My gameweek 8 opponent was my longtime friend Jacques. He was a consistent FPL performer, who even when he starts the season slowly, then goes on some of the most ridiculous winning runs you will see and climbs the table. To begin this campaign, he was above me in the Justice League table despite I had more classic points than him. I desperately needed a win here as I was hovering over the hypothetical relegation spots.
I was eagerly anticipating this week as unless my opponent used his ‘wildcard’ our teams were very different. As it stood the only players we had that were the same were Emile Smith Rowe and Erling Haaland. I had planned well in advance that I needed at least two Manchester City men for their upcoming games, so with Liverpool having Chelsea and Arsenal back-to-back, I decided to sell Andy Robertson for Josko Gvardiol. City had not kept a clean sheet since gameweek 1, but Gvardiol was a major goal-threat, so I had no issues with bringing him in. Jacques had two free transfers; he had the same idea as me in getting a City defender in, as Rico Lewis came in for Joachim Andersen. He also sold Vitalii Mykolenko for Levi Colwill. With Manchester City away at Wolves, who had conceded the most goals in the Premier League, we both captained Haaland.
The action began with Tottenham beating West Ham 4-1 early on Saturday, and although none of the players here effected the head-to-head, I am seriously considering getting a Spurs attacker in my team. Brennan Johnson (£6.7m) was the most transferred-in player this week and he continues to look sharp although he did not continue his scoring spree. Dejan Kulusevski (£6,2m) who was on the scoresheet is also causing problems.
In the 3pm games, Aston Villa won 3-1 at Fulham. Jacques had Jhon Duran up front but for once he did not score when he came off the bench, whereas Smith Rowe blanked. Marco Silva’s men have games coming up that he could do well in, so I am not looking to let go of him just yet. I had expected a goal-fest at St James’ Park as Newcastle and Brighton clashed; however, the Seagulls were to get a huge 1-0 victory in the ‘battle of the birds’ despite the Magpies’ relentless pressure. I welcomed the unexpected clean sheet points from Lewis Dunk. Danny Welbeck (£5.9m) scored his 5th goal of the campaign before coming off injured and it is proving difficult to ignore him if he is not out for a sustained period with a back issue. My opponent had Dan Burn so this match really was a positive one.
Southampton took a 2-0 lead against Leicester and when it got to the hour mark, I had visions of finally getting a clean sheet from Aaron Ramsdale. This was only for the Foxes to complete a superb comeback and steal three points with a Jordan Ayew goal in the 98th minute. My choice of Ramsdale when I used my wildcard has turned out to be a disgraceful one. I thought he would accumulate save points even if he did not keep clean sheets, unfortunately he has not even been able to get many save points either. I should have just stuck with Matz Sels, there is this feeling that when you use your wildcard you need to change your keeper, and I should have just stuck with the Belgian. The only good thing was that Leicester’s 2nd goal came from a Jamie Vardy penalty, so I got points here regardless.
Ipswich’s home game with Everton kicked off 15 minutes late, this did not affect the Toffees as they got the three points with two first half goals as they kept successive clean sheets. Luckily for me, the second goal was scored by Michael Keane. It was an emphatic finish on his weaker left foot after a good bit of play by Dwight McNeil. The whole point of picking Keane was that I know he is a threat at set pieces, so for him to also get a clean sheet too was brilliant. McNeil (£5.8m) is a player I am seriously looking at, giving him being in more of a free role now as well as his set piece ability. In the late kick-off Arsenal travelled to Bournemouth. The Gunners have had a good record at the Vitality Stadium recently, but William Saliba was sent off and they went on to lose 2-0. Jacques had Saliba so this was superb. Bukayo Saka, did not play so my opponent instead gained the solitary point that Smith Rowe got in his place. Saturday had me amazingly ahead by 29 points as he was stuck on -1 because of Saliba’s dismissal. He did however have six men still to play on Sunday where I had just four.
On Sunday, Manchester City needed a last-gasp winner from John Stones to defeat Wolves. Wolves had done well and deserved a point, they were to end with nothing however, despite taking the lead through Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.5m) who I have mentioned before. Strand Larsen is still owned by only 1.2% and on paper Wolves have some decent fixtures coming up after their torrid start to the season. Pep Guardiola’s men equalised through an outstanding strike by Gvardiol. Just like Keane it was on his weaker foot as my defenders continued to rack up the points for me as my transfer was fully vindicated. Jacques’ duo of Rico Lewis and Bernardo Silva both blanked. Haaland’s blank made me feel that my vice-captain Mo Salah would hit the back of the net and that was indeed the case. Salah scored from the penalty spot to give Liverpool the lead at home to Chelsea. Nicolas Jackson levelled to get my opponent points, only for the Reds to respond immediately as Salah’s great ball found Curtis Jones to win the game. Jadon Sancho coming off at half-time did not help my opponent who had fallen to a crushing defeat despite having a player left on Monday.
Chris Wood scored the only goal at the City Ground on Monday evening as Nottingham Forest edged out Crystal Palace 1-0. Wood (£6.3m) is currently great value. With Dean Henderson being Jacques’ keeper, the head-to-head ended 59-19 as I got only my third win of the season, moving me up to an underwhelming 12th. 59 was easily the highest score in the Justice League this week as no one else even passed 50. No Haaland points and Saka's injury had its toll on many FPL managers. My recent transfers have worked but I have not got the captain pick correct for a couple of weeks now. A true masterclass from my team in defence was very pleasing as they accumulated 30 of my 59 points.
@DubulDee
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