Captain Poll Contenders – Gameweek 9
Filed under: Captain Poll - Posted by: Paul
Today, we’re rolling out a new weekly regular which looks at the Captain Poll contenders in the Gameweek so far. Analysing form, fixtures and upcoming opponents of each of the main protagonists, we run through your favourites, with Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla the runaway leader ahead of Arsenal’s home clash with basement-dwellers QPR:
Over the eight Gameweeks to date, the Captain Poll leaders have averaged 7.3 points per appearance – just shy of 15 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) points per Gameweek if you handed them the armband. You’ve selected three lots of double figures – Michu (10 in Gameweek 2), Carlos Tevez (15 in Gameweek 3) and Robin Van Persie last weekend, with an 11 point haul against Stoke.
Intriguingly, the last five Gameweeks have seen Van Persie and Eden Hazard monopolise the Captain Poll. Since the start of Gameweek 4, the Dutchman has earned top spot three times, while the Belgian has been the favourite twice but with Chelsea and United squaring up at the Bridge on Sunday, neither are anywhere near the summit.
Santi Cazorla
The Spaniard currently leads the way in the Captain Poll, with 23% of the votes cast ahead of a home showdown with QPR. Cazorla was handed the armband by many last time round but provided his owners with a four point captaincy return after Arsenal unexpectedly stumbled to defeat at Norwich. The former Malaga man has mainly excelled on the road – both his goals, two of his three assists and all five of his Fantasy Premier League (FPL) bonus points have been accrued away from the Emirates.
With just a single assist over his three home games – in the 6-1 Gameweek 4 mauling of Southampton – Cazorla has produced blanks against Sunderland and Chelsea in front of his own fans but with QPR conceding two or more goals in three of their four road trips, his owners will be confident of picking up the points after the Carrow Road disappointment last Saturday evening.
Gareth Bale
The Welshman sits in second place with 13% and heads off to former club Southampton this weekend. In terms of attacking output, Bale is similar to Cazorla, producing just one assist in four matches at the Lane this term but playing away clearly seems to suit him right now. The 9.5 priced FPL midfielder has produced double figures in each of his last two road trips; a goal and maximum bonus points harvested 11 points at Reading in Gameweek 4, whilst a 16 point haul at Old Trafford came courtesy of a goal, two assists and the maximum bonus.
Nigel Adkins’s side have been dire defensively, though have conceded half the number of goals at St Mary’s than they have on their travels (eight versus 16) but with Spurs scoring two or more in each of their last five, the odds are heavily against a home clean sheet. Let’s just hope Bale is available this time; he missed out against Chelsea, of course, with his partner due to give birth.
Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero
Tevez may have failed to score since Gameweek 3 but his stats have still been strong – he has either scored, assisted or picked up FPL bonus in all his seven starts this season. He has featured in the first XI in three of City’s four home matches, producing two goals, three assists and three bonus points over that quartet of fixtures – an average of 8.6 points per Etihad start or 6.75 per home appearance. The problem, then, is whether Roberto Mancini will hand him a first-team place – the one time Tevez has climbed off the bench this season (at home to Arsenal in Gameweek 5), he returned a single point.
Aguero, on the other hand, has mainly picked up the points regardless. With Champions League duties a clear factor in Mancini’s thinking, the former Atletico Madrid man has been handed a sub role in each of City’s last two – yet still managed to produce attacking returns in both those fixtures. Since returning from injury in Gameweek 5, Aguero has outscored Tevez in FPL by 18 to 17, despite featuring for a total of 62 minutes in the previous two matches. Many Fantasy managers’ decision could be swayed by Mancini’s Champions League line-up this evening but with Gameweek 9 opponents Swansea travelling to the Etihad on the back of a run of games which has seen them ship two or more goals in five of their last six, Tevez and Aguero – with 11% and 10% of votes cast respectively – could be primed for points.
Demba Ba
Another armband contender, with 9% of votes, though it’s worth noting that Newcastle have scored a total of four goals in four home games so far. Ba has notched two of those strikes and has had a hand in seven of his side’s nine goals thus far – both his double figure returns have arrived away from St James’ Park. Nevertheless, Ba has accrued 22 FPL points over those four home games (9,2,9,2) with maximum bonus against Spurs and Norwich in Gameweeks 1 and 5. West Brom roll up to Tyneside having conceded in all of their three away trips and have a single clean sheet in their last five – if Alan Pardew’s side are to get the better of the Baggies, Ba looks a good bet to play a significant part, with spot-kick duties also likely to come his way.
Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney
Despite playing the full 90 minutes for United last night, Van Persie now has five-day break before Sunday’s trip to Chelsea. The Dutchman has lived up to the “Robin Reliant” tag since moving to Old Trafford – he has scored or assisted in all of his six league starts this term. He has averaged over eight points per away start, scoring (15,6,4) when fielded in Sir Alex Ferguson’s XI on the road and looks certain to begin the game at the Bridge. Chelsea have conceded just once in the last three in front of their own fans, though, and could provide a real test for Van Persie’s incredible consistency; he currently sits as low as fifth, with just 7% votes cast perhaps an indication of the Blues’ defensive resolve.
Rooney has just 2% of votes so far, despite returning double figures in each of his last two appearances. Since returning from injury in the second-half of the Gameweek 6 home defeat at Spurs, he has grabbed two goals, four assists and six bonus points; in spite of his new deep-lying role, Rooney has bettered Van Persie’s tally in each of the last two matches, though whether Ferguson continues with the diamond against Chelsea’s width on the flanks is perhaps debatable.
Other Contenders
Dimitar Berbatov travels to the Madejski to face a Reading side that have yet to register a clean sheet all season. He has only started one away game for Fulham this term and returned eight FPL points in the Gameweek 5 trip to Wigan; the Bulgarian has 4% of the votes. Juan Mata’s phenomenal form makes him the most popular Chelsea contender. Since returning from a rest in Gameweek 5, he has produced three goals, five assists and six FPL bonus points, though Eden Hazard has averaged nine points per home game and should be on spot-kicks if Frank Lampard misses out with a calf problem; incredibly, he has just 1% of the votes so far.
Elsewhere, Peter Crouch has scored all three of Stoke’s home goals this season and welcomes Sunderland to the Britannia – the Potters man has just 2% of the votes, double that of Arouna Kone. The Ivorian is an intriguing option – he has had a hand in four of Wigan’s five home goals this season (two goals, two assists) and plays host to a West Ham side that have conceded in each of their last four matches.
Grant Holt has scored in each of his last three, against Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, and travels to Villa Park to face former Norwich boss Paul Lambert – Villa have one clean sheet all season, while Rickie Lambert is another to consider. He has averaged 6.5 points per home game this season and squares up to Spurs at St Mary’s; although he has started all four home matches, he was subbed off after the hour mark against Fulham in Gameweek 7.
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paul
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October 24 at 9:21 pm
mikey says:
im bringing in Santi and Ba this week with my 2 FT’s. Would you take out:-
A – Gerrard + Tevez
B – YaYa + Torres
Thanks
October 25 at 12:37 am
Hurricane H says:
Option B for sure..
October 24 at 9:22 pm
GREENDREAMS11 says:
Ouch arsenal
October 24 at 9:28 pm
Tommy Tynans Left Shin Pad says:
0-2
October 24 at 9:22 pm
George Elokobi says:
City playing all 4 strikers. Nice balance.
October 24 at 9:21 pm
Bemba Da says:
Tevez not on
October 24 at 9:23 pm
Cosgri says:
Yip, he is
October 24 at 9:23 pm
George Elokobi says:
The classic 3-4-4 for formation.
October 24 at 9:24 pm
Malcolm Tucker for England Manager says:
Who’s the mutant up top then?
October 24 at 9:22 pm
Kostja says:
Owning up to my third big mistake of the season- getting Cazorla
October 24 at 9:23 pm
JKisthe1 - Los Colchoneros 2 - The Revenge says:
right now owning ANY Arsenal player looks a mistake. Caz to Mata or Bale could be on the cards
October 24 at 9:24 pm
Cosgri says:
I got him in last weekned, for the second f ing time
October 24 at 9:22 pm
alsybach says:
The most overrated, over paid, under performing league in the world – THE PREMIERE LEAGUE!!………….why do we think we are so great – like our national side – we a BANG ORDINARY.
October 24 at 9:23 pm
Lateriser12 - "I am a consulting detective. The only one in the world" says:
An english team has made it to majority of the finals/semi’s in the last few years.
October 24 at 9:23 pm
GlasgowFF says:
what is the PREMIERE league? Is it French?
October 24 at 9:23 pm
Declan says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLXNGYonjsQ
October 24 at 9:23 pm
Count Of Monte Hristo - Heisenberg 1 Gus Fring 0 says:
October 24 at 9:23 pm
Malcolm Tucker for England Manager says:
It’s to make it look more continental, like the stars on City’s shirts
October 24 at 9:24 pm
Kostja says:
You miss the point, like the Arsenal vs Shalke score just tells us that Shalke are not better than Norwich
October 24 at 9:28 pm
alsybach says:
Shalke are a darn sight better than Norwich my friend…………………
October 24 at 9:30 pm
Kostja says:
beat Arsenal with the same score, this is what you get when you make claims based on 1 game. Looking at it like that we could say City better than Real too as they did not lose to Dortmund.
October 24 at 9:24 pm
Malcolm Tucker for England Manager says:
This X 1,000 ^^^^^
October 24 at 9:25 pm
athevroy says:
Talk about overreacting. Chelsea won it last year and you had 3 out of 4 teams topping their grps before this round…
October 24 at 9:26 pm
Giggs Boson says:
Wasn’t there like 2 English clubs in the semis for about 3 years running recently? They are always there or thereabouts!!
October 24 at 9:25 pm
Giggs Boson says:
Lol… we’ll see what league wins the cup again shall we?
October 24 at 9:33 pm
Doolittle says:
I think it’s the most entertaining league, the best to watch. In terms of quality, it can’t compete with La Liga.
October 24 at 9:22 pm
Reed_Rothchild says:
Ya Ya looks like Idris Elba
October 24 at 11:12 pm
Derm says:
Stringer?
October 24 at 9:23 pm
Nitin Nagaraja says:
Jackson Martinez scores. Porto 3-2.
October 24 at 9:24 pm
JKisthe1 - Los Colchoneros 2 - The Revenge says:
YYEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH My favourite Jackson. Captain Jackson
October 24 at 9:25 pm
George Elokobi says:
A FIFA 13 beast.
October 24 at 9:23 pm
JKisthe1 - Los Colchoneros 2 - The Revenge says:
Olympiakos equalise in Montpellier
October 24 at 9:24 pm
Plato says:
repost:
is it worth taking a 4pt hit to do
Lambert————>Berbatov
before the latter’s price rises and becomes unaffordable without freeing up cash
Thanks for the advice!
October 24 at 9:26 pm
worm_tongue says:
I don’t think so
October 24 at 9:26 pm
Reed_Rothchild says:
Yesssssssssss
October 24 at 9:24 pm
The Parmtree says:
@MalcomTucker: http://goo.gl/J5Mrn
October 24 at 9:26 pm
Malcolm Tucker for England Manager says:
Diamond. Thanks fella.
What a c*nt
October 24 at 9:25 pm
Bowstring92 - Torino FC representing from Dublin says:
With Arsenal playing terrible the last 2 games and showing a lack of goals, does anyone think Gervinho will be put back up central? Seems the logical thing to do even if he’splayed bad tonight. Thoughts?
October 24 at 9:25 pm
Count Of Monte Hristo - Heisenberg 1 Gus Fring 0 says:
I need Arsenal to score for £625
October 24 at 9:27 pm
Lateriser12 - "I am a consulting detective. The only one in the world" says:
I remembered you when Schalke scored. Gnabry to Giroud would be flair.
October 24 at 9:27 pm
Count Of Monte Hristo - Heisenberg 1 Gus Fring 0 says:
Big time mate
October 24 at 9:28 pm
Cosgri says:
I hope for your sake they do but it would be their first shot on target
October 24 at 9:31 pm
pinkfish says:
GL with that!
October 24 at 9:31 pm
The Dom-Bastic scale says:
COME ON ARSENAL!!
October 24 at 9:25 pm
Le Gooner says:
Someone on here captained Martinez from Porto. Well played!
October 24 at 9:27 pm
JKisthe1 - Los Colchoneros 2 - The Revenge says:
*raises hand*
October 24 at 9:26 pm
Cosgri says:
Commentator on Setanta Ireland just said before the goal, “Giroud, for me, can win this game for Arsenal”. What are these some of these guys gettin paid? After the goal he says “it’s all that Schalke deserve, they’ve been much the better side”.
October 24 at 9:27 pm
Kostja says:
The two claims actually don’t contradict each other I don’t get what the issue is here.
October 24 at 9:28 pm
athevroy says:
Lol me neither. Clutch at straws much…
October 24 at 9:31 pm
Cosgri says:
You know what you are completely right, I better pull the handbrake on the cans of heineken. Just frustrated watchin how shit Arsenal are
October 24 at 9:33 pm
athevroy says:
lol
October 24 at 9:27 pm
Reed_Rothchild says:
De Gea wants to leave United and go back to Spain.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/spo.....adrid.html
October 24 at 9:28 pm
JKisthe1 - Los Colchoneros 2 - The Revenge says:
non-starter this one
October 24 at 9:31 pm
Giggs Boson says:
Wants to go to a more one-sided league eh? Wuss…
October 24 at 9:27 pm
Snowman says:
My defence is
Fed, Jussi
Baines, Hughes, Cuellar, Williams, Demel
Looking at fixtures I need to do something there, maybe even for a hit.
What do you think of this
gw9 Jussi + Williams => Bego + Wilson -4
gw10 Santi => Mata
gw11 Berba => Ba
Taking a hit for defender is always against the rules so maybe I’ll cheat like this
gw9 Jussi + Berba => Bego + Ba -4
gw10 Santi => Mata
gw11 Williams => Wilson
ANYONE OUT THERE?
October 24 at 9:27 pm
Pinatta says:
As an Ajax en United fan this is some good stuff
October 24 at 9:27 pm
AP says:
This is the problem City have, none of their players actually care about the club. Pick up the pay check, move on.
October 24 at 9:31 pm
mosstapha says:
think this is probably at least partly correct. there’s some questionable characters there
October 24 at 9:31 pm
denial says:
They also don’t like being set up in stupid formations they clearly can’t perform in.
October 24 at 9:31 pm
Malcolm Tucker for England Manager says:
Touch simplistic. How many one club players by choice are there really?
Stevie-me, Matt le tiss, scholes, giggs
October 24 at 9:38 pm
Doolittle says:
I think that’s a bit reductive. I genuinely don’t think Mancini has a clue in Europe.
October 24 at 9:51 pm
Doosra - "Loyalty is the handmaiden to success" - A Noble Quote says:
I have always just thought that he doesn’t have a clue …
October 24 at 9:28 pm
Optimus says:
so unnerstall(3.5) might get me a clean sheet?
October 24 at 9:27 pm
JKisthe1 - Los Colchoneros 2 - The Revenge says:
+1, major shock here.
October 24 at 9:28 pm
Wild Rover says:
Neville is a real pro…. hasn’t laughed once.
October 24 at 9:29 pm
JKisthe1 - Los Colchoneros 2 - The Revenge says:
at least not outwardly
October 24 at 9:29 pm
Sleep Talk says:
New post: http://www.fantasyfootballscou.....er-crouch/
October 24 at 9:30 pm
Leaf says:
Arsenal playing like its a pre season friendly
October 24 at 9:38 pm
Captain Dilemna says:
hahaha
October 24 at 9:30 pm
Ginkapo-Rule No.1: wwkd? says:
Ajax-City Draw
Arsenal
Real Madrid
Well at least I was close on the Ajax-City score…
October 24 at 9:30 pm
Le Gooner says:
Santos is a shocking full back.
October 24 at 9:32 pm
Bemba Da says:
Wow arsenal have been absolutely dreadful
Against Norwich it was the worst performance from an arsenal side I have seen for years but this is worse
No threat, no desire. Just awful
October 24 at 9:36 pm
Revival says:
Might be wake up call Arsenal need. Surely Wenger won’t let them lose
3 in a row.
October 24 at 9:38 pm
Chris_Oblivion says:
I hope this dire performance from Arsenal means that they will obliterate QPR this weekend.
October 24 at 11:14 pm
asap says:
wel no clue abt tha but surely those 00″s are obliterating everyone’s mind
October 24 at 10:32 pm
Coldplay - Krohn-Delhi A True Legend says:
Ok so today Arsenal, City, Madrid all lost and PSG won. Well I guess we are nearing the end of the world.
October 25 at 1:53 pm
BigFatFrank says:
Yaya for captain?…. madness… Or
Teves,
RVP
Haz
Crouchy
Michu
Kompany?