The big double gameweek was here. Liverpool, had the Carabao Cup final coming up against Chelsea, so their league game at home to Luton was moved earlier to gameweek 25. Manchester City, would have played Brentford in gameweek 18 but they were participating in the World Club Cup, so the fixture was moved to this week.
I was looking to take full advantage of the fact that I believed Liverpool and City would be amongst the goals, so I was anticipating a high scoring FPL week, but double gameweeks had been really cruel to me in the past, so was I finally going to get some luck in one? I was playing Rian (Milito) this week and we have had some epic battles down the years, so I was not looking to take a points-hit against him, instead I opted to use my 'Free hit' bonus chip. I had three men from Pep Guardiola's side in my team already, but now I had three Liverpool men too. Mo Salah returned with an injury from AFCON, but he was back in training, so I thought that as many had not rushed to get him back in their team, I could not face a double gameweek without having him. Up front, Cody Gakpo was an option, as with the cup final pending, the whole squad would be used, but as I thought Darwin Nunez would get more minutes, I went with him. When the deadline had passed, I saw that my opponent had taken a four-point hit. He got in Conor Bradley and Kieran Trippier for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Destiny Udogie, as the latter two were both injured. I captained Erling Haaland, as I knew Rian was adamant on not having him currently, so he could maximise other areas of his team. He chose to use his 'Triple captain' bonus chip and he gave it to the in-form Diogo Jota, which had the potential of being a stoke of genius...pause!
The action began last Saturday at the Gtech Community Stadium as Brentford welcomed Liverpool. Salah was on the bench but ended up coming on in the first half as Diogo Jota picked up a bad knee injury. Even before that, Curtis Jones picked up an injury as Liverpool continued to lose players at a vital point of the season. Jota was still able to smartly assist the opening goal for Darwin Nunez before he departed from the game. Nunez provided a world class finish after Jota flicked the ball to him. It was the hardest possible finish but Nunez decided to lob Mark Flekken rather than go around him. Rian was obviously vexed at the fact his triple captain was injured. He messaged the FPL WhatsApp group, thinking I would be pleased, forgetting that as well as the fact I had Jota too, the bigger picture was I am a Liverpool fan and another of our players was injured with a cup final looming. The issues increased as Nunez was taken off at half-time for Gakpo as a precaution as he felt a little niggle. Salah assisted the second for Alexis MacAllister with a fine pass, missed a good chance and then scored the third as the Reds eventually won 4-1. Ivan Toney, got his fourth goal in five games to get the Bees a consolation before substitute Gakpo, who assisted Salah's goal, produced a good finish on his weaker left foot to make it 4. Fancy that, the Reds' subs produced more than the starters in the forward positions, underlining once again, double gameweeks are never what they seem.
The 3pm kick-off's saw Arsenal thump Burnley 5-0 at Turf Moor. My opposition had Gabriel Magalhaes in his defence, but luckily none of the Gunners' attackers. I had let Ollie Watkins go in my free hit team for Nunez, to free up more budget to align Kevin De Bruyne with Salah, and I was made to pay for it. Watkins was at the double as two good finishes saw Unai Emery's men win 2-1 at Fulham. Rian had Watkins and I was left shaking my head at my error. Whenever I seem to let go of a single game player for someone in a double gameweek, this always seems to happen to me. The irony was I had Watkins still in my first free hit draft. Rodrigo Muniz, was on my bench and he got the Cottagers' consolation goal with a neat finish. This game did nothing but repeatedly slap me in the face. Rian had conceded defeat after the Jota injury but believe me this was far from over.
Newcastle and Bournemouth drew 2-2 at St. James' Park. Another game without a clean sheet for the Magpies meant no clean sheet for Martin Dubravka who was my goalie just for this week. He did get a save point however. And there was no return from Kieran Trippier for Rian either. Nottingham Forest beat West Ham 2-0 at the City Ground. Alphonse Areola was Rian's keeper and he made so many saves he still got three points despite conceding twice. With Pedro Porro out injured, I got Emerson Royal in, but it was only in vain as Tottenham were beaten 2-1 at home by Wolves. I let go of Pedro Neto as I wanted Pascal Gross for this week and Neto assisted yet again. Richarlison, luckily did not return for my opponent. If I had the better of the early kick off, then the 3pm's certainly went against me.
In the late matchup, Manchester City were held to a draw by Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. Haaland was the most transferred in and most captained player this week as his ownership flew well over 70%. So, despite me needing him to score to create distance from Rian, I tried to fine some solace in the fact he was not getting a massive haul that would further separate me from others around my rank, as they would have benefitted already from Watkins' brace and the fact Bukayo Saka scored twice too. Raheem Sterling gave Chelsea the lead in the first half, as he rounded off a swift counter attack, after great work by Nicolas Jackson. But with just seven minutes left, Rodri salvaged Pep Guardiola's men a point. We both owned Phil Foden and De Bruyne, so seeing none of them feature in the goal was painful. Rian also had Julian Alvarez. Haaland missed so many chances, that it seemed like he had received a bung to not score. He had nine shots in all, including missing some point-blank headers by his standard, while his owners pulled their hair out. I now trailed by 15 points, 46-31.
On Sunday, Brighton did what I expected them to do, as they won 5-0 at Sheffield United, who had 10 men after a horrific challenge saw Mason Holgate sent off. Holgate, was actually in my squad, so I was happy that he was only my last substitute, or it could have been a disaster. Gross only got the one assist, but I welcomed it as at a stage I did not think anything was going to come from him. He had multiple efforts at goal and created a plethora of chances as I knew he would. The Blades have conceded the most number of chances from set pieces in the league, so I was hoping for another double figure haul, but he did at least got me 8 points. He had got double figures in the previous two games after I sold him a few weeks ago. The Seagulls' clean sheet was annoying however, as Jan Paul van Hecke was only on my bench. The Brighton defender I did start, Tariq Lamptey, got his customary booking and then was substituted at half-time, returning me a big fat zero! Simon Adringa, back from AFCON scored twice and at £5m is still a standout enabler.
I was hoping to cut further into Rian's lead when Everton and Crystal Palace met on Monday at Goodison Park, as I had Jarrad Branthwaite. A belter from Jordan Ayew, however, made sure there was to be no Everton clean sheet. The Toffees did get a point as Amadou Onana headed in from a corner. I had now trimmed the deficit by 10, so it was now 46-41.
On Tuesday night, Manchester City had some scares but edged past Brentford 1-0. Haaland finally scored in this gameweek, the goal did not come until the 71st minute, so the triple-captain crew were especially thinking that they may have made a mistake. Alvarez set the goal up as they hit the Bees on the break, so we both got points from the goal. I now led 60-54, but the issue was I had no players left. This was due to the knock to Nunez was more serious than first felt and Salah had a little twinge in his hamstring and was showing signs of fatigue. Jota being out effected us both like the Nunez injury, so it all depended on what Bradley could do.
Wednesday, saw the chances of Jurgen Klopp's men keeping a clean sheet go early on as Luton took the lead at Anfield, thanks to a Chiedoze Ogbene header. The home side had several shots but could not find a first half equaliser. The second period saw improvement from Liverpool, and it was Bradley who almost setup an equaliser for Luis Diaz. The Reds stepped it up a notch and scored twice in three minutes through Virgil van Dijk and Gakpo. Bradley was then to come off, which confirmed my narrow victory, before Diaz and Harvey Elliott made sure the Merseysiders increased their lead at the top of the table.
A six-point triumph then, 60-56, as Rian's points-hit cost him, head-to-head wins are what I really need as I continue to chase Eman, but my overall rank took a battering, as I fell over 200k places. I still trail Eman by six points in the Justice League and I just have to keep on winning and see if someone can take points off of him. As I have said in the past, double gameweeks are overrated.
@DubulDee
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