GW10 Review..

Another pretty solid week. I'm now at the highest rank I've been all season. Only about 530k, so nothing too impressive, but things are heading in the right direction.

Gameweek Points: 59

Gameweek Rank: 1,573,949

Overall Rank: 530,447

(click to enlarge)

The only problem now is that I have a few yellow flags - Van Dijk and Salah. Hopefully both will be fine by the weekend.

The big problem as I see things is that I still have two Norwich players. Not good. It's just not happening for Pukki, and Cantwell only played 45 minutes yesterday. The problem with Cantwell is not too bad as I guess I can just bench him. With Pukki though that's not an option. It's a shame really as he actually has some decent looking fixtures. Do I persist?

There's also the issue of who I replace him with. Abraham is the obvious option, but that would mean using up the extra 1.2m I have in the bank. I'm very tempted to downgrade - as was my plan at the start of the season - and then upgrade Cantwell or Jorginho to a decent fourth midfield option. I'll probably have to remove Otamendi soon too, so I could even go three City across midfield :D

I quite like how my team is looking for GW11, so if Salah and Van Dijk are good then I can roll a transfer then juggle things around next week. Though it seldom works out like that. In fact, I think I said I'd roll a transfer this time last week.

Overall Points: 539

Overall Rank: 530,447

FPL: GW10 Preview

Early deadline, which I always like. Again, as with last week I haven't quite been as focused on FPL as I normally am. In someways this is probably a good thing as it means I'm not overthinking things too much. I was hoping to save my transfer this week to then do some BIG THINKING next week, but there are so many doubtful starters in my team that I feel I really need to upgrade my bench. So I'm bringing in Aaron Connolly for Connor Wickham. It's not a particularly exciting transfer, but it makes my team more robust. Also Wickham should be due a price drop too soon. Amazing he's still 4.5m.

I'm really hoping for some Pukki returns this week. Next week I'll no doubt just make a straight switch from Pukki to Abraham, but it would be nice if Pukki could make that decision a little harder.

The big question is Salah. The temptation to downgrade a little and move the money elsewhere is big. I'm still really enamoured with five big at the back. So bringing in Alexander-Arnold and having three Liverpool defenders is something I really like the idea of still. If I was wildcarding now I'd probably be thinking along the lines of three Liverpool in defence. Three City in attack. De Bruyne, Sterling and Aguero if possible.

Again though, it's probably best that I haven't had too much time to think as often it's best just to leave things as is.

As for this week's team my one hard decision has been Van Aanholt vs Cantwell. I'm going with PVA though. Norwich have really been flat lining of late, so I'm not too keen on doubling up. It may backfire, but either way I'm expecting my bench will be needed once again anyway. So they'll probably both blank lol.

(GW10 line up)

GW9 Review.

I'll have to be super quick today, I have other things to do :(

Fortunately though I had quite a decent gameweek relatively speaking. 47 points, 10 above the average.

Gameweek Points: 47

Gameweek Rank: 876,982

Overall Rank: 639,323

(click to enlarge)

Most my points came thanks to Alonso (lovely differential), Robertson (always reliable) and Sterling (any captain returns, even just an assist, was great stuff this week).

I'm now sitting looking at my team for GW10 with just one flagged player (Connor Wickham). Much better than things were. My bench really let me down this week, so I'm tempted to tweak that with my transfer, though I'd much rather save it and then do a bigger tweak next gameweek.

Hopefully I'll be able to do a fuller post before the Friday deadline.

Overall Points: 480

Overall Rank: 639,323

Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 9 Preview

I've been a bit negligent this week. I've hardly watched any FPL content. I haven't been keeping up with the injury news. I'm just well behind the curve. Hopefully it won't damage me too much and I'm not making any crazy mistakes.

With my transfer I've just taken Lloris out and brought Gazzaniga in. A move I had to make really. I know Spurs have brought Michel Vorm back as a back up keeper. So that makes me a little more doubtful about the move, but I think I can be safe in assuming Gazzaniga will remain first choice for the foreseeable future.

Luckily two of my other flags have disappeared too. De Bruyne and Cantwell now appear fully available. Salah has a yellow flag, but hopefully he'll be fine too. Though again I haven't really been keeping up entirely. I imagine he'll play with it being such a marquee game. United v Liverpool won't feel quite right with a player like Salah missing.

I'm benching Van Aanholt given they play City, but I have a feeling he'll come in anyway this week. I think John Stones is back too, so I guess that means Otamendi isn't quite as safe.

Finally, I'm going with Sterling captain and De Bruyne vice. Probably could go the other way round, but I've went with Sterling so far most of the season ..and he was on fire on Twitter this week. So maybe he'll be on form on the pitch too.

(GW9 ..fewer flags,

hopefully more points)

FPL: Gameweek 8 Review

Wow, what a truly brutal gameweek. I'm gonna keep this short, ..because it's just too depressing!

Gameweek Points: 30

Gameweek Rank: 5,078,730

Overall Rank: 975,010

(..don't look)

The average was only 36 points, so I suppose 30 isn't too bad. Still it's not brilliant though. I'm now just about hanging in there inside the top one million. Not where I want to be, but at least the situation isn't entirely irredeemable.

I knew the week was going to be bad when I got in the house on Saturday halfway through the Spurs game to see Lloris had went off injured. I think this is one of the main reasons the week feels so bad in fact. Normally when you have a bad gameweek you want to remedy the situation by doing some surgery. It always softens the blow when you can bring a nice fresh player into the team. However, I've known from the first game that I'll have to use that transfer to fix my goalkeeping situation. Not a fun transfer.

If Lloris is out for a huge chunk of time I think I'll just downgrade to Gazzaniga and save the £1m. If things are a bit more up in the air though I'll have to look elsewhere.

Also, this week I took Douglas Luiz out, only to see him come on to score a blistering goal for Villa ..and I replaced him with Jorginho - who came in to get a yellow card and one point, as he did in each of the first three gameweeks of the season when I owned him then 😅 To be fair I would've probably benched Luiz anyway, but still.

The good news is both Salah and De Bruyne should be fit for GW9. So that's a massive plus. My team actually isn't looking too bad if they return. Also, one positive this week was that PVA and Alonso both got returns. Both players are differential picks, so if it's just my well-owned players doing badly that bodes well.

Going forward I'd really like to switch Pukki to Abraham and Wickham to Brighton's Aaron Connolly, who had an amazing weekend. In hindsight I probably should've kept my wildcard. I don't think it's quite necessary to do a minus 4 just yet though.

I said I was gonna keep this short, but I've went on quite a bit. Though I guess it makes perfect sense that when things are going badly you have much more to talk about :)

Hopefully, next gameweek will go better. At least we have a nice break to mull things over.

Overall Points: 433

Overall Rank: 975,010

FPL: GW8 Preview.

Wow, injury city this week. De Bruyne definitely out, Cantwell with a yellow flag, and this all on top of the fact that I have a bench made up of Greenwood (never starts), Douglas Luiz (hasn't featured at all the last two games) and Connor Wickham (red flag/barely features anyway). So hard times.

It makes my single transfer very necessary.

I was tempted to switch De Bruyne to Mahrez, but with a bench so weak I'm in big trouble if he doesn't play. Plus with there being a break after this gameweek De Bruyne should be back by GW9 (hopefully!). So I'm probably best off keeping him.

I was well aware at the start of the season that De Bruyne is a player that does get injuries quite frequently. So I was always planning to move him out when that happened. However, he's been so good this season it's not as simple as that anymore.

Not moving him out now could be a mistake if this week isn't a one off. I think timing these things is sometimes essential if you're going to have a smooth season. Again though, I have so many issues this week that I'm probably justified in keeping him on my bench.

So what to do with the transfer. The other two obvious players to remove are Wickham and Douglas Luiz. However, though Wickham still has a red flag I have seen some web articles state that he's getting back to full fitness (the comment with the red flag only says "lack of match fitness"). So maybe he may make a surprise appearance on the Palace bench. I'd be very grateful for his usual point off the bench this week if he does come back. I might well need it.

Luiz has no flag at all, so he could feature again too. The problem is I'd like to bring someone in that's worth keeping in the long term. The only real replacement for Wickham this week would be his teammate Jordan Ayew, but that would mean tying up another 0.6m in my third striker. Something I'd rather not do. Plus there do seem to be a few other upcoming options in the 4.5m price bracket should I get another luxury transfer at some point (unlikely though that looks at the moment).

Aaron Connolly has had minutes in each of the last four gameweeks for Brighton, and Leon Clarke came on for Sheffield United last gameweek. I have no real idea who these players are, but it's always worth keeping an eye on these cheaper options. As a point off the bench is always a nice little bonus if you do need it one week. Martinelli also looked great for Arsenal last night, but sadly it's hard to imagine him getting many minutes in the Premier League.

Anyway, the options in midfield are much better for me, and to cut to the chase I'm going to bring back a player I had earlier in the season; Jorginho. I still think he looks great value and the Chelsea fixtures are nice. Unfortunately I missed out on the goal and two assists he notched up in gameweeks 4 to 7 - I took him out following gameweek 3 😣. He picked up three yellow cards and just one point each week in the weeks I had him lol. No doubt he'll return to his one point appearances now I'm bringing him back. Still though he's a nice player to own, and I can either have him starting or as my first substitute in the weeks to come. It'll definitely make me feel a bit more confident about my bench that's for sure.

(line up for GW8)

Let's go!

Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 7 Review

Quite pleased with this gameweek. Seven points above the average. I'll happily take that. I feel like I'm starting to get into my flow now. Hopefully more green arrows will follow.

Gameweek Points: 58

Gameweek Rank: 1,670,926

Overall Rank: 670,811

(GW7 points)

My defence did quite nicely. I'm finally seeing the benefits of big-at-the-back. Lloris let the team down a bit with his mistake though. Hopefully that was just a blip. I can't imagine he'll be dropped because of that one mistake, but it's something I'll have to keep an eye on. McGovern also came on to play for Norwich. So if he continues to be the only fit keeper Norwich have then I'll at least have a convenient back up.

Sterling and De Bruyne delivered again, but Salah blanked. It feels like there's a question mark over Salah at the moment due to his price. I very much like the idea of downgrading to Son and then bringing in Alexander-Arnold at the back. I'm in no rush to do that though just yet. Mahrez is also looking great this season. I'd love to have him, de Bruyne and Sterling in attack.

Triple City attack, triple Liverpool at the back. Could be the way to go.

I think I'll probably roll my transfer this week (perhaps with those type of changes in mind). Though once again I'm worried about my bench. Douglas Luiz seems completely out of favour at the moment, so it looks like I have two players now guaranteed to bring in zeroes. Jorginho grabbed a penalty to add to his two assists, so I'm very tempted to bring him in for Luiz. It would mean my hands would be tied to make any major changes next week though. So I may just gamble in keeping my dodgy bench.

Overall Points: 403

Overall Rank: 670,811