CAPTAINCY HYPE 2018/19: FPL Gameweek 8
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 8 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: 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 8: Essential Captain
Player: Harry Kane (TOT)
Position: Forward
GW8 Fixture: Spurs vs. Cardiff
Player Price: £12.5 million
Player Selection %: 30.0%
Gameweek 8's early deadline means that FPL players won't have Friday night to sleep on their captaincy decision. Instead, the gut instinct call will be made when most of the working world settle down for the weekend.
Our poll this week featured the usual heavy hitters, with Mohamed Salah and Sergio Aguero going up against one another at Anfield this Sunday, an encounter which has opened the door for a new essential captaincy pick, and that's what we've got.
With Salah and Aguero being the only essential picks for the first 7 Gameweek's of the season, Harry Kane's home fixture against Cardiff this weekend has broken the monopoly just before the second international break of the season.
Kane's 67% victory, the 6th majority poll success this campaign, come hot off the heels of 13 points against Huddersfield, with the Englishman's ruthlessness in front of goal the major difference last weekend.
Cardiff this weekend poses the perfect opportunity to build on 5 goals and an assist, with The Hurrikane also netting against Barcelona in midweek to have his stock slightly raise ahead of an expectant FPL audience.
Cardiff have conceded 16 goals this season, though 10 of those have been at home, with The Blurbird's biggest away defeat coming against Chelsea in a 4-1 loss during Gameweek 5.
With Kane's price rising back to his original £12.5 million tag, and nearing 30% ownership, the bandwagon is in full force as Kane seeks a Premier League goal in a third consecutive match.
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 8: Alternative Captain
Player: Alexandre Lacazette (ARS)
Position: Forward
GW8 Fixture: Fulham vs. Arsenal
Player Price: £9.5 million
Player Selection %: 7.5%
We have some close friends of ours that read this captaincy article on a weekly basis and they were the first one's to murder us for selecting Romelu Lukaku as our alternative captaincy pick in Man United's 3-1 defeat at West Ham last weekend, despite history being in The Belgian's favour. This week however, we believe we have gone with a solid contender in the midst of a purple patch for his club.
With Harry Kane's victory ruling out the likes of Eden Hazard and Mohamed Salah this week, the next best alternative for captaincy consideration once again finds themselves playing for a London club at home against a promoted side.
Arsenal are fresh off a 3-0 win in Azerbaijan against Qarabag in Baku's Olympic Stadium, with a youthful team picking apart their below-par Thursday night opposition. To the relief of FPL players, Alexandre Lacazette was only utilised off the bench, playing the final 19 minutes when the game was already dead and buried.
In the Premier League, the Frenchman has come into his own this season (and taking the limelight firmly away from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang). Lacazette has scored or assisted in his last 5 league appearances, managing 30 points from those 5. This level of consistency with 6 points-per-game over a lenthy period is indeed good news for Fantasy players, even if there are more priority choices in Kane and Hazard this week.
If you don't own either of the above, and are having trouble entrusting in Salah as a legitimate captaincy contender, then a leaky Fulham defence might have just opened door number four to provide some serious points. Fulgam have conceded 2+ goals from 6 of their 7 matches this season and have proven inconsistent at Craven Cottage with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss from their 3 home games so far this season.
Meanwhile, Unai Emery has The Gunners ticking and will need Lacazette's ruthless nature to secure a 6th Premier League win, and for those FPL players that dare to gamble, this may be a prevailing Gameweek heading into the international break.
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 8: Wildcard Captain
Player: Jamie Vardy (LEI)
Position: Forward
GW8 Fixture: Leicester vs. Everton
Player Price: £8.9 million
Player Selection %: 4.9%
Jamie Vardy has returned to the first team with a point to prove. The hungry Fox has been among the goals with two to his name, plus an assist, in the past two league fixtures. Vardy is getting better at scoring against packed defences and he proved that against Huddersfield and Newcastle.
Everton though are an odd case because they try and play like a big team, but they need to often rely on keeping their team compact. Everton have really struggled keeping a clean sheet, they may have kept one last weekend but lightening rarely strikes twice for the Toffees defensively.
Jamie Vardy isn’t a premium pick because people would prefer Kane, Aguero, Firmino, and an Arsenal forward instead. Essentially, Vardy is too costly to trust when there are better premium players to choose between.
Being the outsider suits him as a differential, and he has made the difference for the few that own him in recent weeks, and with Maddison in-form it could be another unexpected success for Vardy and the rest of the Foxes.
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.
