Well its a fantasy premier league gameweek 3 is captain gameweek like no other. Here’s my view of a few of the options available
Gameweek preview
Well if you assume that your captain in most weeks is going to come from a top 4 challenging team playing a lower ranked team, then this week its a difficult one unless you have City assets. Of the top 4 challengers Chelsea have a bye, Arsenal and Spurs play each other as do Liverpool and Man Utd. The standout game is Man City (with a point to prove) at home to Hull.
To illustrate the point William Hill at the moment have a return of £1.17 for beating Hull. No other game has a return better than £2.00. This shows the difficulty in picking a captain this week as an alternative to City assets.
If you are playing Sky Sports Fantasy Football you have the option of seeing the City lineup before the game transfer deadline closes
Options
Aguero
The most likely striker to start for City. In theory, he’s not the ideal choice as he tends to drop off and drift around alot more that either Dzeko or Negredo would who would stay more centrally and forward and therefore should get more and better chances. This was certainly the case in the Newcastle home game but not the case in the Cardiff game where Aguero had more shots, pen box touches and a higher average position.
So far he has a 100% return rate and doesn’t need the amount of shots that Dzeko does or for that matter Negredo (he’s also has been criticised for his conversion rate in Spain)
He is definitely an option for me. William Hill at this time have him as £1.61 for an anytime goal scorer. He and Dzeko/Negredo are the the shortest odds of any player in the game week
Dzeko/Negredo
I’m grouping these 2 together as 1 will start in my mind with Aguero and whoever it is will be a great option. Dzeko has been criticised for not taking the most of his chances as has Negredo in Spain. Either of these would be my number one option if I knew who was going to play. If you ask me who I think will start then I would probably say Negredo (although not with much confidence) as I didn’t think Dzeko was that impressive against Cardiff despite a great goal. Negredo was hugely impressive when he came on. The one consolation in all this is that no matter who starts I believe the other will get 25 minutes and Dzeko has certainly shown that he can use this effectively as did Negredo against Cardoff. So even if they didn’t start all would not be lost
Both are options for me if you’re brave. As above William HIll at this time have them as favourite anytime goal scorers equal with Aguero
Silva
Has an all round game and so far has returned in both games. Good shooting stats and creates chances plus has been getting in to the box. Can’t believe he wont start. Known more as an assister than goal scorer which is a disadvantage from a bonus perspective but even with that, an option for me especially if you don’t have a striker
William HIll have him at £2.25 as an anytime goal scorer. Only RVP and Anelka (not sure he’ll start)who are likely to play have better anytime odds.
RVP
Always an option. However if you’re not going to play him then up against the last years best home defence is probably the time to do it. The Liverpool defence hasn’t been that impressive despite 2 clean sheets and have allowed a lot of good chances and shots in the box. RVP even against Chelsea playing defensively still made chances and with Rooney creating I wouldn’t rule him out due to his consistency and conversion rate.
William Hill have him at £2.00 for anytime goal scorer
Rickie Lambert
I don’t really like my captain options to be from a lower ranked team and especially away from home but so far the Norwich defence has been terrible and the 8 clean sheets at home from last year look like a distant memory. They may be strengthened by Bassong returning which is the only unknown. Ideally though you want your captain to take pens and have set piece involvement and Lambert does that. He also has good shooting stats and creates chances for others which increases his chances to return. He’s an outside option for me
Summary
Here’s my ranking of the options then
1. Aguero
2. Negredo
3. Dzeko
4. Silva
5. RVP
6. Lambert
That’s it good luck with your fantasy premier league captain choice
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William odds are as of Thursday morning when this article was written
