My gameweek 29 opponent was my friend Jacques. I was looking for my sixth straight win as I looked to keep the pressure up on the top 4 in the Justice League. My changes in previous weeks were with this gameweek and the following one in mind, but as double gameweeks were announced I had to alter things slightly. My opponent had a good team and I was wary that this was not going to be straightforward by any means.
I considered taking a 8-point hit but decided against it. I wanted to get in another Liverpool midfielder as they had two games so it was between Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota (who had been in my side all season until recently). As Jota started the Champions League game against Inter, I opted for the new signing Diaz, whose low ownership played a factor too as I sold Phillippe Coutinho. The other change I made was to sell James Ward-Prowse for another new signing Tottenham's Dejan Kulusevski. I already knew of the Swedish international from Serie A and as he had settled so quickly this was an easy decision ahead of Spurs' double gameweek. I had toyed with getting Joe Willock in for Jacob Ramsey as Newcastle had two games also, but I viewed this as being too risky and did not want to lose more points. When the deadline had passed I saw Jacques had made only one change which was to sell the injured Jarrod Bowen for the aforementioned Coutinho. We both obviously decided to captain Mo Salah.
The action began at the Amex Stadium as Brighton hosted Liverpool. Diaz started ahead of Jota as I expected and he opened the scoring with a brave header, I smirked on the train on the way home like I had got away with murder. Robert Sanchez should have been sent off for a kick on Diaz that Drew McIntyre would have been proud of, but somehow he escaped punishment. After the goal Andy Robertson fired over and Salah had a decent run but then had a tame shot at goal. Salah had an effort deflected onto the bar in the second half, before Liverpool got a penalty for a handball by Yves Bissouma. Salah converted the penalty but injured himself in the process and was later substituted. Diaz could have had a second at the death but he slipped when through. So 3 points for Liverpool, but Trent Alexander-Arnold (who Jacques had) and Robertson have to thank Alisson for a couple of late saves to cement the clean sheet as it ended 2-0. Jacques had Neal Maupay so I was glad he did not contribute.
Brentford's 2-0 triumph over Burnley saw David Raya get me a clean sheet and Ivan Toney score twice so he now has 5 in 2 games. I had him for a majority of the season and he never got that many goals in that whole time for goodness sake. It seems cutting his locks off have done him the world of good. I changed my original decision and benched Jacob Ramsey for Wout Weghorst only for the Dutchman to deliver nothing. The late kick off saw Manchester United edge Tottenham out 3-2 at Old Trafford. A thunderbolt from Cristiano Ronaldo gave the Red Devils the lead but Harry Kane levelled from the penalty spot. The handball for the spot kick came from a ball in from Kulusevski so the 'fantasy assist' was welcomed by me. United went ahead again soon after only to be pegged back by a second half own goal, before Cristiano won it with a header. Heung-min Son missed a really good chance after good work by Kulusevski and to be honest despite Spurs defeat I should have eaten really well from this game.
On Sunday; no one featured for either of us in Chelsea's late win over Newcastle but we were both affected by the fact that Tino Livramento was not in Southampton's team for the visit of Watford. This meant we would both get our first defender off the benches' points and that ironically was Tariq Lamptey for us both. Southampton lost 2-1 and we were both further perplexed by the fact that Armando Broja did not start. He came on at half-time but to no avail as Watford's Cucho stole the show in the first period. Cucho (£5m) could be a really good enabler as the season climaxes. Wolves won 1-0 at Everton as the pressure mounts on Frank Lampard (no pun intended in terms of the man they said was his son at Chelsea). Conor Coady got the goal and thankfully he was only the second defender on Jacques' bench so it could have been detrimental for me. If Aymeric Laporte missed the game against Crystal Palace however than I was in deep doo doo. Rayan Ait-Nouri was only on the bench meaning I would get Tyrick Mitchell's points off the bench too.
Leeds found a late winner to get past relegation rivals Norwich and it was assisted by the man I let go of a few weeks ago Raphinha. Joe Gelhardt got the winner to provide the 'scenes' at Elland Road, man their fans are brilliant. Raphinha also hit the bar otherwise I would really have been ruing not having him currently. West Ham beat Aston Villa 2-1 at the London Stadium. It had been 2-0 for a short while but to my anguish the man I benched Ramsey scored a late consolation and somehow walked away with the maximum bonus points. The last game saw Arsenal not have much difficulty in a 2-0 home victory over Leicester. Jacques had Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe and I was pleased that none of them contributed. Aaron Ramsdale helped himself to another clean sheet however as Jacques who is an Arsenal fan did get some return from his Gunners triple. At Sunday's conclusion we were tied at 50.
On Monday evening; being a pessimistic Liverpool fan meant I was expecting Manchester City despite having recent difficult games at Selhurst Park to walk all over Crystal Palace, but the Eagles were resilient. City struck the woodwork a few times but could not get through and Palace had a real go offensively too especially in the first half. This meant despite my opponents clean sheet points for Laporte I cancelled that out with my Mitchell points off the bench. The bigger thing was that he had Kevin De Bruyne and he somehow did not get on the scoresheet despite going close numerous times in the first half. Laporte actually put a rebound over from a Joao Cancelo shot that hit the post as well as going close late on with a header.
Wednesday firstly saw Spurs travel to Brighton, and it looked like one of those days as Kane missed an open goal after charging down 'claymore kick' Sanchez. Kane was to get his goal in the second half but that was only after Cristian Romero had given Antonio Conte's men the lead in the first half. I clapped as Son had played the ball to Kulusevski who shot but as I thought he had scored the replay showed it clipped Romero, 'damn'. The fantasy assist went to Kulusevski, then was taken away by the admins before it appeared again at full time, man that was a bit of unnecessary stress. Kulusevski missed a one-on-one also so he could have had a really good evening. In the latter game Liverpool won 2-0 at Arsenal. The Gunners began well without really testing Alisson but Jurgen Klopp's men managed the game well and came through. Diogo Jota always scores against Arsenal and opened the scoring as Ramsdale left his near post more open than a prostitute's legs. Salah who started on the bench came on straight after the goal for Jota but could not get another contribution this week. I am so happy I triple captained him in gameweek 26 I must say. Another substitute Roberto Firmino grabbed the second goal after Robertson showed some mass industry. He blocked a clearance from Saka before sliding it across for a deft finish from Firmino as Liverpool won 2-0. So with no returns from Jacques' Arsenal triple and Robertson's 12-point haul I had won as neither of us had anyone in Thursdays' game between Everton and Newcastle. It was to finish 1-0 to the Toffees, so I am glad I did not lose further points to get Willock in as he only started the second game and did not deliver.
So I have now have 6 straight wins as well as having won 12 out of the last 15 as I stay in 5th place level on points with 4th. I still remain top of 4 classic leagues and I have moved up to 231,821 in the world overall. If only I had the balls to captain Robertson I would have feasted like a king but admittedly Brighton have done well against Liverpool recently and I thought Arsenal nick a goal against us.
@DubulDee
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