Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 2 | Captain, not picks is priority for Week 2

BySiddhant Lazar, SportsCafe Editor

08/15/2019

The Premier League is back and with it the Fantasy Premier League that rocks the world, with a mere 100 million budget. However, with Gameweek 1 giving us far too many surprises as Raheem Sterling, Ashley Barnes and Eric Pieters topped their groups, picking your captain becomes that much harder.

Picking a captain is always insanely tough for any manager. But picking your captain when it comes to your Fantasy Premier League side is that much harder. It’s simply a matter of life and death, which makes things even more complicated especially when there are a myriad of options available. From the Liverpool trio, to Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Raheem Sterling to Harry Kane, to Sergio Aguero and even a budget star for that differential kick.

It’s the decision that racks our minds for most of the week, with us changing it a gazillion times, only to revert back to our original choice. Then quite often for some, we watch as our second choice dominates the points total, while our first choice pulls a Leroy Sane triple captain GW25 2018/19. It's a horrendous and often laughable situation, but one that can be prevented.

So, the question is, who are the worst possible options? Who are the men who shouldn’t even enter your consideration before the Saturday deadline?? Who are the players, where giving the armband to nobody would be the better solution than handing him the armband? That is the question you need to ask, and it’s a question that we’ll try and answer.

The Surefires:

Wilfried Zaha

His transfer saga dominated the Premier League transfer window alongside Arsenal’s late flurry of signings, Chelsea’s lack of signings and Manchester United breaking records. But yet in the end, despite his insistence to play for a larger club that does play European football, Zaha was forced to stay at Selhurst Park.

Add that to his benching, his sheer inconsistency and that doesn’t make for good reading. What does give you hope is his away form, but even that is false hope given his mental state at the moment. If he does get past that, then expect goals, with the Ivory Coast international netting nine goals away from Selhurst Park last term.

To put that in comparison, he managed 10 for the season. Zaha does score and contributes towards goals, as he managed 20 goal contributions last term. So that doesn’t mean you drop him completely from your squad, but instead, keep the captain’s armband far far away.

Bernardo Silva

Few players impressed the world as much as the former Benfica man did in the last term, and his performances were borderline world-class. Not just that, his movement and creativity on the field is a joy to watch, but Silva excels at pre-assist assists - that useless pass before the assist that doesn’t give you any FPL points. And because he's a Manchester City player who still have Pep Guardiola as their manager, on their quest to dominate the world.

It’s why he’s arguably the worst FPL asset to have in your squad, but now with his price rising to 8m, it makes him even worse. That is especially when you have Pablo Fornals, Felipe Anderson, Christian Pulisic and available for the same price, players who score much more. Then there is the fact that he's a Manchester City star under Pep Guardiola, who has already proven his love for rotation. He dropped Bernardo for Riyad Mahrez (8.5m) who went on to have a double-figure haul for points.

That will potentially continue, even though Leroy Sane is injured and Silva replaced him last season. It’s also why it’s a terrible idea to give him the armband, even if he is the nicest player in the league.

The Maybes:

Anthony Martial

Tony Martial, the man, the myth and the legend. His very first goal for Manchester United sparked hopes that he’ll be the genuine heir to Thierry Henry and then he disappeared. Often found either out wide or languishing on the bench since then, Tony M has lost his killer touch and consistency, exchanging them for buckets of money.

He did have a great stretch under former Jose Mourinho last term, scoring six goals in five games, but that was before he went on to net just 4 goals and three assists in the next 26 games. It screams inconsistency, but that might have changed, with might the keyword here. After just one match, Martial has one goal and seems to have got some confidence back.

But that one goal does have a lot of history. There’s no Romelu Lukaku, no super Ibra and more importantly Ole loves a fast-break. Add that to his new number 9 and this could be his season. But we’ve been burned before and burned badly by the young Frenchman, so keep an eye on him.

Divock Origi

Divock "Clutch" Origi, the man who steps up when the going gets tough. If there is ever a big game, expect this man to walk off the bench and do something. But to do the same consistently is a lot harder to ask, given Liverpool’s front-three. Then in walks, a myriad of pre-season tournaments and that changed a lot for the Belgian.

Yet with Mane starting in the Super-Cup, there is a chance that Origi starts once again, but it’s a big big maybe. Klopp did bring the Senegalese off in the 103 minute for Origi, who then netted in the penalty shoot-out. Not just that, he looked confident, has finally become the player that Klopp can use and looks very very good playing either as a center-forward or even out wide.

But is he a captain contender?? The man who’ll hit double figures this weekend?? That looks very unlikely.

The Questionables:

Paul Pogba

He’s a mercurial giant, Manchester United’s creative force and at the same time, probably the most frustrating player in the Premier League. Few have done as well as he did last season, but even that was within the spell of two months, with a decade long drought on either side. It’s not exactly prime FPL material like Mo Salah or Sergio Aguero, but a questionable choice.

Giving him the armband, on the other hand, does mean that you’ve lost your mind, especially when it comes to FPL. Simply because it dumps the more reliable players down the drain, for someone who phases in and out of hot and cold as easy as pie. It definitely drops you down in your various leagues as your friends roll about in points.

However, given that he does fire hot and cold, it’s about as risky as drinking that two-week-old carton of milk. Maybe you do get sick or maybe you have the greatest day of your life.

Richarlison

The king of the early season FPL sides, few players’ starts a season as well as Richarlison does. It’s often fantastic to watch, the way he rips teams open with his pace and somewhat clinical finishing, finally hitting double figures for goals last season. Combine that with the Toffees facing just the one big six side in their opening ten games and it makes Richarlison prime pickings.

Then he goes and blanks in Gameweek 1. Not just blanks but does he does next to nothing against the Eagles, with just a 69% passing accuracy. Add that to his 1 key pass, 1 shot off target, 2 blocked shots, and his sheer lack of desire to do much changes everything. It puts a pin in any plans we had with the Brazilian, and any pins in the plans we had regarding a potential armband.

That could change with time, or even in Gameweek 2 but he has a long long long way to go before that really does happen.