CAPTAINCY HYPE 2016/17: FPL Gameweek 11
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 11 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, the early Saturday kick off time has now been moved back to 12:30am, meaning the weekly FPL deadline will also be moving 15 minutes back.
The transfer deadline for GW10 is Saturday November 5th at 14:00pm
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
GW5
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs vs. Sunderland) - 9pts
Alternative: Romelu Lukaku (Everton vs. Middlesbrough) - 12pts
Wildcard: Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace vs. Stoke) - 2pts
GW6
Essential: Sergio Aguero (Swansea vs. Man City) - 13pts
Alternative: Sadio Mane (Liverpool vs. Hull) - 7pts
Wildcard: Troy Deeney (Burnley vs. Watford) - 2pts
GW7
Essential: Alexis Sanchez (Burnley vs. Arsenal) - 3pts
Alternative: Philippe Coutinho (Swansea vs. Liverpool) - 2pts
Wildcard: Marcus Rashford (Man United vs. Stoke) - 2pts
GW8
Essential: Sergio Aguero (Man City vs. Everton) - -1pt
Alternative: Diego Costa (Chelsea vs. Leicester) - 9pts
Wildcard: Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace vs. West Ham) - -1pt
GW9
Essential: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal vs. Middlesbrough) - 3pts
Alternative: Theo Walcott (Arsenal vs. Middlesbrough) - 3pts
Wildcard: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea vs. Watford) - 2pts
GW10
Essential: Alexis Sanchez (Sunderland vs. Arsenal) - 13pts
Alternative: Romelu Lukaku (Everton vs. West Ham) - 12pts
Wildcard: Troy Deeney (Watford vs. Hull) - 2pts
Totals
Essential Total: 9 (1), 5 (2), 2 (3), 1 (4), 9 (5), 13 (6), 3 (7), -1 (8), 3 (9) = 57pts Alternative Total: 2 (1), 2 (2), 11 (3), 1 (4), 12 (5), 7 (6), 2 (7), 9 (8), 3 (9) = 61pts
Wildcard Total: 10 (1), 2 (2), 2 (3), 2 (4), 2 (5), 2 (6), 2 (7), -1 (8), 2 (9) = 25pts
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE ESSENTIAL PICK
Player: Sergio Aguero (Man City)
Position: Forward
Player Price: £13.1 million
Player Selection %: 44.3%
Each week in our Captaincy articles is a rollercoaster of form. Our three selections for this weekend fared well compared to previous outings, with Sanchez’s 13 point haul, and Lukaku’s 12, bringing one of our best weeks yet. For the tag of Essential we’ve been limited to a few selections due to the players that are heavily favoured for the Gameweek. We’ve only had Aguero and Sanchez as the Essential for five consecutive weekends of the season, and it’s not been a clean sweep. We banked on Aguero during his penalty miss against Everton, and Sanchez for a 0-0 draw at home to Boro, and in general the so called top picks are trailing to the ‘alternative’ picks, those who are a little bit more of a gamble.
Aguero’s inclusion for GW11’s inclusion was an obvious selection given that his brace against West Brom was always going to ensure his popularity heading into a home tie against Middlesbrough. We’ve played with fire over a similar and lost, with the aforementioned 0-0 draw between Arsenal and Middlesbrough, but we’re confident Man City don’t do goalless draws at home. In fact, Man City, and Aguero in particular, have been prolific against the so called ‘smaller’ sides in the league, With the 7 goals Aguero’s scored coming against sides in the mid-lower section of the league table (at least from last season’s standings).
The case for Aguero is simple. Man City have had 5 penalties so far this season (one every two games), they face a side fighting for its life, and have Kevin De Bruyne back on-song after a short blight with injury. On the general Hype Train after a victory over Barcelona, and heading into an international break, there’ll be a full complement of City players on show, to finish strong before yet another international break. At the very least, with Aguero’s ownership surpassing 44%, his pick will negate your head to head and league rivals, even if he doesn’t perform.
Hit and miss this season, Aguero’s looking to put the doubters to sleep that he’s an overpriced asset, considering his goal record is every other game. Standing in his way is Karanka’s rejuvenated Boro, who’ll have their defensive capabilities tested to the limit when they park up at the Etihad.
Man City’s Fixtures
GW11: Middlsbrough (h)
GW12: Crystal Palace (a)
GW13: Burnley (a)
GW14: Chelsea (h)
GW15: Leicester (a)
GW16: Watford (h)
GW17: Arsenal (h)
GW18: Hull City (a)
GW19: Liverpool (a)
Notes on Aguero
Aguero has scored 7 goals this season, but has only scored in 4 games, managing a brace on 3 occasions.
In the 4 games that Aguero has scored in, he’s achieved the maximum 3 bonus points.
Only Romelu Lukaku (13) has more bonus points than Aguero (12). Filling out the top 3 is Etienne Capoue (11).
Aguero’s 7 goals have come against Sunderland, Stoke (2), Swansea (2), and West Brom (2) – teams that you’d classify as mid table or table. Aguero has failed to score against West Ham, Spurs, Everton, and Southampton, teams that in the past few seasons have been positioned in the top half of the table.
Aguero’s only completed the full 90 minutes on 5/8 occasions this season, missing 2 games through injury.
The Argentine forward is 3rd on the list of performing forwards in the FPL. Romelu Lukaku leads the way with 67 points, and Costa sits pretty in second on 64 points. Aguero is 9 points behind the top 2 players, with 55 points.
Aguero has featured 3 times in the FPL Gameweek Dream Team, more times than any other forward.
Since the beginning of the season, Aguero’s been transferred in 1,427,663 times. Only Costa (1,511,418) has been brought in to forward lines more.
Aguero was booked just once last season, and he’s already been booked once this season, at home to Southampton during GW9.
This season, Aguero has played 654 minutes of football in the Premier League this season, ranking him in 15th place. Only Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played the full 900 minutes of available football so far this season.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE ALTERNATIVE PICK
Player: Charlie Austin (Southampton)
Position: Forward
Player Price: £6.7 million
Player Selection %: 12.6%
There’s no amount of stats, analysis, or general talk that I can describe that can best tell the tale of how much I love Charlie Austin as a football player. He’s the typically underrated English forward who’ll be overlooked at every turn at the international stage to accommodate the likes of Daniel Sturridge, even though when on form, Austin’s the deadliest striker in the Premier League. As a forward, he’s not the tallest, but can head the ball. He’s not the quickest, but finds himself in the right positions. He’s not the most technically gifted, but he’s got enough stage presence to frighten defenders. Austin’s truly a forward of a by-gone era, N old fashioned forward that fits the mould of the modern Premier League. Injuries aside, Austin’s selling point is that there is an obvious and insatiable desire to put the ball in the back of the net, and that’s what he does so well when given the platform.
Having marshalled Dusan Tadic off penalty kick duty at Southampton, and scoring 4 goals in his last 6 appearances in the league, Austin, much like Aguero, is primed to perform against the so called ‘smaller’ teams in the league. Austin has recently scored against Swansea, West Ham, and Burnley, whilst failing to hit the back of the net against Leicester, Man City, and Chelsea. As close as it’s been for Austin in recent weeks, two weeks with no goals shouldn’t detract from the obvious value he could possess in a run of games for Southampton that is heavily favourable until the February/March period.
Southampton’s Fixtures
GW11: Hull City (a)
GW12: Liverpool (h)
GW13: Everton (h)
GW14: Crystal Palace (a)
GW15: Middlesbrough (h)
GW16: Stoke City (a)
GW17: Bournemouth (a)
GW18: Spurs (h)
GW19: West Brom (h)
It’s a run of games for Southampton that are very appealing, probably without the exception of facing Spurs and Liverpool – but both fixtures are at home. The prospect of facing Hull is something that we have undertaken numerous times this season when picking our Captaincy picks, but to a lot of failure. Austin’s the next entrant travelling to Hull, a side who are conceding an average of 21 shots at home for every game.
Europa League is still a worry, but Austin’s been managed right to now make the biggest impact in the league, to keep propelling Southampton up the table. When in the league with QPR the Englishman managed 18 goals, and missed a further 2 penalties, and looked deadly in a side that couldn’t create goal scoring opportunities. Southampton are finally the side to provide for Austin, and slowly he’s delivering. Hull are set to be the next side to feel the wrath of this traditional English forward.
Notes on Austin
Austin has 4 goals from his last 6 league appearances, failing to score in his last 2 matches against Man City and Chelsea.
Only Nathan Redmond (44) has more points as a Southampton player than Charlie Austin (40).
Austin has only completed the full 90 minutes on one occasion this season, which was the latest outing against Chelsea during GW10.
Austin has started from 6/9 appearances this season, only missing GW4’s 2-1 defeat at Arsenal.
Austin has started the last 5 Premier League matches, uprooting Shane Long in the side as a strike partner to Nathan Redmond.
Austin is ranked 6th in the overall Forwards list with 40 points. Either side of him is Ibrahimovic (42) and Rondon (39).
Austin is averaging 4.4 points a match, the 8th best record in the league – not bad considering that Austin’s game time was heavily limited during the first 5 Gameweek’s.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE WILDCARD PICK
Player: Wilfried Bony (Stoke)
Position: Forward
Player Price: £7.3 million
Player Selection %: 1.2%
Just like with Charlie Austin, Stoke’s loaned forward Wilfried Bony is a blast from the past for players of the FPL. Scoring big in his debut season at the Liberty Stadium, managing 17 goals as Swansea finished comfortably in mid-table, the Ivorian forward cemented himself as a clinical powerhouse forward that was in goal contention each and every week. Second season syndrome affected Bony, but not in the way you think. Clinical, managing 8 goals before an eventual sale to Man City, Bony was continuing in the same vein of goal scoring form in his second season. A move to Man City saw Bony sit on the bench, eternally it appears, managing just 4 goals and 4 assists last season from limited game time. It was the type of form that would have seen Bony become another Lukaku – a powerful striker, always imposing, always scoring regularly.
Bony’s game time since moving to Stoke this season has been healthy, but the goal output, and the form up until now, not quite so good. The 3-1 victory over Swansea was the turning point for Bony, and with some good fixtures on the horizon, there’s no doubting that it’s a real potential that the lowly owned forward can cause further havoc at West Ham’s London Stadium, igniting the fire’s further between London authorities, and the football club. If West Ham couldn’t handle Lukaku (yet again) then why would they fare any better against Bony?
Stoke’s Fixtures
GW11: West Ham (a)
GW12: Bournemouth (h)
GW13: Watford (a)
GW14: Burnley (h)
GW15: Arsenal (a)
GW16: Southampton (h)
GW17: Leicester (h)
GW18: Liverpool (a)
GW19: Chelsea (a)
Notes on Bony
Bony’s biggest goal haul was during the 2013/14 season when the Ivorian managed 17 goals for Swansea.
This is Bony’s 4th season in the Premier League, managing 34 goals and 11 assists.
Bony only managed 3 bonus points last season, and has already matches that tally for this season when he collected the 3 bonus against Swansea at home.
Bony’s scored 4 goals against his ex-employers Swansea since leaving the Swansea, scoring twice for both Man City and Stoke in the same games respectively.
Bony has placed in all 7 of his games for Stoke so far, and up until GW10, failed to register any goals, assists, yellow or red cards.
The 13 points picked up by Bony at home to Swansea more than double his tally of 12 heading into the Gameweek.
With just 25 points, Bony is joint 4th with Marko Arnautovic on Stoke’s list of best FPL players. Allen tops the pile on 55 points.
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All aboard.
