Gameweek 8 saw me up against my old friend and the current leader of the 'Justice League' Delvin. I came into this contest after back-to-back wins, so the man in first place was the last person I wanted to see. Delvin had won four in-a-row himself so obviously would have been confident of extending his lead at the top.
I had two free transfers and there were so many players I thought could do well making things complex. Wolves' Hee-chan Hwang and Pedro Neto were midfielders I was looking at as well as Mathias Jensen, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Jarrod Bowen. Bar West Ham's Bowen all these men were cheaper than the man I decided to temporarily let go of Kaoru Mitoma. The main midfielders I wanted to transfer in were Heung-min Son or James Maddison but due to their prices I could not make this happen without probably taking a points-hit. With what on paper was a nice-looking run for Spurs, I decided to get in Dejan Kulusevski as he was only at £7m, and I believed with his ownership being under 2% at the time he could be a massive differential if he improved his decision making. I had to sell the injured Pervis Estupinan for a cheaper defender to make it work, so in came a mainstay in my team a few seasons ago Vladimir Coufal. The Hammers' right back assisted three times in September and with the fixtures coming up he will start quite a bit for me. I captained Mo Salah as giving the captaincy to Erling Haaland every week was frankly tedious and boring. I had only captained Salah once this season and he had returned in every game except that officiating debacle at Tottenham last week, where if they had done their job, he would have assisted Diaz's wrongly offside goal.
When the deadline had passed, I saw that Delvin had used his 'wildcard!'. I had strongly considered using mine this week, given all the names I mentioned that I felt could make an impact, but refrained from doing so for two reasons. Firstly, that would have made no sense in structuring having two free transfers this week. Secondly, this was the last gameweek before another international break, so if I drafted someone in and then they got injured for their country I would be livid. He made six transfers in all including bringing in the likes of Emiliano Martinez, Lucas Paqueta and the guy I wanted to get in Neto. Marc Guehi and Levi Colwill were good players he got in at the back but the most critical man he got in defensively was Kieran Trippier who had been accumulating points for fun recently. Delvin made Bukayo Saka his captain, however, he was a doubt for their game at home to Manchester City, so Haaland was his vice-captain.
Gameweek 8's action began at Kenilworth Road as Luton hosted Tottenham. Son was the most transferred player in, but the curse loomed as he was not to return despite Spurs squeezing a 1-0 win with ten men. He was second on the captaincy list too but again Ange Postecoglou substituted his captain in the second half, but after Yves Bissouma's first half sending off on this occasion it was easily understandable. When the game was 11 versus 11, the away side had looked lively creating some good chances. Two of them fell to Richarlison and he should have scored at least one. Kulusevski created his first chance and had he found the net it would have been the perfect start to my transfer. Kulusevski then almost scored himself, but Thomas Kaminski turned it around the post. Pedro Porro was close to finding the net too, but he put his shot just wide. New signing Micky van de Ven got the Tottenham goal in the second half as they went to the top of the table after some great work by Maddison.
In the 3pm kick offs, I needed Burnley to find the net against Chelsea with Delvin having drafted Colwill in, and that is exactly what they did as they took the lead at Turf Moor through Wilson Odobert. The Blues were to show some character that we were yet to see this season however, as they came back to win 4-1 for their second successive away triumph. Raheem Sterling, was the star of the show as he recorded his second double figure haul of the season after only coming off the bench in the Derby with Fulham. With his ownership just under 10% his £7m price tag looks appealing despite a few tricky fixtures coming up. Cole Palmer scored a penalty and assisted and at £4.9m if he is to stay as the Blues' man on spot kicks then he could be a shrewd addition to your team, as it stands only 0.8% have him. I had waited patiently for a Jordan Pickford clean sheet, and it finally came as Bournemouth fell to a 3-0 defeat at Goodison Park. Pickford, was nowhere near the bonus points system at half-time but after having to make three saves in the second period he found his way in with two bonus points and an additional point for saves made. Doucoure scored Everton's third and if they were not up against Liverpool next then I would have strongly considered finally getting him in.
In the late encounter, Nottingham Forest travelled to Crystal Palace, for some reason I thought it was going to be a good game, but it flattered to deceive. Palace were especially poor, and the away side could not breach them, so it ended in a stalemate to my disappointment. Guehi was to get maximum bonus as he neutralised the nine points from Pickford. Saturday, concluded with me ahead 18-11, but only three men had played for me and just two for Delvin, so it was all about Sunday.
Sunday, had Brighton and Liverpool meet at the Amex Stadium. The Seagulls took the lead as Virgil van Dijk's 'hospital' pass to Alexis MacAllister was intercepted by Simon Adringa whose quick thinking saw him place the ball past Alisson into the net. Liverpool were to hit back, first a nice passing move saw Harvey Elliott leave the ball after Darwin Nunez's pass for Salah, and the Egyptian finished well into the bottom corner for 1-1. Delvin, having Nunez could not spoil my joy here. Soon after, the Reds were ahead as Pascal Gross pulled down Dominic Szoboszlai, a penalty was given but Pascal went without further punishment for his gross misconduct despite it being a goalscoring opportunity. Salah, slid the spot kick in for his second, the ball was basically placed in the same spot he got his first. Both teams missed guilt-edged chances, but Roberto De Zerbi's men salvaged a point through Lewis Dunk who punished some poor marking by Jurgen Klopp's men. Disappointment as my team did not win but Salah stacked with the captaincy and Trent Alexander-Arnold did a good job on Mitoma so there was no gain for Delvin outside of the Nunez assist. Andy Robertson blanked again but I will keep faith as Liverpool's coming games should see him deliver.
Another important game in the head-to-head took place at the London Stadium, and that too was to end in a 2-2 draw. West Ham took the lead against Newcastle after some comical defending. Emerson cut the ball back for Tomas Soucek to score as the Czech bagged his second goal since I sold him, 'damn man!'. The Geordies responded in the second half through Alexander Isak, it was a perfect scenario for my opponent as it was made by Trippier. Isak, was to get his brace with a close-range finish but the Hammers got a late leveller through Mohammed Kudus. You can guess who assisted it, the man I got in Coufal, setup the goal, but as this week I could not quite squeeze him into my XI his points went to waste on my bench. Kudus is only £6.5m and could be a differential until he departs for AFCON in January as he is only owned by 0.3%, as he can get points off the bench even when he does not start as shown here. I was let off the hook when Isak struck the post denying him a hat-trick and I welcomed a blank from Lucas Paqueta as I thought he would return.
Wolves and Aston Villa's draw meant all the 2pm Sunday kick offs ended in stalemates. Neto, showed why I wanted him in my team as he laid on Hwang's 5th goal of the campaign. I have racked my brain over which of those two Wolves midfielders I wanted but as they are both under £6m I may have to consider owning both at a stage. With Gary O'Neil's men having games against Bournemouth, Sheffield United, Fulham, Burnley and Nottingham Forest before Christmas this strengthens the case for having both to be honest. Pau Torres, who Neto turned before creating the Wolves goal, equalised for Villa after a smart ball in by Ollie Watkins. This means Watkins has only blanked this season when Unai Emery's side lost at Liverpool. Doing the unthinkable and selling Haaland for Watkins to free up money to replenish other areas of your squad seems to be coming more common, as Haaland has dropped under 90% ownership. After all my overthinking that Moussa Diaby would be a differential if passed fit after a back issue as people had sold him or benched him, it did not matter in the end as he blanked, but with him being in Delvin's team too it did not have an substantial effect. The Hwang goal meant no clean sheet points for either of us, but Cash almost scored for my team, and I fully expect him to get some contributions in their upcoming contests.
It all depended on the last match, which was the biggest game of the week as Arsenal and Manchester City met. Bukayo Saka's injury was worse than expected and he did not make the squad. This meant that Delvin threw the white flag in, but I informed him that if Haaland had one of those days then as he was now his captain, then he could possibly win it for him. Delvin, who is an Arsenal fan responded with, "I would rather lose the head-to-head in that case!". The game did not meet expectations and for long period was mainly a war of attrition, but the Gunners got an important three points with a late deflected winner from substitute Gabriel Martinelli, as if anyone deserved to win it was the home side. So, despite Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez blanking and Neto's points coming off the bench for Delvin in Saka's absence, I was still to get the victory I so badly sought. My opponent will be frustrated at the fact Ben White was on his bench, but it was understandable as he would have expected City to find the net. Haaland, was the most captained as usual but this blank would have resonated with quite a few people as he did not look like scoring at any stage and his value is now looming over everyone especially the ones who have not used their wildcards yet.
So, a 61-52 triumph gave me a third straight Justice League win and took me up to third place in the table. This week more than any showed why picking the right captain is imperative as only three of my XI returned but I got to 61 points, a few gameweeks back, nine of my team produced and I got 88, the right captain would have seen me clear 100 with ease that week. Overall, I have moved up over 670k in the world as I lay in the top 660k on 482 points, so I actually did not need this international break, I want to keep the momentum going. Anyway Mo Salah, I salute you.
@DubulDee
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