As the gameweeks pile up before the start of the World Cup, I needed a win against my friend (Coach) Kojo. I had been embarrassed against Ash in gameweek 10, and I needed to restore some much needed pride, as I had fallen even further away from the pack in the Justice League.
With the sharp turnaround to gameweek 12 looming, I was never going to make more than one transfer. With Manchester City blanking in gameweek 12, as their match with Arsenal had been called off, I decided to sell Erling Haaland. Haaland, is a machine and it sounds crazy doesn't it? But I had no money in the bank, and as I would have benched him anyway as City were playing my team Liverpool, it was the right time. Back into my side came Harry Kane, who despite scoring in every game this season bar the opening game, no one cares because of Haaland's astounding scoring rate. When the deadline passed I saw that Kojo, had made two transfers, meaning he had taken a 4-point hit. He let go of Andreas Pereira and Ivan Perisic to get in Leandro Trossard and Lewis Dunk. He had clearly targeted the Brentford and Brighton fixture that opened the gameweek, but I had three Brentford men, so if they did a job I would be in a good position early on. I captained Heung-min Son, while he of course captained the machine that is Haaland.
So the action started on Friday, with the aforementioned game between Brighton and Brentford. The Seagulls started brightly, and Moises Caicedo and Danny Welbeck could have given them the lead. Bryan Mbeumo struck the bar for the Bees, before Ivan Toney gave the home side the lead with a deft flick from Frank Onyeka's cutback. It was a lovely finish. David Raya, who I had in goal, was in inspired form, making a plethora of saves in the midst of Toney grabbing a brace, as he converted a second half penalty that he won himself. I had earlier procrastinated about having Rico Henry in my defence as if Thomas Frank's men had conceded then it would have been detrimental, but in hindsight it would have been the right thing to do. Alexis MacAllister blanked but I took that on the chin as the game had produced for me. Kojo's double up on Dunk and Trossard did not do the job he needed. Friday had me leading 24-11 as Kojo also owned Toney.
Saturday; began with a stalemate as Leicester and Crystal Palace drew at the King Power Stadium. Leicester are deciding to keep clean sheets now whenever Danny Ward is on my bench. Because of Raya's heroics this week would this normally would not have mattered however Kojo had Ward in his team. We both owned James Maddison, who put a really good chance wide in the second half, and Vicente Guaita saved the effort he later got on target. In the two 3pm games I had mixed emotions. Fulham drew 2-2 with Bournemouth at Craven Cottage. Alexsandar Mitrovic, was passed fit and in the starting XI to my relief, and he was the second of my forwards to score from the penalty spot which salvaged a point for the Cottagers. Before all that it was the Dominic Solanke show, as he scored and assisted for the Cherries. Andreas Pereira assisted Fulham's first goal as his corner was headed in by Issa Diop. Me and Kojo were both paying the price for selling Andreas.
With Wolves' lack of goals I was hoping Nottingham Forest got their second clean sheet of the campaign, but it was not to be as Wolves won 1-0 through a Ruben Neves penalty. Kojo had actually contemplated putting Neves into his side, but he went with Trossard so this must have been hard for him to take. Forest had the chance to level from the spot themselves, but Brennan Johnson (a man I formerly owned) had his penalty saved by Jose Sa. Steve Cooper's men not finding the net was bad news for me as my opponent had Jonny Castro in his backline. The late Saturday contest was between Tottenham and Everton. The Toffees set up to stifle the home side, and were doing well until Jordan Pickford's error. England's number one failed to grasp a shot properly and Kane got there ahead of him, there was contact from Pickford but Kane fell like he had been hit repeatedly with a cane. Pickford did not help his cause by slumping his head to the pitch which basically made the referee's mind up. Kane, tucked the penalty away comprehensively to complete the set of all my forwards scoring from the spot. Son, was lively but could not find the net to justify me giving hm the captaincy, as Spurs went on to win 2-0. With Kojo also having Kane, Saturdays conclusion saw me ahead 50-34.
Sunday; was jam packed, with no less than five games. I needed Aston Villa to shutout Chelsea and Mason Mount, but Tyrone Mings had other ideas. Mings' terrible header allowed Mount to score a straightforward opener. Everyone thought the goalkeeping performance of the week had already come from David Raya, but Kepa Arrizabalaga produced some remarkable saves, especially in the first half to Steven Gerrard's dismay. Mount copped a brace with a free-kick that at first looked great, but then on the replay you saw that Emiliano Martinez got his positioning all wrong despite the very good effort. Kojo left Gabriel Martinelli on his bench, so neither of us had anyone featuring in Arsenal's 1-0 win at Leeds that was delayed due to a power cut.
Times have changed when you know people are considering doubling up on Newcastle players at the back in a away game against Manchester United. With numerous people owing Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier this was the discussion within some people in the FPL Community. If they did indeed double up then they were to be rewarded as the game ended in an incident-ridden goalless draw. I had Fabian Schar so got two bonus points as well as the clean sheet points, but Kojo was to only get one point as Matt Targett only came on towards the end of the match. Marcus Rashford's blank was to leave further disappointment for Kojo. To my surprise, Emerson, started for West Ham away at Southampton, but the Saints took the lead and he was substituted before the hour mark, so all I got was a solitary point. I knew then I had messed up at not playing Brentford's Henry. Declan Rice made sure the Hammers got a precious point.
So to the highlight of the gameweek; the top from last season Liverpool and Manchester City battling it out at Anfield. Liverpool usually go toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola's men, but a change in formation from Jurgen Klopp, saw them sit off City and soak up pressure. Haaland threatened but Liverpool defended well throughout, and Alisson was in great form. City had a goal disallowed for a shirt pull by Haaland on Fabiano, and Liverpool were to get a hard-fought 1-0 victory. Mo Salah when through earlier on had his shot saved brilliantly by Ederson, but when he was through again after a superb ball from Alisson, he spun Joao Cancelo and slotted in the winner. With Salah outdoing Haaland, I had won the head-to-head, 'yaaay!'.
So it was nice to get a win in what has been a disaster of a season thus far. Kojo was unlucky as I thought Mount's 15-point haul had put him in a position for a comeback win. The good thing about this week overall was that the heavily owned Haaland and Gabriel Jesus did not return, of course meaning many were affected. 18 out of the 20 of us in the Justice League captained Haaland, allowing my score of 67 to narrowly be the highest this week. Gameweek 12 is here almost immediately so no time to rest on your laurels. Hopefully I can gain consecutive victories.
@DubulDee
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