Captaincy Picks 2019/20: FPL Gameweek 11
Picking the right captain in FPL can make or break your season and has a massive impact on your final overall rank come the end of the season. We attempt to ease the burden of any potential captaincy stress by offering a host of worthy selections ahead of each Gameweek - an Essential that is voted by the FPL Community, an alternative of our choosing, a Dark Horse who might spring a surprise, and a lowly selected Differential - to cover the bases. All aboard.
Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 11 Deadline
For the 2019/20 Premier League season, the FPL deadline will be one hour before the commencement of the week's first game. Our website provides a real-world countdown timer for the the upcoming Gameweek, whilst you can read our latest Fantasy articles from the season on our 2019/20 FPL weekly hype sub-section.
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 Captain
Player: Raheem Sterling (MCI)
Position: Midfielder
Fixture: Southampton (H)
Player Price: £12.1 million
Player Selection %: 39.0%
Captaincy poll results:
Reason for victory:
Gameweek 11 sees Man City at home for the second week on the spin, with Raheem Sterling back among the leading captaincy contenders with Southampton returning for the second time in a week to face the current Champions.
Raheem Sterling was completely rested for the 3-1 EFL Cup win in midweek, which has a lot of the FPL Community locking in the armband on the Englishman as a result. Sterling provided his 8th attacking return after scoring at home to Villa during Gameweek 10, and if Pep Guardiola showed any pattern to his lineup selections, Sterling should play and be an option.
We don't really feel necessary to justify the move any further, though if you're ever doubting your captaincy selections, just know that a City captaincy pick at home, or a Liverpool pick to go alongside this, is the logical move - even if the season has no logic or pattern. Sterling will be the popular pick this week, so worst come to worst, we'll be eating the good ice cream together after a frustrating afternoon against a Saints side licking their wounds after a 9-0 loss at home to Leicester.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE ALTERNATIVE PICK
Our Alternative selection for captain typically commands a smaller FPL ownership percentage than our Essential poll winner, though this pick is usually reserved for The Hype Train's own gut instincts on who could be captaincy inspiration for the upcoming Gameweek.
Gameweek 11: Alternative Captain
Player: Tammy Abraham (CHE)
Position: Forward
Fixture: Watford (A)
Player Price: £7.8 million
Player Selection %: 46.1%
Reason for selection:
There is nothing short of a star-studded lineup of captaincy picks that are close behind Raheem Sterling this week, with teammates such as Kevin De Bruyne (the second best player in the game behind Jamie Vardy), sniffing around this week.
We also deliberately omitted the likes of Mo Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang due to potential injury doubt and general lack of form, though we did eventually settle on Tammy Abraham to fill the void if you're not sold on Sterling, and yes, there's reason to be hopeful if you want numbers backing up your selections.
Of the 23 goals that Chelsea have scored this season, 16 have been scored away from home. Chelsea's home games have been close games, with 2 score draws and a 2-1 loss to Liverpool (GW6) preceding two home wins - a 2-0 win against Brighton (GW7) and a 1-0 win. Only the Brighton game was a win by 2+ goals, whilst there hasn't been an away game that hasn't featured 5 or more goals when The Blues have won.
Chelsea's Premier League Away Days:
GW1: Man United 4-0 Chelsea
GW3: Nowich 2-3 Chelsea
GW5: Wolves 2-5 Chelsea
GW8: Southampton 1-4 Chelsea
GW10: Burnley 2-4 Chelsea
These 4 away wins and ample goals highlight that Frank Lampard's side have a couple of playing styles. At home, they play a tactical game and look to win the game by dominating possession and the lion share of the chances. Away from home, Chelsea are proactive on the counter and throw caution to the wind, which aptly suits the younger players like Abraham and Mount who have a point to prove without the pressure of playing at home.
Chelsea travel to a Watford side who have drawn half of their 10 games, losing the other 5, which included a trio of successive draws. With only 5 goals to their name this season, finding the net in Troy Deeney's absence is proving difficult, though we can't see anything other than a high-scoring encounter in London for the late game on Saturday.
Abraham, the man in question, saw 12 minutes of game time in the 2-1 EFL Cup loss at home to Man United and given Lampard's team selection, this suggests that Abraham will retain his place for the weekend's short visit across London. Tammy has 1 goal and 1 assist over the last 5 matches, though has returns in 4 of the 5 away games this season. Tammy will be itching for his 9th goal of the season - Watford at the perfect opponents to make this happen.
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE DARK HORSE PICK
A new captaincy selection this season sees us introduce a Dark Horse pick, which will be a player who typically has a good scoring record against an opposing team, or a player in good form that is being overlooked due to other popular captaincy picks.
Gameweek 11: Dark Horse Captain
Player: Marcus Rashford (MUN)
Position: Forward
Fixture: Bournemouth (A)
Player Price: £8.4 million
Player Selection %: 11.9%
Reason for selection:
There were a couple of fixtures this weekend that we considered for our Dark Horse captaincy pick this week Spurs visiting Everton was our top pick, but not in a million years would we openly suggest captaining Harry Kane whilst Spurs and Pochettino continue their rocky patch - a period that isn't likely to end until the end of the January transfer window.
We also wouldn't usually advocate Man United players either, though the return of Anthony Martial from injury has breathed some life into United's attack. All of a sudden, the likes of Rashford, who just scored a brace (including a world class free-kick) in the EFL Cup win at Chelsea, are slowly working their way back on the FPL radar, and with good reason.
Man United's Premier League Fixtures:
GW11: Bournemouth (A)
GW12: Brighton (H)
GW13: Sheffield United (A)
GW14: Aston Villa (H)
GW15: Spurs (H)
Rashford has 8 attacking returns, the same number at Aubameyang, Sterling and Salah, all of whom are the most premium of premium FPL options in the game. Rashford's on penalties and in a good vein of form in the league, scoring in back-to-back Premier League appearances. Bournemouth are a very good side and look defensively solid, though this game has good implications for United - they've not lost to Bournemouth in their last 7 games, winning 4 on the bounce.
If you can trust Man United in FPL, something we've not personally been able to do as of yet, but Rashford's numbers are up there and worth considering if you're just outside the budget of a Jamie Vardy (especially if you're looking to dump Callum Wilson in the very same fixture).
CAPTAINCY HYPE: THE DIFFERENTIAL PICK
Our Wildcard selection is one of the ten differential picks that is featured in our Weekly Wildcard Differentials article. This captaincy selection has a very small percentage of owners in the FPL, and is our left-field option.
Gameweek 11: Differential Captain
Player: Neal Maupay (BHA)
Position: Forward
Fixture: Norwich (H)
Player Price: £6.0 million
Player Selection %: 1.3%
Reason for selection:
That’s right, we have our first Brighton player as a differential captain for the 2019-20 season. We are also trying to exorcise the memory of selecting Danny Ings last week as differential captain. Considering all the other fixtures at hand, this fixture isn’t getting much attention due to Liverpool and Man City having comfortable fixtures that almost guarantee points. Neal Maupay is a huge outsider bet to make a difference this week to your team, but the Frenchman has been in good form and is starting to get a feel for life in the worlds most competitive league. Because you may have no been paying attention, here is a breakdown of every return Maupay has registered this season.
Maupay's Premier League Goals:
GW1: Goal vs. Watford (A) – 6pts (0 bonus points)
GW5: Goal vs. Burnley (H) – 8pts (2 bonus points)
GW8: Goal vs. Spurs (H) – 7pts (1 bonus points)
GW10: Goal vs. Everton (H) – 9pts (3 bonus points)
The Frenchman has also started every game since GW3 against Southampton at home, and bar that game, Maupay has scored in the last three consecutive home games for the Seagulls. Once a pattern is established it starts to give you a bit more optimism of a player’s potential. Brighton are a team that set up completely differently during home fixtures, with a more attacking emphasis on the agenda. Away from home Brighton try and frustrate teams. Maupay is becoming a relied upon player for Graham Potter at the Amex.
There is also the matter of who the Seagulls are hosting this weekend, and that team is a struggling Norwich. If there is any fixture that Brighton should be excelling in is the home games against promoted clubs. The Canaries have only picked up on point in their last five games since they beat Manchester City in GW5. The draw came away at Bournemouth, but then they folded against Manchester United a week later. The draw against Bournemouth was also the only point that Norwich have picked up on the road.
Defeats to Liverpool, West Ham, Burnley, and Palace has resulted in Norwich conceding ten goals in five away games. Shipping an average of two goals per game on the road should be encouraging reading for Brighton this week. Also, Norwich has only scored one goal away from home this season which was Teemu Pukki’s goal against Liverpool on the opening day of the season.
From afar it looks like a gamble to bank on Maupay as Brighton are not an elite team, but when you break down the patterns of both clubs and formulate an educated opinion then you can see that there is irrefutable logic in selecting Maupay as this weeks differential captain.
Want to know more about The Hype Train?
The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015, specialising in Fantasy sports reporting, starting with Fantasy Premier League (FPL), before expanding to MLS Fantasy coverage in 2018.
We pride ourselves in providing beautiful graphics, statistics, in-depth analytical reporting and free weekly insight for hopeful players attempting to climb rankings tables. We are also occasional media reviewers, with a keen interest to review games, live sport, and professional wrestling.
In 2019, Hype Train Football Club was formed, becoming the first Fantasy Football website to take to the field. HTFC is a socially active team across social and web channels, providing regular match highlights, match reports, comprehensive player statistics and unique player profiles.
The Hype Train were nominated and shortlisted for the 'Best Football Blog' in 2016 by the Football Bloggers Association at their annual Football Blogging Awards (The FBA's), and were again shortlisted as a finalist in 2019 in the 'Best Fantasy Football Blog' category.
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All aboard.
