Gameweek 2 pitted me against Ash who came 3rd last season in the 'Justice League'. He triumphed over me in both games last campaign so I was more than weary of the threat he caused but it was so early in the proceedings that if I was going to upset one of the favourites for the title then now could be a decent time to do so. We were both looking to bounce back from defeats in our opening matches.
One thing about FPL is if you are indecisive then often you end up getting punished. I had a long hard look at my team, and I was worried about not having enough cover. Luton and Burnley were scheduled to meet for this gameweek but as Kenilworth Road is undergoing some work the contest was postponed. I had three men altogether from the two teams so decided to make a change, therefore if one of my XI was not to feature then I would at least have one player on the bench to step in. I only had £4m to work with as I sold the Clarets' Jordan Beyer in defence and got in Sheffield United's veteran Chris Basham. After scanning the £4m defenders, Basham and his teammate George Baldock were the only ones who started the opening game, so I went for him as Baldock was apparently struggling with a knock. Pedro Porro, had been on the bench for Tottenham's trip to Brentford, so with the man who he is competing with Emerson Royal scoring in that game I was thinking he may be on the bench again. So, with the fact Sheffield United were away at Nottingham Forest in the Friday night game I thought I would try something and start Basham, a risk but I thought it could be an early differential maybe. I captained Mo Salah as he had the easier home fixture than Erling Haaland, whilst Ash like £5.7m others went for 'Mr £14m'. Ash made two transfers meaning a four-point hit as he let go of Bruno Fernandes and the injured Reece James for Luis Diaz and Ben Chilwell.
So, to Friday, and things did not start well ass after all that Basham was only on the bench for the Blades. Forest took an early lead through Taiwo Awoniyi (£6.5m) from a good cross by Serge Aurier. Gustavo Hamer levelled things up with a sumptuous strike into the top corner at the start of the second half. Basham came off the bench just before the hour mark, but Steve Cooper's men were to get the three points as Chris Wood headed another great cross by Aurier to win it at the death. Basically, the plan of a cheeky head-start backfired, Ash, had Matt Turner in goal so at least he blanked too.
There was no early game on Saturday, so we head to the 3pm kick-offs. Neither of us had anyone in the Fulham and Brentford match, but Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa showed once again that they are fine without the suspended Ivan Toney as it ended 3-0. They are proving to be tremendous value right now. Ash and I both had Trent Alexander-Arnold, but Liverpool conceded early at home to Bournemouth as Antoine Semenyo blasted in. Alexander-Arnold was to pick up a knock later on as my curse when having him continued, this was well after he almost found the net as Neto pushed his low shot away. Ash's decision to get Diaz in turned out to be an inspired one as he equalised with a lovely, improvised goal. Shortly after, Joe Rothwell, dangled out a leg and Dominik Szoboszlai channelled his inner Billy Elliot on his home debut to gain the Reds a penalty. Salah, stepped up but Neto parried his spot kick only for the Egyptian to put the rebound in off the post. The main thing is the fact he scored of course, but penalty misses are costly anyway but when it is your captain that is four points lost, but still I was obviously thankful. With Ash not having him this was a real chance to dent his hopes. Despite going down to ten men, Jurgen Klopp's men managed a third goal through Diogo Jota to wrap the three points up as Jota (£8m) was to have a 12-point haul.
In the only other 3pm match, Brighton were to run riot at Wolves. After Gary O'Neil's men played well at Manchester United, you were not to be frowned at if you thought they could give the Seagulls a game, but they found themselves behind after only 15 minutes. Kaoru Mitoma, scored a wonderful individual goal after being found on the halfway line by Pervis Estupinan. Ash, had Estupinan, but Mitoma was not in his squad, I messaged him to inform of my surprise and he said it was an 11th hour decision not to have him as he was in all of his drafts. The same combination put Roberto De Zerbi's men 2-0 up at the beginning of the second period. This time Mitoma was the creator as he cut the ball back for Estupinan to fire low into the net as both players had double figures leading the way in the bonus points system. Estupinan has already risen £0.2m despite it being only two gameweeks in. Solly March, bagged a brace and is looking to be a solid alternative to Mitoma in midfield, both started the campaign at the same price of £6.5m. Julio Enciso (£5.4m) provided both of March's goals and the Paraguayan youngster could be an excellent differential. I was robbed of a Jason Steele clean sheet as Hee-Chan Hwang got a consolation goal.
As stated earlier there was no lunchtime game so there was a teatime encounter and an evening one. Tottenham beat Manchester United 2-0 and for all my overthinking Porro started, so I missed out on a clean sheet. Things could have been worse as he struck the woodwork in the first half. I welcomed the blank from Marcus Rashford. Saturday's final matchup was at the Etihad as Manchester City hosted Newcastle. It was not a bad game by any means but not maybe as enthralling as some may have thought. Pep Guardiola's men were to narrowly gain a 1-0 victory. The goal came from Julian Alvarez, whose accurate shot went into the top corner, and it was assisted by a man Ash and I both owned in Phil Foden. I had lambasted Foden last week for not returning when my initial pick James Maddison got two assists, but Foden came through this time. With the machine that is Haaland not contributing, Salah's goal meant I had made a solid choice despite the missed penalty. When Saturday ended, I had a 52-31 lead, but I was still not as optimistic as you would have thought as Ash still had five people to play and I only had two.
Sunday, had Aston Villa smash Everton 4-0. Then it was a massively important game in the head-to-head as West Ham met Chelsea. James Ward-Prowse started life at the London Stadium like he had been there for years assisting Nayef Aguerd after only seven minutes. Chelsea pulled the Hammers back with a bullet strike from Carney Chukwuemeka. The Blues then got a penalty as Tomas Soucek took out Raheem Sterling, my heart was in my mouth as I thought he would get booked, but somehow, he escaped further punishment. Enzo Fernandez had his penalty saved, however. Despite some good passing from Mauricio Pochettino's men it was the ten man Hammers who went on to get the three points. Michail Antonio bagged before Aguerd's dismissal and then a Lucas Paqueta spot-kick wrapped it up. Soucek, did not return but I was thanking my lucky stars that the dangerous Chilwell blanked, and Ash's other Chelsea man Nicolas Jackson was booked again. So now it stood 54-33 in my favour.
It goes to show you how much FPL has hurt me in the past, that with a lead of over 20 points I was still worried. I needed something from Eberechi Eze and hoped Ash's triple of men from the team he supports Arsenal underwhelmed. The game had its moments but it never really delivered in regard to proper entertainment. Eze, shot straight at Aaron Ramsdale in the first half and Eddie Nketiah should have found the net at least once as he hit the post and put the ball over. The few times Saka had sight of goal his efforts were charged down and at the interval things looked okay. Then, early in the second period, Sam Johnstone brought down Nketiah. I thought like many others that Saka would take the responsibility from 12 yards but up stepped the captain, Martin Odegaard. The Norwegian calmly slotted home and Ash was cutting into my lead. I hoped for a Palace leveller to take away William Saliba's clean sheet points, but they could not find the target even when the Gunners went down to ten men. Eze, believed he had won a penalty, but the appeal was waved away, and I am lucky that it was not perceived as simulation otherwise that would have meant a booking. Mikel Arteta's men held out for the 1-0 triumph, and I scraped my first win of the season by just one point, 56-55! Odegaard and Saliba's bonus points almost gave Ash the great escape, but I am grateful to be off the mark, although the tight fashion it happened was not good for my health. The Basham experiment almost failed me but bring on gameweek 3 baby!
@DubulDee
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