Last week Sergio Aguero was the latest in a long line of Fantasy Football Scout community poll top picks (see home page) to fail to deliver returns as a captain. Yet, despite a measly two points in each of his last two games and just a 6.7% goal conversion rate, he is flying high in the Fantasy Football Scout poll as the community’s preferred captaincy option for Gameweek 5. Following on from the relative success of last week, this week’s article explores some less popular alternatives to the misfiring Argentinian for your armbands in the next round of matches.
Ayew Vs. Worryingly Weak Watford
After joining Swansea on a free transfer this summer, Andre Ayew has had an incredible start to the season. Back in the goals last week against Manchester United, Ayew inflicted further punishment on unfaithful managers with an assist and three bonus points to boot.
This week Swansea face a Watford rearguard that was breached by both Sterling and Fernandinho in Gameweek 4 and I’m tipping Ayew to also benefit against their deep defensive formation. With a superior points-per-game rate (from an amazingly similar number of chances and shots) Ayew narrowly edges out Gomis as my top Swansea pick for the armband this week.
Key Stats – Ayew has had a ‘big chance’ every game this season, only Diouf has had more (1.25 big chances per game).
Verdict – Offers an excellent differential, perhaps the safest choice this week.
Wilson Vs. Newly Promoted Norwich
If Aguero demonstrates the importance of the (chronically ignored) chances converted statistic for measuring form, then Callum Wilson is the other side of the coin. Despite just two big chances and only eight goal attempts in his first four Premier League games, the Bournemouth man has chalked up three goals from open play and a converted penalty (a chance conversion rate of 50%).
Thanks to Ruth_NZ for revealing last week that Wilson also tended to score in clusters last season. These statistics, combined with a tasty away fixture against a Norwich side that have conceded two goals a game this season, put Wilson high on my list of alternative captains for this week.
Key Stats – Wilson sits alongside Bafetimbi Gomis and Riyad Mahrez as the joint Premier league top goalscorer so far (each have four).
Verdict – Like last week Wilson offers a good differential, again a great choice if you have ground to make up.
Sakho Vs. Tim Krul (Newcastle)
Diafra Sakho finally got his name on the score sheet last weekend (scoring the third goal as West Ham steamrollered 10-man Liverpool). With 11 points in the last two weeks, the mercurial talent is now also beginning to live up to FPL managers’ expectations.
Following the arrival of Victor Moses and uncertainty around the Hammers midfield, Sakho looks to be the stand-out option for this week’s trip to Newcastle. Considering the Magpies have conceded more goal attempts than any other team this season, the only thing stopping him is the save-hungry Tim Krul.
Key Stats – Sakho has taken eight shots in the box this season, more than any other West Ham player.
Verdict – Not much of a differential against the multitude of West Ham backers flying high in the FPL standings, a bit of a risk for the armband as he faces Krul between the sticks.
Best Of The Rest
Swansea’s Gomis narrowly missed out to Ayew but is worth considering for those managers who do not have the Ghanaian to call upon, with a goal in every game so far this season he seems a relatively safe bet. There are also a multitude of in-form attacking options up the road at Manchester City. Raheem Sterling and David Silva rewarded those that put faith in them last week and are enticing options ahead of Aguero at the moment. However, with questions surrounding the City midfield following the arrival of Kevin de Bruyne on Sunday, sticking the armband on either would be a gamble. Finally, down in London, Chelsea have been poor defensively but Pedro has rewarded his owners with a goal and two assists in his first two games in royal blue making him, arguably, the only Chelsea player worth entrusting with the armband at the moment.
Last Week’s Picks – How They Performed
Three of my four picks last week defeated or matched the top community pick (Agüero), while two delivered returns. This is far from perfect but compares well to the captaincy poll where, as Bowstring the Carp and others have pointed out, none of the top six picks scored well.
Hazard Vs. Palace
Score: 2
Differential to Agüero as captain: 0
Verdict – My only alternative pick to really fall flat on his face last week, Hazard turned in yet another sub-par performance.
Kolarov Vs. Watford
Score: 6
Differential to Agüero as captain: +8
Verdict – As predicted Kolarov proved to be a safe differential, giving him the armband combined with Ayew’s heroics saved my Gameweek 4.
Mahrez Vs. Bournemouth (injured)
Score 1:
Differential to Agüero as captain: -2
Verdict – Ahead of last week he seemed too much of a gamble and unfortunately that proved to be the case. However it could have been very different as Mahrez was injured in the first half, and thus missed the opportunity to tuck away a penalty in the second.
Wilson Vs. Leicester
Score: 7
Differential to Agüero as captain: +10
Verdict – As predicted Wilson offered a very big differential and, as last week’s article suggested, was a better choice than Mahrez.
Do you agree with these picks? Who are you going to give the armband to this week and why? Get involved in the comments below. You can also follow me on twitter @MagicOmelette
8 years, 6 months ago
I think this is the key issue for the coming weeks. Do we go maverick with out captaincy or stick with the heavy hitters. Those that have followed these articles will have done well in recent weeks. Even I'm tempted to go rogue with the captaincy next week. Good trio to choose from here.