Having a high ownership captain favourite not in my team is not my idea of fun but an idea of stress as I wait to see my rank plummett as the player scores a hat trick. In retrospect I wish I hadn’t changed last minute before GW1 to Aguero as I now face the prospect of going into GW2 without Benteke against what looked like a pretty ordinary defensive team in Bournemouth. The ease of which Gestede won the header at a corner to score against Bournemouth didn’t help the position either. However I’m not one to bury my head in the sand or pretend I didn’t make a mistake so in this article I’m going to navigate through the captain choices going forward just to see how I deal with the situation and not make it worse. It’s only a short article but it also may help you to look at the Captain prospects ahead
fantasy premier league captain choice – navigating your way through the gameweeks
If you read my strategy review artcle at the end of the season (just click on the strategy tab and it’s there) then you’ll see that for me the captain choice is just pick the favourite and neutralise it. There will be plenty of 2 and 3 way neck and neck captain choices where you’ll have to take a view and they will change your rank significantly. There’s also plenty of other ways to move forward without the massive risk of gambling with the captain pick.
Unfortunately I’m now in the situation after picking Aguero that I dont have Benteke in my team for their home tie against Bournemouth. It seems that the 2 captain favourites will be Rooney and Benteke. I’ve actually been thinking about taking Aguero out with him playing Chelsea for Benteke and then putting Aguero back in for GW3 which seems totally ridiculous.
So I’m now going to go through the gameweeks to see who are the likely popular captain choices to see how that may effect my team selection for GW2 and beyond. I hope it’s easy to follow as it’s a little free form thoughts. It’s worth saying that things can change so very quickly, injuries form and ownership so it’s impossible to predict the future with certainty but it doesn’t do any harm to have a plan and structure. It all assumes I don’t get scuppered over price rises too. I’m also trying to avoid hits if I can.
Fixtures
GW2
Liverpool v Bournemouth – need to have Benteke
Aston Villa v Man Utd – Rooney
We’ve already seen this in the emerging captain polls
GW3
Man Utd v Newcastle – Rooney
Everton v Man City – Aguero – maybe but questionable how much ownership of Aguero there will be
GW4
Chelsea v CPalace – Hazard, Costa
Liverpool v West Ham – Benteke
Man City v Watford – Aguero
GW5
C Palace v Man City – Aguero
GW6
Liverpool v Norwich – Benteke
Man City v West Ham – Aguero
GW7
Liverpool v Aston Villa – Benteke
Man Utd v Sunderland – Rooney
So what does this mean?
Gameweek 2
I’m not ready for the stress of not owning Benteke so I will transfer him in. It’s just who goes. With a captain favourite according to the polls against Villa then I wont be selling Rooney especially with him home to Newcastle in GW3. Aguero at home to a Chelsea team that will be very defensive and with Aguero not looking particularly fit he seems to be a more palatable sale. Sakho with home games against Leicester and Bournemouth isnt going anywhere
Striker lineup likely to be Rooney (AVL A) Benteke (BOURN H) and Sakho (LEI H) after selling Aguero (queue big sigh of annoyance) to put Benteke in
Gameweek 3
With Rooney home to Newcastle I can’t see him going anywhere. Same for Sakho home to Bournemouth. Aguero has to come back for GW4 home to Watford but he could be left out for GW3 potentially. Benteke is away to Arsenal so definitely sellable for that fixture alone. However 2 good fixtures at home to GW6 and GW7 for Beneteke mean in the future he should be in the team. However all could be sorted with a WC after GW4.
Striker lineup likely to be Rooney (NEW H) Benteke (ARS A) and Sakho (BOURN H). Possible save a transfer or use it elsewhere if funds generated
Gameweek 4
This is where Rooney could be sold to make way for Aguero potentially as Rooney could be expendable up to GW7 . Aguero home to Watford will be a full on captain favourite and absolutely essential
Striker lineup likely to be Benteke (WHM H), Aguero (WAT H) and Sakho (LIV A) after bringing in Aguero for Rooney
At that stage given the lack of team improvement undertaken it seems right to use the WC especially with the 2 week Internal break following GW4 opening. Otherwise I’m alright with Benteke and Aguero up to GW7 and even home to Sunderland for Man Utd may not be essential if Sunderland sort themselves out to the defensive team they were before.
I hope you found that interesting and it seems I am going to take Aguero out for Benteke no matter how much it hurts. Luckily neither seem to be showing any price rise/drop risk at the moment.
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