The defending champion Eman was my gameweek 7 opposition in the ‘Justice League’. Despite not having his best start to the season the threat he posed was evident. If I could somehow beat him then we would go level on points whereas if I saw another defeat, then I would be back in an early relegation dogfight.
I had originally planned to just make one transfer as I did not make any last week, but after considering things I made the two free transfer I had available. Eddie Nketiah was always going to be sold as Crystal Palace were at home to Liverpool, Liam Delap was cheaper and in better form, so he came in up front. Up until late on Friday, I was going to roll the other transfer but then as Arsenal were at home to Southampton, I did not believe Tyler Dibling would return, so I sold him for Fabio Carvalho (£4.8m). This allowed me to bench Emile Smith Rowe and start Carvalho as Fulham were away at Manchester City. Eman did not have Mo Salah or Cole Palmer, so they were the only two captain options I had in mind, as I knew Erling Haaland would be heavily captained and wanted to try what would be a ‘differential’ captain. I usually do not like to captain someone in the early kick-off, but I reluctantly went with Salah as I thought Nottingham Forest would be dogged defensively and could half Palmer. Eman did not make any changes as he used his ‘wildcard’ last week and surprise, surprise, he captained Haaland.
The action began at Selhurst Park. There was bad news before kick-off as Andy Robertson was only on the bench and I was hoping he could outscore one of Eman’s premium defenders Josko Gvardiol. Liverpool had an early scare as Nketiah had a goal disallowed for offside. In an eventful start the Reds took the line after a fine team move was finished off by Diogo Jota, when Cody Gakpo played the ball across the penalty area. A great start for me as Jota was a differential in the head-to-head. Jota should have added a second in the first-half but he put the ball well wide. In the second-half Jota was to put a header wide that he should have hit the target with. Palace improved as the game went on, but Arne Slot’s men held on despite losing Alisson to an injury as it ended 1-0. I felt robbed of clean sheet points as Robertson only came on as a second-half sub. Salah was taken off in the second period after not being able to convert the only real chance he had as I realised I should have trusted my gut with the early kick-off theory. Luis Diaz was the man who came on for Salah and my opponent had him.
In the 3pm games, Southampton shocked everyone as they took the lead at Arsenal, this was huge as my opponent had Gabriel Magalhaes and would have been expecting the clean sheet. The Gunners quickly struck back to go ahead 2-1, and it was not good at all as both goals were assisted by Bukayo Saka. Tyler Dibling almost made me pay for selling him as he hit the post. It worsened as Saka added a third goal as he seized on the Saints’ inability to get the ball clear giving him a 16-point haul. Brentford and Wolves had a crazy first-half which had six goals in it. Thankfully Bryan Mbeumo only got one of them as he tucked away a penalty to give Eman more points. Carvalho did not start but was still able to get on the scoresheet at the death as the Bees emerged 5-3. Mark Flekken was my opponents’ goalkeeper so the 3 goals by Wolves were very helpful. Leicester beat Bournemouth 1-0, there was no Jamie Vardy contribution for me, although he had a golden chance which he dwelt on in the first-half. This at least meant no return from Antoine Semenyo for Eman as he has been on fire. Just like title-rivals Arsenal, Manchester City came from behind to get three points at home as they beat Fulham 3-2. Mateo Kovacic was at the double and with Rodri out long-term he may be a decent 5th midfielder for your squad at £5.5m, considering he is not bashful when it comes to shooting. Haaland blanked for the second successive match since I have owned him.
Ipswich fell to a 4-1 defeat at West Ham; however, I got the goal I craved from Delap, meaning both my transfers worked. Delap almost had a second, but Alphonse Areola made a top save to deny his header. In the late game, Everton and Newcastle had a goalless draw. I made the mistake of benching Michael Keane as for once I had not done my due diligence and checked on the fitness of Jarrad Branthwaite, therefore Keane was my last substitute. So, when Jordan Pickford saved a first-half penalty from Anthony Gordon, I assumed it may not be the Magpies’ day and that was to be the case. Saturday concluded with me narrowly behind 36-33.
On Sunday, Eman had Morgan Rogers and he missed a good chance in the first half as Manchester United held Aston Villa to a goalless draw. Rogers’ blank would have been more satisfactory if I had got a little more than an assist from Palmer in the other 2pm kick-off. Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge, and Forest could have nicked the 3 points themselves at the end. Matz Sels the keeper I sold when I used my wildcard was to come back to haunt me. Palmer hit the post in the first-half and Sels was able to claw the ball off the line. Sels then made a magnificent double save from Palmer in the second-half as I was left thinking what might have been. Despite needing more from Palmer, he still outscored Salah and Haaland, so he would have been worthy of the captaincy this week after all my overthinking.
Going into the last match between Brighton and Tottenham, we were tied at 39. The dilemma for me was that I only had Lewis Dunk left, and Eman had Pedro Porro as well as Dominic Solanke. The head-to-head was basically put to bed in the first half as Solanke assisted the opener for the man in the form of his life, Brennan Johnson. James Maddison extended Spurs’ lead, only for them to capitulate as the Seagulls came back to win 3-2 at the Amex Stadium. With me being outscored 6-1 here it meant my opponent won a low scoring affair, 45-40.
So, another week of what-ifs as had Keane not been on my bench then I would not have lost. Jota, Delap and Palmer all could have had braces, and Robertson was on the bench, but this is the FPL life we chose. Bukayo, just take a week off from assisting I beg, you are a child of God, you should not be this annoying to a fellow Christian, just leave me alone please! The international break has probably come at a good time, as you can clearly see this is all giving me a headache.
@DubulDee
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