We're back for another Friday night captain surgery for the majority of you fantasy managers out there rattling your brains over who's the best man for armband this weekend. This week is not only hard because the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City have favorable fixtures, but also because there's a whole range of low ownership players who have the potential of sending you straight to the top courtesy of some juicy differential points.
Last week we were rewarded with 30 points after captaining the Hurrikane that recklessly tore QPR's defense to pieces. This being said Harry Kane did leave us a bit nervous after coming out of Spurs' 3-2 win without a goal or assist to his name.
Sergio Aguero had a quiet one to the dismay of many managers who backed him to smash home at least a brace against Leicester, instead the Argentinian picked up a measly 4 points. Meanwhile, Eden Hazard brought home 20 points after scoring the only goal against West Ham; Charlie Austin picked up 16 with his consolation goal at home to the Gunners and Daniel Sturridge marked his longest start since returning from injury with a goal that earned him 14 points as captain.
With a solid 4 out of 5 coming up big last week, we hope that we can provide some more useful information to help make your captaincy decision a profitable one.
Eden Hazard vs. Southampton (H) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] Eden Hazard is arguably the best player in the league so far this season having tallied up 10 goals and 7 assists from midfield. Not to mention he's also the highest scoring player throughout fantasy football, averaging just less than 6.1 points per game. Despite having one of the best defenses in the league this season, Koeman's boys have been struggling as of late due to their poor attacking form. 90 minutes has been a sufficient amount of time to scrape a few clean sheets against the likes of QPR and West Ham, but when you're inviting pressure from a side as clinical as league leaders Chelsea it's likely to only end one way. [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col] Having only scored once since January, Diego Costa must be hungry to rediscover the goal scoring form he showed at the beginning of the season. With Aguero now joining him as the league's top goal scorer, the pressures back on the aggressive striker to start thumping in the goals like everybody knows he can. As we previously mentioned, Southampton's goal scoring record is now worse than Aston Villa's having found the back of the net just 2 times in 6 games. This tempts us to take a punt on our favorite Serb Branislav Ivanovic due to his inevitable clean sheet and potential to grab a goal or assist going forward.
Sergio Aguero vs Burnley (A) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] Manchester City travel to Turf Moor for undoubtedly the easiest fixture out of all the top clubs this weekend. Having dropped some crucial points against Hull and Everton already this year it's important that the current champions keep the pressure � if you can call it that � on league leaders Chelsea. Before last weekend the nippy Argentine had picked up 4 assists and 3 goals in his last 5. After somehow failing to contribute at all to foot of the table Leicester last weekend, you'd expect him to explode back on the scene this weekend against a Burnley side who have haven't kept a clean sheet this year. [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col] We'd be contradicting ourselves if we highlight the potential of City scoring big but didn't include David Silva as a strong contender for the armband. The Spaniard has been without a doubt their best midfielder this year and is always a safe bet for grabbing a goal or assist. Having found the back of the net last week against Leicester, his form and fixture makes him almost as favourable as teammate Aguero.
Olivier Giroud vs West Ham (H) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] The Frenchman has hit the ground running since returning from injury and has scored in his last 3 consecutive games. These performances have contributed massively to Arsenal's surge up the table that now sees them just 4 points off second place Manchester City. This week the Gunners host West Ham, who like Southampton are struggling to maintain the form they previous showed earlier this campaign. At the end of last month they conceded 3 at home to Crystal Palace due to their inability to defend set pieces. Based on this we predict a Giroud header courtesy of an assist from one of their many creative midfielders. [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col] Despite the wealth of in-form midfielders to choose from including Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla, we think this weekend could be the one where Alexis Sanchez explodes back on to the scene. The ex-Barcelona winger lit the Premier League alight during the first half of the season after going on a notable run of 4 games that returned him an average of 13.5 points per game.
Harry Kane vs Manchester United (A) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] During the first half of the season the captaincy guidebook simply read ‘Captain Costa' however, since the turn of the year that's been scribbled out and now reads ‘Captain Kane'. Popular set-and-forget captain, Harry Kane currently boasts the incredible record of 8 goals in his last 5 games. Last week we trusted him with the armband and he rewarded us with a whopping 30 points - Reliable indeed! The added fact that Tottenham have a poor record against United in the league could deter managers from choosing him, making him a ‘sort of' differential this weekend. [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col] With Van Gaal's boys not putting in the performances you'd expect from one of the biggest clubs in the world, and Harry Kane in unstoppable form, we reckon that if there's 1 person guaranteed a goal this game it's the young Englishman.
Daniel Sturridge vs Swansea (A) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] Liverpool are currently on an unstoppable run of form that's seen them go unbeaten since before Christmas. With 2 wonder-strikes in 2 games we think that there's only 1 choice for your armband this weekend and that's Jordan Henders… Just kidding. Last week saw Daniel Sturridge, former SAS, smash home his second goal since returning from his thigh injury that's seen him sidelined for the majority of the season. After playing 82 minutes last week against Burnley and with the creative assets of Phillipe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling just behind him, he could be worth an outside shot for your armband ahead of his trip to Wales on Monday. [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col]
Dame N'Doye vs Leicester (A) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] Now you didn't think you'd go an entire article without us tipping our main boy Dame N'Doye did you?! Since arriving in England's City of Culture the Senegalese striker has scored in every game that he has started… Take a hint Brucey! This weekend the Tigers travel to the King Power Stadium to face relegation favourites Leicester, who currently hold the worst form in the Premier League, having only kept 1 clean sheet this year. Dame N'Doye will be taking our armband in a few of this week's Fantasy Premier League betting tournaments, and we're hoping he won't let us down… not like he ever has in the past! [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col]
Eden Hazard vs. Southampton (H) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] Eden Hazard is arguably the best player in the league so far this season having tallied up 10 goals and 7 assists from midfield. Not to mention he's also the highest scoring player throughout fantasy football, averaging just less than 6.1 points per game. Despite having one of the best defenses in the league this season, Koeman's boys have been struggling as of late due to their poor attacking form. 90 minutes has been a sufficient amount of time to scrape a few clean sheets against the likes of QPR and West Ham, but when you're inviting pressure from a side as clinical as league leaders Chelsea it's likely to only end one way. [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col] Having only scored once since January, Diego Costa must be hungry to rediscover the goal scoring form he showed at the beginning of the season. With Aguero now joining him as the league's top goal scorer, the pressures back on the aggressive striker to start thumping in the goals like everybody knows he can. As we previously mentioned, Southampton's goal scoring record is now worse than Aston Villa's having found the back of the net just 2 times in 6 games. This tempts us to take a punt on our favorite Serb Branislav Ivanovic due to his inevitable clean sheet and potential to grab a goal or assist going forward.
Sergio Aguero vs Burnley (A) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] Manchester City travel to Turf Moor for undoubtedly the easiest fixture out of all the top clubs this weekend. Having dropped some crucial points against Hull and Everton already this year it's important that the current champions keep the pressure � if you can call it that � on league leaders Chelsea. Before last weekend the nippy Argentine had picked up 4 assists and 3 goals in his last 5. After somehow failing to contribute at all to foot of the table Leicester last weekend, you'd expect him to explode back on the scene this weekend against a Burnley side who have haven't kept a clean sheet this year. [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col] We'd be contradicting ourselves if we highlight the potential of City scoring big but didn't include David Silva as a strong contender for the armband. The Spaniard has been without a doubt their best midfielder this year and is always a safe bet for grabbing a goal or assist. Having found the back of the net last week against Leicester, his form and fixture makes him almost as favourable as teammate Aguero.
Olivier Giroud vs West Ham (H) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] The Frenchman has hit the ground running since returning from injury and has scored in his last 3 consecutive games. These performances have contributed massively to Arsenal's surge up the table that now sees them just 4 points off second place Manchester City. This week the Gunners host West Ham, who like Southampton are struggling to maintain the form they previous showed earlier this campaign. At the end of last month they conceded 3 at home to Crystal Palace due to their inability to defend set pieces. Based on this we predict a Giroud header courtesy of an assist from one of their many creative midfielders. [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col] Despite the wealth of in-form midfielders to choose from including Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla, we think this weekend could be the one where Alexis Sanchez explodes back on to the scene. The ex-Barcelona winger lit the Premier League alight during the first half of the season after going on a notable run of 4 games that returned him an average of 13.5 points per game.
Harry Kane vs Manchester United (A) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] During the first half of the season the captaincy guidebook simply read ‘Captain Costa' however, since the turn of the year that's been scribbled out and now reads ‘Captain Kane'. Popular set-and-forget captain, Harry Kane currently boasts the incredible record of 8 goals in his last 5 games. Last week we trusted him with the armband and he rewarded us with a whopping 30 points - Reliable indeed! The added fact that Tottenham have a poor record against United in the league could deter managers from choosing him, making him a ‘sort of' differential this weekend. [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col] With Van Gaal's boys not putting in the performances you'd expect from one of the biggest clubs in the world, and Harry Kane in unstoppable form, we reckon that if there's 1 person guaranteed a goal this game it's the young Englishman.
Daniel Sturridge vs Swansea (A) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] Liverpool are currently on an unstoppable run of form that's seen them go unbeaten since before Christmas. With 2 wonder-strikes in 2 games we think that there's only 1 choice for your armband this weekend and that's Jordan Henders… Just kidding. Last week saw Daniel Sturridge, former SAS, smash home his second goal since returning from his thigh injury that's seen him sidelined for the majority of the season. After playing 82 minutes last week against Burnley and with the creative assets of Phillipe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling just behind him, he could be worth an outside shot for your armband ahead of his trip to Wales on Monday. [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col]
Dame N'Doye vs Leicester (A) [mks_col] [mks_one_half] Now you didn't think you'd go an entire article without us tipping our main boy Dame N'Doye did you?! Since arriving in England's City of Culture the Senegalese striker has scored in every game that he has started… Take a hint Brucey! This weekend the Tigers travel to the King Power Stadium to face relegation favourites Leicester, who currently hold the worst form in the Premier League, having only kept 1 clean sheet this year. Dame N'Doye will be taking our armband in a few of this week's Fantasy Premier League betting tournaments, and we're hoping he won't let us down… not like he ever has in the past! [/mks_one_half] [mks_one_half] [/mks_one_half] [/mks_col]
