Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Gameweek 8
Welcome to Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Gameweek 8. So what drives your choice of captain pick every week? The answer probably should be as simple as “because that’s who I think will get me the most points from my team this week”. And it’s hard to argue with that! We only ask because we are going to take a slightly different approach to the article this week and look at some key indicators as to who should / could logically be your captain. We are going to look at it from a stats point of view but also try to apply the usual common sense logic too. We may well still end up with the same list of names as we would have done if we had taken the usual approach of picking the obvious mix of big ‘stars’ allied to decent fixtures. But we may not, either way it’ll be interesting to see. Let’s go find out…
To have nailed the ultimate captain every week so far your choices would have had to have been –
GW1 Coutinho 30 pts (as captain)
GW2 Stuani, Ibra, Kun 26 pts
GW3 Sanchez 32 pts
GW4 Son 38 pts
GW5 Chadli 42 pts
GW6 Lallana 30 pts
GW7 Koscielny 30 pts
Best Captain total = 228
Aguero as captain total = 78
Interesting, eh. We’ll send you 7 t-shirts if anyone can prove that they nailed all 7 with the armband. It’s safe to say we won’t be rushing to the post office anytime soon. The point of posting that was to partly illustrate the element of luck / randomness involved in it all but also to show that there are more ways than one to skin a cat. Aguero actually missed 2 games in that sequence so his score could be adjusted to 109, pro rata. We picked on Kun because he is probably the best combination of a player who most people own, the best player most do and is also almost fixture proof.
We are going to look at this from a stats point of view mainly –
Who is playing for the best attacking team in terms of goals scored.
Who is playing against the worst defence in terms of goals conceded.
Who has the most FPL points overall.
Who is playing for the best attacking team in terms of goals scored?
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Technically there are two teams here with both Man City and Liverpool having scored 18 in total and you cant separate them in terms of home goals either with both registering 9 so far. In terms of their respective opposition City face Everton who have only conceded 2 away from home so far and Liverpool have the marginal advantage playing Man United who have shipped 4 on the road. On the face it then neither has the easiest opponent this week despite the home advantage and despite being the highest scorers themselves.
Looking at Man City Raheem Sterling is their top FPL points scorer out of those available to play this week but Sergio Aguero has a slightly better points per minute ratio and let’s face it if you had a straight choice between both on any given week you’d pick Kun 99% of the time unless you had some sort of real reason to do otherwise. It’d have to be a real good reason too, like some sort of premonition brought on by too much cheese at bedtime. Aguero is our weapon of choice here then and for those superstitious lot amongst you it’s possibly worth noting that he loves GW8. It was GW8 when he went off on one against Newcastle last season and fired in 5 and in GW8 in 2014 he managed 4 against Spurs. It has absolutely no bearing on this week but we just thought we’d mention it! Probably more pertinent is that he has 5 goals in 5 league games, which includes 2 braces, as well as 6 in 3 games in other competitions including 2 hat-tricks. Yes, he’s explosive, and quite what the other 56.7% of managers who don’t own him are thinking we aren’t sure!
Looking at Liverpool Philippe Coutinho and James Milner are tied on 43 points as their best FPL scorers. One is playing at left-back but is on penalties whilst the other is at the sharp end of a potent attack. A bit like above then, given a straight choice, you’d not blink twice at selecting the more obvious one. Given the other choices available though Coutinho would probably feature down our list of picks if we are being totally honest.
It’s no surprise then that Aguero wins our vote from the teams with the best attacking stats.
Who is playing against the worst defence in terms of goals conceded?
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West Ham have conceded the most overall with 17 goals against. They are away this week and have also conceded the 2nd most goals on the road with 9. Their opponents Crystal Palace thumped Stoke 4-1 in their last home game and new signing Christian Benteke has their best points per minute ratio with 3 goals in his 5 starts so far. As well as starring on international duty with a hat-trick the other night, albeit against Gibraltar! Given the Hammers defensive woes though we wouldn’t bet against him adding to that tally.
Stoke have the second worst record with 16 conceded and despite this weeks opponents Sunderland being the only team to be below them in the league they do at least have one player who is prospering as such, if indeed you can, for a team rooted bottom with two points and only 6 goals to their name. The good news in that respect is that Jermain Defoe has scored 4 of those and even better is that on every occasion he has scored he has attracted 2 or more bonus points, something which wasn’t always evident last season, particularly when we think of the likes of Vardy and Costa. Unsurprisingly nobody else even comes close to him in terms of fantasy points in that Sunderland side.
So that’s two ‘different, ish’ picks anyway. Don’t forget though we are simply playing the stats here and examining if there’s anything in it. It’ll be interesting to see afterwards if there was any merit to it, plus we know a good few managers like to throw caution to the wind occasionally and at least this lends some weight to doing so.
Who has the most FPL points overall?
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As we stand right now it’s Sanchez (49), KDB (49), Capoue (48) and Costa (46). Let’s immediately remove KDB from the argument for obvious reasons (he’s injured) and we will also overlook Capoue here simply because you wouldn’t seriously consider him as a captain ahead of the likes of the aforementioned players. Heck, most people are now beginning to wonder if he’s shot his load for the season already after consecutive blanks against Burnley and Bournemouth. He does have 3 good fixtures ahead in which to prove his worth again but we would simply play him if you have him, we wouldn’t go handing him the all important armband.
And so that leaves us firstly with Alexis Sanchez. Which leaves us with a massive dilemma of it’s own! Last time he went away on international duty he played on the Wednesday and was subsequently rested on the Saturday. This time around he basically has the same schedule… That’s not to say it will happen again as he doesn’t have a history which suggests it’s a common pattern but it will be worth checking what Arsene says prior to the weekend if you fancy captaining this week, which we would highly recommend in fact, assuming he plays! Arsenal have scored the 3rd most overall and the 3rd most at home, behind only the previously mentioned Man City and Liverpool.
Having dealt with his possible downside (not actually playing!), here’s the positive news – he’s an explosive player, we know that from previous seasons and we always like that element in a captain and he’s already notched up scores of 16, 10 and 14 in recent games. Probably more importantly is that he’s now seemingly nailed down the forward position in one of the most potently attacking sides in the league with the likes of Ozil sat behind providing him with the ammunition. Plus they’re playing Swansea who have conceded an average of 2 goals in their last 6 games and are sat just above the relegation zone in 17th place.
Having neatly sidestepped the other 2 top scorers we have Diego Costa as our final pick this week. He could have just as easily slotted into a ‘consistent’ or ‘form player’ category here as he now has 6 goals in 7 games and has 2 assists as well, something which he is famously unaccustomed to. Chelsea have a healthy 12 goals so far and he’s had a hand in 8 of those. Opponents Leicester have the worst goals against record away from home this season with 10 conceded in just 6 games. Ignore the big man at your peril, it looks like he’s in the mood to bite back if you do.
Thanks for reading Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Gameweek 8. This article was written by inittowinit
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Fixture Tracker – the next 6 games
Hello! I play 352 using the below team and I want to use you all as a soundboard!
Pickford, de Gea
Walker, Williams, Kone, McAuley, Holebas
Sanchez, Bolasie, Puncheon, Son, Antonio
Ibra, Aguero, Diomande
So my next 2 transfers will be de Gea to Karius and then Williams to Mustafi. This will leave me with 0 in the bank. Should I get rid of Sanchez for Walcott (in just as good form but cheaper) or sell Ibra. I could use the funds to then upgrade Puncheon and Bolasie.
If I sell Ibra, I was thinking Mata and Lallana. If I sell Sanchez maybe Firmino and Sterling.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Hello big fella, (that sounds so wrong
), when are you planning all of those please? First 2 this week with 2 free transfers I assume?
I bet you say that to all the boys, Init 😉
I hope I didn’t scare him off, some jokes don’t necessarily translate as they were intended! Come on big fella, you need to fill us in more. With details, that is….
I bet you say ….. *sorry*
I bet he wasn’t expecting this conversation to follow his first ever post
Sorry big fella!
Fantastic conversation after just 1 post. Cheers lads as it makes me feel as if I were in the pub. Bliss.
I wouldn’t be fixing to sell Sanchez there either though, in all seriousness.
Alright mate. So, the two transfers will now be over the next two game weeks. There is no price move due for either Karius or Mustafi in the near future so I should be fine. I’ve just today bought in Son for Cazorla, hence why I have to wait. Don’t fancy taking a 4 point hit for a defender.
Ah ok cool, one week at a time is good then. Just had visions of massive hits in a flurry!
Not sure how the notification system works on this site but I have just posted this below:
The case for selling Ibra and keeping Sanchez is that United aren’t exactly in-form, the team doesn’t seem settled yet and United have a harder next set of matches than Arsenal. Sanchez is getting played as a CF too and is in-form (albeit this week may be jet-lagged).
The case for selling Sanchez is that Walcott is much cheaper and is doing just as well as him at the moment. There are also a lot more midfielders in-form than strikers (Costa but on 4 yellows, Lukaku perhaps… Benteke,… that’s about it). The in-form strikers are more expensive than the in-form midfielders too.
That was meant for your above comment about Sanchez…. sorry
And to answer your question Big Fella
I like your two moves and if I had Sanchez I wouldn’t let go.
Well, it either has to be Sanchez or Ibra or I will have zero funds for any upgrades.
The case for selling Ibra and keeping Sanchez is that United aren’t exactly in-form, the team doesn’t seem settled yet and United have a harder next set of matches than Arsenal. Sanchez is getting played as a CF too and is in-form (albeit this week may be jet-lagged).
The case for selling Sanchez is that Walcott is much cheaper and is doing just as well as him at the moment. There are also a lot more midfielders in-form than strikers (Costa but on 4 yellows, Lukaku perhaps… Benteke,… that’s about it). The in-form strikers are more expensive than the in-form midfielders too.
Any further thoughts?
I had to decide between the two this week and went with Sanchez. The reason why I did so I think you pretty much nailed in your second paragraph there.
Ibra’s odd goal can be easily replaced much more cheaply now I believe. Benteke probably being the main candidate for that role.
Yeah……. I just think the sale of a striker of Ibra’s quality will come back to haunt me. Well, I have a couple of weeks to do think about it anyway. Injuries or or a drop in form may occur. Then the international break (annoyingly). Just getting some ideas from fellow players.
I always play 352 but I prefer 343 at the moment. Downgrade Ibra to Deeney or someone in that price bracket.
DeGea>Cech maybe and some Southampton defence? They have 6 cs in a row, (in all competitions) they have mixed fixtures but I still think they will do ok for points.
If I swapped Sanchez for Walcott, I know I would regret it and Walcott would stop performing the moment I do. I dont like Puncheon or Bolasie so I would probably look to doing something there, transfer one to a a cheap good mid under 5mil and see how much money you have left.
Oh and yea ditch Diomande for someone <10 like Lukaku maybe
No way! All the major point earners this year are midfielders. It makes much more sense to play 5 in the middle, although I agree that Bolasie and Puncheon have to go. I just need to decide how to do it now.
I think the same actually re. Sanchez and Ibra. I think I will get rid of Ibra and buy in Benteke and use the rest of the money to upgrade my midfield. If Zaza goes back to Juventus to avoid WHU paying £10m, Antonio will keep playing as CF too.
Re. the defence. I don’t want too much value in my defence as nobody is getting cleansheets this season. S’ton have done well but they have also had a nice run of games. I was thinking of Soares anyway but I would downgrade somebody (probably Kone) to do that I think.
Evening all, grateful for thoughts on the team.
2FTs and am thinking Hazard, Jakupovic and Evans out for Son, Pickford and Koscielny – thoughts?
Hi Lionel
Don’t see the need for the goalkeeper one unless Heaton is ruled out for definite.
I’d be more concerned with Bony personally. I’d move him for Benteke or Defoe.
Not sold on the keeper one mate. Other two are good. You need someone who will rotate with Burnley here and Sunderland don’t look like they do. If it’s got to be that cheap then I think I prefer Grant in terms of what I said above.
Cheers guys, noted on the keeper – more about trying to keep a full squad of 15 that play but if Heaton is OK may not take the hit.
On Bony, he’s been hugely disappointing, especially with Benteke banging them in at a similar price – but looking at Stoke’s fixtures I’m just not sure I can let him go before Sunderland at home and Hull away.
I’d do the 2FT but not do the goalkeeper change. Never take a hit for defenders or GK. Especially this season.
Any word on what will happen with Lukaku?
Tnx for the
Nothing yet Raz, needs to come back and be assessed.
Thanks for the
If he’s injured I could do Lukaku to Deeney, Capoue to Son/Walcott and Baines to Lovren.
You could do it regardless, but you won’t. Especially the last one! First two might be worth considering though, if you have 2 FT’s.
Lukaku > Benteke
You need some Belgians
Jackpot question..who is your captain…i guess everyone know this is the tough question..for me this weeks always the same answer…the mighty kun..haha…but defoe if play well.might become good pick..i thinks..haha
Sanchez
Pickford
Walker monreal holebaa
Walcott capoue mane sterling
Ibra aguero lukaku
Subs jakpovic fletcher amat mculey
Dont feel good for this week
I already got walcot for antonio with FT
What else needed? Please advise
Looks alright for the weekend imo.
Mcauley horrible fixt next 4 if I remember correctly, but you’re just benching this week, so no worries.
Ibra->Costa next gw perhaps, unless Ibra goes crazy. + Costa on 4 yc I think, so might be worth waiting a bit.
With that money you can upgrade fletcher/capoe to better 4th mid.
Please help my team:
Pickford Jaku
Baines* Rose Holebas Evans Amat
Sanchez Firmino Antonio Sterling Capoe
Aguero Lukaku Rashford
2FT, 0,2ITB.
Any thoughts?
Will also monitor if Baines is fit or not.