'Aguer-noo!'
Andrew, who has been in brilliant form was my opponent for gameweek 27 in the head-to-head league, and he was in the 'money' positions in the league table. I was skeptical about playing him, as we had seven of the same players in our squads, so I knew if I was to win, it hung on a few players' shoulders who I was not sure about whether they could lead me to victory or not. I had two free transfers to make this week, and I sold Riyad Mahrez and Son Heung-Min. Mahrez had to go to allow me to bring Sadio Mane back in. Son injured his arm against Aston Villa last week, and it looks like he is out for the rest of the season. This of course means that he was already injured before winning my head-to-head clash last week. For this Son, I thank you, 4 goals in 4 games, meant that it was worthwhile breaking my 'top 6' rule to get him in. I brought John Fleck (£5.1m) in for Son, as I did not have much money left considering how much Mane (£12.2m) costs.
Saturday; was a horrible day for me. Burnley won 3-0 at home to Bournemouth, which meant clean sheet points for Nick Pope who Andrew had in goal. Sheffield United drew 1-1 at home with Brighton, so drafting in Fleck for did not work as he was not involved in the goal. The Blades do not have a game next week as they were scheduled to play Aston Villa who are in the League Cup final against Manchester City. John Lundstram was only on the bench again, so when he did come on, he was only able to get one point. On the opposing side, Brighton's Lewis Dunk was only able to get me two points and I may ship him out soon. My biggest error was to come at St Mary's. I had originally had Alex McCarthy in goal for my side, but I changed to Ben Foster as I tried to be smart. I thought that Manchester United may have a slight off day against Watford on Sunday, so Foster may be able to grab me some points with some saves. Southampton beat Aston Villa 2-0 however, and I was left to rue not leaving McCarthy in goal. There was no goal for Danny Ings within those 2 goals, which is a rare occurrence this season. Despite only making one save, McCarthy was also given a bonus point to frustrate me further. Jack Grealish did nothing of note...oh no actually, pardon me, he got booked.
Saturday's late match between Leicester and Manchester City was not as entertaining as expected. City won it 1-0, and Sergio Aguero somehow managed to lose me points. He missed a second half penalty, which had me shouting at my television, Liverpool have basically done and dusted the league, so I do not really need to hope Manchester City lose anymore. The only scant consolation was that as my opponent had him too, it did not have a detrimental effect on the head-to-head, it just severely damaged my score for the week. On Sunday, my goalkeeper fears were confirmed when Manchester United beat Watford 3-0 at Old Trafford. Foster made saves as I thought, but he conceded three, which was not part of the plan. I really do not know why I try these things sometimes, they are clearly too risky. I get anxious and change something, I should try not opening the app at all, then I will not feel to tinker. In the other 2pm game, Adama Traore was on the bench and came on late to no avail as Wolves tucked Norwich away also 3-0.
So, with me trailing Andrew, it was up to Liverpool on Monday night at home to West Ham. We both had Sadio Mane as captain, I had Andy Robertson at the back, and he had the assist machine Trent Alexander-Arnold. I had Mo Salah, and I desperately needed a huge return from him if I was to have any slight chance of winning. Playing a fellow Liverpool fan is the only time a defeat does not seem as bad, as the main thing we want of course is Liverpool to win the game, regardless of anything else. When Liverpool took the lead through Georginio Wijnaldum, my loss was basically sealed as it was assisted by Alexander-Arnold's almost perfect cross. West Ham levelled meaning there was to be no clean sheet points for either of us. Salah had a good effort tipped over by Lukasz Fabianski that almost had me jumping off my seat. In the second half, the Hammers then took the lead to make sure we both lost a point. The Reds' equaliser came through Mo Salah, and guess what...it was assisted by Robertson, but I still trailed by five points, so I needed more. Shortly after, Salah almost again scored from a Robertson cross, but Fabianski made amends after his howler allowed the Reds to level. Liverpool won the game 3-2 through Mane, which of course gave us both additional captain points. So I was beaten, but Liverpool won which was the main. With five of my squad missing due to the Carabao Cup final, gameweek 28 may just see me use my wildcard.
@DubulDee
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