Fantasy Football: My Aguero anger, Caglar Soyuncu continues to shine
Who will you select in your Fantasy Football XI for the weekend?
Friday 25 October 2019 17:18, UK
Former Fantasy Football champion Dan Cox brings us his latest diary, documenting the highs and lows of his Fantasy Football season. How have you fared?
After climbing the leaderboard each and every week, finding myself in the promising position of 284th, the last two weeks have been largely disappointing.
Our former champ dissects gameweek 11 and looks ahead to the forthcoming round, including making his captaincy picks...
Saturday - Leicester the saving grace
Saturday could not have gone any worse. My captain Sergio Aguero was not in the starting XI, which I was obviously surprised about, given Gabriel Jesus had played twice in the international break.
Still, we all know the risks that come with Pep Guardiola's assets. I was still hopeful of a second-half cameo and a goal but even that wasn't to be as he remained an unused substitute. A captain return of zero points is not what you want. Nicolas Otamendi was not in the match day squad which was annoying, especially as Manchester City kept a clean sheet. Raheem Sterling did claim an assist and my top point scorer, Ederson, kept a clean sheet too, which were some positives.
It was a case of what could have been for Kevin De Bruyne. If Jesus had squared that ball to De Bruyne for an easy tap-in, it would have been a different story. He also hit the post later on, but it wasn't to be and he finished the game with two points. My five City players returned 15 points - an awful tally from just under half of my team.
Two of my successful picks still continued to deliver. Caglar Soyuncu, while not keeping a clean sheet, achieved tier two passing and tackle bonus to earn him eight points. Frederic Guilbert did not keep a clean sheet either, but managed to grab an assist for Jack Grealish's goal after an excellent ball into the box.
That was all for a disappointing Saturday - the main bonus was that no player in particular earned a drastic points haul. I kind of escaped the captain fail. The only player of note to do anything was Jamie Vardy with a solitary goal in Leicester's win over Burnley. The in-form Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount did not manage any points, nor did Harry Kane as Spurs laboured to a 1-1 draw with Watford.
Sunday - Rashford, Robertson boost
My only player was Aaron Wan-Bissaka. I decided to stick with him as my captain. I was tempted by a move from Aguero and Otamendi to Sadio Mane and Trent Alexander-Arnold, but I was not really sold on Liverpool's next two games so I held firm - I was just five minutes away from a clean sheet before Adam Lallana's late equaliser scuppered my chances.
This was disappointing once more, but there were not many points around for anyone else. Marcus Rashford and Andy Robertson were the only two players to make double figures for points as they both recorded 10.
Monday - Auba and Arsenal fail to deliver
Onto the Monday Night Football and with Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in my team, I was hoping for a productive night. I know that 75 per cent of the top 1,000 Fantasy Football bosses owned Aubameyang, so whether he delivered captain returns or not, it would leave many of us in the top 1,000 in the same boat. It would have been nice just to see a captain score a goal - alas it wasn't to be. Aubameyang was very disappointing and didn't register a single shot on target.
Pepe, on the other hand, did look lively and I couldn't believe the chance he squandered from close range. He should have scored and as the ball came in I was counting the points. Unfortunately for those of us still with the Ivorian, he could not repay the faith.
The verdict
It was another disappointing weekend. My three captains returned a total of eight points. I scored a whopping 16 points from my front six and 42 points in total. It was slightly better than the 29 points from Gameweek 9 before the international break, but still not great by any means!
In two weeks I have dropped from 284th to 850th, and I am now sitting in 996th on 732 points. I should be happy that I am still in the top 1,000 despite the recent lack of points. With no goals for any of my midfielders or strikers in the last two Gameweeks, I am feeling rather frustrated.
I even watched a few of the classics that Sky Sports were showing on Tuesday morning - Premier League Years and Premier League Greatest Games. I was reminiscing about the likes of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba - they would not let you down if you picked them as captains.
Gameweek 11 Team
XI: Ederson; Wan-Bissaka, Otamendi, Soyuncu, Guilbert; de Bruyne, McGinn, Pepe; Aguero, Aubameyang, Sterling
Overall position: 996th
Gameweek 11 points: 42
Overall points: 732
Gameweek 12: Captaincy plan
Friday: Caglar Soyuncu
Southampton have failed to score more one goal in their last six Premier League matches. Soyuncu demonstrated that last week, despite no clean sheet, can pick up points from passing and tackling, so with the potential of a clean sheet to add to this in the coming week, it could be rue to miss out on some valuable double points.
Saturday: Sergio Aguero
The beauty of the Manchester City vs Aston Villa fixture is that it is the early kick-off, meaning you can check the team-sheet before submitting your captain for the day. Although Gabriel Jesus has been in fine form when he has played, I think Pep Guardiola will prefer Aguero here, and hopefully duly deliver and reward him.
Sunday: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Nicolas Pepe ran Aubameyang close with his brace against Vitoria, but I think the Gabonese striker is due a goal. He has not registered in his last two, highlighting what a fast start to the season he made, having already hit seven.
