CAPTAINCY HYPE 2017/18: FPL Gameweek 11
Picking a Captain to double down on in the Fantasy Premier League is the most important question asked ahead of each of the 38 Gameweek's in the Premier League season. There's a lot of self-help out there for FPL enthusiasts, with our Hype Team providing three major considerations for the armband for each and every 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. Captaincy can make of break a Gameweek so strap in tightly, it's time to lose your marbles. All aboard.
Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 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.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: 2017/18 SEASON PERFORMANCE
In each Captaincy Hype article we track our progress throughout the 2017/18 FPL season. Below you can check how our Captaincy selections have performed by week to week in the Fantasy Premier League.
GW1
Essential: Romelu Lukaku (Man United vs. West Ham) - 13pts
Alternative: Roberto Firmino (Watford vs. Liverpool) - 12pts
Wildcard: Josh King (West Brom vs. Bournemouth) - 2pts
GW2
Essential: Romelu Lukaku (Swansea vs. Man Utnited) - 6pts
Alternative: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace) - 1pt
Wildcard: Steve Mounie (Huddersfield vs. Newcastle) - 1pt
GW3
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs vs. Burnley) - 2pts
Alternative: Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Man United vs. Leicester) - 5pts
Wildcard: Alvaro Morata (Chelsea vs. Everton) - 12pts
GW4
Essential: Romelu Lukaku (Stoke vs. Man United) - 6pts
Alternative: Alvaro Morata (Leicester vs. Chelsea) - 6pts
Wildcard: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal vs. Bournemouth) - 1pt
GW5
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs vs. Swansea) - 2pts
Alternative: Gabriel Jesus (Watford vs. Man City) - 6pts
Wildcard: Eden Hazard (Chelsea vs. Arsenal) - 1pt
GW6
Essential: Sergio Aguero (Man City vs. Crystal Palace) - 11pts
Alternative: Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal vs. West Brom) - 13pts
Wildcard: Benjamin Mendy (Man City vs. Crystal Palace) - 0pts
GW7
Essential: Romelu Lukaku (Man United vs. Crystal Palace) - 6pts
Alternative: Dele Alli (Huddersfield vs. Spurs) - 2pts
Wildcard: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal vs. Brighton) - 6pts
GW8
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs vs. Bournemouth) - 2pts
Alternative: Jamie Vardy (Leicester vs. West Brom) - 2pts
Wildcard: Raheem Sterling (Man City vs. Stoke) - 15pts
GW9
Essential: Gabriel Jesus (Man City vs. Burnley) - 1pt
Alternative: Eden Hazard (Chelsea vs. Watford) - 5pts
Wildcard: Tammy Abraham (Swansea vs. Leicester) - 2pts
GW10
Essential: Sergio Aguero (West Brom vs. Man City) - 0pts
Alternative: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool vs. Huddersfield) - 4pts
Wildcard: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal vs. Swansea) - 2pts
Totals
Essential Total: 13 (1), 6 (2), 2 (3), 6 (4), 2 (5), 11 (6), 6 (7), 2 (8), 1 (9), 0 (10) = 49 points
Alternative Total: 12 (1), 1 (2), 5 (3), 6 (4), 6 (5), 13 (6), 2 (7), 2 (8), 5 (9), 4 (10) = 56 points
Wildcard Total: 2 (1), 1 (2), 12 (3), 1 (4), 1 (5), 0 (6), 6 (7), 15 (8), 2 (9), 2 (10) = 42 points
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE ESSENTIAL PICK
Our Essential picks for captain are selected each and every week on our main Twitter account, @RealHypeTrain, with four highly selected FPL options battling it out for alpha status amongst fellow FPL players.
Gameweek 11: Essential
Player: Harry Kane (TOT)
Position: Forward
Player Price: £12.6 million
Player Selection %: 31.0%
Enjoy it whilst it lasts, the Premier League is back for just one more weekend before a third round of international fixtures consumes our souls and television screens with redundant international friendlies that will send the masses of football fans into real-world purgatory.
For FPL players, it is an opportunity to bank with Harry Kane with the armband, after comfortably winning a poll featuring hot property in Morata, Salah, and Aguero.
Harry Kane's success at the polling booth means that this is the 3rd this this season he has featured as the essential captaincy pick (GW's 3, 5, and 8) in home fixtures against Burnley, Swansea, and Bournemouth. In each of those fixtures Kane managed just 2 FPL points, with his first home goals coming against Liverpool, a fixture which many players avoided giving Kane the armband because they didn't want to have a fourth time be another blank.
With Harry Kane proving his fitness for Spurs against Real Madrid in an excellent Champions League encounter, which ended in a 3-1 win for Spurs at Wembley, it is back to FPL players backing The Hurrikane for another home game, expecting a waterfall of points this weekend.
How typical would it be for Kane to do absolutely nothing against Palace, just as players had regained faith in the Hurrikane after a short absence due in injury, and be a standout performed against Real, only for Scott Dann to mark the England captain out of the game.
We hope not, the game hopes not, but it hasn't been all sunshine and roses for popular captaincy picks in recent weeks. FPL players need a win right now after a few torrid Gameweek's, and Kane could be the man to help remove the heartbreak from the past few weekends.
Stats and Information: Harry Kane
Harry Kane has started the season with 8 goals, 1 assist, 12 bonus, and 63 points in the FPL.
In the corresponding fixture last season, Spurs beat Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane in a 1-0 victory. Harry Kane managed the assist for Wanyama that day.
Spurs's 1-0 loss at Old Trafford ended their four match winning streak away from home in the Premier League - the only match which Harry Kane has not played this season.
Kane is the top scorer in the Premier League after 10 games, with 8. Sterling (MCI), Aguero (MUN), and Lukaku (MUN), lead the chasing pack with 7 each.
Kane has featured in the overall Gameweek 'Dream Team' a total of 4 times, more than any player in the FPL.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE ALTERNATIVE PICK
Our Alternative selection for captain typically commands a smaller FPL ownership percentage, but can be reserved for The Hype Train's own gut instincts on who could be captaincy inspiration.
Gameweek 11: Alternative
Player: Mohamed Salah (LIV)
Position: Midfielder
Player Price: £9.2 million +
Player Selection %: 36.3%
Gameweek 11 is a tricky set of fixtures to navigate. With a bumper Super Sunday this weekend, smaller clubs collide, whilst top six in battle with rival clubs. This means premium players on the whole have difficult fixtures, making it hard to potentially to trust a differential pick from a game between two mid-table or relegation threatened teams, as well as the players higher up the price bracket.
The two exceptions to the rule this week rest with assets from Liverpool and Spurs, with the Reds travelling to West Ham, whilst Spurs entertain a fellow London side in Crystal Palace. Ahead of Gameweek 11, the advice this week is very simple. If you don't have Kane, the best alternative rests with Mohamed Salah.
Salah featured as our alternative captaincy pick last week, and wounded the hearts of millions of Fantasy players when his penalty kick against Huddersfield was saved. With Klopp telling the world that Salah was the best spot-kick taker the club has, despite James Milner being on the pitch (who also missed a penalty in the Champions League at home to Maribor just days ago), it was a blow too many for a lot of players, despite Salah trying to redeem his efforts with an assist late in the 3-0 home victory.
Prolific when he has his shooting boots laced, the Egyptian winger has been winning over pundits and fans across the world for driving Liverpool's attack on a weekly basis, despite the occasional blip in form from an FPL perspective, with Salah red-hot one week, and cold-footed the next.
Always looking likely to score this season, Salah has notched 10 goals in all competitions, with 5 goals and 3 assists in the Premier League so far this season. West Ham are up next, with The Hammers suffering some big problems in defence ahead of the fixture at the London Stadium on Saturday.
Fonte - injury doubt
Zabaleta - suspended
Cresswell - took a knock and was subbed at half-time in the 2-2 draw at Palace
Reid - Has been nursing a calf-injury in recent weeks
Collins - out with an ankle injury
Bryam - been out all season
On top of potential defensive woes, Michail Antonio has been ruled out with a rib injury, which is a welcome plus for Liverpool fans as the Englishman has been a thorn in the Reds side in recent matches.
Salah and his FPL faithful will be relishing this weekend, and is the main rival to take attention away from Harry Kane.
Stats and Information: Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah has begun life at Liverpool in the FPL with 5 goals, 3 assists, 4 bonus, and 57 points.
With 57 points this season in the FPL, Salah is joint 9th with Man City's Raheem Sterling.
Only Sane (71) and Eriksen (60), have more points in midfield than Salah (57) this season.
Salah is Liverpool's top scorer in the Premier League with 5 goals. Mane and Firmino are the closest chasers, with 3 goals each.
Salah's 4 bonus points this season is the 11th highest for midfielders, despite being the 3rd best goal-scoring midfielder in the FPL.
Salah has scored 10 goals in all competitions this season, with his latest coming against Maribor in the Champions League at Anfield.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE WILDCARD PICK
Our Wildcard selection is one of the ten differential picks that is featured in our Weekly Wildcards article. This captaincy selection has a very small percentage of owners in the FPL, and is our left field option.
Gameweek 11: Wildcard
Player: Riyad Mahrez (LEI)
Position: Midfielder
Player Price: £8.4 million
Player Selection %: 4.5%
Insight by @HypeTrainSam:
The Algerian has been back to his brilliant best in recent weeks, he has been the playmaker that Leicester need to drive them forward and in his last three games has three assists and a goal to his name. Having moved on from his failed transfer appeal in the summer he has worked extremely well at the club that still believes in him, and with Claude Puel giving him a more direct role in a 4-3-3 formation it could further bring out the best in Mahrez.
Only two seasons ago Mahrez won the PFA Player of the Year award, he is still a highly talented footballer, and the spark that Leicester need for Puel to continue his bright start at the helm of the snake den.
The presence of Mahrez in the current top ten fantasy midfielders is interesting, because everyone around him has a higher ownership percentage, the next midfielder in the points table that has less ownership is Anthony Martial who is not even a frequent starter for Manchester United. Faith in Leicester is rightfully put in Jamie Vardy, and unlike in 2015/16 you wouldn't want to double down on Vardy and Mahrez this season with other options available. This factor has allowed the Algerian to snake up the midfielder points table almost unnoticed (reminiscing thoughts from the Jurassic Park 2 cave scene are quick to conjure).
Stoke have proven to be very beatable this season, and Leicester are in their new manager bounce that should see Mahrez have a good chance of making it four games in a row with fantasy points on the board.
Stats and Information: Riyad Mahrez
Riyad Mahrez has started the season with 1 goal, 6 assists, and 5 bonus, from 10 appearances, with 49 FPL points so far.
Mahrez's 49 poitns is equal to Alli (TOT) and Doucoure (WAT).
Mahrez is Leciester's 2nd best FPL player, one point behind Jamie Vardy (50).
Mahrez has as many bonus points (5) as Surman (BOU) and De Bruyne (MCI).
With just 4.5% ownership the Algerian is the 31st most selected midfielder in the FPL, despite being ranked 10th in the midfielders charts.
Want to know more about The Hype Train?
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, live sport, and professional wrestling.
As well as providing FPL articles on our website, we are a founding Contributor to the new Fantasy Football Hub, where you can find more unique articles, including weekly Power Rankings, from The Hype Team. You can support us and read exclusive members only content for just £2 per-month by clicking here.
The Hype Train were nominated and shortlisted for the 'Best Football Blog 2016' by the Football Bloggers Association at their annual Football Blogging Awards (The FBA's), with the final presentation held at Old Trafford in Manchester.
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All aboard.
