Fantasy Football: Astute captain pick hands John the initiative

It was a case of a few players doing a lot for the Ladbrokes Life quintet this week as the famous five recorded solid, if unspectacular weeks.

Mr Brightside recorded the lowest total with a bang-on-average 51 points after deciding to keep with the trio of Jamie Vardy, Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane up front.

Giving the latter the captain’s armband didn’t work out with just a two point return, while just Mesut Ozil made double figures with his goal against Norwich.

Slightly ahead of him in Gameweek 14 were The Professor and The Gut Truster, picking up 53 points.

The latter kept Joe Hart in his team, and was punished when the Manchester City goalkeeper was ruled out of their game with Southampton. Captain Lukaku, Ozil and Toby Alderweireld were all high scorers his side.

It could have been so much more though, with Crystal Palace’s Yannick Bolasie sat on the bench. The DR Congo international’s brace against Newcastle meaning a 15 point haul went wasted.

The stars of the show amongst the quintet though were The Believer (64 points) and Generous John (65).

Keeping the faith in Vardy paid dividends for the former, with the captain’s armband meaning an 18 point return for the on-fire Foxes man. Double-figure scores for Ozil and Ross Barkley see him close the gap on the four teams in front of him.

The real masterstroke of the week though came from John, as he nominated Watford’s Odion Ighalo to be the man for double points this week.

A goal, an assist and a few bonus points for good measure saw the Nigerian striker bring in 24 points for the man at the head of proceedings among the Ladbrokes five.

As far as the race for the free £100 bet on offer to the winner of the Ladbrokes Life League, things could barely be closer.

Just three points separate the top three places, while six sides are within 20 points of the leader.

However, although his lead at the top has been cut, Scott Stanley and ‘Stans Army’ hold firm at the summit of the division.

Double-figure point returns from captain Vardy, Ozil and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne who bounced back to form with a goal and two assists saw him maintain a slender advantage.

The pack are closing in on him though, with 80+ point hauls from MM Of_England’s ‘Team B’ and Ritchie Parkin’s ‘Scratattack’ meaning that one bad week could see the lead change hands.

For the time being though, it is Stans Army that lead the race for the prize.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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