The Premier League is back which of course means another season of FPL is upon us. With the Euros and then the Olympics, personally I could have done with at least another week before the new campaign began. I foolishly after telling myself I would not do it, ended up playing Euro 2024 ‘Fantasy Football’, therefore, it did not seem like I had taken any form of mental break from this all.
There was the usual stress of piecing together this years’ ‘Justice League’, the last few people entered the league a few hours before the deadline, which was believe or not better than some of the previous years when some have joined less than hour before the deadline. I had done my first draft at least five weeks ago, but then made a few alterations in the last week. With Erling Haaland now at an all-time high FPL price of £15m I decided to take him out, so I could accommodate Mo Salah, Phil Foden and my arch-nemesis Cole Palmer all in midfield. Palmer almost singlehandedly prevented me from finishing in the top 4 of the Justice League last season, so I ended my days of not picking Chelsea players a couple of gameweeks before the end of last season. He had gone up from £5.5m to £10.5m, a rise in price that had never been seen before in FPL. So understandably I had a bit of caution about having Palmer, but decided it was better to have him to begin with, rather than trying to squeeze him in later.
When the deadline passed, I saw that my opening week opponent was Dwayne. Facing a fellow Liverpool fan when you have had no idea who you were going to play is the worst thing. This is as it is more than likely that they will have a sheer minimum of two Liverpool players and at least one will be someone you have. This was exactly the case here as he also had Salah, and just like me the Egyptian was his captain, so I was neutralised. The second Liverpool player he had was Alisson Becker, whereas mine was Diogo Jota.
The season kicked off at Old Trafford on Friday as Manchester United and Fulham met. Fulham started well but were wasteful on the break. With Dwayne having Diogo Dalot I desperately needed the Cottagers to score, to my anguish it was not to come as a deft finish by new signing Joshua Zirkzee got the Red Devils the 3 points. It was frustrating for me but admittedly it could have been worse. My opponent had Bruno Fernandes, and he had three good chances. Up front, we both had Rodrigo Muniz, the closest he came was an overhead kick that was deflected which allowed Andre Onana to tip it over. Friday ended with Dwayne leading 12-2.
In the early Saturday kick off, newly promoted Ipswich Town hosted Liverpool. The Tractor Boys had an impressive first half without scoring as they outbattled the Reds and forged a couple of good opportunities. New Liverpool head coach Arne Slot changed things in the second half and the away side looked much better. They produced a swift move to take the lead as Salah laid the ball on for Jota. Salah was to get another opening matchday goal, his 9th to be exact as it ended 2-0 and the Egyptian amassed 14 points. As a fan I loved the fact the Reds kept a clean sheet but unfortunately, I did not have any of their defenders as my opponent celebrated his Alisson points.
In Saturday’s 3pm kick-offs, I needed Wolves to shutout Bukayo Saka, as expected they did not help me out sadly. Saka crossed for Kai Havertz to head the Gunners in front, before he scored himself in the second period as Dwayne’s lead widened. Newcastle beat Southampton 1-0 despite having 10 men for over an hour. Alexander Isak was a differential for me in the head-to-head however, he could not find the net. He at least assisted the winning goal for Joelinton. I thought my keeper Matz Sels was going to bring me a clean sheet as Nottingham Forest led 1-0 late on at home to Bournemouth, only for Antoine Semenyo to score in the 86th minute to snatch a draw for the Cherries. The late goal at the City Ground was made worse by the fact that Brighton won 3-0 at Everton. Jason Steele was originally my starting keeper, but I moved him to the bench to start Sels, who I took out Alphonse Areola for. Steele got 7 points, 4 more than Sels in the end. Valentin Barco who had looked good in pre-season for the Seagulls was in my starting XI, but he did not feature. This now meant I got Fulham’s Antonee Robinson’s points and Zirkzee’s late winner on Friday was more detrimental than I thought that it would ever be. My opposition had Beto from Everton in his frontline, he thankfully only registered a single point. Saturday saw me behind 60-48.
Sunday, saw Brentford beat Crystal Palace 2-1. The Eagles conceding twice was a negative as I had my namesake Daniel Munoz in my XI. The Colombian at least got a ‘fantasy’ assist as his header was put into his own goal by Ethan Pinnock to make it 1-1 at the time. Bryan Mbeumo, had given the bees the lead and he would be in my team if it was not for the fact that they play Liverpool in gameweek 2. Yoann Wissa was to win the game for Thomas Frank’s men. In the latter contest, Manchester City who usually struggle without Rodri, won 2-0 at Chelsea despite his absence. Erling Haaland mildly made me rue taking him out as he opened the scoring with a well taken goal. Add to that the two men I had in midfield that I could not fit with Haaland, both blanked in this fixture. Foden was only a second half substitute and Palmer (Dwayne had him too) was nullified by his old club. If Enzo Maresca continues to use him solely on the right rather than centrally, Palmer may not be the points-machine he was last campaign, but we shall see how it goes. Dwayne at least did not have Haaland, annoyingly he did have Manuel Akanji, as he extended his lead. Sunday concluded with me trailing by 13 points, 70-57.
The gameweeks climax came on Monday night at the King Power Stadium. Leicester returned to the Premier League drawing 1-1 with Tottenham. Both of us owned Spurs’ new signing Dominic Solanke, however, I needed Pedro Porro to thoroughly outscore his teammate Cristian Romero as Dwayne had the latter. Things were looking good in the first half as Porro headed the away side into the lead, only for ‘that man’ Jamie Vardy to get a second half equaliser. I therefore fell to a defeat as it ended 72-66. Still 37 gameweeks left but beginning with 3 points is always a good thing as you never knew who you were coming against. To add to my negative start, Brighton’s Barco looks set to join Sevilla on loan. With him only being £4m, in this case it would actually be better if he was more expensive as there would be more starting options to transfer him out for. The constant overthinking let me know FPL is well and truly back! This is the life we chose.
@DubulDee
Comments