Here’s the options for the fantasy premier league captain gameweek 22, the double game week for Chelsea and Southampton and surprise surprise its all about Chelsea and game time
As its realistically all about Chelsea and their game time under Benitez lets look at their fixtures first. Just for clarity the 2 games are in the double game week 22 are Stoke Away and Southampton Home
January 2013 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | KO | Opponent | H – A | Res | Comp | TV | ATT | Info | |
| 2 Wed | 19:45  | QPR | H | 0-1 | L | PREM |  | 41,634 | |
| 5 Sat | 15:00 | Southampton | A | 1-5 | W | FACP | | 27,813 | |
| 9 Wed | 19:45 | Swansea City | H | 0-2 | L | LGCP | | 40,172 | |
| 12 Sat | 15:00 | Stoke City | A | PREM | |||||
| 16 Wed | 19:45 | Southampton | H | PREM | |||||
| 20 Sun | 13:30 | Arsenal | H | PREM | Sky | ||||
| 23 Wed | 19:45 | Swansea City | A | LGCP | Sky | ||||
| 30 Wed | 20:00 | Reading | A | ||||||
Source Chelsea fc official site
The big issue here is that there are alot of important or difficult games sandwiched very closely together with 1 game standing out as the one to rotate in the middle that, Southampton at home. This unfortunately is the 2nd game in the double game week and is followed by Arsenal at home and the Swansea Capital One cup semi where he will have to play a full team in order to try and rescue the situation. That means everyone is potentially at risk of rotation against sSouthampton. The plus point is the results against QPR and Swansea may mean that he will avoid rotating to avoid similar results , however having invested so much in his rotation policy its difficult to see him abandoning it especially when the reasons for the result in Benitezs mind were in part lack of rotation previously. However as the other games sit there is very little option but Chelsea players. Ok so much for the introduction here goes
Mata
The obvious choice. Integral to Chelseas play and the most influential player. The only Chelsea midfield player to feature in the shooting stats being 7th despite a very difficult fixture list and creeping in to the overall shooting stats. In the overall stats, only him and Bale feature also in the chances created top 10 midfielders as well.
Will he play both games? Having started the Swansea game there’s a definite risk that he plays the difficult Stoke game and then is needed for a Arsenal the following week and Swansea after he is rested against Southampton. However this is common to all starters during the week. Moses going to ACON gives Benitez less choice but still there’s risk. The other plus is that as he is their most influential player, one who makes them tick and sets the tone and pace and creates chances by finding space between the lines he has to be last in line for rotation. With his season at a tipping point can Benitez afford to rest him after the QPR and Swansea fiascos
Here’s some stats. Returned in his last 5 starts. Incredibly if you ignore his first 3 starts when he was obviously jaded from the Euros and the Olympics then he’s returned in every game he’s startted except the City home game. Thats RVP type consistency. So if you assume that everyone is in the same game time risk boat then Mata stands out for his consistency. Its worth mentioning here that in 2 games the normal qualifying opposition test in my mind isnt quite so relevant with 1 game being a difficult one away to Stoke. In summary an option for me with game time risk
Demba Ba
Didn’t start against Swansea but did more in 10 minutes than Torres in 80 minutes. However his more physical approach maybe more suited to Stoke away than Torres and he could still be rotated in that game with Torres given the chance against Southampton so Ba can start in the 2 next crucial games. Statistically the 3rd best striker in fantasy premier league behind RVP and Suarez and this is shown in the shooting stats. He has shown what he can do against Southampton and Swansea for Chelsea with the far better service he will get from Mata /Hazard and co. With Newcastle Ba returned in 11/ 20 matches and probably known for bursts rather than consistent returns. An option for me with game time risk.
Those are my only 2 real choices unfortunately
The no’s
Hazard – rotated quite a bit and gone off the boil. Cant see him starting both games
Torres – there’s no way he will play both games. My gut says he will play against Saints but you cant trust him just with 1 game
Luiz – I think he will play twice with Mikel at ACON but giving it to a defender seems a step too far for me
Lambert – the only Saints player to consider as has penalties and does provide assists as well. Is away to villa although that defence at home before the recent meltdowns has performed ok and did get 3 consecutive home clean sheets albeit 2 were against Reading and Stoke. Away to Chelsea doesn’t really fill you with prospects of returns though
RVP – Home to Liverpool and against a Chelsea DGW one of the few times discounted
Berba – back on form but again against a DGW for Chelsea and the Wigan away defence at times able to pull off a good performance its a no for me
Summary
Despite all the misgivings my summary is that I think Mata and Ba in that order are the best options for the fantasy premier league captain gameweek 22
