CAPTAINCY HYPE 2017/18: FPL Gameweek 27
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 4-0 West Ham) - 13pts
Alternative: Roberto Firmino (Watford 3-3 Liverpool) - 12pts
Wildcard: Josh King (West Brom 1-0 Bournemouth) - 2pts
GW2
Essential: Romelu Lukaku (Swansea 0-4 Man Utnited) - 6pts
Alternative: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool 1-0 Crystal Palace) - 1pt
Wildcard: Steve Mounie (Huddersfield 1-0 Newcastle) - 1pt
GW3
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs 1-1 Burnley) - 2pts
Alternative: Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Man United 2-0 Leicester) - 5pts
Wildcard: Alvaro Morata (Chelsea 2-0 Everton) - 12pts
GW4
Essential: Romelu Lukaku (Stoke 2-2 Man United) - 6pts
Alternative: Alvaro Morata (Leicester 1-2 Chelsea) - 6pts
Wildcard: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth) - 1pt
GW5
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs 0-0 Swansea) - 2pts
Alternative: Gabriel Jesus (Watford 0-6 Man City) - 6pts
Wildcard: Eden Hazard (Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal) - 1pt
GW6
Essential: Sergio Aguero (Man City 5-0 Crystal Palace) - 11pts
Alternative: Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal 2-0 West Brom) - 13pts
Wildcard: Benjamin Mendy (Man City 5-0 Crystal Palace) - 0pts
GW7
Essential: Romelu Lukaku (Man United 4-0 Crystal Palace) - 6pts
Alternative: Dele Alli (Huddersfield 0-4 Spurs) - 2pts
Wildcard: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal 2-0 Brighton) - 6pts
GW8
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs 1-0 Bournemouth) - 2pts
Alternative: Jamie Vardy (Leicester 1-1 West Brom) - 2pts
Wildcard: Raheem Sterling (Man City 7-2 Stoke) - 15pts
GW9
Essential: Gabriel Jesus (Man City 3-0 Burnley) - 1pt
Alternative: Eden Hazard (Chelsea 4-2 Watford) - 5pts
Wildcard: Tammy Abraham (Swansea 1-2 Leicester) - 2pts
GW10
Essential: Sergio Aguero (West Brom 2-3 Man City) - 0pts
Alternative: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool 3-0 Huddersfield) - 4pts
Wildcard: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal 2-1 Swansea) - 2pts
GW11
Essential: Sergio Aguero (Spurs 1-0 Crystal Palace) - 2pts
Alternative: Mohamed Salah (West Ham 1-4 Liverpool) - 15pts
Wildcard: Riyad Mahrez (Stoke 2-2 Leicester) - 7pts
GW12
Essential: Romelu Lukaku (Man United 4-1 Newcastle) - 6pts
Alternative: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool 3-0 Southampton) - 16pts
Wildcard: Glenn Murray (Brighton 2-2 Stoke) - 1pt
GW13
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs 1-1 West Brom) - 8pts
Alternative: Gabriel Jesus (Huddersfield 1-2 Man City) - 4pts
Wildcard: Callum Wilson (Swansea 0-0 Bournemouth) - 2pts
GW14
Essential: Alvaro Morata (Chelsea 1-0 Swansea) - 1pt
Alternative: Mohamed Salah (Stoke 0-3 Liverpool) - 13pts
Wildcard: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal 5-0 Huddersfield) - 8pts
GW15
Essential: Mohamed Salah (Brighton 1-5 Liverpool) - 5pts
Alternative: Alvaro Morata (Chelsea 3-1 Newcastle) - 8pts
Wildcard: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester 1-0 Burnley) - 6pts
GW16
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs 5-1 Stoke) - 12pts
Alternative: Eden Hazard (West Ham 1-0 Chelsea) - 2pts
Wildcard: Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool 1-1 Everton) - 1pt
GW17
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs 2-0 Brighton) - 2pts
Alternative: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool 0-0 West Brom) - 3pts
Wildcard: Alexis Sanchez (West Ham 0-0 Arsenal) - 3pts
GW18
Essential: Eden Hazard (Chelsea 1-0 Southampton) - 6pts
Alternative: Jamie Vardy (Leicester 0-3 Crystal Palace) - 2pts
Wildcard: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle) - 3pts
GW19
Essential: Raheem Sterling (Man City 4-0 Bournemouth) - 13pts
Alternative: Jamie Vardy (Arsenal 3-3 Liverpool) - 10pts
Wildcard: Charlie Austin (Southampton 1-1 Huddersfield) - 6pts
GW20
Essential: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool 5-0 Swansea) - 9pts
Alternative: Sergio Aguero (Newcastle 0-1 Man City) - 2pts
Wildcard: Charlie Austin (Crystal Palace 2-3 Arsenal) - 2pts
GW21
Essential: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool 2-1 Swansea) - 14pts
Alternative: Alvaro Morata (Chelsea 5-0 Stoke) - 2pts
Wildcard: Alexis Sanchez (West Brom 1-1 Arsenal) - 5pts
GW22
Essential: Harry Kane (Swansea 0-2 Spurs & Spurs 1-1 West Ham) - 3pts
Alternative: Alvaro Morata (Man City 3-1 Watford) - 6pts
Wildcard: Sadio Mane (Burnley 1-2 Liverpool) - 8pts
GW23
Essential: Harry Kane (Spurs 4-0 Everton) - 13pts
Alternative: Romelu Lukaku (Man United 3-0 Stoke) - 5pts
Wildcard: Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace 1-0 Burnley) - 3pts
GW24
Essential: Mohamed Salah (Swansea 1-0 Liverpool) - 2pts
Alternative: Raheem Sterling (Man City 3-1 Newcastle) - 5pts
Wildcard: Cenk Tosun (Everton 1-1 West Brom) - 2pts
GW25
Essential: Sergio Aguero (Man City 3-0 West Brom) - 6pts
Alternative: Roberto Firmino (Huddersfield 0-3 Liverpool) - 8pts
Wildcard: Eden Hazard (Chelsea 0-3 Bournemouth) - 2pts
GW26
Essential: Sergio Aguero (Burnley 1-1 Man City) - 2pts
Alternative: Anthony Martial (Man United 2-0 Huddersfield) - 1pt
Wildcard: Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace 1-1 Newcastle) - 5pts
Totals
Essential Total: 13 (1), 6 (2), 2 (3), 6 (4), 2 (5), 11 (6), 6 (7), 2 (8), 1 (9), 0 (10), 2 (11), 6 (12), 8 (13), 1 (14), 5 (15), 12 (16), 2 (17), 6 (18), 13 (19), 9 (20), 14 (21), 1, 2 (22), 13 (23), 2 (24), 6 (25), 2 (26) = 153 points
Alternative Total: 12 (1), 1 (2), 5 (3), 6 (4), 6 (5), 13 (6), 2 (7), 2 (8), 5 (9), 4 (10), 15 (11), 16 (12), 4 (13), 13 (14), 8 (15), 2 (16), 3 (17), 2 (18), 10 (19), 2 (20), 2 (21), 6 (22), 5 (23), 5 (24), 8 (25), 1 (26) = 158 points
Wildcard Total: 2 (1), 1 (2), 12 (3), 1 (4), 1 (5), 0 (6), 6 (7), 15 (8), 2 (9), 2 (10), 6 (11), 1 (12), 2 (13), 8 (14), 6 (15), 1 (16), 3 (17), 3 (18), 8 (19), 2 (20), 5 (21), 8 (22), 3 (23), 2 (24), 2 (25), 5 (26) = 108 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 27: Essential
Player: Mohamed Salah (LIV)
Position: Midfielder
Player Price: £10.4 million +
Player Selection %: 57.3%
It's that time of the week again where we sit down and ponder our captaincy picks for the weekend ahead, and the realistic options became abundantly clear earlier this week with our essential captaincy poll, which pitted Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, and Mohamed Salah against each other.
Ultimately, after another immense showing at Anfield, the hype train of intent rests firmly with Mo Salah, who cruised to victory ahead of Gameweek 27, even though he was pressed somewhat by Sergio Aguero.
Sergio Aguero was our essential captaincy pick for the last brace of Gameweek's (GW25, and GW26), which means the popularity of the Argentine forward has been stronger than ever this season. The man before that, of course, was Mohamed Salah, who returns to the summit of our thoughts.
Liverpool drew 2-2 at home to Spurs in an entertaining clash at Anfield during Gameweek 26, with the Egyptian scoring both of Liverpool's goals, the second of which being a fabulous solo effort with Salah taking on the entire Spurs defence and winning.
Salah was also the first player to reach 200 points this season, and coming up to the end of the season we're beginning to think that we should just let Salah be captain every week (of course that will be revised for the Blank and Double Gameweek's).
Next up for Liverpool, just days away from a Champions League Last 16 tie away at Porto next Wednesday, is a trip to Liverpool's feeder club, Southampton, who are languishing near the foot of the Premier League table.
Liverpool hosted Southampton during Gameweek 12 in a comfortable 3-0 home victory for Jurgen Klopp's side, with Salah scoring twice. Salah was also our alternative captaincy pick that week, nabbing 16 points.
The captaincy option appears a no-brainer this weekend, so if you have the King of Egypt, it is best advised to bank on his form no matter your concern.
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 27: Alternative
Player: Harry Kane (TOT)
Position: Forward
Player Price: £12.8 million
Player Selection %: 44.0%
We have chosen Harry Kane as the alternative captain because this weekend is a week to be lazy with your picks. It is either Kane, Aguero, or Salah, for the wider masses, and we believe that after last week, which saw a wide array of captaincy disappointment, we feel like we're left in a position to back the horses who are regularly scoring, with Kane and Salah the only consistent threats this season.
Gameweek 27 is a repeat of Gameweek 12, but the last thing that FPL players will want ahead of this weekend is a repeat of fortunes for the players involved.
Arsenal took Spurs to the sword during GW12, beating Kane's side 2-0 at The Emirates. Arsenal blew Spurs away that afternoon and were deserving winners, and now the rematch happens at Wembley Stadium, the first time the North London derby will take place at the English national stadium in Premier League history (and it will probably be the last time too, at least in our lifetime).
Arsenal travel with a new-look forward line, with former Dortmund duo Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan supported by Mesut Ozil, who has just signed a new deal with The Gunners.
Arsenal head into this fixture with a lot of momentum having finally resolved the Sanchez deal, and will hope to cause an upset at Wembley in the match will is very much at the heart of the race for Champions League qualification.
Kane's outing at The Emirates lasted just 74 minutes, his shortest game time in terms of minutes from a starting position this season. Expect something similar too with Spurs facing Juventus in Italy on Tuesday evening in the Champions League.
That side, Kane is the best Forward in the league in terms of the FPL and could really set a statement of intent to Juventus fans and players with a few goals against Spurss's rivals at Wembley.
Kane has scored in 3 of his last 4 Premier League games, only failing to find the net against Man United during Gameweek 25's 2-0 home win, and is fresh off scoring his 100th Premier League goal in the draw at Anfield.
It might be the dreaded early fixture, against a rival at Wembley, but we're past the point of counting Kane out of any fixture this season.
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 27: Wildcard
Player: Alexis Sanchez (MUN)
Position: Midfielder
Player Price: £11.8 million +
Player Selection %: 5.1%
Finally, we come to the fourth player who has played for Arsenal in January, and the Chilean who now plies his trade at Manchester United is the differential captain after a turbulent ride on his Old Trafford debut. Failing to score the penalty, but knowing in the rebound, score Sanchez score his first fantasy return for Man United. Now that the Chilean is off the mark at United, Jose will be hoping that confidence can be taken to Newcastle where Rafa Benitez will be telling DeAndre Yedlin to hold off any natural attacking runs to negate the former Gunner. Sanchez is big money in these types of fixtures, and the stats speak for themselves:
Alexis Sanchez's Key Stats:
Alexis has secured attacking fantasy returns against the following teams this season: West Brom (GW5), Brighton (GW6), Everton (GW9), Spurs (GW12), Burnley (GW13), Huddersfield (GW14), Southampton (GW16), Liverpool (GW19), Crystal Palace (GW20), West Brom (GW21), and Huddersfield (GW26).
Alexis has three double digit fantasy returns so far this season, and all of them have occurred away from home. Everton (12pts, GW9), Burnley (11pts, GW13), and Crystal Palace (15pts, GW20).
The only team that was promoted from the Championship in 2016/17 that Sanchez hasn’t scored or assisted against so far this season is Newcastle. Sanchez is a specialist in scoring against teams in the bottom half of the table; with only Burnley, Liverpool, and Spurs the exception.
Barring a GW25 defeat to Spurs, Man United have won four out of their last five games (W4, D0, L1)
Barring the GW25 loss to Spurs, Man United have kept a clean sheet in five of their last six Premier League fixtures.
The only teams to defeat Manchester United this season are Chelsea, Man City, Spurs…and Huddersfield.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have tightened up their performances and have only lost once in their last six games, an away visit to Manchester City (W1, D4, L1).
Newcastle’s last three home fixtures have been draws to Brighton, Swansea, and Burnley.
The last time a clean sheet was kept by any team in fixtures involving Newcastle occurred in GW22 when Newcastle defeated Stoke 1-0 away from home.
Newcastle have only picked up one positive result versus the ‘Big Six’ clubs all season, which took place during GW7 in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
The previous encounter between the two clubs that happened at Old Trafford finished: Manchester United 4-1 Newcastle.
Newcastle are showing their fortitude of late, but the sheer form of Manchester United make this an interesting encounter that could have lots of goals in it. Alexis look to kick on from scoring his first goal, and we are confident that he can make it three for three of promoted teams he has scored against this season.
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.
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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.
