Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Game-week 7
Welcome to Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Game-week 7. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Captain Picks article for Gameweek 7! This GW has several favourable matchups as most of the ‘top’ sides face weaker opposition – the one exception is at White Hart Lane where Spurs and Manchester City, the only two undefeated teams, face each other on Sunday afternoon. Some of the premium options, such as Ibrahimovic and Hazard, have been sold by plenty after failing to deliver in their last few matches, but with favourable matchups this weekend plenty a manager could end up regretting that decision. This is the last GW before another international break, so if you don’t want to spend the break annoyed at capping a player that failed I suggest you listen to my wisdom and follow the advice in this article. With that in mind, let’s get right to it and see which players we’ve got this week!
Sergio Aguero (away vs Tottenham)
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[/three_fourth]0 goals in the last 7 matches against Swansea, they said. Suckers, I said, as I capped Aguero last GW and celebrated with 2 goals and 26 points. This round it may not be that easy for Aguero, as Spurs at White Hart Lane is a couple steps up from playing Swansea at the Liberty Stadium. Tottenham can brag that they have the best defence so far with only 3 goals conceded and no more than 1 goal conceded in a match. In fact, as Spurs are 2nd in the table, going to White Hart Lane is probably the most difficult matchup for City currently, meaning that you may think twice before giving Aguero the armband. That being said, Tottenham are one of the opponents Aguero likes the most – he has 8 goals in the last 6 PL matches against them, but it should be noted that City dominated Tottenham in the first 3 of those matches, but only won 1 and lost 2 of the 3 most recent matches. Aguero will always be a good option for the armband simply because he is Aguero, but City are going up against probably their toughest opponent so far. Still, Tottenham and City average the most shots per match after Liverpool – if you feel that this will be a high-scoring, entertaining match, then Aguero is absolutely worthy of the armband.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic (home vs Stoke)
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[/three_fourth]Zlatan, Zlatan, Zlatan – he came to Manchester, introduced himself as a God, made people believe in him by scoring 3 goals in the opening 2 matches of the season, and then he ‘only’ got 1 goal and 1 assist in the next 4 matches. This has led to plenty of managers selling him, and even more will sell him this week, meaning that his ownership (and price) will drop further. But what’s this; his next match is at home to Stoke, the team that is 2nd last in the league! I wonder if the people selling him even looked at his next fixture, or just panicked at the thought of losing a mere 0.1 or 0.2 in team value. While I did not see the match against Leicester myself, I have it on good authority (by that I mean I got it from the posts on the site) that Zlatan had several good chances and was unlucky not to score against Leicester. Manchester United have scored 7 goals in their last 2 matches while Stoke have conceded 9 goals in their last 3. Some people always argue that there is an upset lingering when one team is considered clear favourites, but I do not think this is the case here as Stoke have been pretty useless so far, not even close to pulling off any kind of upset. Expect this to be a routing – slap that armband on Zlatan’s arm, and laugh, LAUGH I say, in the face of all of those who sold him as he puts those balls in the net and gets your FPL team some good hard points.
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Romelu Lukaku (home vs Crystal Palace)
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[/three_fourth]Ah, Romelu Lukaku – merely thinking about him in any FPL-related context whatsoever fills me with frustration. Like Romeo & Juliet, Lukaku and consistent fantasy points are simply not meant to be together. 4 goals and 1 assist against Sunderland and Middlesbrough (tough opposition, eh) made plenty of managers buy him only for him and Everton to come up short against Bournemouth. While their opponents this week, Crystal Palace, had a sluggish start to the season, they have managed to turn it around with 3 straight wins. Now I don’t know much about this Lord Pardew fella, having never bothered to see an interview with him or listen to him talk, but based on what I’ve gathered from Cookie’s description of him in Around the Ground articles over the years he seems like a nice, humble lad, so let’s see if he manages to keep his players’ spirits high or if they will be sent crushing to the ground by Everton this week. Palace usually do not concede many goals per match, but they have conceded in every one so far and are not likely to be able to shut out Everton at Goodison Park. Lukaku has managed an impressive 3.6 shots per game, meaning that he is likely to be among the goals, and as we all know, when Lukaku first starts scoring, he doesn’t stop for a bit, then he suddenly stops and doesn’t score for a long time, before he starts scoring again and the process repeats all over. In other words, if you want a captain that can either pay dividends or annoy the hoot out of you, then prepare for some Friday Night Fun as Lukaku is the man for you – taking fixture and form into consideration, it’s most likely going to be the former.
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Diego Costa & Eden Hazard (away vs Hull)
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[/three_fourth]I’ll admit, this Chelsea team is probably the exact opposite of what I expected when I heard that Conte was the new manager. Stability, consistency, and defensive solidity was what I expected, and instead we got the exact opposite – they even managed to lose to Arsenal, which has been a bulletproof fixture for Chelsea recently! While Chelsea started the season well with 3 wins out of 3, they have 2 losses and 1 draw in their last 3 matches, conceding 7 goals in the process. Fortunately for them, they face Hull this weekend, and while Hull also have 2 losses and 1 draw in their last 3, they managed to concede 10 goals in the process, 9 of them being against Arsenal and Liverpool. In other words, this is the perfect match for Chelsea to get back on track with a win. Costa has 5 goals and 1 assist in 6 matches, while Hazard has 2 goals and 1 assist, albeit those came in the first 3 matches and he has not produced since. Hull top the list for most shots conceded per game, meaning that both players should get plenty of chances to produce. I think most managers will look to other players to captain this round, meaning that both players represent excellent differential options that are likely to produce points.
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Alexis Sanchez (away vs Burnley)
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[/three_fourth]My oh my, Sanchez has really turned on the form with 3 double digit returns in his last 3 starts with 4 goals and 3 assists in the process. Arsenal have enjoyed a good start to their campaign, sitting 3rd in the Premier League, while their opponents Burnley are now in the heady heights of 13th but still only boast 2 wins in 6. Arsenal have netted 12 goals in their last 4 matches, while Burnley have conceded 7 goals in their last 4 – in other words, expect goals from Arsenal in this one. To further underline this, Burnley have conceded the 3rd most shots per game in the league. I honestly don’t know what more to say about this fixture – Arsenal are in good form, Burnley are Burnley, Sanchez is in great form – give him the armband this week, and expect to be rewarded.
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Liverpool mids (away vs Swansea)
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[/three_fourth]This one is probably going to be a cliché for a while – not one particular player from Liverpool, but rather an abundance of midfielders to choose from. Let’s look at what these midfielders have produced: Coutinho, Lallana, and Mane have 3 goals each while Firmino has 2, Lallana has 3 assists, Coutinho has 3, Mane has 1, and Firmino has none. In other words, they are pretty equal, with Lallana and Coutinho coming out on top and Firmino on bottom. Liverpool are in good form, having won their last 3 and scored 11 goals in the process. Swansea, on the other hand, are possibly in the worst shape they have ever been in while in the PL, having only taken points against Burnley and Chelsea so far this season. As a result, they are 5th from bottom and winless in 5 matches. In addition, they have conceded the 4th most shots per game while Liverpool average the most shots per game. While Liverpool are clear favourites for this match, you honestly never know with them – they could lose to a poor team just as easily as they could score 4 goals. Still, with their form and Swansea’s poor form, they should by all means be expected to win this match. As such, if you have a Liverpool midfielder in your team and feel confident that they will produce the goods against Swansea, feel free to captain whoever you have and hope that he will be the one to score as those balls enter the net in Saturday’s early kickoff.
Thanks for reading Captain Picks, and good luck!
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Thanks for reading Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Game-week 7. This article was written by Tekno-kun
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Fixture Tracker – the next 6 games
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Great article as ever thanks!
I made a pact I’d stick with Kun till he let me down… and he hasn’t yet but Sanchez is looking very appealing! I guess I have a lot to ponder!
Many thanks Tekkers. Ibra for me this week all the way.
Alexis will be my captain for the foreseeable future.
I’m hoping he gets a hammy tomorrow and saves me a WC decision
Aguero for me! He’s due to score against Spurs, haven’t score on the last 2
Foster or Cech?
For me ..cech mate
I am thinking in that direction but Foster against Sunderland could be a good move
Great article Tekno_kun.
Ibra will be my cappo this week.