Gameweek 10 saw me pitted against Ash. Ash was new to the 'Justice League', I knew how good he was at fantasy football so he was the first person I called in off of the standby list as a few players pulled out this time around.
His team looked menacing and I am not one to endorse being a defeatist, but I did not think a victory was likely here. The big hitters were hitting this season bar Mo Salah, and he had many of them in his side. I on the other hand, being a Liverpool fan still lived in hope that the Egyptian could do something. Arsenal were coming up and Salah had a good record against them. With Southampton being Manchester City's opponents it was obvious that everyone would captain Erling Haaland, so as I was clearly trying to beat Ash, I gave my captaincy to Salah. Look, 'hear me out', Ash had let go of Salah, so therefore if he could do something he was a differential, and as I owned his captain Haaland anyway I would get half of his points regardless.
When the deadline passed I saw that Ash sold Luis Diaz and got Phil Foden back into his team. My only change was in another search for a differential. Andreas Pereira (£4.6m) had done well thus far, but despite liking Fulham's forthcoming games Ash had him so I let him go. In came Aston Villa's Jacob Ramsey (£5.2m) who did a good job when I had him last season. Villa were away to Nottingham Forest, and then after a tricky home game against Chelsea they had Fulham and Brentford. I thought I would give me a 4/5 game run and see what he could return.
With no early kick-off on Saturday, the action started at 3pm. Bournemouth hosted Leicester and it looked like another long day for the Cherries as Brendan Rodgers' men took an early lead through Patson Daka. I had strongly considered giving my captaincy to James Maddison as I felt that the Foxes would have some confidence after beating Nottingham Forest. However, we were not prepared for what happened next as Bournemouth once again came from behind to salvage three points. Phillip Billing scored the first, and played a part in the second for Ryan Christie, after good work by Dominic Solanke. Ash and I had Danny Ward in goal and thought we were on for an easy clean sheet before the turnaround. Chelsea beat Wolves 3-0, but Reece James who my opponent had, did not start so only got a single point when he finally came on.
Unlike Leicester, Manchester City did what was expected of them as they eased to a 4-0 triumph over Southampton at the Etihad. The only shock was that Erling Haaland only got one goal. He hit the post before scoring the last of the 4 goals. Before that Ash's man Phil Foden scored and assisted, but the star of the match to my annoyance was points-magnet João Cancelo. Cancelo belted in the first goal and then setup that Haaland goal as he got the maximum bonus points. I was getting crushed and it was not even Sunday yet, 'Ash have mercy, I have a family!'. I had anticipated a tight game between Newcastle and Brentford, but the Magpies flew past the Bees with a 5-1 demolition. Bruno Guimaraes scored two great goals, but if we are to be real then the other three goals were given to Eddie Howe's men. Thomas Frank encourages playing it out from the back, but errors by David Raya (who I thankfully left on my bench) and Ethan Pinnock helped Newcastle on their way. Brentford's consolation was only because of a slightly harsh handball decision given against Dan Burn, and Ivan Toney was never going to miss the penalty. Toney's spot-kick was consolation as Rico Henry blanked. Fabian Schar also blanked for me, but Ash got 7 points from another points-magnet Kieran Trippier.
In the late kick-off I was hoping that Heung-min Son would do something as Tottenham travelled to Brighton. He did cross for Harry Kane to head in what turned out to be the winning goal, but he was not to get on the scoresheet, as it ended 1-0. Kane was in Ash's team so I did not even acknowledge the fact I had got some points. Son had a first half free-kick beaten away by Robert Sanchez, and his brilliant left foot strike from outside the box was ruled out for offside in the second period. With knowing the fact that Alexsandar Mitrovic was unlikely to be fit in time for Fulham's trip to West Ham, Alexis MacAllister was my first substitute, so I was anticipating points but was left disappointed. Ash had a whopping 59 points at Saturday's conclusion and I only had a measly 23.
Sunday, saw West Ham come from behind to beat Fulham 3-1. The Cottagers goal was scored by of course by the man I sold Andreas Pereira, and some goal it was too. He collected the ball and Kurt Zouma thought he had it covered as Pereira is right footed, only for him to find the top corner with his left foot with a beautiful strike. What was most ripping me apart about this was that I had strongly thought about not making a change at all and that would have left me with two free transfers next week. Gianluca Scamacca (£6.7m) who is on my radar got the Hammers' second goal and he may be in soon depending on the length of Mitrovic's injury, which as he did not even make the squad is more serious than I thought.
The biggest game of the weekend came at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal and Liverpool clashed. Arsenal took the lead in the first minute through another of Ash's players Gabriel Martinelli. Liverpool fought back through Darwin Nunez, but the Gunners took the lead again through Bukayo Saka after good work by Martinelli. Roberto Firmino came on for the injured Luis Diaz and he pulled Liverpool level again after a lovely ball from Diogo Jota, only for Mikel Arteta's men to get a late win through a debatable penalty. Salah had a quiet game. but still when you think of the importance of the fixture he was taken off prematurely. I now have a big decision to make on him as midfielders savagely cheaper are delivering much more points.
Neither of us had anyone in the late Sunday match which saw Manchester United win 2-1 at Everton, nevertheless I had already been battered anyway. I still locked into Aston Villa's trip to Nottingham Forest on Monday, to see what Ramsey did. Ramsey tried to play in Ollie Watkins when he should have shot with the game level at 1-1. He had one or two other good runs, bar that all he did was get booked and was eventually taken off. I laughed as it did not make a difference to the overall outcome, but it still would have been nice to him get points for a newly transferred in player.
So a humbling for me this week, with my wildcard already used, I have realised that the major chances that are needed cannot come until the World Cup. Under 30 points is just not acceptable, with the risks taken however these things can happen and that is something that I have to come to terms with. When it is not your week, it is not your week.
@DubulDee
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