Fantasy Premier League managers arguably have more choice for the Gameweek 11 captaincy than first thought.
With the deadline moved to Saturday morning following the postponement of Newcastle’s trip to Aston Villa, Fantasy managers have been gifted an extra day to dwell on the destination of their next armband.
We should use that time wisely, testing Manchester City’s meeting with Fulham against the other appealing fixtures this weekend, comparing underlying statistics for players and team defences alike.
As this article uses extensive data from the Fantasy Football Scout Premium Members Area, only those with a valid subscription can access it in full.
Captain Poll
For the first time in several weeks, we have a runaway captain poll winner again. It is Kevin De Bruyne (£11.7m) this time as he gathered over 47% of votes ahead of an appealing home fixture against relegation-threatened Fulham at the Etihad Stadium.
That number might even increase closer to the deadline as anyone considering Jack Grealish (£7.7m) or Callum Wilson (£6.5m) will almost certainly look elsewhere for a solid captain choice.
Following yet another away from home haul, Bruno Fernandes (£10.9m) sits second in the poll, although he still only managed to get the support of 9.0%. The Portuguese international and his team will visit a West Ham United that has been a little fortunate not to concede more heavily in recent weeks.
The remaining three picks in the top five list (if we exclude Grealish for now) are Jamie Vardy (£10.3m | 6.9%), Mohamed Salah (£12.2m | 5.3%) and Riyad Mahrez (£8.3m, 5.2%).
KEY MATCHES
Manchester City v Fulham
3 years, 4 months ago1 FT, 0.0 ITB
Martinez
Chilwell James Cancelo (Justin, Mitchell)
KDB Bruno Son Grealish Jota
Vardy DCL (Brewster)
Problems: Martinez, Grealish, Cancelo (unlikely to start)
A) Save and play with 10 (Justin & Brewster in for Cancelo, Grealish)
B) Cancelo > Lamptey/Dallas/KWP (Play with 10 but without Brewster)
C) Cancelo > Lamptey/Dallas/KWP PLUS Steer > McCarthy/other 4.5 GK (-4) (Play with 11). Means keeping Martinez for the DGW & additional blank, and GK only needs 2pts to break even & has some good fixtures for rotation (would play McCarthy in GW12, 15, 16, 17, 18). Does mean locking up funds though, but I don't see it being a problem, as the Cancelo downgrade frees up that same cash. I feel like Cancelo is a fire and very unlikely to start this week, so may as well sort it out now, to avoid playing Brewster.
Then the plan next week will be Son, Vardy > Salah, Bamford (-4).
Can somebody summarise the DGW situation? Which player should we be targeting, for those without a wildcard? Would appreciate any thoughts on Lamptey vs Dallas vs KWP.