I was attempting to extend my head-to-head unbeaten run to seven games, but my opponent was Emmanuel (E-Man), who lay second in the table. It was his first season in the 'Justice League' and I was regretting asking him to get involved this campaign as he was doing so well.
Emmanuel had never been one to shy away from making transfers, and this made me overthink. I expected him to make a few this week, so I believed it would be okay this to take a points-hit. I sold Miguel Almiron finally as Newcastle were playing Liverpool, so I would not have started him regardless. The Magpies because of the Carabao Cup against Manchester United also blank in gameweek 25 so it made sense to let him go. I also sold the injured Rodrigo Moreno as his price was plummeting everyday since his injury. In came James Maddison and Leeds' Crysensio Summerville. Summerville has had some good returns this season and he now looked in favour again since Jesse Marsch was axed. He looked very lively last week against Manchester United at home, so as I only had a limited amount after getting Maddison in I went for Summerville as an alternative to Andreas Pereira. When the deadline passed after all the thinking and planning inevitably Emmanuel did not make any transfers...typical. I had considered selling Rodrigo for James Ward Prowse and not taking a points-hit, but I did not want Maddison's price to go up any more than it had, it may have been the better decision in hindsight. I left my captaincy with Kevin De Bruyne whilst my opponent obviously gave his to Haaland.
The action began at Villa Park in the lunch time kick off. Aston Villa raced into an early lead through a clinical Ollie Watkins finish. Arsenal were to be behind for only ten minutes however as Emmanuel extended his early lead over me. Bukayo Saka smashed in a great half volley to level things up, 17 goal contributions for Saka now as his great campaign continues. Phillippe Coutinho who was a surprise starter for Villa finished off a slick team move to put Unai Emery's men back in front. Another Arsenal player my opponent had was Eddie Nketiah and he struck the bar. The Gunners levelled with a Oleksandr Zinchenko goal from a smartly taken corner. The game looked destined for a draw but then there was a grandstand conclusion. Emiliano Martinez does not play for Mikel Arteta's men anymore but his own goal put them ahead in injury time as Jorginho's effort crashed the woodwork and then went in off the Villa keeper. Martinez then came up for a corner but Arsenal cleared the ball and substitute Gabriel Martinelli (the last Arsenal player Emmanuel had), had an open goal and finished matters off at 4-2. With the points-hit I had taken I messaged Emmanuel to already concede defeat seen as two of his men had scored. As Leandro Trossard started ahead of Martinelli I thought I had got away with him not returning if he came on late but it was not to be.
In the 3pm games, I needed David Raya to keep a clean sheet as Brentford took on Crystal Palace but again I was left disappointed. Eberechi Eze only started on the bench, but within six minutes of coming on in the second half he headed Patrick Vieira's men into the lead. Vitaly Janelt levelled as it ended 1-1 at the G-Tech Stadium. At the Amex Stadium, Brighton missed some good chances and eventually were beaten by Fulham. This meant a blank from Kaoru Mitoma for me as another differential in this head-to-head contest left me hanging. Manor Soloman (£4.9m) grabbed Fulham's winner with a fine strike after being fed by Carlos Vinicius. Kepa Arrizabalaga was my opponents' keeper and he was denied a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea fell to Southampton. You can guess who got the as James Ward-Prowse scored yet another free-kick, I should have put him in after all.
I was hoping Wilfried Gnonto could deliver for me as Leeds travelled to Everton, but it turned out to be another blank as the Toffees won 1-0. Veteran Seamus Coleman (£4.4m) was the matchwinner as Illan Meslier left his near post exposed and paid for it. I think Meslier thought the game was over as he left so much room. Things were not looking good for Manchester City's trip to Nottingham Forest as Riyad Mahrez who had been a key figure for me recently was only on the bench. For anyone expecting a drubbing for Forest they were mistaken, and this was all despite City taking the lead. Bernardo Silva put Pep Guardiola's men in front, but they missed chances and were punished as Forest got a well worked equaliser from Chris Wood. Mahrez's non-appearance meant I got Crysensio Summerville's points off the bench, so it was a real shame he blanked. Emmanuel who also had Mahrez was to get Andreas Pereira's three points off of his bench. The whole point of leaving the captaincy with De Bruyne was as I thought they would deal with Forest but what a waste. Bournemouth do not score many so you can forgive me for thinking that Wolves would keep a clean sheet against them but the Cherries came out on top. Marcus Tavernier got the only goal just after the restart as it ended 1-0. So a blank for Hugo Bueno.
In the late game; Newcastle who seem to be live at 5.30pm every Saturday entertained Liverpool. The Reds who have been an absolute shambles this season started really well and raced into a two-goal lead. Firstly, Darwin Nunez controlled Trent-Alexander-Arnold's ball before firing in and then Cody Gakpo finished a nice team move to make it 2-0. Then it somehow got worse for the Magpies. Nick Pope auditioned for the NBA as he missed the ball with his head and then handled the ball well outside of his penalty area. Pope was duly sent off but then after that ironically Eddie Howe's men improved. They could not find the target but nonetheless there were signs of encouragement as it ended 2-0. A clean sheet for Andy Robertson was good news, but Mo Salah produced again when I did not own him as he assisted the Gakpo goal. Kieran Trippier for once did not return, so this game did not produce anything for my opponent. Saturday's end saw me behind 25-21.
Sunday opened with Leicester's trip to Manchester United. The Foxes cut through United many times early on but could not find the back of the net. Erik ten Hag's men then took the lead through you know who Marcus Rashford. That guy 'Meek Meals' just cannot stop can he, he fired low into the net after a good pass from Bruno Fernandes. Danny Ward could maybe have done more to deter him. Emmanuel is a United fan, so of course he had Rashford, so it was definitely over if it was not already for me. Rashford further added to his tally in the second half this time after being found by Fred. It looked offside but it was given after more 'questionable' line drawing by VAR, again question marks over Ward here. Jadon Sancho added a third as United kept the pressure on near the top of the table. Maddison's blank meant taking a hit to get him in priced to be pointless, hopefully it will pay off in the long run however.
Tottenham beat West Ham 2-0 in the gameweeks last match putting to bed any chance of some scant consolation for me. I had Emerson Palmieri in my defence so would not have minded a blank from Harry Kane as my opponent had Kane too. It was the other Emerson, Royal, who surprised by getting the opening goal before Kane assisted substitute Heung-min Son for the second.
So in the end it was a really straightforward win for Emmanuel as my unbeaten run came to an abrupt end as it finished in a 51-29 thrashing. I dropped a place in the head-to-head league but it was not the most dramatic fall in my subpar standing overall as the scores this week were not as high as usual with the likes of Haaland and De Bruyne blanking. I went from getting thr highest score (93) in the Justice League last week, to the lowest this week. Gameweek 25 cannot come around quick enough.
@DubulDee
Comments