Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Gameweek 22
Welcome to Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Gameweek 22. 2017 is already shaping up to be the year of the incredible sulk. While Diego Costa has one eye on a slow boat to China, Dmitri Payet would seem content just to leave E13. Or E20. Or wherever the heck it is that the Hammers call home now. Even Alexis Sanchez threw a strop when his manager had the audacity to relieve him of duty 4-0 up at the Welsh branch of Managers-R-Us.
So which players should you trust with your captaincy, and which should you cast aside, risking mutiny? That’s clearly none of my business. But here are 5 players worth considering:
5. PHILIPPE COUTINHO (home vs Swansea)
[three_fifth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fifth]A swan’s grace as it glides along the water is said to belie the unseen frenzied activity of its paddling feet, which cannot be said for their Premier League incarnation. The Reds’ next opponents have been frantic and haphazard from every angle; Swansea are currently splashing about with all the grace of ‘Debbie Does Dallas’.
Prior to Sunday’s clash of the North-West giants, Coutinho had failed to accrue a single point in 7 games. However he had also failed to register a single minute of game-time, giving him an average score of 0 ÷ 0 which… broke my calculator, proving that even when he doesn’t play, the Brazilian’s stats are untouchable. 30 minutes at Old Trafford and a likely FA Cup run-out against Plymouth should see Klopp’s talisman return to the FPL fold in earnest this weekend. Liverpool have been prolific scorers this season, but their scattered distribution of goals has always made the likes of Lallana, Firmino and Mane gambles for the armband. Liverpool’s no. 10 was flying before his injury and will surely offer captaincy-worthy returns as he closes in on his best ever season at Anfield.
4. ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC (away vs Stoke City)
[three_fifth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fifth]Maybe we got Zlatan wrong. Arriving on British shores with a reputation for arrogance, the Swede has demonstrated an unselfish appreciation for those around him. While Romelu Lukaku left viewers feeling awkward with the kind of statuesque Cantona celebration best left only to Cantona, Ibra used his goal to whip Old Trafford into a frenzy. In stark contrast to certain other players right now, Man Utd’s 35 year old’s professionalism has shone through playing (November’s Arsenal game excepted) every minute of every game.
9th placed Stoke will welcome United in good fettle following encouraging victories over Sunderland and Watford, though they struggle against decent teams. Winter match-ups against Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all ended in convincing defeats, despite promising patches of play. Mark Hughes will be keen to turn up and spoil United’s momentum, but even if they do you’d fancy the man-bunned meister to make a mark. Mourinho’s Red Devil revival has been in no small part to his striker’s 10 goals in 10 games, which interestingly makes a goal-per-game average of…. ummm… well if Coutinho hadn’t broken my calculator I’d be able to work that out.
3. EDEN HAZARD (home vs Hull City)
[three_fifth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fifth]Fighting off serious competition from the hipster’s choice, Marcos Alonso, Eden Hazard presents us with a more familiar captaincy route into Chelsea’s David and Goliath encounter with Hull. Uncertainty over top-scorer Costa’s availability remains, but his teammates have won 3-0 in both of his recent absences with Hazard garnering 16 points. Diego must be wondering what he has to do get some attention.
Hazard’s recent returns have been solid if unspectacular. However an advanced role against the Tigers could reignite the fire we saw from him in the autumn. Hull have shown admirable resilience at home, but haven’t had much joy away from the KC since gameweek 2 at Swansea. Marco Silva’s men won’t roll over at Stamford Bridge, but without a clean sheet in 10 games even the most optimistic among the amber and black ranks must fear being put to the sword by the Belgian this Sunday.
2. HARRY KANE (away vs Manchester City)
[three_fifth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fifth]Having destroyed Tony Pulis’ back-four with a triple whammy, it must be with some zeal that Kane now switches focus to a rearguard that’s more permeable than a phospholipid bilayer cell membrane [citation needed]. In his search for beautiful football, Pep Guardiola has created a Frankenstein defence. Altruistic, yet hideous. The idea that John Stones offered a cheap way into a great team now seems a distant horror, like a Glastonbury Festival veteran’s sober epiphany that last summer’s stellar sexual conquest was in fact a farm animal.
An exceptional 6 goals in 4 games have been no statistical anomaly with Kane hitting the target more times (11) than anyone else over the same period. Just don’t talk about ‘that’ penalty. It feels strange to see an away fixture at Man City as a captaining opportunity, but this owes as much to Spurs’ recent explosion of form as it does their opponent’s ineptitude at the back. Dele, Christian and Harry will be queuing up for a pop at Pep.
1. ALEXIS SANCHEZ (home vs Burnley)
[three_fifth padding=”0 20px 0 0″]
[/three_fifth]I don’t know about you, but when I get told I can leave work early I’m out of the door before the end of their sentence. Not our Alexis. No, he wants to stay behind and help clean the changing rooms, wash the kit and probably drive the team coach. Providing Sanchez’s tantrum wasn’t a ruse to orchestrate a January exit from the Emirates, this attitude should continue to stand him in good stead against a Burnley side that are the epitome of hard work. Sean Dyche must be brimming with pride at the Clarets’ achievements which have seen them soar giddily into the upper hemisphere of the Premier League. Though while imperious at home, they’ve shockingly taken only a single point from a possible 27 on their travels, conceding 20 goals.
Arsenal’s Chilean superstar at times seems peerless and sits atop the FPL standings with daylight between him and the chasing pack. Sanchez shows no sign of slowing down, averaging 8.75 points across the last 8 games, making it hard to overlook him for the armband. If you do, he might sulk.
Thanks for reading Fantasy Premier League Captain Picks Gameweek 22. This article was written by Bryan Munich
Vote on our Captain Poll Now
We are running the main public FF247 League which anyone is welcome to join by using the following code 1147-701 (auto-link below). This one has a prize pool of £250 which is sponsored by @FootballFanager and will be paid into your account on their website. The top 5 places are paid out.
Join Our League – Quick Link
League Code: 1147-701
View league standings
New for the 2016/17 we are delighted to announce we are running a Regulars League which has a cash prize pool of £300 paid directly to the winners from the FF247 management team.
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@fantasyfootball247.co.uk *terms and conditions apply and are available upon request. Management reserve the right to review membership of this league on an ongoing basis.
Fixture Tracker – the next 6 games
*NEW ARTICLE*
We are lucky to have a good many fine writers on FF247 who make their articles interesting, funny and relevant. And then there’s Bry… I doubt few of the aforementioned will argue that probably 20 of the last 20 best have come from his pen, that’s an average of…. Never mind, enjoy farm animal epiphanies and other treats you won’t find in any other FPL article. Ever. :clap: :worthy:
I’d certainly concur.
Forget FPL, this is just a great read. I particularly enjoyed the description of Swansea
We should really share the other ‘hidden’ nugget that we get which isn’t ever on the article which is the title itself. Bry always gives each effort a unique one and they always make me laugh on their own. I’ll have to dig out the previous ones but this was this weeks. I’ll try and collate a montage of the previous ones as they’re gold on their own really now I think about it!
Hahaha that’s gas, I didn’t notice that
It’s not on the article Butch, that’s my point, it should be really, just looked and the old ones are lost to me. Such a shame. Hopefully Kop or Cookie can recall them on theirs as they really are magnificent.
Ah I see. Maybe he should send them onto you, surely he remembers. That’s comedy class and outright Witty sense of humour
Excellent read !
!!
Brilliant style of writing
HL
Cheers Bryan
Saw this about Sanchez the other day and its why us gooners love him!
wish we had a few more at the club that were like him!
San(C)hez for me
Yes mate. And I remember something during those international matches. He just came back from injury and needed rest. But Wenger had to start him as he just more time on the field. Dude’s dedication is tremendous.
Me and my brother, we call him “Work rate”
It’s always that
*remember something of last season
Then he got injured at Norwich after being oveplayed…..
Didn’t remember that
The point here being dude always wants to play.
Unlike Ozil who looks like he is gonna sleep in between the match
I wonder what would he have done if he hadn’t had those magical legs to provide great deliveries and find people at the right time at the right place(when he is in form)
I don’t know about you, but when I get told I can leave work early I’m out of the door before the end of their sentence. Not our Alexis. No, he wants to stay behind and help clean the changing rooms, wash the kit and probably drive the team coach.
Haha
Cheers Bry for another cappo article. Long time it’s been since your last if u remember well. Utterly enjoyed reading it mate
It’s going to be Sanchez for me even though I own Heaton and must play him
Might even go for a punt on Phillips
Just a post to all you peeps about at the moment. Have you voted on the community team yet ? If not can you please get yourselves over on the community team thread and have a vote. The voting has been pretty poor of late and it is YOUR team, so get voting please.
Cheers.
GP/NZ/ELLE.
I voted for Siggy to Eriksen Sir
I usually do whenever I can
+1 did this move too
Done, cheers Elle.
“The voting has been pretty poor of late”
You can say that again looking at your rank :hippo: 😉
In all seriousness though you need to look at narrowing that voting choice down to just 20 players or so. Someone pointed it out on twitter and they were bang on. It looks too much like hard work when you go on there as it is right now.
It hurts my thumb scrolling down plus I just want to click the -4 option all the time 😉
Lol
Init,
I have made a considerable cull but seeing as it hasn’t been noticed it probably means there are still too many! I’ll address that ahead of the next vote. Thank you.
I voted last week GP but not this yet. Not sure when you culled though, last week didn’t feel like it had been. I’m talking like 6 to 8 viable options for each position tops. Nowt to do with me though, just genuine user feedback.
Oh no nowhere near that. Just players who had either not played a minute or who I thought most maybe hadn’t heard of!
I’ll try it it next week mate. We always have the “Other” option if there is someone missing who the voter would like.
I’d use the ‘other’ the other way round. Top 8 and other would be better IMHO
Yeah that’s what I mean, Init.
Eight defenders and Other
Eight Midfielders and Other
etc.
Great write up Bry !! I particuarly liked the John Stones,Glastonbury veteran anology !!! Ha ha
Bry, many thanks my friend. As ever you have produced a masterpiece, now get your FPL team back up to where it was a few weeks ago!
What is Debbie Does Dallas by the way?
I looked up in the internet
Cookie’s sheltered life? You know full well what that is!
I just assumed it had something to do with Chins and Bellies…..
It’s not as gross as that! 😉
Oh hahahaha hahaha haha ha.
I’ll have you know Debbie is a lovely lady. Misunderstood. But a lovely warm lady. Moist. And warm.
Great read btw Bry. I like what you do with words. You put them together real nice. Really nice. And moist. Sorry. Still thinking about Debbie…