My D&D Football Factory co-host Darren B. (D-Man) was my gameweek 13 opposition. He was a former winner of the 'Justice League', but he had not started the campaign as well as he would have liked. Mind you, this did not take away the threat that he posed, as when he locks in there are not many if any better than him at FPL.
My plans were ripped to pieces this week as Jarrod Bowen had a knee issue. In addition, Kaoru Mitoma trained for Brighton but was ruled out of playing by Roberto De Zerbi. I then could not decide on what to do. As David Moyes said that it was a game-time decision on whether Bowen would feature or not, I decided to sell Mitoma rather than him. If he did play, he would be an overall differential as some people would have sold or at least benched him as he was flagged. I had strongly looked at getting in Pascal Gross (£6.3m), who would be on set pieces with Solly March out. I also wanted Mohamed Kudus (£6.6m), however, as I was not willing to sell Bowen my West Ham quota had been reached making this impossible.
I also looked at Crystal Palace's pair of Eberechi Eze (£6.2m) and Michael Olise (£5.8m) who were back from injury, but I had no idea if the latter would heavily be involved, so I left them alone as I had a feeling Palace may not score anyway. In the end, with an outlook to their next few games I went to Brentford. I had not had any of their players this season yet, and that was a rarity for me since they had been in the Premier League as their assets are always conveniently priced. Bryan Mbeumo came into my team as he was on penalties as well as some of their free-kicks, and he was of course their top scorer. I did not really expect them to beat Arsenal, but I felt he could return. The Bees then being up against Luton (home), Brighton (away) and Sheffield United (away) showed the long-term thinking. In gameweek 17, they have Aston Villa at home, and then they blank in gameweek 18 as they would have been up against Manchester City who will be at the World Club Cup. If I still own Mbeumo by then I would sell him in the blank, but I feel he can get good points beforehand.
When the deadline passed, I saw Darren had sold Tariq Lamptey for Joachim Andersen. He had said while we were recording the #FootyOnTop radio show that he had captained Mo Salah, which I had also done. It was all going to be interesting, but a negative for me was that he had Hee-chan Hwang who was had always been a differential for me this season. Darren and I both owned Alphonse Areola, Matty Cash, Kostas Tsimikas, Ollie Watkins, and Erling Haaland. Haaland as usual was the most captained player.
As Liverpool were pitted in another early kick-off after an international break, they travelled to Manchester City. If possible, I usually bench or sell players coming up against Liverpool, but Haaland stayed in the team due to me not knowing whether Bowen would be fit or not. Ederson denied Darwin Nunez's header from a ball in by Salah, but it was to be the home side who took the lead. Nathan Ake treated Liverpool's midfield like saltfish and run through them before he found Haaland, who controlled the ball and shot past Alisson who got a hand to it. Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez both went close before Ruben Dias had a goal maybe harshly disallowed as Alisson was fouled. Salah, found Nunez again but his near post shot was denied by Ederson, before Jurgen Klopp's men got a late equaliser. Salah played the ball towards the box and Trent Alexander-Arnold found the bottom corner as the teams shared the spoils. I did not care about Haaland's goal as it was against the team I support, and he was only there as a neutraliser. But that Salah assist eased things as it firstly meant we did not lose the game, but it is always nice to not have your captain blank although it gave no head-to-head advantage. Darren had benched Tsimikas, so it would have been lovely if he could have got something but when you consider the opponent it was not a surprise really.
In the 3pm matches, Bowen was not in the squad for West Ham's trip to Turf Moor meaning I would get the points from his teammate Vladimir Coufal who was the first man on my bench. There was to be no clean sheet for Coufal or Areola as Burnley took a deserved lead through a Jay Rodriguez penalty after a foul by Kudus. Areola continued to make saves to keep it at 1-0 and just as it seemed like Vincent Kompany's men would get their first home win, that man Kudus redeemed himself. Kudus' cross was put into his own net by Dara O'Shea for 1-1. Kudus was at it again in injury time as his superb left footed ball in was clinically finished by Tomas Soucek. Soucek who is still only £4.9m and owed by a mere 1.6% has now scored 4 times since I sold him, 'I feel sick!'. Whereas Kudus punished me for my belief in Bowen featuring, I wish Moyes had just firmly ruled him out. Darren was probably thinking Crystal Palace would get a straightforward clean sheet away at Luton, however it was not to be. The Hatters won for the first time at home 2-1. Another of my former players Carlton Morris contributed as he assisted the opening goal which was well taken by Teden Mengi. Olise scored a fine equaliser for Palace as he showed I should have trusted my instincts and got him in. Eze on the other hand almost scored in the first half but then came off injured scuppering any plans of me looking to get him in soon.
Chelsea had turned up in the big games this season, so I had hope as they travelled to Tyneside. The home side were to take the lead however, as Lewis Miley's fine pass was finished off by Alexander Isak, after some questionable defending by Marc Cucurella. Marc was clearly in cloud 'cucu' land as he did not even look at Isak. The Blues instantly replied through a Raheem Sterling free-kick meaning no clean points for either of us as I had Fabian Schar and he had Kieran Trippier. The Magpies went back in front through Jamaal Lascelles, who thankfully Darren had put on his bench. The caveat was it was Anthony Gordon's dangerous cross that provided it and he owned him. Joelinton then seized on an error by Thiago Silva to make it 3. The head-to-head contest then took a huge twist. After Reece James was sent off, Gordon flew forward took a neat touch and then fired low past Robert Sanchez for 4-1 as if the assist was not bad enough. The goal gave Darren some vital breathing space as my hopes seemed gone in a flash, 'damn you Gordon!'. And this was all with Cameron Archer blanking for Darren in Sheffield United's home defeat against Bournemouth. This is the FPL we chose.
In the late Saturday fixture, Brentford were at home to Arsenal. Aaron Ramsdale started in goal as David Raya could not play against his parent club, and Ramsdale looked like he was trying to help Brentford score. The England international dwelled on the ball and Mbeumo almost got the goal I needed if it was not for a block on the line by Declan Rice. Mbeumo also had a shot go just wide, but he was not to deliver for me. The Gunners won the game late on through a header by substitute Kai Havertz. Saturday concluded with Darren ahead 37-27, I messaged him to accept that he had won unless Moussa Diaby put on a proverbial clinic.
Sunday, had a game that did not disappoint between Tottenham and Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Heung-min Son proceeded to get caught offside what seemed like a million times as Tottenham thought they had taken the lead on numerous occasions. Ange Postecoglou's team did break the deadlock in the 22nd minute as Giovani Lo Celso drove in Pedro Porro's corner as another of my ex-players assisted. The away side levelled through Pau Torres (£4.6m) who headed in Douglas Luiz's free-kick as Luiz again returned. Luiz luckily was on Darren's bench, but it was not really to matter in the end. My last differential was the aforementioned Diaby and after an underwhelming first half he was taken off to hand my opponent victory. And that happened without 'Mr Offside' Son returning whom Darren had. My seven-game winning run was over. Whilst everyone targeted Cash, new signing Torres has scored twice since October began. With the Spanish centre half being cheaper than Cash, his ownership will continue to grow. Watkins missed a really good chance but in the second half he was to be the match-winner. Youri Tielemens found Watkins, and he controlled the ball and then found the bottom corner with a slick finish.
In regard to matches that had players in the head-to-head, Monday's encounter at Craven Cottage was the last stop. I was already beaten, but Darren and I both had Hwang, so this was just a case of seeing whether he could get us some points. It would make my total look more respectable if he could as I was stuck in the 30's and thankfully the Korean produced. He hit the bar in the first half but scored a second half penalty in a highly entertaining 3-2 triumph for Fulham. There were three penalties in the game and all of them were contentious. Hwang now has 7 goals this campaign and is amazingly still only owned by 5.7% despite costing just £5.6m. If he is going to continue to be on penalties now, then this is another plus. They have Arsenal next, with the Gunners conceding to opposition they are expected to keep a clean sheet at home against. After that Gary O'Neil's men have Burnley and Nottingham Forest so I will be checking on some of their other players too.
So, the winning streak was abruptly ended in a 51-40 defeat, but I stay top of the Justice League by 2 points. My gameweek score was under the average for the fourth time in the 13 gameweeks meaning I dropped to 309k in the world. The next gameweek cannot get here quick enough.
@DubulDee
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