I got that winning feeling back last week and I wanted it to continue. Ravi was my gameweek 25 opposition and usually he just does enough to get past me in our head-to-head contests, so this made me even more eager to get a victory here. There was added incentive if I needed any as I could move 3 points clear of him in the 'Justice League' if I triumphed.
Unless I had a mass of injuries I try my best to not make any transfers the week after using my 'Wildcard' so I stuck to that this week. My dilemma was who I should leave on the bench. I wanted to start David Raya in goal but as Brentford were playing Crystal Palace and I had Odsonne Eduoard up front who I expected to score I went with Ben Foster in goal. But then during the recording of the 'FootyOnTop' radio show I thought that Armando Broja's industry could cause Manchester United problems so I put Edouard on the bench. Time was to then creep up on me however and before I remembered that I should then put David Raya in goal it was already 11am, 'dammit!'.
Before the deadline I knew that as Ravi did not have Mo Salah in his team, being a Liverpool fan he would certainly be bringing him back in. He would have to take a decent points-hit to get him back into his team for this week though. I came to conclusion after jotting down the rough amount that his team costed. He also had three Arsenal players and they did not have a game this week, which further made me believe he was definitely taking a hit, my notes were starting to look like my GCSE Maths exercise book. The players on his bench were enablers so he had a lot to think about here. I could have taken a points-hit myself, but I did not want to be complacent in any way. When the deadline passed I saw that he had indeed taken an 8-point hit. He brought Salah back in as I expected as well as getting the in-form Phillippe Coutinho, Richarlison and Alan Saint-Maximin in. As he was probably thinking ahead to the next gameweek he kept his three Arsenal men, meaning he only had 9 players active unless Ki-Ana Hoever started for Wolves and that was unlikely. He gave his captaincy to Salah while as I looked for a big differential I went for Raphinha as my captain. The Brazilian had scored in all his three previous games against the Toffees so I thought I would try something. Everton were also not good at set pieces so I was hoping for an assist.
The action started at Old Trafford on Saturday as Manchester United hosted Southampton. United took the lead through Jadon Sancho, but the Saints got an early second half equaliser through Che Adams. Had it not been for a great performance by Fraser Forster the Red Devils could have won the game. In the midst of that however my guy Broja ran Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane ragged especially the former. If only good performances translated to FPL points. The game ended 1-1.
In the 3pm contests; Brentford and Crystal Palace played out a goalless draw. Trust that to happen when I had the Bees’ keeper Raya and the Eagles’ Tyrick Mitchell both on my bench, I was distraught. Edouard started but blanked, he almost assisted a goal for Jordan Ayew. Raya walked away with 10 points, I was livid as my starting keeper did not have the same luck. At Vicarage Road; Watford fell to a 2-0 home defeat to Brighton, meaning Raya got 8 more points than Ben Foster, 8! Man FPL is cruel. Brighton waste a lot of chances so I had hope, but they decided to be clinical. The only good news was that the first goal by Neal Maupay was assisted by Tariq Lamptey. It was a great ball in by Lamptey and Maupay’s finish complemented it. The Frenchman really scores some great goals, but if you saw a highlight reel of his goals and then watched him in a 90 minute game you would think they were two different people! Rian (Milito) had told me in the morning to captain a Brighton player and really I should have listened. Hindsight is a beautiful thing.
Everton swept aside Leeds 3-0 at Goodison Park to give Frank Lampard his first league win. It was only 2-0 at half-time so I expected a real fightback from Leeds only for the worst possible thing to happen. My captain Raphinha was taken off at half-time by Marcelo Bielsa!...I wanted to cry, a whole two points from my captain in a pivotal week, an absolute shambles. Someone give me Bielsa's number so he can understand my 'raph!', see what I did there? My former player Rodrigo smashed the woodwork twice as Leeds were a little unlucky not to find the net. Richarlison grabbed the third goal to vindicate Ravi's transfer. In the late kick off, Manchester City strolled to a 4-0 win over Norwich. Unfortunately for Ravi Pep ‘Roulette’ reared its ugly head again after mainly being quiet thus far and Joao Cancelo who we both had was benched, as well as Ravi’s captain Kevin De Bruyne. Raheem Sterling helped himself to a hat-trick despite missing a penalty. There was some good news for my opponent however as Ruben Dias got an assist to go with his clean sheet points. With Cancelo not coming on this meant I got Mitchell's clean sheet points...if only Foster had been on the bench too ('cries in missed differential').
Sunday saw Liverpool win 1-0 away at Burnley. Fabinho scored a very Burnley-like goal to get the three points, bundling the ball in after his initial effort was saved. Kabbadi FC got a taste of their own medicine here. Salah could have setup Jota when the Portuguese came on in the second half but he delayed his pass and Jota was denied. At the same time; Newcastle won 1-0 at home to Aston Villa. Kieran Trippier who I have mentioned before scored the only goal, but just as I was thinking of getting him in too my team he got injured. Luckily for me Saint-Maximin blanked but saying that Jacob Ramsey did not deliver for me either. This also meant nothing from Coutinho. Also at 2pm; Roy Keane has always said that you cannot rely on Tottenham so why did I not listen? Before you could even blink they were 2-0 down to Wolves and that is how the game ended. I really thought that the Heung-min Son and Kane link up would work wonders but it was not to be. Hugo Lloris really did not cover himself in glory in this game it must be said.
Neither of us had anyone in the 2-2 draw between Leicester and West Ham later that Sunday. In the midweek clash between Manchester United and Brighton however Tariq Lamptey started on the bench as United won 2-0. Cristiano Ronaldo who many had captained for the Red Devils' double gameweek produced a great finish for the first goal and Bruno Fernandes grabbed a second right at the death. These goals did not effect the head-to-head as I had already won, but overall it was very damaging. Fernandes was another popular captain pick, so with his goal and other players I do not have like Jarrod Bowen scoring my score this week was nowhere near competitive. I only top three classic leagues now whilst I stay in 7th place in the Justice League. Next up could be the most defining gameweek of the season...
@DubulDee
Commentaires