Gameweek 24 pitted me against another longtime friend in Andrew. He lay just a point behind me in the 'Justice League', so another vital match was on the agenda. When you are second in the table every game seemed to feel like a final to an extent.
I decided to keep it simple in terms of changes this week. Though of course he had time to change his team, I saw that Andrew did not have Erling Haaland, so I sold his teammate Julian Alvarez and got him in. I had intentionally left enough money in the bank to do this as I had in mind that him or Salah had to come back into my team, whoever was back fit first out of the two of them. I therefore then had to give Haaland the captaincy. When the deadline passed, I saw that Andrew had missed the deadline, therefore Diogo Jota was still his captain.
The action started at the Etihad Stadium. I do not normally like to captain players that feature in the early Saturday kick-off, but as stated this was the case here. Everton were very disciplined defensively, but it was that man Haaland that finally gave City the lead in the 71st minute. He swung his right foot at a corner the Toffees had failed to clear and it flew in. Andrew and I both had Kevin De Bruyne and he began the contest on the bench, with Pep Guardiola thinking about their Champions League game in midweek, but he came on and assisted the second goal for Haaland. It was not as straightforward as some thought it may have been, but the job was done. A good start for me with the fact Andrew had James Tarkowski and the man I sold Alvarez. And this was all with a blank from a man who is not usually a differential in Phil Foden not producing.
In the 3pm games; Liverpool beat Burnley 3-1 at Anfield, but it was not easy by any means. The away side started well, however, Jota headed the Reds in front as James Trafford failed to claim a corner. Dara O'Shea levelled with a good header from a corner and it was fully deserved. My opponent had Virgil van Dijk in his defence, so this was costly for him. In the second half, Luis Diaz scored from close range and Darwin Nunez headed in as substitute Harvey Elliott made a huge difference. Jota only getting the one goal meant that my lead was not too heavily cut into. At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Ange Postecoglou's men left it late as they came from behind to beat Brighton. Pascal Gross got consecutive double-figure hauls since I sold him as his penalty put the Seagulls ahead. Trust them to get a penalty when Joao Pedro was out injured. Gross misconduct was the case for me once again. I was livid, just typical! Pape Sarr levelled before Brennan Johnson won it in injury time. We both had Pervis Estupinan who was booked so returned a big fat zero. Also Pedro Porro, blanked for me, so this match benefitted no one. I drafted in Pedro Neto last week and he had been a terror in home games so I just knew he would blank in the first one I owned him for. He was unlucky as he thought he had an assist but then Craig Dawson goal was ruled out for offside. Neto also hit the post twice with a header and a low shot. It was just not to be his day. Wolves were taken down 2-0 at Molineux by Brentford, and it was not good news for me even further outside of the non-return from Neto. This was as Andrew had Ivan Toney and he netted the second goal with a tidy finish.
A lot was placed on the late Saturday kick-off at the City Ground. Nottingham Forest welcomed Newcastle and both of us owned a defender from the Magpies. It was to be Andrew's defender Kieran Trippier who had the first impact. Eddie Howe's men worked a training ground corner routine and Trippier's cross was put in expertly by Bruno Guimaraes. Forest levelled through Anthony Elanga, only for my defender Fabian Schar to put the away team back ahead. It was another composed finish by Schar who got his 3rd goal in 2 away games. I applauded like Liverpool were playing. Callum Hudson-Odoi's deflected shot made it 2-2, before Guimaraes won it with another good finish. Thanks to the Haaland transfer, Saturday saw me up by 18 points, 51-33.
Sunday, saw the Hammers get hammered in the first match as Arsenal travelled to east London and cruised to a 6-0 victory. Neither of us had any players from the Gunners in our team, but we both had Alphonse Areola as our keeper. He conceded a penalty with a foul on Bukayo Saka which got him booked amid letting in half a dozen goals, so it was only because he made a plethora of saves that he was able to get 0 points. Both centre backs from Mikel Arteta's team were on the scoresheet, as Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba's had massive hauls. Aston Villa's great home form has now swiftly ended, as they lost their third straight home game in all competitions. Manchester United took all three points thanks to another late winner by Scott McTominay. Rasmus Hojlund (£7.1m), gave United the lead and his recent form will continue to see his ownership rise, as it is now 5 in his last 6 league games. With both of us having Ollie Watkins who blanked, my huge lead all depended on what Cole Palmer could do on Monday for Andrew.
So, the gameweek concluded at Selhurst Park. Crystal Palace took the lead against Chelsea through a thunderbolt by Jefferson Lerma. I knew that my lead should be big enough, but after what happened with Heung-Min Son when I played Kojo not too long ago, I took nothing for granted. Just after half-time Conor Gallagher drew the Blues level. It was to get later and later and it stayed at 1-1 so my tension was easing. This was only for Palmer to get two assists in injury time as Mauricio Pochettino's men won 3-1 as Gallagher copped a brace and Enzo Fernandez made sure of the win. It was not to be enough of course, nonetheless it was not the best thing to watch as it ended 55-45 in my favour. With Palmer high ownership this was clearly going to effect my rank.
The main thing was to triumph of course, which kept me second in the head-to-head league, but my score was below the average for the week. This meant that I dropped almost 200k in my overall rank. If you asked me which one I preferred however, with Andrew it would always be to win whatever matchup I have in the Justice League.
@DubulDee
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