Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 4
Welcome to Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 4
GW3 seems like a distant memory now but even so we shall have our usual round-up / publuc shaming of the writers from that one before we move onto the Ronaldo show this week’s selections.
1. Matt – Antonio, 11 points. A goal and an assist was enough to see Matt take first place in GW3.
2. Rosco – Son, 10 points. Rosco was just pipped at the post as Son could only manage a goal and 2 bonus points.
3/4. – James – Benrahma / Ivan – Bruno, 2 points apiece. Both got diddly squat.
It’s fair to say that GW3 was a bit quiet on the points front, let’s go see if this weeks Capo pickers can rustle up a few more for us.
Kralin – Antonio v Southampton(A)
Antonio hears the news Ronaldo is the most popular captain
It’s a strange feeling writing about someone you know virtually nobody will pick as captain, save a loyal handful of Irons’ fans maybe. So I nearly went off-piste and wrote a short piece about another skipper, Captain Kidd, to see if anyone would notice him swinging up there on his gibbet, serving as a warning to those taking too many hits or writing gibberish on-site about Salah or Ronaldo.
A warning to the curious
However Antonio has been the big cheese so far. Three games and the data is sound: he’s scored more goals (4) than anyone, even Ronaldo (I’ve yet to puzzle out why), has been blazing shots in from all angles, often on target, resulting in loads (6) of big chances. He leads the way with 40 points. It was good to see a non-premium captain do so well for managers last GW. He is in excellent form and may well reward managers keeping faith with him. Whether or not his ceiling is as high as others’ remains to be seen.
I probably know more about liquid oxygen and high altitude drogue parachutes than I do about the Southampton defence. But they’ve leakily let 6 goals in already.
Smash – Lukaku v Aston Villa (H)
Ronaldo fever everywhere. Ronaldo this, Ronaldo that, he’s the new shiny toy. He will only have a few training sessions, while Lukaku is already more than familiar with his new teammates and has two games under his belt already. Romelu Lukaku is a proven goalscorer in the Premier League already with 113 goals in 252 games, and is renowned to be a “flat track bully” which is a reputation that came from playing at West Brom, Everton and Manchester United. During his time at Inter Milan in Italy he scored 64 goals and 16 assists in only 95 games. 49 goals in his last 49 games for Belgium after scoring 17 goals in his first 50 caps just goes to show how much Lukaku has developed into one of the most feared strikers in world football.
In his first two games for Chelsea he has managed 1 goal, with 9 Shots in the Box (4th), 3 Shots on Target an xG on 1.28. The stats need to be taken with context though, as one of those games came against Liverpool when Chelsea had just 10 men for over half of that game. Lukaku dominated the Arsenal backline and it was an impossible task to dominate VVD and Matip when Chelsea were down to ten men. Despite this he still caused the Liverpool backline problems.
Lukaku warmed up for Aston Villa with a brace for Belgium against Estonia. He said himself it’s “useless” to make comparisons with CR7. He’s a different man these days, he’s more serious and seems more focused to score the goals for Chelsea. He’s keen to show he’s the main man. Tuchel has said that they will use the players in the squad that work best with Lukaku. All this just points to goals, goals and more goals for the big Belgian!
Chelsea have a very enticing fixture in Gameweek 4 as they play Aston Villa at home. Aston Villa have conceded 23 Shots in the Box (13th), 10 Shots on Target and an xGC of 3.2 despite a relatively easy run of games: Watford (a), Newcastle (H) and Brentford (H). Chelsea will be much tougher opposition and Villa will be without Emi Martinez who will be self isolating. Save machine Martinez will be a massive loss as he’s one of the best keepers in the league and it remains to be seen how impacted that Villa defence will be. If this wasn’t enough, CB Tyrone Mings is struggling to be fit with broken ribs. Even if fit with bad ribs he won’t fancy facing Lukaku who will be hungry to make a big impact at Stamford Bridge.
Rosco – Ronaldo v Newcastle (H)
(Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
They say you should never go back to an old love, you’ve read the book, you know how it ends. However, what if the book became (arguably) the best book there ever was? Wouldn’t you want to read it again? Enough of the metaphors. He’s back.
At age 36 the average footballer is either retired, considering it or their abilities are in decline. However, Cristiano Ronaldo is not an average footballer.
I’m not here to argue if he’s worth £12.5m, nor am I here to tell you whether you should rip up your team, ditch Bruno, take a hit, or deploy your first Wildcard to get him. What I will say, is that over a million managers have bought him, 600k have sold Bruno (presumably to do so) and those numbers could double before the GW4 deadline.
Do you think anyone who has, or will be buying, one of the all-time great players (in both world football and FPL), who will likely start, playing in front of a packed Old Trafford, against one of the worst teams in the league, will be giving their GW4 Captaincy to anyone else? No, of course not silly billy.
Want some statistics? How about 903 attacking returns in 895 club appearances. That includes 84 goals and 34 assists in 196 EPL appearances. In his last 3 seasons at Juventus, he played 97 Serie A games, scoring 81 goals and 16 assists. Sure, it’s a different league, but this is not a player in decline that’s for sure.
There are other options this week, but if you go there, you’re going against the masses. And the masses will be vast. If you do look elsewhere, sure, it could pay off, but if Ronaldo does what we all know he can do, then being on the wrong side of such a decision will be a miserable experience. As a Newcastle fan, it’s certainly going to be a strange experience to actively get behind an opposition player. But I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again. So come and join me, and then we can all pat ourselves on the back for making one of the the easiest decisions we’ll make all season.
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 — Ronaldo
Jamesimmo — RONelu Lukaku….
Swirly — Bruno
Horse — Lukaku if fit
Matt — Greenwood
Smash — Ronaldo
Loud Atlas — Ronaldo
Kop — Ronaldo
The Gallant Pioneer — Ronaldo
Rosco — Bruno
Ivan — Bruno
Floydeth — Ronaldo if I buy him, Salah if not.
Init — Ronaldo
Mito — Ronaldo
VOTE ON THIS WEEK’S CAPTAIN POLL GW4
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Captain Picks Gameweek 4.
FPL FIXTURE TRACKER
FIXTURE TRACKER LINK
FF247 LEAGUES FOR 2021/22
Fantasy Football 247 League Codes:
This is our main public FF247 League, which anyone is welcome to join and can be accessed using the code below or this auto-join link
League Code: kgvnpe
Our Regulars League* for 2021/22 is sponsored by Fanteam The total cash prize pool is £1k. 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@gmail.com
Our FF247 Cup is also included and attracts a prize of £50 for the winner.
You MUST also have a FanTeam account to claim any prize.
*terms and conditions apply and they are available here Management reserve the right to review membership of this league on an ongoing basis which is dependent upon regular comment / community activity.
Both leagues will be shut to new entrants as of 01/01/22.
***NEW ARTICLE – CAPO PICKS GW4***
Many thanks to Kralin, Rosco & Smash for this week’s picks.
Thanks to all involved!!
Surprised to see almost none going for Salah, well actually none is going for Salah if Floydeth buys Ronaldo…
Think many will end up on him or Bruno by the end of the week. There is a lot of concern about Ronaldo starting and that will scare many into what feels like a safer pick.
Is there
Yes there is according to this picture, Ole clearly raising his finger there saying: “no, no, you’re not starting on the weekend”
No Zed, he is trying to say: “I will give you a 15 minutes welcome back cameo in the second half, just want to f up everyone’s plans in the FPL who expect miracles from you”
15 min welcome back cameo you have jokes
Nah, it will be more than that but many doubt he will be in the starting lineup.
Still, only Ole knows and we have to wait till Saturday to find out
He’s training with all his teammates. A few days before most other players are even back for what reason would he not start exactly. Very little chance he don’t start. in my opinion the suggestion he won’t start is very much scaremongering
Yeah I do agree with Smash here, why wouldn’t he start? Because Messi started on the bench at PSG? I don’t get it, he’s been training there for many days now, he’s in good shape, and he’s back to United for a reason.
Son Injured…..
That could mess up my plans.
But with all the rumours on Ronnie – is it still worth bringing him in if you were going to -4 to bring him in, if he is only maybe going to play maybe 20 mins from the bench?
I have 2FT which means I could bring him in next weekend without having to lose points.
Almost certainly starts in my opinion. See above
Hammerfan, there is no definitive answer to that.
As Smash stated above, he is likely to start, others think he might not. Many have already or prepared to go for -8 to bring him in.
Personally, I can do it with -4 but it’s likely to go for 2 hits as want to keep Bruno by all means.
Smash/Ivan,
The reports I have read have mentioned that Ronnie has only gonna be training for 1 day with the team once isolation ends, and that the decision will be Ole’s. Now we all know what he is like with his team selection sometimes.
Now I expect Ronnie is traning at his mansion anyway, and doesnt need the team to play well.
Not sure if you can see my linked team, but I intend on ditching Ings, Nacho and Harrison to bring in Ronnie, Cucho and Allan for -4.
You should stop reading click bait media articles. He trained today with the United team
Loads of training pictures. United have been posting them everywhere
Your team is wrongly linked to someone called Phil from Wales.
Not sure how that is happening.
how can i correct it?
That is odd Ivan, as I have updated the URL to be what it should be, but still goes to the welsh one!!!
Yep, now it is updated
Hammerfan, the combo you are proposing seems to be the only way. It’s pity losing Harrison with the long streak of good fixtures after this week, but we can’t have them all.
The main thing is that you get to keep Bruno.
Thanks for the confirmation Ivan.
Thats why i asked about Ronnie and the bench thing.
If that chance was high, I was only going to do the Nacho-Cucho move this week, and the other 2 next weekend, but if, as Smash says, he has been training already with the gang, then I think I need to do the -4 and bite the bullet now, get him in just in case. But wont captain him, as I dont trust Ole!!
Yes, I think we have to take that chance.
I am on the same page for captaincy. Going with Bruno.
This mini thread has reminded me to link my team – thanks!
Your welcome Lord
Awesome article. Smash swayed me to get Lukaku. Accept and agree with all the points mentioned. It’s between him and Salah for me right now.
How does my AC draft #3 looks? Had to do TAA to Robbo. What say?
*WC, * look
I think you need a better 4th mid.
+1 if you stick Raph in for MacArthur what does that leave for a defender for Robbo?
Smash. That leaves 5.3 itb. But, aren’t Robbo/TAA 4th Mids themselves?
How about Allan to Gray/ESR, Torres to Raph and Christensen to a 4.5def?
TAA kind of is Robbo less so.You can’t be playing Alan every week though that’s like playing with 10 so something has to give
That front 3 is the
Cant see any improvement honestly. You should be gtg. But I wouldn’t cap Mo.
Cheers LRL. Planning to stick to this front 3 and form the team around.
Robertson to Cresswell and Allan to Sarr and you’re not far away.
Hmm. Without a Pool def is a tough call. Thanks GP. Let me check the possibilities.
Constantine, if you insist on a pool defender, then Matip is you answer.
BTW guys. Why no love for Salah this week?
Leeds are not that bad at home generally. They leak goals when they play away. I just prefer the United fixture personally I also like Antonio as he’s ok fire
I think partly because it’s the Second Coming, and He will – probably – face Newcastle. A mouth-watering prospect!
Salah’s not a bad option, but, y’know, Ronaldo.
Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean that it isn’t there.
Just infer it from the article. Sometimes it’s best to hide things in plain sight.
As the article may say (if you read it in a certain light) Salah is an outstanding choice this weekend.
Hahaha. Ok Kralin. He’s my captain anyways this week.