S3 Ep22: Off The Bench: Captain fails as chips prove popular
Apr 8, 2025
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The hosts dive into the weekend's chip activation frenzy, discussing the disappointing performance of the league's most captained players. They analyze Aston Villa's standout assets, Manchester City's struggles, and the dilemma surrounding Arsenal players. Strategies for maximizing points with upcoming double game weeks are explored, as well as potential player transfers from Crystal Palace and Newcastle. Injury impacts and tactical concerns are also on the table, making for a lively discussion on navigating fantasy football dynamics.
The episode emphasizes strategic chip management, particularly the use of wildcards and assistant managers, during critical back-to-back Double Gameweeks.
The hosts highlight the surprising underperformance of traditionally high-scoring players like Salah and Isak, affecting FPL managers' captaincy decisions.
Discussion centers on targeting weaker teams like Ipswich and Southampton, promoting players with favorable matchups to maximize scoring potential.
Deep dives
FPL Strategies Amid Wildcards and Chips
The episode discusses the strategic importance of managing chips, including wildcards and assistant managers, during a critical phase of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season. With upcoming double game weeks, players such as Newcastle and Crystal Palace are highlighted as significant targets due to their potential for higher points. The hosts reflect on their own performances and how decisions on captaincy impacted their scores, emphasizing the ongoing calculations FPL managers must make based on form and fixture difficulty. A key insight presented is the value of securing players like Murphy and Mateta who shine when larger teams falter.
Struggles of Key Players and Teams
Both Lee and Az observe a surprising trend of underperformance from typically high-scoring players like Salah and Isak in recent game weeks. This observation is paired with statistics showing that many of the most-captained players ended up blanking, leading to frustrations among managers. The impact of injuries and team rotations is also noted, particularly concerning Liverpool and Manchester City players, raising questions about confidence and performance. The hosts express uncertainty around how teams like Brighton and Chelsea will navigate their tricky upcoming fixtures.
Emphasizing Form and Fixture Analysis
Discussion centers on teams like Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, and Leicester, focusing on which players might be beneficial for FPL managers to target in upcoming weeks. The analysis points towards attacking players like Munoz and Mateta, who have proven successful recently, contrasting with players of teams in poor form, such as Leicester. The hosts stress the statistical analysis of goals scored versus shots taken, highlighting how teams can exploit defensive weaknesses to maximize returns. Overall, the conversation underscores that leveraging recent performances can provide advantages in decision-making for transfers.
Targeting Underperforming Opponents
The hosts emphasize the importance of targeting weaker teams such as Ipswich and Southampton, as data reveals they are vulnerable and provide favorable matchups. Players from strong teams who are scheduled to play against these struggling clubs are recommended for consideration in FPL lineups. Players' points potential is examined regarding fixtures against teams that have shown significant weaknesses defensively. This builds a case for investing in players with advantageous matchups to enhance FPL scoring opportunities over the remaining weeks.
Risk vs. Reward in Transfer Decisions
Amid discussions about upcoming chips and strategies, Lee and Az delve into the critical nature of risk-taking in transferring players, particularly undercurrent conditions of the season. Several players, including Cunha and the assistant manager decision-making process, are evaluated for their risk-reward potential for FPL managers in tight points races. The necessity of making bold decisions to capitalize on the anticipated performance against weaker teams is emphasized as a pivotal strategy moving forward. This prompts considerations of capturing lower-owned, high-upside players to offset losses from favorites who have underperformed.
It was a big weekend for chips being activated with plenty pushing the button on Assistant Managers and Wildcards ahead of back-to-back Double Gameweeks. However the top five most captained players all blanked 📉😱
So FPL experts Lee Bonfield and Az Phillips take a look at which Doubling teams played well, whether it’s best to reduce the number of Arsenal players you have, and who’s a good candidate for the Triple Captain chip.
LISTEN 👇
* Aston Villa assets (08m 30s)
* Struggling Man City (16m 02s)
* Palace problems (20m 42s)
* All in on Isak (27m 36s)
* Arsenal conundrum (31m 50s)
* Chelsea consideration (36m 07s)
Win an FPL bundle by topping the FPL Pod mini-league at the end of the season: q7yco0
