Etienne Capoue. Etienne bloody Capoue. The top scoring fantasy football player after 5 Fantasy Premier League game weeks shows just how beautifully unpredictable this game has become. Unfortunately the FPL Updates XI were one of over 300k gaffers to bench him, so his 10 point display against United hurt a little, but then again that’s what makes this game so fun.
Aside from benching the early front runner to be this years Riyad Mahrez, the FPL Updates XI had a fairly acceptable week posting 59pts and a move into the to 200k. Still a way off our target position, but moving up over 300k places since our wildcard means we are on the right track. So let’s have a little run through of our gameweek 5 team.
Ben Foster started over Eldin Jakupovic and after saying that there was zero chance of the Hull stopper keeping a clean sheet we were bang on. What we didn’t foresee was that pesky fella saving a penalty. Especially frustrating as Foster only registered 2pts.
Onto the back three and let’s be honest, it was a mare. Bizarrely it actually seemed to mirror my weekend. On Friday it looked fresh, raring to go with all the potential in the world. On Monday morning it looked a hungover mess leaving me to wonder what the eff actually happened! John Stones didn’t start in a City clean sheet, Ben Davies didn’t start in a Spurs clean sheet and Leighton Baines picked up 2pts in a comfortable Everton win that should have been a clean sheet. Things can only get better though.
The midfield was a little better at least. Well, thanks to Raheem Sterling anyway. The guy has transformed under Pep and long may it continue, 13 points for him. His second double figure total of the season already. It’s hard to not want to own Kevin De Bruyne, but with Sterling over 2m cheaper he continues to look fantastic value. Yannick Bolasie, another that looks great value. His second assist in two games and he seems to be exactly what Romelu Lukaku has been needing. Under the tutelage of Ronald Koeman I can only see him getting better and there doesn’t look to be many better in the 6m price range. His relatively low 6% ownership makes him even more appealing. Typically it was our two most expensive midfielders that let us down. Eden Hazard started the season well, but looked massively out of sorts against Liverpool scoring 2pts. His run doesn’t get much better over the next few weeks either. Mesut Ozil, also delivering just 2pts has now gone five games without an assist.
Our front three actually accounted for over 50% of our week total. Christian Benteke may have somehow blanked as Crystal Palace scored four, but if anything I’m actually more encouraged by that. In their first four games they had scored just three goals so to see them looking an attacking threat can only be a positive when owning the big striker. Romelu Lukaku followed up his gameweek 4 hat-trick with a goal and an assist. As an owner of the Everton man I can confirm he definitely got a touch on that Bolasie cross!! Last up was our captain for the week Harry Kane. We gave him the armband in the final game of the week and after Spurs had squandered about 78 chances he finally managed to tap home the winner scoring us a healthy 18pts.
So with green arrows confirmed we have turned our attentions to gameweek 6. We saved out free transfer last week giving us two this week and I think we all know why.
Hazard (OUT) – Antonio (IN)
Kane (OUT) – Agueroooooo (IN)
”Guess who’s back, back again
Kun is back, tell a friend
Guess who’s back, guess who’s back”
Okay, yes we all know the song but it feels good. No matter who you pick, a team just doesn’t seem complete without him. Bringing him in feels like that payday when you go out spending money like it doesn’t even matter, whereas the last couple weeks have felt like we have been living on beans on toast from Lidl!
So with the transfers made and gameweek 6 here, let’s have a look at how we have lined up:
After wrongly benching Eldin Jakupovic last week we have decided to play it safe this week and well, err, bench Eldin Jakupovic. If he keeps a clean sheet against Liverpool this week I will write a personal apology to him on here and Twitter. But there’s more chance of seeing Andre Gray star in a Brokeback Mountain sequel with Joey Barton. I promise that’s the last time I make an Andre Gray joke. Probably. Ben Foster gets the nod. Stoke are rubbish, but I’m sure he will concede.
Assuming our back three start they look good. Luke Shaw is a slight injury concern but we pick him at home to Leicester. John Stones is surely going to start and a match against Swansea holds potential. Last up is Leighton Baines. It’s surely only a matter of time before he delivers a double figure return so let’s hope it’s this week.
The midfield looks a little weaker without Eden Hazard, but needs must. We have kept Mesut Ozil over him purely because of fixtures. It’s impossible to ignore Arsenal’s run after Chelsea. Burnley, Swansea, Middlesbrough and Sunderland are more than enough to convince us. Raheem Sterling keeps his place obviously and he lines up with Yannick Bolasie against Bournemouth and new boy Michail Antonio. I know what you’re thinking and yes there is more than an element of points chasing going on with Antonio, but like Ozil, his run of fixtures are just too good to ignore. As you can also tell, we have benched Etienne Capoue. Two reasons. 1) I just do not believe he scores AGAIN, and 2) I have no clue who to drop for him.
Up top and let’s just start with our captain Sergio Aguero. An Aguero with a chip on his shoulder playing a team without a win in four looks just too nice. There is a small concern he wont play 90 minutes with Champions League next week, but he’s definitely starting and he’s definitely going to be on a mission. Christian Benteke starts for us against Sunderland, a team that our strikers have scored against the last two weeks. Fingers crossed for three. Romelu Lukaku completes the team with a match against Bournemouth. He is rated as 75% at the time of writing but all signs point towards him being fine.
So that’s us for this week. We have made positive strides over the last couple of weeks and looking at our line up I’m confident of this continuing this week.
If you are one of those refusing to bring Aguero straight back in this week I strongly suggest you have an alcoholic drink next to you at 3pm on Saturday. Fair play though because you have far bigger cojones than me!
Good luck all and let’s hope to see plenty of Tuesday morning green arrows!
Written by FPL Guru (@FPL_Guru_)
