CORE CAPTAINCY 2016/17: FPL Gameweek 5
Picking a Captain in the Fantasy Premier League is among the most important 38 decisions any person will make throughout the course of the season. There's a lot of self-help out there for FPL enthusiasts, with our Hype Team providing three major considerations for the armband Gameweek. We'll be detailing the Essential choice for captain, a popular alternative that's pushing the consensus, and a Wildcard pick to add to the chaos. Strap in tightly, it's time to lose your marbles. All aboard.
Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 5 Deadline
For the 2016/17 Premier League season, the FPL deadline will be one hour before the commencement of the week's first game. The Premier League website lists each FPL deadline, you can always ask on social media, and you can also view a real time countdown on our Weekly Hype page.
In a change from last season, Friday nights games are going to more common in the 2016/17 season. The second listed game is between Chelsea and Liverpool at 8pm.
The transfer deadline for GW2 is Friday September 16th at 19:00pm.
CORE CAPTAINS: SEASON PERFORMANCE
To help track our progress throughout the 2016/17 season, below you can check how our Core Captaincy selections have done by week to week in the Fantasy Premier League.
GW1
Essential: Sergio Aguero (Man City vs. Sunderland) - 9pts
Alternative: Jamie Vardy (Hull vs. Leicester) - 2pts
Wildcard: Nathan Redmond (Southampton vs. Watford) - 10pts
GW2
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs vs. Crystal Palace) - 5pts
Alternative: Roberto Firmino (Burnley vs. Liverpool) - 2pts
Wildcard: Fernando Llorente (Swansea vs. Hull) - 2pts
GW3
Essential: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Hull vs. Man United) - 2pts
Alternative: Eden Hazard (Chelsea vs. Burnley) - 11pts
Wildcard: Romelu Lukaku (Everton vs. Stoke) - 2pts
GW4
Essential: Eden Hazard (Swansea vs. Chelsea) - 1pt
Alternative: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal vs. Southampton) - 1pt
Wildcard: Tom Heaton (Burnley vs. Hull) - 2pts
Totals
Essential Total: 9 (1), 5 (2), 2 (3), 1 (4) = 17pts Alternative Total: 2 (1), 2 (2), 11 (3), 1 (4) = 16pts
Wildcard Total: 10 (1), 2 (2), 2 (3), 2 (4) = 16pts
CORE CAPTAINCY: THE ESSENTIAL PICK
Player: Harry Kane (TOT)
Position: Forward
Player Price: £10.9 million
Player Selection %: 14.4%
It’s now the aftermath of an international break, followed by thousands of FPL managers activating their first wildcards of the season, and unless you picked up an Antonio or a Lukaku, your team probably had a bad week, and a large part of that was low scoring captaincy options. Our three choices for last week managed just 4 FPL points combined; with Tom Heaton (our wildcard pick for the week) actually beating the hauls managed by Eden Hazard (1) and Alexis Sanchez (1). The popular midfielder choices from Chelsea and Arsenal were trumped by a 5 point appearance from Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the Manchester derby, meaning only those going risky would have profited.
After a bad week for the Core Captains, liability for FPL GW5 will fall on the shoulders of our community who have chosen to elect Harry Kane as the essential pick for GW5. Kane fended off competition from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to take the crown. The Spurs forward takes on Sunderland at home, a team who were just taught a lesson by an Everton side who are beginning to find their swagger under Ronald Koeman. It’s bad enough that David Moyes has already drilled confidence into the team by suggesting that they are favourites for the drop, but they head to the Lane a few days removed from Spurs’s Champions League tie at Wembley against Monaco. Tottenham head into the fixture with confidence on their side having beat Stoke 4-0 away from home during Gameweek 4, with Kane now among primary targets for FPL managers having scored his first goal of the season.
This isn’t the first time The Hurrikane made our Core Captaincy list. For GW2 the forward was picked in a home game against Crystal Palace, managing a headed assist for Victor Wanyama in a 1-0 victory at The Lane. This time around, pending Kane and Spurs make it out of the European football grinder in one piece, FPL managers are expecting an inflated return on his GW2 outing. Kane’s proven he’s a 25 goal a season striker and Sunderland are the whipping boys to lift Spurs near the summit of the table. Points are never just given in the FPL; just ask our GW4 picks, but Sunderland are currently serving up points on a platter. Last season Aston Villa were heavily banked against and we believe that in this moment, the Black Cats are following suit.
Notes on Harry Kane
Kane has been subbed in his last 3 Premier League appearances.
Kane’s tally of 15 FPL points comes from 1 goal, 1 assist, and 4 lots of 60+ minute appearances.
After 4 games, Kane is yet to score any bonus points.
The Hurrikane is ranked 15th in the list of forwards so far this season, 14 points behind leading forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic (29pts).
For FPL GW4, Kane made a net transfer profit of 8,509 transfers. Kane managed 6 points that week against Stoke.
Kane was among our Core Captaincy picks for GW2, scoring 5 points against Crystal Palace.
CORE CAPTAINCY: THE ALTERNATIVE PICK
Player: Romelu Lukaku
Position: Forward
Player Price: £9.1 million
Player Selection %: 12.0%
There’s a particular reason we excluded Romelu Lukaku from our poll on Twitter to decide our essential pick for captaincy, and it’s simple. Big Rom already made the list. We’re called The Hype Train, so of course we are naturally inclined to bank on the Belgian going forward after such a return to prominence.
The visit of Middlesbrough is slightly trickier than most will imagine. Stoke, the league’s current bottom side, lost at Everton but put up a strong fight on the day. Boro will likely do the same and on their day can be very good at shutting the door. 18 clean sheets in the Championship, a league rife with chaos, is testament to Boro’s defensive potential. That being said, against Stoke it wasn’t for the will of trying for Lukaku. Close on several occasions, Lukaku registered 7 shots on target and was primed to make a stuttering Stoke squad pay for a slow start to the season.
When picking our Core Captains we look at form, fixtures, and opponents. We’ve finally gotten over the hurdle of backing against Hull (none of our 3 captains – Vardy, Llorente, and Heaton, did anything against Mike Phelan’s side) and after a loss to an out of sorts Crystal Palace side still figuring out life after Bolasie, Boro are looking susceptible against big imposing strikers. It worked for Benteke in GW4, and we’re optimistic that it’ll happen again. The real juggle in this match is really down to if Negredo is worth his money now, as we’re tempting benching his FPL potential.
Notes on Romelu Lukaku
Lukaku’s return of 17pts for FPL GW4 wasn’t good enough to top the list for the week. Son of Spurs managed 19 points as a midfielder. Lukaku’s score of 17 eclipses the points hauls of the top Gameweek players from 1-3.
Lukaku’s ranked 6th amongst the FPL forwards - a whole 9 places above essential choice Harry Kane.
Having managed just 3 points from the opening 3 games, Lukaku has scored as many as Aguero, and as many as Kane and Vardy combined.
Lukaku’s traditionally a bonus points magnet, having managed 25 last season. He’s 3 to his belt this season after his treble against Sunderland.
Lukaku scored 18 times last season, meaning that he scored 1/5 of his previous tally in one game.
At the time of GW4, Lukaku’s ownership was roughly around 7.7% and was classified as a differential (in our eyes).
Lukaku was amongst our GW4 Weekly Wildcards, and of course is our top choice this season. Last season we banked on Roberto Firmino away at Norwich in a 5-4 victory, managing 21 points. That’s the best we’ve managed with left field player picks.
Lukaku has managed 10+ goals in each of his last 4 seasons. Guaranteed goals, right?
CORE CAPTAINCY: THE WILDCARD PICK
Player: Christian Benteke
Position: Forward
Player Price: £7.5 million
Player Selection %: 5.2%
Flying the flag for our Weekly Wildcards, and completing a two pronged Belgian attack in our Core Captaincy for FPL GW5 is Palace’s new heavy hitter, Christian Benteke. After arriving from Liverpool in the summer, a much needed move on his part, not only to reignite a stalled career, but to provide a mid-range option for the 3.5+ million FPL players out there, the forward has already notched 1 goal from 2 games in the Premier League.
With just over 5.2% ownership, Benteke might only be classified as a wildcard entry for a short while. Much like Jamie Vardy and Dele Alli last season, Benteke’s got the potential to soar in ownership and in price. Most of that is down to Palace’s perceived good fixture list. Here’s how they’ve had to fare over the course of the first 10 games of the season.
What’s most impressive about Benteke, other than the urge to want to have him after getting off the mark, is why FPL players are beginning to have that urge. For one, Benteke was most lethal when Aston Villa played it directly to him inside, or just out, of the penalty area. Liverpool never afforded Benteke the chance to prove that direct service would end in goals, because the Reds are a capable passing team that relying heavily on a high press from very athletic midfielders. The goal Benteke notched against Boro was quintessential Bentekkers at his best. A long ball floated into the box for the big Belgian forward to attack, all whilst watching a versatile defender scramble for any sense of dignity when being bullied and dominated in the air.
Benteke has also told Yohan Cabaye to step down from penalty kick duty, and that he’ll be assuming control of the next deal balls from 12 yards out. Penalties it appear, can, and will be given in any match, at any time, for increasingly frustrating reasons (slight jostling, 50/50 challenges, diving *cough* Luke Shaw *cough*), but regardless the end result could impact greatly on FPL managers.
Benteke’s visit of Stoke is the right fixture, at the right time, for the emerging Belgian forward. The Potters can be dominating in the air, but they’ve been leaking goals and the potential is there for our Wildcard pick to stamp his claim of success.
Notes on Christian Benteke
Benteke only scored 2 headed goal for Liverpool last season, and is already half way to reaching that target.
Bentekkers managed 9 goals and 4 assists last season from 29 Premier League appearances (14 starts, 15 substitute appearances).
Can you believe it? Benteke competed in 42 games last season for Liverpool, and had 2 spells on the side-lines due to injury.
Benteke has switched clubs in 2 seasons for £59,000,000 – averaging £5.9 million per goal in the Premier League.
Benteke registered a net profit of 166,496 transfers for GW4, with the number likely to keep going up.
Benteke managed 16 bonus points last season, claiming the full 3 bonus points on 4 occasions last season, despite only starting 14 games.
Last season was the only year when Benteke didn’t reach 10+ goals in the league, having managed the feat in the previous 3 seasons whilst at Aston Villa.
After Stoke At home, Benteke faces 2 away games at Sunderland and Everton, before welcoming West Ham to Selhurst Park.
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The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015 specialising in the Fantasy Premier League (#FPL), providing beautiful graphics and weekly insight for hopeful players attempting to climb ranking tables. We are also occasional media reviewers, with a keen interest to review movies, television, live music, festivals, and any relevant topic in the public eye.
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All aboard.
