My gameweek 28 opponent was my long-time friend Gary. He was not having the best season in the Justice League, despite accumulating a solid amount of FPL points overall, which is what makes the head-to-head league so intriguing. I knew he had a dangerous team regardless and this made me fall back into my old state of overthinking.
It was a double gameweek for Bournemouth and Luton, but Dominic Solanke who was already a popular pick, had not trained according to his manager Andoni Iraola. This made me think about giving my captaincy to someone else. I was going to take a points-hit this week anyway, but I went from only a four-point hit to an eight-point one after the Solanke news. The complex thing was I had already used my 'free hit' bonus chip and there was only going to be four fixtures in gameweek 29, so I needed at least one player that was playing in that gameweek from this weeks' transfers. I had intentionally not made a transfer last time out so I would have two free ones, so it was four changes that I made altogether. As Luton play in 28 and 29, I got in two of their players, in came Alfie Doughty at the back and I welcomed back Carlton Morris up front. Out went Pervis Estupinan and Erling Haaland. It sounds crazy selling Haaland for Morris when you say it out loud, but Manchester City had Liverpool and I would not have started him against the team I support anyway. The other changes were to let go of another City player in Kevin De Bruyne and get back in Mo Salah in midfield, as well as letting go of Evan Ferguson. Ferguson had not scored in all the time that I had him and I got in the aforementioned Solanke. Gary informed me after the deadline that he actually did not know that it was a double gameweek. He took a four-point hit as he also sold Estupinan for Ben White and he replaced Richarlison with a man I owned in Jarrod Bowen. I captained Morris in fear of Solanke not starting both games and my opposition interestingly captained Gabriel Magalhaes, as he expected Arsenal to keep a clean sheet at home to Brentford and Gabriel was of course a major threat on set pieces.
Neither of us had anyone in the early kick-off between Manchester United and Everton, so we head to the 3pm's on Saturday. After all the moral panic caused by Iraola, Solanke ended up starting at home to Sheffield United, but could not have had a worse start. He was brought down by Tom Davies in the box but then missed the penalty as he slipped over. The Blades were to go 2-0 up, but the home side thought back to get a point as it ended 2-2. Part 1 of the Solanke double ended like it had been written by Wes Craven as he got a big fat zero. At Selhurst Park, Doughty auditioned for Crystal Palace as he gave the ball away and the Eagles went on to take the lead against Luton. New signing Daniel Munoz laid the goal on for Jean-Philippe Mateta, and the attacking Colombian full-back/wing-back may be one to keep tabs on at £4.5m. My captain Morris fired a left-footed volley straight at Sam Johnstone from a cross by Doughty which would have been the perfect scenario had it have found the net. The Hatters were to salvage a late point as Cauley Woodrow headed in off the post with basically the last kick of the game.
Wolves beat Fulham 2-1 at Molineux, but my duo of Pedro Neto and Pablo Sarabia did not contribute. Neto who was a surprise inclusion came off at half-time clearly still having an issue with his hamstring. The only good thing from this game was that Bernd Leno was Gary's keeper. In the late encounter, Arsenal left it late to beat Brentford 2-1. My luck was out in this one as both the Gunners' goals were assisted by crosses from White. A true masterclass from Gary in getting him in. The winner was scored by Havertz, as this game alone was killing me. Gabriel almost scored too but luckily Vitaly Janelt cleared it off the line, but this was a horrible day. I was behind by 19, as it stood 20-1.
Sunday, opened with Spurs travelling to Aston Villa. Until recently, Villa Park had been a fortress for the last year but now it is open season. Ange Postecoglou's men scored four second half goals and to my dismay Heung-Min Son was involved in three of them. As if I was not trialling by enough points, Villa's high line was continuously exploited. Son's emphatic finish for the third goal was sandwiched by assists to Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner. I had strongly considered Son as Spurs play in gameweek 29 too, but my sentiment had me go with Salah. My only salvation was that Pedro Porro returned from injury, so I got some clean sheet points. Burnley, went into the break with a 2-0 lead away at West Ham, erasing any chance of a clean sheet from Alphonse Areola. The Hammers fought back to get a 2-2 draw, but sadly Bowen did not return. David Datro Fofana (£5m) scored the first for Vincent Kompany's men and he may feature in some people's side in gameweek 29 with the limited fixtures.
In the late game, the big one took place between Liverpool and Manchester City. Salah was only on the bench, and the man I sold to get him De Bruyne setup the first goal for John Stones with a smart corner. My opponent had De Bruyne so bad news there. Jurgen Klopp's men levelled through a second half penalty, but Salah should have had an assist when he came on as Luis Diaz who had been tormenting City could only put his shot wide. The Reds could have had a late penalty when Jeremy Doku caught Alexis MacAllister, but it was not given. Whether Salah would have taken it or not remains to be seen, as MacAllister put away the earlier spot-kick when he was not on the pitch. Gary's other City players Kyle Walker and Haaland blanked but nonetheless he still had a huge lead at Sunday's close.
My pain was added to on Monday, as Chelsea beat Newcastle 3-2 at Stamford Bridge. Cole Palmer had a shot that went in off Nicolas Jackson for an assist for 1-0. Palmer clearly not realising I was still getting beaten up though I had thrown the white towel in a while ago, scored a fine strike to put the Blues 2-1 ahead before it ended 3-2. I was no less than 48 points behind, this was a massacre, I was embarrassed. Fabian Schar of course blanked as I felt numb, the chance of the title was slipping away rapidly.
The gameweek finally concluded on Wednesday. Bournemouth hosted Luton and it was Rob Edwards' men who aced into a 3-0 first half lead. Doughty assisted the second goal for Chiedozie Ogbene as the Hatters were ruthless on the break. Despite the three goals there was still nothing from my captain Morris. Football is a game of two halves however and those who hoped that the cherry had dropped were shocked to see an outstanding comeback. Solanke delivered for those who captained him as he started again and scored a fine individual goal to start the fightback. Illia Zabrarnyi made it 2-3, and to my surprise, the man at the top of the 'Justice League' Eman had him as he won his respective game to go nine points clear of me. Antoine Semenyo, showed he was the man that we all should have captained as he bagged a late brace to win it for the Cherries. Morris went close twice but could not validate his captaincy. In particular he missed a header at 3-3.
Unless there is a massive collapse, ambitions of being champion look all but done. After my poor score of 31, my overall rank took a battering too. Gameweek 29 could be a difficult one with the lack of teams playing and I am not looking forward to it sadly.
@DubulDee
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