GW30 was another solid gameweek, not to say it could not have been a tad better, my advice to anyone is try to minimise 11th hour decisions when it comes to your starting XI. Later on I will explain exactly why.
Lukasz Fabianski was always going to be my choice in goal as West Ham were away to Cardiff. Alex McCarthy is currently out of favour, so really Fabianski who has ended up getting the points away. West Ham lost, which considering how inconsistent they can be was not a huge surprise, meaning Fabianski and Declan Rice in my defence did not bring me any joy. Crystal Palace lost the 'Battle of the Birds' with Brighton 2-1, meaning the clean sheet did not happen, so Aaron Wan Bissaka bought me only a solitary point. My boys Liverpool did the job 4-2 at home to Burnley, but as they conceded twice, it was a rare week that having Andy Robertson was not fruitful. Robbo will feel aggrieved as Sadio Mane hit the bar from a Trent Alexander Arnold cross, that if he had left it Robertson had the easier chance.
In midfield; I pulled off what in the end was a masterstroke, Son Heung-Min's goals have dried up since Harry Kane's return, so as I had two transfers, as I did not make one in GW29, I sold Son and added Youri Tielemens. Tielemens is a player I have been a fan of for a few years, as he is fresh to the league he is not owned by many and now with Brendan Rodgers at the helm, Leicester will play a much more expansive style, so really it was a no brainer. Tielemens scored early on and Son was on the bench, so this worked well getting me nine points instead of the one point that Son got. In the same game, I made a late decision, that I ended up regretting; I had an inkling that Southampton would beat Tottenham, so as Nathan Redmond has shone since Ralph Hassenhutl took charge of the Saints, I thought that Redmond would make a contribution. Southampton, did win the game as I thought, but Redmond missed a good chance and he even later on got booked, rage! On the Sunday, the man I put Redmond in for Diogo Jota, assisted against Chelsea, and he came off before Wolves conceded, so he got a clean sheet too, but he gave back one of his two bonus points, as he got booked. I should have been more brave with my captain choice; Sadio Mane had been on fire recently, but I am a sentimentalist, and I believed that Mo Salah would start scoring again, and the fool that I am wants to have him as captain when he does. So we all know who scored two don't we, yes, Sadio Mane. I thought about making Mane captain and should have just done it as Mane had 14 points to Salah's 5, this obviously doubled to 10 for Salah as he was captain.
Up front; bringing Jamie Vardy back in was my other transfer, as I took out Marko Arnautovic, who I expected to be on the bench again and he was, another masterstroke indeed as Vardy scored twice and assisted the aforementioned Tielemens goal. Sergio Aguero was given the 'fantasy' assist for a controversial Raheem Sterling opener that should have been given as offside. Aguero, has been on such a hot streak, especially at home, that I though it either end or with Gabriel Jesus back fit, and them having their second leg in midweek against Schalke, I viewed there was a possibility he may not start. Raul Jimenez, a man who I was critical of at the start of the season about not scoring enough goals, took his tally in the league to 12, as he was the recipient of the assist by Jota. So GW30 turns out to be another stellar week, as I view around 50-55 points being the lowest you can get and still be quite competitive in a week. It could have been better of course, but I am proud of my transfers, even if I made a mistake with Jota. With the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup coming, GW31 will probably mean I will have to use my wildcard as there are only 6 games being played.
@DubulDee
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