How was Gameweek 4 for you then? Over 275,000 FPL managers played their first Wildcard. Hopefully there was a plan and people weren’t just points chasing (Richarlison, Chicharito) as some of those who hadn’t previously demonstrated any form (De Bruyne, Kane) sprang into action.
This week sees the return of Friday Night Football (yay!) but the fixture to be played is Bournemouth v Brighton (meh). Neither team will be attractive in terms of captain selection, but I wouldn’t necessarily discard them without at least due consideration. Bournemouth have had an awful start, with 4 losses and only 1 goal scored (Charlie Daniels). Meanwhile Brighton finally got off the mark with a home win vs West Brom last week. Pascal Gross was undoubtedly the star of the show, but the lowest priced forward in the game, Tomer Hemad (£4.9m) certainly gave him a run for his money and could be an option if you need cash to load up in midfield.
Pascal Gross – 25pts (2 goals, 1 assist, 3 bonus points)
Tomer Hemad – 15pts (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 bonus points)
Saturday lunchtime sees winless Palace take on Southampton. The flightless Eagles departed company with manager Frank De Boer and have taken on former England boss Roy Hodgson to try and turn their fortunes around (ironically after letting De Boer leave with a fortune in severance pay after only 4 games in charge!) There are absolutely no decent captain options from Palace, and after a home defeat to Watford last week and with goals still being hard to come by, I’d avoid Saints too. But if you insist on an option, and he’s still in your team:
Dusan Tadic – 13pts (1 goal, 0 assists, 0 bonus points)
Plenty of 3pm kick-offs will see some popular captain picks:
Huddersfield v Leicester:
Steve Mounie – 17pts (2 goals, 0 assists, 3 bonus points)
Jamie Vardy – 24pts (3 goals, 0 assists, 4 bonus points)
Riyad Mahrez – 20pts (0 goals, 3 asssits, 2 bonus points)
Liverpool v Burnley:
Roberto Firmino – 28pts (2 goals, 2 assists, 6 bonus points)
Chris Wood – 15pts (2 goals, 0 assists, 4 bonus points) *Only 2 games played*
Newcastle v Stoke:
Matt Ritchie – 13pts (0 goals, 2 assists, 0 bonus points)
Max Choupo-Moting – 21pts (2 goals, 0 assists,3 bonus points)
Watford v Man City:
Abdoulaye Doucoure – 26pts (2 goals, 0 assists, 5 bonus points)
Gabriel Jesus – 23pts (3 goals, 0 assists, 6 bonus points)
Sergio Aguero – 21pts (2 goals, 1 assists, 3 bonus points)
Leroy Sane – 17pts (2 goals, 0 assists, 2 bonus points) *CAUTION – Super Sub*
West Brom v West Ham:
Jay Rodriguez – 10pts (1 goal, 0 assists, 0 bonus points)
Allan Nyom – 24pts (0 goals, 1 assists, 2 clean sheets, 6 bonus points)
Javier Hernandez – 18pts (2 goals, 0 assists, 3 bonus points)
The evening kick-off will be a very popular hunting ground for a Gameweek 5 captain, with rich pickings from a multitude of Spurs players. Be wary though; with Spurs having seen Champions League action this week, could Poch give Harry Kane a rest and try out new signing Fernando Llorente against his old employers?
Spurs v Swansea:
Harry Kane – 17pts (2 goals, 0 assists, 3 bonus points)
Christian Eriksen – 30pts (1 goal, 3 assists, 5 bonus points)
Dele Alli – 22pts (2 goals, 0 assists, 2 bonus points)
Ben Davies – 32pts (1 goal, 2 assists, 2 clean sheets, 5 bonus points)
“Super” Sunday may not have given us the most exciting of fixtures (or games) last weekend, but with Chelsea hosting Arsenal and Man Utd taking on Everton, this week we have some popular captain options. Hazard v Sanchez is a tantalising prospect. Both should start after recovering from injury/sulking issues. For me, the club swap between Romelu Lukaku and Wayne Rooney adds extra spice to that encounter.
Chelsea v Arsenal:
Alvaro Morata – 30pts (3 goals, 2 assists, 5 bonus points)
Eden Hazard – 1pt (0 goals, 0 assists, 0 bonus points)
Alexis Sanchez – 3pts (0 goals, 0 assists, 0 bonus points)
Alexandre Lacazette – 15pts (2 goals, 0 assists, 0 bonus points)
Man Utd v Everton:
Romelu Lukaku – 25pts (4 goals, 0 assists, 3 bonus points)
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 28pts (0 goals, 5 assists, 3 bonus points)
Wayne Rooney – 19pts (2 goals, 0 assists, 6 bonus points)
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 5pts (0 goals, 0 assists, 0 bonus points)
No Monday Night football this week, so you will know by Sunday evening whether you made the correct choice of captain.
My personal selection in the form of a Top 5 from those identified would be (in reverse order):
5. Davies
4. Firmino
3. Jesus
2. Lukaku
1. Kane
A different way of looking at your Captain selection is to really be honest with yourself about where you currently are in terms of overall ranking, mini-league standing, or whatever criteria you have set for yourself when looking at success.
To this end, you could further categorise your selection as:
SWORD
Definition: Used for thrusting or striking
SHIELD
Definition: A person or thing used to provide protection
PUNT
Definition: Bet or speculate on something
My Gameweek 5 Sword, Shield and Punt Picks are:
SWORD
Gylfi Sigurdsson – No FPL returns yet but seems to have stolen most of the set pieces off Baines. Only 4.7% owned and an away game at Old Trafford will not faze this big game player.
SHIELD
Harry Kane – Finally up and running now that August is over with 2 goals against Everton at Goodison. As long as the Wembley Curse isn’t a real thing like the August Curse was, he should bang some in against Swansea.
PUNT
Josh King – No FPL returns yet in the form of goals or assists, but with 16 goals last season, he hasn’t become a bad player, and a home game vs Brighton could be just what he needs to open his account this term. Only 2.6% owned.
Good luck, let me know how you got on in the comments section.
Written by @FPL_Fly
