Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Gameweek 12

Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Gameweek 12

Welcome to Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Gameweek 12. We’re back. Almost… at last! England win all of their qualifiers and yet we still despise international breaks. The brilliant variety of global members among us tend to feel the same way I think; poor old GP must be feeling a tad suicidal right now.

That said, there has been a lot going on in the world lately, including a ‘huuuuuge’ piece of news that’s been enough to divert our attention from the lack of Premier League matches — one that’s rocked the world to its core and has been THE hot topic of numerous online forums — yep: Sanchez and Costa have been yellow flagged with minor muscular injuries. Only the likes of Hazard or Aguero breaking a leg could trump that.

[Update: now Hazard’s been flagged too? Man… I cursed him. Only took three hours!]

Let’s forget about such horrors for now. It’s better to turn our attention back to the job at hand, away from these admittedly-important issues, knowing that messes of this magnitude tend to blow over in the end. We need to focus on the biggest conundrum of all: who’s the best captain for this weekend? I’ve had a few ideas… and strong bouts of déjà vu in the process.

Romelu Lukaku vs Swansea (H)[three_fifth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

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There’s no particular order to this list but, if I had him, this guy would probably get my armband. That’s easy to say as a non-owner though! Lukaku’s infamous for his capacity to disappoint… even in the most seemingly-nailed-on fixtures. He’s the Hillary of FPL to put it bluntly.

Times are changing, however, as The Tank has bagged 7 goals and 3 assists in his last 8 PL matches. He added to that with a brace and an assist against Estonia on Sunday night. The former includes one goal away at the Etihad and a second-half hat-trick against Sunderland, who are currently rock-bottom of the table, tied on points with — you guessed it — his opposition this weekend: Swansea.

Just a couple of years ago, in the 2014/15 season when Swansea finished 8th, this fixture would’ve been rated as a 6 or 7 out of ten… but now? They’ve conceded 6 goals in their last two PL matches and there won’t be a much better time to captain Lukaku; never underestimate the home advantage.

Form: 8
Fixture: 8
Explosiveness: 8

Philippe Coutinho vs Southampton (A)[three_fifth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

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Flare, dribbles, 20-yard screamers. Coutinho’s only 24 and, although still improving significantly every season, already oozes class. I’m no Scouser by the way!

For his latest magic trick, he weaved between three suspect Argentinians and fired into the top-right corner, helping Brazil on their quest for World Cup redemption that will probably never suffice. This is no longer an anomaly; he’s now showing the consistency required to be a great FPL player. To be 2nd in the points chart after 11 gameweeks requires more than the occasional long-range curler and 100,000+ fan-boy accounts on Twitter.

The problem? He plays Southampton, away, who are usually quite resilient. Ok, they did concede to Hull *twice* last gameweek, but everyone makes mistakes. I’m looking right at you, UK, US… I mean, if they can, then we’ll have to let The Saints off. So, basically, be wary: there are two very contrasting Liverpool personas these days and nobody can be sure of which will show up on a given Saturday afternoon. Form is on their side though…

Form: 8
Fixture: 5
Explosiveness: 7

Sergio Aguero vs Crystal Palace (A)[three_fifth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

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This is where the déjà vu really kicks in. I can’t remember writing a Captain Picks article without mentioning Aguero’s name and if I have then, well, he would’ve most likely been on crutches. I heard Yaya was quite rough both on and off the pitch.

I needn’t explain why he’s a good option for the captaincy — he always is — we all know that. Let’s properly analyse the current situation: in the last 3 gameweeks Palace have conceded 10 goals. Hmmm. Aguero has 3 goals and an assist from two PL matches and also *isn’t* yellow flagged. Hmmmmm.

Shall we continue? Formalities and what not.

Form: 7
Fixture: 7
Explosiveness: 9

Jermain Defoe vs Hull (H)[three_fifth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

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You may have heard from somewhere that Sunderland are rock-bottom of the table. This is not a bad thing, in terms of their players’ motivation anyway, but it is for Swansea’s troops. That’s just the way this cruel world works I’m afraid Bob, sorry mate.

The reason? ‘Defoe + 20 Legs’ managed their first win of the season before the international break. Away from home n’ all. Now they’ll have a little belief and some experts are speculating that all of the other 20 legs might actually start moving again.

Another incentive to take this gamble with your GW12 captaincy is that when you see it flash up that Sunderland just scored, you’ll know Defoe’s involved, penalty or otherwise.

Hull are bad but as you may have heard from somewhere, they scored *twice* against a usually-quite-resilient Southampton recently (we all need some déjà vu in our lives) so this one should be a high-scoring affair. Nothing held back by either side. Perfect!

With ‘the big ones’ — barring big Rom himself I suppose — all playing away from home this gameweek, this risk is primed to pay off gloriously, but I’ll understand if, after living through 2016’s drama, picking a safe option sounds wiser and far more appealing.

Form: 7
Fixture: 9
Explosiveness: 6

Eden Hazard vs Middlesbrough (A)[three_fifth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]

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Did someone say “safe option”? Here’s a well-known candidate who’ll therefore definitely be popular. That’s never gone wrong before has it? Right, fine, sorry I’ll drop that now.

This is not only a matter of Hazard’s form (a mere 12.3 points per game over the past month) but also his teams form: a staggering (16:0) quintet of wins as of late. Eden — still on penalties — should be ready to seize this fixture and score in five games on the bounce.

Boro, as can be testified by both Arsenal and Man City, are often a tough team to break down. Karanka should be highly sought after in north Mexico if life in the PL doesn’t work out. However, those instances were when Boro played away from home, backs to the wall. Up in the Riverside, their fans demand goals and 3 points, sorry cries that usually go unanswered: that should play into Chelsea’s hands.

I mentioned his yellow flag earlier: after scoring in the first half against Estonia on Sunday night, he picked up an injury in the second, which lead to him requesting his own substitution. Martinez, the epitome of reliability, says it was “just a kick to the calf” which offers faint hope that it wasn’t a complete waste of time writing up these paragraphs just a few hours before the incident.

Form: 9
Fixture: 7
Explosiveness: 8

Bonus Punt
Kane, like Jermain, offers a great differential captain pick this weekend: he’s netted in three PL matches on the bounce (across either side of his recent injury lay-off) and has a decent home fixture in West Ham on Saturday evening.

If you happen to have him, are wary of Costa’s groin (who isn’t?) or perhaps have a WC to hand, giving Harry a chance could prove to be a masterstroke over the coming weeks.

He really wants to “win the game” after all. Smart bloke…

Form: 7
Fixture: 6
Explosiveness: 7

Thanks for reading Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Gameweek 12. This article was written by Jamesimmo

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Fixture Tracker – the next 6 games