My opposition this week was another of my radio co-presenters in 'Big' Sam. Sam came second last season in the ‘Justice League’ but this time around he was fighting a hypothetical relegation.
As said the plan was always to use my second ‘Wildcard’ this week for the double gameweek, I have never had the opportunity to field an XI who were all playing two games so I thought that I would give it a go. I knew things do not always go to plan for a double gameweek but my season had been a disaster for the most part anyway so why not try it?
With the #FootyOnTop show starting at 10am and our other host Darren B. (D-Man) away this week the opening hour of the show was so busy that we both forgot to make any last-minute changes to our teams before the 11am deadline. Mind you this gave me no real advantage as the last time Sam forgot to do his team, he defeated me anyway, so I was more than wary. I was happy with my team but then thought my late change on Friday to insert Jarrod Bowen for James Maddison may not work. Would it have been better to go in with at least one man playing just one game? I had Dominic Solanke on my bench playing against a struggling Leeds team but never had the chance to change things. Sam’s bench was filled with Brighton players whereas I had three Brighton men in my XI. Sam and I both had Mo Salah as captain. I made my team thinking Sam would use his second wildcard before getting to the studio, but he at least still has it up his sleeve when literally everyone would have used theirs now.
The action began early on Saturday with a London Derby as Crystal Palace met West Ham at Selhurst Park. Despite the fact Palace had been scoring freely since Roy Hodgson's return, I had two men from the Hammers thinking they would turn up in their battle for survival. What ensued was an insane first period that had five goals in it. You would have been forgiven if you thought pre-game due to the circumstances it may have been low scoring but Palace led 3-2 at the interval. Emerson was back in my team but he had a torrid first half and was duly subbed at half-time. Michael Olise now out of my team laid on the Eagles' first goal for Jordan Ayew. Hodgson's men went on to win 4-3 and another man I let go of Eberechi Eze essentially won the game from the penalty spot. Jarrod Bowen's blank meant as David Moyes' men's second outing was against Manchester City the lure of playing all double gameweek players looked setup to backfire.
In the two 3pm games; Brentford went behind at home to Nottingham Forest but a Ivan Toney free-kick levelled things up, as players I previously owned continued to shine, Sam owned Toney so this made it worse. The Bees were to steal an injury time win through a Josh Da Silva goal. My opponent also had Ben Mee so at least there were no further points. As previously mentioned double gameweeks just never seem to go to plan and Brighton wrung the changes for their home game with Wolves. Jason Steele started in goal, but Kaoru Mitoma was only on the bench. At the 11th hour I changed from getting Alexis Mac Allister back in to acquiring Solly March instead. March started but came off after only 56 minutes as Roberto De Zerbi's men ran riot in a 6-0 demolition job. Danny Welbeck was at the double and if he was not so expensive at £6.5m he would be really useful until Evan Ferguson is fully fit as he had an assist to go with his goals. Youngster Julio Enciso was in my original wildcard draft and he assisted twice. Pervis Estupinan decided to assist when I let him go as this game continued to bemuse me. Denis Undav and Pascal Gross both also had braces. Sam would have been sick to the back teeth as Estupinan was on his bench.
Sunday saw Manchester City go a step closer to the title with a 2-1 win at Fulham. In what had been a sporadic instance this season Erling Haaland was a differential for me in a head-to-head contest and he opened the scoring from the penalty spot. This meant Haaland became the joint-highest scorer in a single Premier League campaign, considering they used to play a 42-game season this is unreal from him, the man is a machine. Julian Alvarez scored a brilliant second goal and thankfully it was assisted by Riyad Mahrez. Alvarez had also won the earlier penalty so those that took a chance to get him in were vindicated. Unfortunately for Sam the Cottagers' Andreas Pereira came off injured and will miss the rest of the season. He would have definitely had at least two City players so this game would have really hurt him. Manchester United edged past Aston Villa 1-0 at Old Trafford through a deflected Bruno Fernandes goal. This meant no return for Sam from Ollie Watkins. He did get some points at St James' Park however. Alexander Isak supplied Callum Wilson with the first goal of a brace as the Magpies beat Southampton 3-1. Even when Eddie Howe's men concede Kieran Trippier seems to get himself amongst the bonus points but no such luck this time around.
Sundays last game took place at Anfield as Liverpool entertained Tottenham. Spurs looked like having another away embarrassment as the Reds raced into a 3-0 lead after just 15 mins. Newcastle got 5 in 21 minutes against the North London outfit so Jurgen Klopp's men should be ashamed of themselves really. Sam had Trent Alexander-Arnold and his ball to the back post was put in by Curtis Jones to open things. I reluctantly let go of Cody Gakpo as I made Diogo Jota my third Liverpool player and Gakpo made the second goal for Luis Diaz. Dutchman Gakpo was then upended by Cristian Romero and Mo Salah stepped up for the penalty. With the Egyptian missing his last two spot kicks I thought Fabinho who take it, but it was to be Salah so I walked out of the room. I heard my sister and my nephew cheer so then knew he had scored, so more points for Sam and I. The home sides defending had been predominantly questionable this campaign and they somehow allowed Ryan Mason's men to pull it back to 3-3. Harry Kane scored his 25th league goal of the season but no one cared because of the machine that is Haaland. Ivan Perisic sent Virgil van Dijk for a hotdog to assist Kane which gave Sam points. Heung-Min Son (£11.5m) scored and is now finally looking a solid FPL asset for the remainder of the season. In injury time, Richarlison, just stayed onside for the equaliser from a set-piece so he took his shirt off for the right reason in the league for the first time. All this happened only for substitute Lucas Moura to forget what team he plays for and play a back pass straight to Diogo Jota who expertly drilled the ball in left footed for Liverpool to get the three points...scenes! Andy Robertson had a stinker but at least my other Reds man in Jota came through. Sunday concluded with Sam ahead 45-44.
Tuesday saw another London Derby as Chelsea travelled to Arsenal. The scene was set for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to dent his former club in their title pursuit but he and his teammates did nothing as the Gunners strolled to a 3-1 triumph. Sam had Martin Odegaard and he helped himself to two goals that were both assisted by Granit Xhaka. The first being the pick of the two. With me having no players in the match this extended his lead to 16 points.
On Wednesday; Liverpool completed their double gameweek by edging out Fulham 1-0. The only goal came from the penalty spot as Salah left his owners happy once again. He had regained my confidence so I did not have to leave the room for this one. Bad news for me as Robertson did not start, but Sam profited handsomely here as the Liverpool clean sheet meant returns from Alexander-Arnold, and Alisson who also got the maximum bonus as he made a couple of crucial saves. Manchester City were struggling to break down West Ham and at half-time Arsenal fans would have been hopeful of a blip, but they went on to win to score three times in the second half. First, Nathan Ake headed in Mahrez's free-kick (yay!) and then Haaland broke the Premier League record for goals in a season with an exquisite finish when put through by Jack Grealish. Phil Foden volleyed in the third goal via a deflection. The clean gave me more points from Stones to so a really fruitful game here.
Thursday's only encounter and the last match of the gameweek was Brighton at home to Manchester United. Mitoma started this match but was extremely wasteful. Steele looked comfortable on the ball and made some good saves, but March shot wide when he came off the bench and held onto the ball far too long at times. It looked destined for a goalless draw when Luke Shaw thought he was playing volleyball. March looked like he would take the spot kick, then Mac Allister who we all presumed would take it took the ball and showed he has ice in his veins as he cooly put the ball into the top corner. I had only put March in as I had not owned him at any point this season but deciding to go for him instead of Mac Allister proved costly to my overall score as the Argentine ended with 11 points to March's 1 on Thursday. Nonetheless I still just got the win 104-99 to Sam's dismay. Steele's clean sheet and bonus points carried me over the line, though Mitoma who blasted an early chance at David De Gea's head had enough chances to win it for me by himself. l will take any win I can get however as this campaign has been a poor one by my standards.
@DubulDee
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