’d have to think that Mané will grab himself at least an assist. Especially if he’s the lone member of the first-choice deadly trio who starts here. Surely? It’s almost guaranteed if Divock and Xherdan play alongside him. Salah — if he’s got his head screwed back on — is always a strong alternative; “NEVER GIVE UP” on a player’s fitness until a press conference rules them out of action. Wolves love tackling top-6 teams, admittedly, but playing at Anfield’s a different matter. You can just ask Luis Suárez about how Liverpool can dig their teeth in when it matters most.

Form: 7
Fixture: 7
Explosiveness: 7

Raheem Sterling vs Brighton (A)

Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images.

Moving on quickly from Liverpool, just as this man did, Sterling can win it all soon. Is that a necessarily promising sign? Just ask Philippe Coutinho this time! Nonetheless, just one win away from retaining the PL title now, a Raheem Sterling away-day masterclass would probably push Man City over the finish line. It’s a gut feeling with a solid foundation. Double-digit hauls whilst away from home vs West Ham, Huddersfield and Crystal Palace, not forgetting his healthy return of 14 points in the reverse fixture, bodes well; Brighton can’t defend against Arsenal every weekend, unfortunately for any Duffy loyalists.

In reference to my GW5 article from the 2016/17 season — Liverpool’s antics really have rubbed off on me to drop such a historical reference — Pep told Sterling that “as long as you work for me, I’ll fight for you” over a text before that season started, and those words ring even louder now than they did after Raheem’s painfully short-lived Euro campaign. The wisest will probably brace themselves for a rewarding performance.

Form: 6
Fixture: 8
Explosiveness: 8

Paul Pogba Scott McTominay vs Cardiff (H)

Photo by Clive Brunskill – Getty Images.

That’s it. Clearly, teams with something to play for aren’t in abundance, given how the top-4 race has pathetically fizzled out.

Except, on a purely egocentric level, Pogba surely has his own motives. Just as he had something to prove when José left, the doubters are back, many of whom will be reluctantly watching at Old Trafford for what could be his final match there. Cardiff’s confirmed relegation — a fate that’s largely due to conceding 69 goals — shouldn’t be neglected here. Paul would’ve likely been very popular if either of his pair of crossbar strikes had found its way in against Huddersfield last Sunday and, of course, penalty duty often redeems his mediocrity. Etheridge can’t save yet another one… can he? Scott might be the better pick for a 2-pointer after all.

Form: 5
Fixture: 9
Explosiveness: 6

Callum Wilson vs Crystal Palace (A)

Photo by Jon Bromley – MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Here’s the perfect storm. The storm that’s on the beach, you say? Not quite. Wilson’s place with the England squad remains open, with one final match to prove himself and add to the staggering 26 goal involvements that he’s had in the PL alone. Since returning from injury, Callum’s now played in 4 away matches, most recently scoring {11, 2, 15, 16} points. To bolster this incredibly promising form, Crystal Palace perform far better when they’re playing away from home, which must bring tears of pride to Terry’s eye. Selhurst Park has witnessed terrible things; 19th in the table for total PL home points encapsulates the tale.

An easy mini-league-snatching risk’s on offer. This was actually spotted by the casuals too: the pre-Son-red transfer trends indicated that ‘Jiménez to Wilson’ was an early-bird-fool preference. There was Darren, smugly sitting in his kitchen, circulating screenshots of his GW38 team around to his workplace’s mini-league rivals whilst blaring out Football Focus for some background noise.

He’ll most likely be taking an 8-point hit now.

If you’re chasing, though, then it might be worth matching Dazza with this one.

Form: 8
Fixture: 7
Explosiveness: 6

Nathan Ward-Long vs Huddersfield (H)

Photo by Stu Forster – Getty Images.

Last stop: Desperation Town. Whatever scrap Saints assets you happen to have, no matter how much they’ve continually disappointed you since the DGWs, forgive them for their pathetic 1-pointers. They could be the last-gasp captaincy gamble that’s required to breathe life back into hopeless mini-leagues. Operative word: “could” be.

If an inevitable whimper was expected from the Huddersfield lads last weekend, one might’ve forgotten just how abject Man United have become, but it’ll surely be silenced by Hasenhüttl’s men. Nathan Redmond, JWP and Shane Long, a selection of potential FPL saviours for your very own. Choose wisely.

Form: 4
Fixture: 10
Explosiveness: 4

Good luck! Don’t rue this final captaincy decision over the long summer ahead… just enjoy those BBQs instead.

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 38. This article was written by James.

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227 Comments

  1. 37

    If England have four clubs in both finals that should never be underestimated.

    Huge achievement.

  2. 38
    Raziel says:

    Congratulations Pancho and other Spurs fans. You guys did what you had to. smile

    • 38.1
      jamesimmo says:

      Really hard luck tonight, Raz, and I’m feeling a small part of your pain.

      Ajax, all things considered, have played what was quite possibly the best football over whole the CL tournament.

      • Raziel says:

        Tnx James. I respect both Spurs and Liverpool but I personally like Pool better. Hope they do well.

        They played okay but not half as good as versus Real Madrid and Juve. Were kids yesterday and they gave it away in kid fashion. Was really disheartened.

        This is the way I see it. English clubs will reach the finals pretty much year in year out. Two teams from the same country is boring for the rest of the world. From what I remember I really didn’t care for Real versus Atletico and Bayern versus Dortmund.

        This time around I will watch the game for Liverpool. In my country we like that club. I like Klopps style and he deserves this grand price.

        Anyway, as for Dutch football. This won’t happen for another 20 years. We got 1/100th of the English teams budget. The fact we made it is a miracle. Everything has to fall into place. Spurs is actually a good example of why Dutch teams don’t stand a chance. Vertonghen, Toby, Eriksen and Sanchez all came from when they were getting better.

        Now de Jong, de Ligt, van Beek, Neres and so on will be sold.

  3. 39
    Silvers says:

    Hey guys just looking at my last five season scores pretty consistent but big difference in were I’ve finished had two seasons in FFC in top 1k but lost log in how do I break 2200 ????

  4. 40
    bees393 says:

    Wow…just wow. Never seen a semi like these two. Go Spurs!

    • 40.1
      GoalMachine says:

      I am sad for Ajax, they played better than Spurs and have been unlucky to hit the wood several times. I believe its the maturity of PL over Dutch league pulls Spurs through. Moura was clinical with his finishes and Ajax players were not. Its a young team and I guess soon big clubs will jump on them to break apart this team. It will be nice if Ajax can manage to hold this team for one more season.

      On the other night, POOL deserves to be the winner and Barcelona was poor in their mentality.

      • Zed Leppelin says:

        Think Liverpool will win, if they play like they played against Barca I don’t see Spurs having any chance whatsoever, Spurs were defensively very frail and Liverpool no doubt will punish them a lot more than Ajax did, plus Liverpool defend a lot better than Ajax did… Plus Moura will most likely be on the bench anyway smile

  5. 41
    GoalMachine says:

    Wolves owners (I have trio – Jim, Jota, Doherty) – what are you doing with them? With Robertson likely out, Milner vs Doherty can be a good battle.

    • 41.1
      Eagle says:

      I have the same three. I will be benching Doherty and whichever one I don’t sell from Jota/Jimenez. Looking at Mili/Moura/Babel and Zaha/Mitrovic/Arnie or maybe even Rondon as potential replacements. Not too keen on taking a hit on the last GW.

    • 41.2
      Kralin says:

      I’ll start Robbo I think, unless the news is he’s definitely out.

      I was planning to play 4 at the back: have Robbo, will have Laporte, Shaw + Valery; I have to choose between shedding Dunk or Doherty to get Laporte. Will be the former unless we hear Robbo is definitely starting. If Robbo doesn’t make it then Jota will come off the bench. Or Doherty. If I keep him.

      Haven’t quite decided on transfer 2 yet (removing Son or removing Jiminez). Am thinking about the 3/5/2 versus the 3/4/3. A bit depends on Robbo updates.

      • GoalMachine says:

        Very confusing week till we get some PC news. Anyway Gw38 will always have something unexpected – but you can’t plan that. I will be sitting idle till deadline. God knows if Klopp wants to rest Salah (hopefully not), then need an FT for that.

        • GoalMachine says:

          No game on Friday, Saturday after a while.

        • Kralin says:

          There’s going to be some seriously weird shit going down in 38. We won’t know what’s hit us until it’s too late. It’s like a teaser-trailer for GW1, with the added poignancy of those soon to leave us.

          I think I’d simultaneously fall out of my chair if Salah was rested on Sunday.

          I think your approach is right and I’ll be doing exactly the same.

    • 41.3
      Zed Leppelin says:

      I have the same three and definitely won’t play any of them, I will most likely take hits to remove at least one of Jota/Jimenez, probably Jimenez to Wilson, Doherty either on the bench or if Yoshida is unavailable to play then I will take another hit to sell Doherty for someone, can’t quite say yet for who, perhaps an attacking defender like PvA or something…. It’s a bit tricky this week smile

  6. 42
    AllanBrallan says:

    If salah turns out to be fit. What would you do here?

    A) Son to Bilva (bri A)
    B) Son to Pogba (car H)
    C) Son to Redmond (hud H)
    D) Son to Ward-Prowse (hud H)

    Or simply bench son and do:

    E) Jimenez to Wilson (cry A)
    F) Jimenez to Arnautovic (wat A)
    G) Jimenez to Zaha (whu H)
    H) Something else, Jimenez out leaves 6,9£ and Son leaves 9,2£ in the bank…

    • 42.1
      Zed Leppelin says:

      I think Salah is fit, Liverpool wanted him to play against Barca on Tuesday (saying Salah was fit for tuesday already) but apparently there’s a UEFA (or FIFA) rule saying that after such a head injury (or concussion) a player is ineligible to play for the next 6 days, so apparently Salah was fit all the time but he didn’t play due to such a rule only…

      • Zed Leppelin says:

        So with that in mind, I would do both A and E, even for a hit.

        • AllanBrallan says:

          1ft only…
          Just 2 and 3 points behind leaders in my mini leagues, a hit could be devastating. Of course it could pay off too but it’s really a risk…

        • Zed Leppelin says:

          If you just do A then you have to play Jota though, up to you bit it’s also risky to just get 2pts from him while others in your league could have players who actually score loads, the last GW of the season is usually high-scoring, with most of the teams have nothing to play for. Only City and Pool will show up, so I’d at any cost avoid Brighton and Wolves, whereas all the other teams could be involved in goal-fests, Wilson -4 instead of Jota could easily pay off, it’s a bit tricky choice I know…. You have to make the decision for you though and whatever you choose good luck! smile

        • AllanBrallan says:

          yeah I know…

          My gut feeling is Jimenez to Wilson.

          City could win 6-0 and Bilva could still only get 2 points since there are so many players there who are involved in the goal scoring…

          Thanks….

    • 42.2

      “H” ??? laugh

      That’s the most ever surely?!

      The answer for me is A incidentally.

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