The Captain’s Poll is slowly recovering some form after a couple of recent positives – notably from the likes of Carlos Tevez and Samir Nasri. Now the big guns need to step up to help restore parity, after a season of armband disappointment from our regular poll winners.
Let’s look at some of the more interesting candidates this week…
Cesc Fabregas
Arsenal’s captain has only had 26 minutes on the field since his most recent return to action, but a home tie against Stoke means we basically have to give him some attention. Owned by under 6% of managers (with most likely to be the kind that give up and forget their teams) and down to the low-low price of a mere £11.7m, the midfielder is almost the perfect differential. Okay, perhaps not quite, but if an extra week’s training sharpens him up, then with Cesc, anything is possible – be it another agonising injury or a bountiful haul of goals and/or assists.
Carlos Tevez
As kindly pointed out by fresh-faced Scout johnfinlay, Carlos Tevez will play if he is picked. The question is, will he be in your team and will you double down on that bet and hand him the Fantasy armband? Call me a superstitious fool, but I can’t help but remember last winter when Manchester City had a Monday night fixture amongst a torrent of bad weather and lo and behold, Tevez popped with a hat-trick. City play on Monday once more and the weather looms ever present, can lightning possibly strike twice? Following this week’s events, it would be ironic in the extreme.
Morten Gamst Pedersen
It has probably been a good few years since Morten Gamst Pedersen was a major blip on the radar of Fantasy Managers, his last three seasons have been a pretty barren affairs. That was then and this is now, and with an 8 point average return over his last 6 games, the Norwegian midfielder seems to have found that spark once more. Still owned by only 4% of managers, he is not exactly going to be a key selection just yet, but the pollsters on this site have been tracking his performances and he is certainly in the hat for a decent haul this week; at home to bottom of the table West Ham, it’s difficult to ignore the potential he offers.
Fernando Torres
Can you hear the drums Fernando? It’s me banging on your door telling you to pick up your socks and show some of that form that has only offered slight returns so far this season. You’ve had a new born, surely you want to rock the cradle like it’s 1994? Enough of me getting my frustration off my chest (please, score!) and the bare facts are that Fernando Torres is the biggest “home banker” imaginable with 44 goals in 48 league appearances at Anfield, a record any striker would kill for. With Roy Hodgson’s old club, a travel sick Fulham paying visit, he’ll be hoping that his star striker can summon the form that put Chelsea to the sword last month and put smiles on the faces of the 16% of FPL managers who are putting the ultimate amount of faith in Torres.
Samir Nasri
Save the best until last, or at least the player who is more likely to dominate our poll this Gameweek. While the security blanket of a spot-kick (surely at least one of Van Persie or Fabregas will start this weekend and usurp him on that front) looks set to depart, Nasri has many other strings to his bow and will have the confidence flowing further after being crowned French footballer of the year earlier in the week.
As mentioned earlier with Fabregas, a home tie against Stoke is always going to tempt armband attention Arsenal’s way. Nasri has really sparkled so far this season with 8 goals in his last 11 appearances, that’s prompted a price rise to £8.1m in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game and is no in a third (and only growing) of all teams in the game. Little wonder that he’s topping our poll so far.
Five names there and not even space for the likes of Gareth Bale and Rafael Van Der Vaart who could be travelling to Bloomfield Road this weekend with goals on the agenda, if the weather and their fitness permits. He may be facing one of the best home sides in the country but the consistent returns of Andy Carroll (the last time the giant Geordie started a game and didn’t pick up some added FPL points was as long as 3 months ago) means last week’s saviour is pursuing the charts too, then of course the likes of Nani, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard will all square off against each other – will there be Fantasy points on offer in this titan clash?
If you haven’t yet cast your vote then scurry back to the frontpage and do so quick sharp. Are you one of the slight handful of managers looking to David Silva to kick off your FPL cup run?
Read more Fantasy Football analysis at the excellent Fantasy Football Scout
