FPL Captain Picks Gameweek 35

FPL Captain Picks Gameweek 35

And then there was a TRIPLE GW, obviously…

As you can imagine we were all prepped and ready to go with this week’s Capo article. We were sort of expecting a couple of changes, maybe the odd additional Liverpool game, but we probably weren’t anticipating this sudden and unprecedented change of events. But credit to our team as they dropped what they were doing and have adjusted their sets accordingly. It does of course mean that Bruno ‘flog him to death’ Fernandes will jump to the front of most people’s queue as the obvious candidate here, but as we all know from bitter experience obvious isn’t always the winner in these circumstances. Let’s take last week as an example…

Sheffield United were primed to be put to the sword by Spurs and there was one bleedingly obvious candidate to do just that. When word of a hat-trick filtered through there surely only one player in the reckonong. Suffice to say it probably wasn’t Gareth Bale. Kane was of course the most captained player overall and his name was scattered all over our writer’s confessional like confetti. When word of a 4th came through then surely that was a captain consolation… nope. Not even an assist.

The lesson here? Whatever it is probably won’t be learned but whether you want to go ‘route one obvious’ again with Bruno or try something a little different we certainly have an array of options for you below. Let’s go all Dusty Bin on you…

3…

Swirly — Bruno Fernandes vs Aston Villa (A), Leicester (H) and Liverpool (H)

On the presumption that Man United’s fans don’t fancy any impromptu visits to either the pitches of Old Trafford or – heaven forbid – Villa Park in the near-distant future, we have a TRIPLE gameweek on our hands! Certainly the first one I can ever remember. First will be the mere formality of seeing out Roma in the Europa League, of course, which I’d like to think my pick, a certain Mr Fernandes, won’t have much to any involvement in.

Like the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland, the number 18 has lay dormant for a while – though admittedly not 800 years, but just one assist and nothing else in five weeks is an eternity in FPL – and managers have been getting rid. His net transfers the three gameweeks up to now have been -35k, -42k and -13k, however I think this gameweek could see the man from Maia explode into life. Though minus the lava. Indeed, the amount of managers bringing him in is currently rising quicker than Dogecoin after an Elon Musk tweet.

Interestingly, it was five weeks with just one goal set up in the last of Bruno’s ‘droughts’ – and then he went on to score one and help along two others in that 9-0 drubbing of Southampton. Indeed, the duo of goals and pair of assists he picked up in the 6-2 first leg victory over Roma last Thursday could be those tremors in advance of something big.

Then you look at the fixtures. All three of them! Bruno has only spent a short time in the Premier League, yet he has managed to score two and set up another against both Villa and Leicester. Indeed, the Foxes haven’t kept a clean sheet against the Red Devils since 31 January 1998, when Tony Cottee scored the only goal for the East Midlanders in a 1-0 victory. Twenty-six games have been played between the two sides since then and I wouldn’t be surprised if this match continued that trend, as much as Schmeichel has, impressively, managed to keep the ball out of the net in 11 fixtures so far this campaign. Talking of excellent goalkeepers, Emi Martinez will be the other shot stopper to keep the 26-year-old at bay, though he too does have the task of ending a run of 17 games without either a Villa win or United finding the back of the net. As for Liverpool, they have faced this Portuguese Magnifico twice, letting in one in that time, as he scored the winner from playing just 24 minutes of the FA Cup fifth round back in January. With the strongest defence in the trio of teams, Klopp’s men will be a tricky customer as they try to secure Champions League football.

Whilst Champions League football is a given for the Red Devils next season, I’m sure Ole and his men will want to finish the season on a high and finish as close to the Cityzens as possible. On the beach? I wouldn’t think so. With 0.84 goals’ contribution per game since his arrival to the Premier League – helped along by 38 goals and 24 assists in 74 fixtures – and, of course, the fact he’ll hopefully play the majority of the 270 available minutes, Bruno is just too good to miss!

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Matt — Wilfred Zaha vs Sheffield United (A) and Southampton (A)

Here I am back again with an off the wall pick! Zaha is not in the greatest form coming into this weekend but his last three games have been against Chelsea, Leicester and Man City so can you really blame him? He did get a goal against Leicester so it’s not all bad. When there is a DGW we are always told to captain a DGW’er and even though Mo and Nacho have doubles and Bruno has a TRIPLE, I am here to convince you that Zaha is the best out of the bunch. This should be interesting…

In contrast to the tough last three games, Palace have a great next three. Not only do they have a double this week, but it is against Sheffield United and Southampton followed by Villa in GW36. If Palace were asked to pick two fixtures for a double, I’m sure Sheffield United and Southampton would have been very high on their list! Sheffield United are already preparing for life in the Championship due to their relegation being confirmed a few weeks back. This should be a great game for Palace to break their three-game losing streak. Sheffield United did surprise everyone when beating Brighton 1-0 in GW33 but that was only their third clean sheet and fifth win of the season. They followed it up with a 4-0 loss to Spurs in a game that could have been more. Hopefully Zaha will be able to copy Bale’s example and notch a hat-trick of his own!

Next up for Zaha is a trip down to Southampton who are on a real rollercoaster this season. They can’t pick up any momentum and have been winning, then losing, then winning. If we go back five games for Saints that actually puts us into GW28. That just goes to show they have lost, blanked, won, lost, lost, blanked, drew. With Saints not having built up any real form or drive Palace could capitalise on Saints dodgy schedule and the fact they keep swapping keepers. The keeper merry-go-round always has an effect on defenders in front of them and also in terms of clean sheets. McCarthy will possibly be the No.1 by this game, and he hasn’t kept a CS since GW16. Forster could be No.1 and he hasn’t kept a CS since GW27. That should point towards Palace scoring and let’s hope it’s Zaha who is involved.

Now let’s look at why I am choosing Zaha over any of the other Palace players. It’s rather simple… Zaha is the only Palace outfield player who has broken 100 points this season (122). Nearest Palace player to him is Vicente Guaita (113) the goalkeeper. Palace rely heavily on Zaha and this shows with his 10 goals and 4 assists, if Eze could add more goals to his game this could help take the reliance off Zaha but for now Zaha is the one you should put the armband on. He is also a great differential due to only being in 8.9% of teams so when he fires it will be a massive bump for you.

Jamesimmo — Kelechi Iheanacho vs Newcastle (H) and Man United (A)

Form: that’s what it’s all about. Well, the fixtures are certainly a consideration too, but it’s form that’s progressively made Nacho’s appearance here not only justified but expected. Before jumping straight in, though, how exactly is form calculated? As per FPL’s precise, in-house definition: “Form is a player’s average score per match, calculated from all matches played by his club in the last 30 days.” So, basically, if a given player misses a match completely (or, like Salah vs Leeds, doesn’t start) then his form still suffers.

Other than Salah’s cameo, FPL’s caveat hasn’t affected The Fearsome Five being advocated here, so how do they compare now? After some bewildered scrolling:

• 2nd overall — Iheanacho — 9.0 points per Leicester match;

• 5th overall — Son — 7.8 points per Spurs match;

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• 19th overall — Salah — 5.7 points per Liverpool match;

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• 85th overall — Zaha — 3.2 points per Palace match;

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• 136th overall — Fernandes — 2.3 points per United match…

Oh, it’s Greenwood in pole position, by the way (who lacks any real security of getting multiple starts).

Congratulations to GP, then, for picking a solid back-up candidate should Kelechi not suit your individual needs. It’s a shame that Son only plays once during this Gameweek and, notably, that Leeds have seriously tightened up at Elland Road. No matter!

I’m not here to say that Leicester have been blessed with easy DGW fixtures, despite their Newcastle home match, but I am here to state the form facts. Can you really afford to trust Bruno when he’s not playing against Roma?

Breaking: with Mr 136th now set for a TGW across 5 days, he’s now forecasted for — deep breaths — just under 7 points, which assumes (unrealistically) that he starts in all 3 matches. Arguably a strong contender for the Vice-Captaincy now…

Cookie — Mo Salah vs Southampton (H) and Man United (A)

With Liverpool now having been allocated their DGW35, Salah is the obvious choice for captaincy. Even just the first fixture vs Southampton is enough to whet anyone’s appetite but when that ‘anyone’ is the league top scorer with 20 goals (current form is 3 in his last 4) then the alure for any other contender is nothing more than a desperate each-way bet. With 5 goals in the last 3 meetings between Liverpool and Southampton at Anfield and 2 goals in his last match vs Man Utd I would be very concerned about ignoring him in GW35. Nicely rested after spending last Sunday afternoon watching Netflix at the Lowry Hotel, the Egyptian will be let loose by Klopp as Liverpool attempt to claw back the deficit between them and Champions League qualification.

Kop – Watkins vs Manchester United (H) and Everton (H)

When Init asked for writers to contribute to this week’s article I volunteered. Unfortunately I didn’t say who I’d write about and now when I sit down to write my piece I note all the best options have been taken. Or have they? There’s a forward out there who hasn’t blanked in his last five matches and has picked up three goals and two assists in that period. It gets better; he’s got a double gameweek this week! You’ve surely guessed who it is? You haven’t? Did the big picture above not give it away? It’s Ollie Watkins. Yes, the much maligned Ollie Watkins.

But Ollie Watkins doesn’t score when Jack Grealish isn’t in the team. To the best of my knowledge, Grealish hasn’t featured in the past five games and Ollie has done ok. He’s come in for some criticism over the course of the season but only six players have scored more goals and from an FPL perspective, only eight players have accumulated more points. That’s not bad going for a lad in his PL debut season.

Have I any stats to back up my pick? Over the past four gameweeks, he’s had more touches in the penalty area than any other striker, while only Iheanacho & Wood have had more attempts on target. Their opposition in the double, United & Everton, have unfortunately been rather solid over the past four gameweeks and between them, they’ve only conceded six goals in that period.

For some reason, James (see above nonsense) has chosen to ignore Ollie!

It’s not all about stats though, Ollie is a man in form. Well, sort of…

Stop the lights… I’ve just realised he scored against Everton in GW34!

1…

GP — Son vs Leeds (A)

Ignore the nonsense form James above. Son is going 10, 12, 14. Trust me.

In is last two matches he scored 10 and 12 (a goal against Southampton followed up by a goal and an assist against Sheffield United) and that 12 could have been more had he not marginally fallen foul of an offside decision given after VAR intervention.

These big hauls were scored in one match and one match is all he needs (*Dua Lipa’s “One Kiss” rings in head*) and this week he is off to face Leeds who will be no push overs but I like Son running into open spaces and I can picture vast swathes of Elland Road opening up in front of him as he gallops towards Illan Meslier who is exposed on his left hand side by the marauding Esgjan Alioski who has taken leave of his senses – and position – as he chases down a way back into the game for Leeds who trail 2-0 thanks to Heung-min’s earlier double . . . . sorry, I drifted off there . . . .

Sixteen goals, ten assists and twenty six bonus points and he has scored double digit returns in exactly a third of the games he’s started – ELEVEN IN 33 STARTS! That’s captaincy form.

Get your captaincy right and select the form player and forget the need for your man to have two (OR THREE!) games. Pffft overrated.

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 — Bruno

Follow @DCoelho

Jamesimmo — Salah or Iheanacho… or Bruno

Follow @James777Simpson

Swirly — Bruno

Follow @theswirly

Horse — Nacho

Follow @harryhorse2

Matt — Bruno

Follow @MattyMcveigh

Loud Atlas — Bruno

Follow @FantasyFooty247

Smash — Bruno

Follow @Chrismartin1984

Kop — Depends who I have after I WC!

Follow @KenLyons79

Cookie — Salah

Follow @SteveCook9

The Gallant Pioneer — Son

Follow @MitchellC_FF247

Ellefcee — Bruno

Floydeth — Bruno

Follow @TinkerManFPL

AT — Bruno

Follow @Fpl_AT

Init — Salah

Follow @AdamalcockFF247

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