My gameweek 16 opposition was my longtime friend Delvin. Delvin had not enjoyed the best of times in the first two seasons of the 'Justice League' but this time around he had been flourishing and I was very wary of him. I was looking for my third win in-a-row and therefore was not looking to take another points-hit. With there being so many gameweeks this time of year, I did not want to give back some of the points I had strived for. There is luck needed regardless of how much you consider things, so I am trying to minimise taking points-hits as much as possible, but my hand may be forced.
The only change I made was to sell Chris Wood and bring in Ollie Watkins. Watkins had been someone I had considered but as Aston Villa played Liverpool last week I did not look to get him, now however as they had some decent fixtures I thought it was a good time. Delvin's only change was to sell Hee-chan Hwang for the in-form Emmanuel Dennis. As pointed out this time of year is hectic and you have to have luck as you hope a game that features one of your players does not get called off. The gameweek began on Tuesday and Brentford and Manchester United's match was called off. With there being a possibility of Ivan Toney returning this affected Delvin's team.
So there were two contests left for Tuesday. Norwich hosted Aston Villa at Carrow Road. I was eagled-eyed watching Watkins' movement and he had a header easily saved early on. Watkins then laid on the opening goal for the talented Jacob Ramsey. Watkins was bundled over as he passed to him on the halfway line and Ramsey did the rest with a great solo strike, 'good stuff'. Tim Krul did well with his legs to stop Watkins' header in the second half but Watkins was not to be denied. Three minutes from the end substitute Carney Chukwuemeka went on a good run and cut the ball back for Watkins to apply the simple finish, 'woo!', for once I made a good transfer. A tap-in and an assist well away from the goal, I felt like I had stolen something. Emiliano Martinez was my keeper and I was pleased with his clean sheet and additional save point, though the saves he had to make were straightforward really but they all count.
In the other game Manchester City and Leeds kicked off slightly later. I had no City players as Joao Cancelo was suspended, and with Leeds having men out injured I feared for them as they can leak goals with their main XI. I was right to be scared for them as they were obliterated 7-0 at the Etihad. A clean sheet for Delvin's man Ruben Dias then but he did get booked, one point can be a bigger difference than you think so I took all I could get. Both of us had Raphinha but it was a rare occasion where he did not do much, given the opposition it was understandable. Tuesday concluded with me ahead 21-7.
There were meant to be four matches taking place on Wednesday but just before kick-off Burnley and Watford was called off. It really is a shambles that the postponement was left so late, and I feel for the travelling fans. This meant no game for Josh King for me and Delvin of course had Dennis. A massive blow for many a FPL manager here as Dennis was the player who was transferred in the most this gameweek. This meant I would get points off of my bench from Southampton's Armando Broja and for once this worked in my favour. The Saints were away at Palace and fell behind to a Wilf Zaha goal, but they soon equalised. Broja was taken out by a challenge and he produced a great fall to let the ref know about it. From the resulting free-kick James Ward-Prowse did what James Ward-Prowse does and artistically curled the ball into the top corner, so a 'fantasy' assist for Broja for winning the free-kick. Jack Butland got a hand to it, but he was never saving it. Things got better for Broja as his quick thinking so him pick the ball, hit it early and the shot from outside the box went into the corner of net, the way I cheered you would have thought Liverpool were playing. And that is why ladies and gentlemen I do not pick players from teams I immensely hate as I cannot really gain that same momentary feel. It is the only time I cannot disable fantasy from reality when it is the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal so I do not pick their players, or Chelsea either for that matter. Manchester City have not been good long enough for me to have developed the same hatred, and Spurs have not been greatly successful in the last 30 years so the issues are not necessarily the same with them for me. The match ended 2-2 as Jordan Ayew levelled in the second half, but Broja had already done his damage. Delvin and I both had Tyrick Mitchell and Tino Livramento so with the goals conceded they got a combined 1 point...oh joy.
Rayan Ait Nouri was in Wolves starting lineup and then got injured in the warmup, so I was another man down. Bruno Lage's men did go on to win 1-0 away at Brighton regardless. As Wolves had not scored for a few games I did consider putting Robert Sanchez in goal but I am glad I did not, Sanchez was Delvin's keeper so I got a four point differential from Martinez there. This meant another clean sheet for Wolves' Jose Sa who is now incidentally the top scoring FPL keeper. Wednesday's last contest was between Arsenal and West Ham and the Gunners won 2-0. The killer blow for me here was that Delvin had Emile Smith Rowe and I had been pleased he was not able to start, but he came off the bench and scored anyway, 'dammit!'. With Delvin also having Gabriel the team he supports helped him clean up nicely here. So Wednesday had me ahead 34-23 but Delvin had three Chelsea players as differentials left to go, while I had James Maddison and Heung-min Son who were playing each other.
With me gearing for a high points total disaster struck and Leicester's game with Spurs was called off. The irony was that the Premier League had released a mandate to say that no more games would be called off on Wednesday so that lasted about 24 hours. This meant the only differential I now had was Trent Alexander-Arnold, so I somehow needed a depleted Everton to do something at Chelsea, I was clearly pessimistic. I needed Everton to score at least once and Mason Mount not to score, so of course Chelsea took the lead through...Mason Mount. Jordan Pickford had previously made a good save from Mount with his legs or it could have been worse. Things were looking tight as Liverpool who kicked off 15 minutes later went behind to Newcastle before that goal from Mount went in, and I had needed a clean sheet. Liverpool replied to take a 2-1 lead however but Alexander-Arnold did not feature in any of the goals. Jota and Salah got the goals which meant points for both of us. There was controversy around Liverpool's first goal as Isaac Hayden went down, but the Reds channeled their inner Arsenal and did not put the ball out of play. With Chelsea heading for a clean sheet, I needed an Everton goal and I got it as Jarrad Branthwaite scored, 'woooo', Rick Flair on that ass Delvin...'pause!'. As long as Antonio Rudiger did not go down like a sack of spuds to win a late penalty again I would just be okay and luckily it did indeed end all square at Stamford Bridge. There was to be no matter anyway as at the death at Anfield, Alexander-Arnold produced a thunderbolt to make it 3-1 to make the victory look easier than it actually was. The FPL admins should give Mike Dean an assist for getting out of the way really.
I messaged Delvin with a light apology, but I was pleased as that was now three head-to-head wins on the bounce and I have moved up to 6th in the table. I now have gone top of another classic league too meaning I now top seven of them. News came out however that five of the weekends' games have already been postponed, so I only currently have 8 active player out of my squad of 15, so some big decisions are to be made.
@DubulDee
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