Gameweek 26 saw me pitted against one of my longtime friends Jermaine. He was in mid-table in the 'Justice League' but still had a very good team, so after being crushed by Jacques last week I was more than wary of his threat.
Despite the challenge that he posed I was adamant that I was not going to make any transfers. This was long-term planning on my behalf with there being some critical gameweeks coming up. With postponed fixtures getting shoehorned in this was why I had held on to my bonus chips for so long. There was a real chance to close the gap on some people and bring a form of respectability to my subpar campaign. My opponent did not make any transfers either. I captained Riyad Mahrez and he gave his captaincy to Bukayo Saka.
The action kicked off at the Etihad Stadium. While we were recording the #FootyOnTop Show on OnTopFM (95.5FM), Khurram (K) messaged to inform me that there were vicious rumours that Mahrez was on the bench, with me being so busy and it being so close to 11am I just left my team as it was. The reason I did not panic was I had a very strong feeling that I should make Kaoru Mitoma my captain, so as he was my vice captain, I just had to pray that Mahrez did not come on if he was not to start. When the team news came in Mahrez was indeed on the bench. In the game; Manchester City were not at their best but still had enough to get a 2-0 home win over Newcastle. Jermaine had Manuel Akanji, so I had hoped the Magpies could find the net and they almost did as Sean Longstaff, Callum Wilson and Joelinton all had chances. Phil Foden had successive double figure hauls as he got the first goal, and substitute Bernardo Silva got the second after a good touch by Erling Haaland (who we of course both had) into his path. Thankfully Mahrez was not brought on, so now all eyes were on Mitoma. With Nick Pope being my opponents keeper and him having Sven Botman too, I had to be grateful there was no massive return from them, though I would have loved a goal from Eddie Howe's men.
In the 3pm kick offs; Bournemouth scored after just nine seconds away at Arsenal through Phillip Billing. This was good for me, as with Jermaine being a Gunners fan he had three of their men, so there was no return from William Saliba. The Cherries went into a shock 2-0 lead in the second half as Marcos Senesi headed in a corner but Mikel Arteta's men fought back. Thomas Partey and Ben White drew things level, before Reiss Nelson won the game in the 97th minute. Despite me not being happy at Bournemouth letting them comeback, none of Arsenal's main men produced goal contributions. Blanks from Saka (Jermaine's captain) and Martin Odegaard gave me some early hope of a victory. I have Bournemouth keeper Neto to thank for that as he made a double stop from Odegaard and Saka. Brighton strolled to a 4-0 triumph at home to West Ham, as David Moyes was put under more pressure. I was hoping for Mitoma to produce as he was now my captain, and he got me off to a good start. He won a penalty and it was put away by Alexis MacAllister. Mitoma was to add a goal too as he slid in at the back post for the Seagulls' third goal, 'great stuff!'. Jermaine had the Japanese international too, but getting double his points was crucial considering Mahrez could have came on for a few minutes and things could have been all so different. Ironically I had Emerson Palmieri feature in this game too, so he got me a big fat zero points, but I accepted it.
I had two Leeds men as they travelled to Chelsea but neither of my enabling players in Wilfried Gnonto or Crysensio Summerville produced. Gnonto was actually left on the bench and only came on in the 68th minute as it ended 1-0 to the home side. Jermaine and I both owned Harry Kane but Tottenham were beaten 1-0 away at Wolves after not taking one of the good chances they created.
I feared the late kick off as Southampton hosted Leicester. I sold James Maddison due to his continuous injury fitness issues and Jermaine had him in his team. In the end Maddison did not return as his late cross was headed against the woodwork by Harry Souttar. Despite getting away with that this game still hurt me. I put David Raya in goal as I was unsure if Leicester could hold out, but Danny Ward saved a James Ward-Prowse penalty, but three minutes later Carlos Alcaraz won the game for the Saints. Ward walked away with a double figure haul that had me shaking my head. Saturday ended with us tied on 35 points. Jermaine only had Cody Gakpo left to play however, whilst I also too had Gakpo, along with David Raya, James Tarkowski, Andy Robertson and Mo Salah still left. So unless hell froze over I was going to win regardless just with them regardless of if any of them returned.
Sunday began with Nottingham Forest and Everton at the City Ground. Everton took the lead twice but Steve Cooper's men came back twice as it ended all square. Brennan Johnson who I used to own, bagged a brace, meaning bringing in Tarkowski for last weeks' double game week has been one of my worst FPL moves of all-time. Everton have not kept a clean sheet in any of the three games since and to add to that Tarkowski has been booked in two of those games. The reunion of him and Sean Dyche is worse than the Coming To America sequel! Just like Emerson, Tarkowski got me a big fat zero!
So now to Anfield. Many had said this was Manchester United's best chance of winning away at Liverpool since the 2015/16 campaign. After a decent first half showing where United could have found the net, Gakpo, a man United tried to sign gave Jurgen Klopp's men the lead just before half-time. Now that is what you call tragic irony. Points for Jermaine and I then, but the great thing here was that he was supplied by a lovely pass from Robertson, 'give me points!'. Little did Erik ten Hag's men know they were to be absolutely blitzed in the second half as Liverpool scored six goals to win 7-0! Yes you read correctly! I was in ecstasy, I was so gassed I did not make as much money from it as I should have. Gakpo, Darwin Nunez (another man United wanted) and Mo Salah were all at the double, but the biggest cheer was for the last goal by Roberto Firmino who will be leaving in the summer. Liverpool have had some shocking moments at the back this campaign but my nephews' under 15's team have performed better at the back than the Red Devils did in the second period. On Gakpo's second goal, which was Liverpool's third, Salah sent Lisandro Martinez for a hotdog and cheesecake at the same time before supplying Gakpo. All in all my Liverpool trio accumulated a whopping 44 points.
On Monday, Brentford won 3-2 at home to Fulham. So I could have an extra nine points if I did not bench Ward with Raya conceding. But I had a very good week, and you cannot get every decision right in FPL, as I went on to win 81-49. My first win in three games then but I stay in only 16th in the head-to-head league. In a lower scoring week than usual I moved up over 800,000 places in the world. With some important gameweeks coming up I have some big decisions to make. There has not been much for me to shout about this season but this week was fun, now excuse me as I am going to buy a bottle of 7 Up.
@DubulDee
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