The international break was finally over and it was time to restart the stress of FPL. Despite a decent start to the campaign in overall points I had lost two of my three head-to-head games. Chad was my opponent this week who any longstanding readers will know is one of the biggest wind-up merchants in the league so a defeat was not in consideration for me. Just like the team he supports Arsenal he had lost all his three opening games and I needed to make sure it was four defeats for him in a row or I would never hear the end of it.
With Leeds hosting Liverpool at Elland Road this week I was not going to start Patrick Bamford or Raphinha; so therefore I decided to sell Bamford and bring in Michail Antonio. Antonio had started the season averaging 13.3 points a game, I did not think it was going to continue but Chad had him so I decided to try and neutralise. I have quite a bad history when it comes to bringing players in who are hot in-form but Antonio's price has already shot up from £7.5m to £7.9m so as Bamford's price had dropped from £8m to £7.9m I decided to get him in now. When the deadline passed I saw that Chad had not made any transfers, this is very unlike him as he is predominantly trigger-happy.
The week's action started at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace and Tottenham locked horns in the London Derby. I actually could have attended this game but I found out very late and with the 'Wireless Festival' going on at Crystal Palace for the first time I had to decide against it. Due to the traffic it was not feasible as obviously I record the 'FootyOnTop' Show on a Saturday morning. I made a late decision to include Tyrick Mitchell in my starting XI and took out Southampton's Tino Livramento. I had a thought about playing all 5 of my defenders as Livramento has got forward well and has looked dangerous but I left it alone. Heung-min Son had been a major doubt with a calf issue and did not make the Spurs side, I had considered selling him. Wilfried Zaha had been a player I have used a lot in the past but with Palace travelling to Liverpool in gameweek 5 I did not think getting him in for Son 100% made sense as that would have meant a points deduction so did not pull the trigger on it. I was to rue not getting Zaha in as he scored the opener from the penalty spot, and then set up Odsonne Eduoard for the second as the Eagles eventually won 3-0 against Spurs' ten men. Edouard also added the third and at £6.5m could you may see him in my side as I have been a fan since seeing him in his early days at Celtic. In regards to Edouard big up Coach Kojo from 3 In Midfield podcast, he is not in the 'Justice League' but is in my traditional scoring 'League of Gentleman' and he smartly transferred in Edouard. Connor Gallagher was the best player on the pitch and he assisted that second goal for Edouard and at £5.6m with just 3.6% ownership he is another Palace player on my shortlist. In terms of fantasy football Gallagher also got an assist for the penalty as his ball in caused the handball by Ben Davies. Chad had Dele Alli so it was good to see him blank here. Mitchell made an important clearance off the line in the 73rd minute to maintain the clean sheet for Palace.
Right so now to the 3pm kick offs. In a game I thought would be littered with goals in true FPL fashion Southampton and West Ham finished goalless. This meant putting Mitchell in instead of Livramento did not make a difference as they both got clean sheet points. This of course meant the Antonio experiment did not work and to make it worse he got himself sent off at the end, "thanks Michail, much appreciated mate!". Given his injury record with West Ham being in Europe he probably did it on purpose to give himself a rest next week against Manchester United, we see you Michail you are probably playing 3D chess out here. Vladimir Coufal's clean sheet points were the only good thing for me here. We both had Tomas Soucek but he only got 3 points. Another game I thought would have goals in but just had one as was at the King Power Stadium as Manchester City edged out Leicester . Chad had Jamie Vardy and he had a tight offside call deny him the opener but it was the correct call. Joao Cancelo's second half shot was blocked and Bernardo Silva won the game meaning that Cancelo got a 'fantasy' assist. The Portuguese full back was also to end up with maximum bonus points, 'good times!', my defence was stacking points a rarity for me. Chad had Ederson in goal so got clean sheet points but he also had Caglar Soyuncu who was booked.
Old Trafford oversaw the return of the prodigal son Cristiano Ronaldo. The United social media accounts have not tweeted about him much have they so you may have missed the fact he was back. Manchester United beat Newcastle 4-1 and Cristiano bagged a brace because of nonsense in the Newcastle goal from Freddie Woodman. Luckily Chad never had Cristiano like everyone else seems to but he did have my nemesis Bruno Fernandes who crashed in a goal from outside the box. Nothing from Joe Willock however who Chad also had so that was good. Brighton inflicted Brentford's first defeat of the season with a clever injury time strike from Leandro Troussard, so some welcome clean sheet points for Robert Sanchez as my back line continued to carry me this week. Of course this meant no goal for Ivan Toney but I will continue to keep faith with him as Brentford play Wolves next. Toney almost scored an audacious effort from near the centre circle in the first half.
I gave Emmanuel Dennis his first start in my team but he could not make a contribution as Watford were beaten 2-0 by Wolves. Arsenal got their first win of the season at home to Norwich, Chad had Kieran Tierney who got a bonus point on top of his clean sheet points. In the late kick off Chelsea beat Aston Villa 3-0; Romelu Lukaku had 2 very good goals in this one. Chad had Danny Ings as his captain but he blanked so Saturday ended with us tied on 35 points, but I had my three Liverpool men to play and he had no one else left. So unless there was to be a collapse of epic proportions I would win even if it was just by a few points.
With none of us having any players in the last game Monday's match at Goodison Park where Everton beat Burnley 3-1, the last battle to comment on was on the day prior; Sunday's contest at Elland Road as Leeds met Liverpool. I had initially given the captaincy to Mo Salah but searching for differentials I switched and gave it to Diogo Jota. Liverpool started well and took the lead through Salah after it was set up on a plate for him by Trent Alexander-Arnold. Two of my players combining, 'great stuff!' My captain Jota should have had an assist when he did well to find space and cut the ball back for Sadio Mane but the Senegalese missed when it seemed easier to score. Jota almost scored himself but could not find the corner with his effort and Ilhan Meslier saved. Mane; bless him, he had a horrible game, it seemed like he was playing for Leeds at a stage with his poor decision making but he did get a goal at the end after somehow avoiding being subbed. Liverpool went on to win 3-0 and I quite happily took 26 points from this game as Alexander-Arnold got the maximum bonus points.
So my 2nd win of the head-to-head campaign was only good enough to move me up to 10th. Overall I have 265 points which would normally be a total I would be content with but I still have ground to make up as this is the first gameweek where my captain has not found the net. I am only top of three classic leagues and one of those I am level on points with my friend Kevin. With Antonio out for gameweek 5 I have a big call to make.
@DubulDee
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