Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 21 Preview

I've brought in Pereira for Alderweireld. I think it's possibly the most expensive back five I've ever had. I'm not expecting a clean sheet for Leicester against Newcastle, but at least with Pereira there's the real feeling that attacking returns are possible too.

I've stuck the armband back on Sterling. I'm mildly worried about rotation. I also don't quite fancy the fixture. With Everton having a new manager there's the sense that they've got a bit of bounce and bite. Still though it is City. And they are at home. Hopefully all three of my City players start.

I now have the City, Liverpool and Leicester triple-ups. So hopefully they'll continue to be the teams.

GW20 Review.

Another fairly good week. That's two green arrows in a row now :)

Gameweek Points: 62

Gameweek Rank: 2,004,502

Overall Rank: 897,291

(click to enlarge)

I owe it mostly to De Bruyne. So glad I switched captain from Sterling this week. I was a bit unlucky with the disallowed Pukki goal, though saying that I started him on the bench behind Greenwood (!) so perhaps you could say I'm fortunate to get the 2 points. Also VAR pretty much gifted me the three Liverpool clean sheets. That was another super tight offside call. It's ruining the game, but on the bright side my net VAR for the week was +8. So there are some benefits 😈

Gazzaniga and Alderweireld are continuing to frustrate. Over the last four gameweeks I've averaged just over two points from the pair. Pretty much one point each per week ! Not good. You expect clean sheet potential from Mourinho teams, but perhaps those days are well and truly gone.

I'm very tempted to switch Alderweireld to Pereira this week. That would give me a very expensive back five. I actually still really like the look of my team, and that move would be an obvious and easy upgrade to make. So I'll probably go that way. No point messing about too much now really.

It'll be the first gameweek of 2020, so we'll be very much into the second half of the season.

I need to keep getting these green arrows.

Overall Points: 1082

Overall Rank: 897,291

GW19 Review ..With A GW20 Preview Crammed In

Why won't FPL update quicker! *stamps feet*. I have to review this gameweek, AND preview the next gameweek all before 11:30 tomorrow morning.

Just kidding. I don't mind, I've had a good gameweek.

Gameweek Points: 74

Gameweek Rank: 321,496

Overall Rank: 947,664

(click to enlarge)

I'm guessing a green arrow. If it isn't one I'll be very disappointed.

Basically TAA mega haul. Nice Sterling captain returns. Plus a very welcome Greenwood start and goal - that was one aggressive move that paid off. My other (bringing in Mahrez) didn't quite do as well. Though if Sterling had converted his penalty instead of just knocking in the rebound I would've had a nice Mahrez assist.

Would've been nice to have Doherty's goal off the bench too, but I really can't complain. (I'd already transferred him out for Van Dijk at that point so it probably serves me right).

Gameweek 20

As for tomorrow and Sunday's games I've shaken things up a bit again. Benching both my Norwich players. I'm hoping Greenwood starts again (a gamble) and hoping that Spurs are fairly ruthless against the bottom of the table side.

I've also switched captain from Sterling to De Bruyne. Mainly because De Bruyne played just 66 minutes today, whereas Sterling played the full 90. So I fear the rotation threat with there being just two days between games. Aguero went off early, a consequence of the Ederson sending off. So he'll surely get a good run out. Mahrez went off at half time too. So he should be in contention for a start.

With Van Dijk back in alongside TAA and Robertson I'm hoping for another Liverpool clean sheet against Wolves ..but can even they stop Adama Traore? (Someone who I'm now considering as a transfer option going forward).

(As things stand going into tomorrow)

Overall Points: 1020

Overall Rank: 947,664

GW18 Review/GW19 Preview

I really don't want to review gameweek 18, but I guess I have to.

Gameweek Points: 28

Gameweek Rank: 5,861,577

Overall Rank: 1,402,623

(click to enlarge)

Son sending off was the killer blow. I wasn't massively hopefully going into Sunday with just the three Spurs players to lift my week, but I was expecting more than a collective -2. One of them ones where you don't really want to look at your team for a few days.

Saying all that though it could've been much worse, and I ended up just 10 points below the average. Shane Long got an assist, so the Martinelli transfer didn't quite work out. Although both players are now injured and it looks like Long has the worst of it. So it might not be so bad. The Doherty transfer on the other hand helped. He just got the 4 points, but this week that looks like a bounty.

And Cantwell basically saved the day with his 10 points.

So, this gameweek..

Obviously it's Son out, but the question is; who in?

I'm going to go with Mahrez. The City triple up. Their games look nice, and although Mahrez will no doubt miss a lot of minutes the rewards are potentially big. So it's an aggressive move.

Richarlison would perhaps be the sensible option, but it just doesn't really appeal to my instincts. It'll be interesting to see how most Son owners go. (I haven't really been keeping up with the community of late, so I'm literally out on my own with no exterior input).

Surely this gameweek can't be worse than last?  ..please

(Sterling captain)

I'm starting Greenwood too (!) Even if he's just coming off the bench I feel more optimistic than I do with a defender against either Liverpool or City. Again, another aggressive move, but I feel like I need to start making a few now.

Overall Points: 946

Overall Rank: 1,402,623

Fantasy Premier League: GW18 Preview

Actually getting a preview in this week :)

I've decided I'm going to use both my transfers. Van Dijk --> Doherty and then a cheeky little Long --> Martinelli. I'm not 100% sure he'll start, but the same could be said for Long I guess, plus I just feel like there's much more goal potential with Martinelli. Even though it's arguably a much tougher game.

Martinelli might also be a decent investment. Though I said that about Greenwood and he's now sat on my bench at £4.3m.

For captain I'm going with Son.

I feel like this week could be a difficult one. Leicester playing Man City cancels a few players out. My three Spurs players facing Chelsea isn't ideal. And with Robertson and TAA sat out on my bench I'm really going to need some of my lesser players to step up.

Thank God Pukki is fit.

(I actually quite like the look of that ..though

it's 2:30 in the morning as I type this, and everything

seems like a good idea at that time)

Good luck with your gameweek (:

FPL: GW17 Review

I didn't even get a chance to do a GW17 preview last week. Bloody Christmas 😡

I did end up having quite a nice week though, so I can't complain 🎅

Gameweek Points: 72

Gameweek Rank: 1,014,766

Overall Rank: 1,074,379

(click to enlarge)

Sterling came good as captain :) De Bruyne stormed it. Pukki grabbed another, and a nice Liverpool clean sheet.

(Sterling tweet, 4 his FPL fam)

It's now a case of deciding what I'm going to do with my transfers this week.

It's the week where Liverpool don't have a game, so with three Liverpool defenders that's a problem for me. I think I'm just going to transfer out Van Dijk though, as with the other two if I take them out I might not be able to bring them back in. What with the minor price differences.

I'm probably going to bring in Wolves' Doherty. Mainly in hope of attacking returns against Norwich.

Speaking of Norwich, Pukki also has an injury. A broken toe apparently (!) Though he supposedly played through the pain with it at the weekend, so perhaps he can continue again. If he's a major doubt I may use my second free transfer to bring someone else in. Maybe Ings. I really want to keep Pukki though. He's in super form.

Hopefully, Christmas aside, I'll be able to post a preview before the Saturday deadline this week, outlining my plans. With Robertson and Alexander-Arnold as non-playing bench players it could be a hard week for me.

Overall Points: 918

Overall Rank: 1,074,379

GW16 Review

Quite a decent week.

[I actually originally published this article on Sunday night, completely forgetting about Monday's game 😵 Quite typical of this season really. Totally absent minded and on autopilot half the time. Might need to pay a bit more attention over the coming gameweeks smh

So not quite as decent, but still pretty decent I guess.]

Gameweek Points: 65

Gameweek Rank: 1,747207

Overall Rank: 1,351,447

Sonaldo :)

Actually got some clean sheets this week!! :DDDD [Look how happy I was. Still a whole game to go *facepalm* ]

From Spurs and Liverpool! [Absolutely over the moon] Makes such a difference. Hopefully it'll continue.

Also it always makes a big difference when you get the captain right, and captaining Son for his wonder goal was especially nice. I'm so happy with my team now that I have two transfers and nothing I want to change. Not often you can say that.

Shane Long has been getting game time for Southampton, so I could straight swap him for Aaron Connolly who has a yellow flag. It's a bit of a dull transfer, but I had just the one point on my bench this week, so that's a minor worry. Connolly is heading into the price drop zone too, so perhaps I should make the transfer sooner rather than later. Though it's always hard to judge price drops. Lots of players tend to spend a great deal of time hovering in the high minus 90's on the fplstatistics.co.uk Price Change Predictor. I still have no idea how it all works exactly.

Also GW18 is the 'no Liverpool fixture' week, so with having three of their players the extra transfer could be essential there. I simply haven't planned, nor even thought about it though. So I better start thinking. [Yes, that's true] Having had a brief look at the fixtures that week there don't seem to be any I'd expect clean sheets in. I think I'll probably end up starting Shane Long lol [Cringe]

Overall Points: 846

Overall Rank: 1,351,447

GW15 Review / GW16 Preview Mash Up

Not a great showing midweek. Just 39 points.

Gameweek Points: 39

Gameweek Rank: 5,296,205

Overall Rank: 1,511,700

(click to enlarge)

I'm beginning to wonder if my "strategies" and plans are stopping me from just playing the game naturally. Still I'm going to stick with my plan for this season. Big at the back. Cheap up top.

The two bright sparks this week were that firstly, my transfer paid off. With Maddison getting a very useful goal (and 2 bonus points) for me. And secondly that Pukki got another :) making it returns for him in each of the last three weeks.

As for this week I'm just going to leave things as they are and save a transfer. My one worry is Chilwell who missed midweek with a minor hip injury. He could be back this weekend though.

Also, a top four million finish means qualification for the cup this week. The cup's a bit silly and one bad week means you disappear out of it fairly quickly. However, I quite enjoy it. It adds a bit of fun and flavour. So hopefully I can qualify for it.

(I'll post a screenshot of my team for GW16 tomorrow morning. Son captain I think.)

******************

(..need a big haul from

Son this week 🙏)

Overall Points: 781

Overall Rank: 1,511,700

FPL: Gameweek 15 Preview

So I've brought Maddison in. I was tempted to go with Pulisic, but I prefer the safety of having someone guaranteed to start every game.

I'm benching Alderweireld and playing Cantwell this week. I keep missing his points sadly, so me starting him probably means he won't deliver. The Southampton game looks like a nice fixture though.

(click to enlarge)

I'm really starting to like the look of my team now. So I think it's probably time I started saving a transfer in anticipation of Lloris eventually coming back. I have no idea when that will be, but it's worth bearing in mind if you have Gazzaniga in goal.

Captain returns from Sterling tonight would be a great way to start this gameweek. If he blanks though it could be hard watching the rest of the games unfold.

FPL: GW14 Review

Finally a really good week this season :D

Gameweek Points: 84

Gameweek Rank: 48,923

Overall Rank: 1,100,255

(click to enlarge)

That was a much needed tonic for my season. The Liverpool triple up came good, even without the clean sheet. Son captaincy worked out. Pukki goal another huge bonus.

I can now just straight swap Jorginho for Maddison before the Tuesday deadline. Which will make my team look a lot more attractive. I'll probably wait until tomorrow as I can't imagine there'll be any threat of a price change for either player. With Pukki now getting points I'm actually considering just keeping him going forward. Ideally I'd like to upgrade Alderweireld to Leicester's Pereira, but that would require an extra £1m from somewhere. So maybe a price downgrade to Lundstram would make more sense.

Overall Points: 742

Overall Rank: 1,100,255

GW14 Preview

A quick preview today. I've brought in TAA. I'm actually starting to quite like the look of my team now.

(click to enlarge)

I just need to upgrade my fourth midfielder. Or upgrade Pukki.

I'm going with Son as captain too. I'm quite tempted to switch to Sterling as I type this, but generally late changes don't work for me so I'm sticking with my original selection. Feel like my team is very differential now. So things could go either way going forward.

Fingers crossed I do well.

Fantasy Premier League: GW13 Review

Well, gameweek 13.

Gameweek Points: 50

Gameweek Rank: 3,409,444

Overall Rank: 2,036,734

(click to enlarge)

One point above the average this week, and a minor rank drop. I'm quite pleased though as my previous couple of weeks have been pretty dreadful. So this feels like I'm stopping the rot.

My Salah to Son transfer paid off quite nicely. I also finally got some points from Pukki. Just a humble assist, but very nice anyway.

I'm now planning on bringing in TAA for PVA. Initials for initials. After that I can then look at what I'm going to do about Jorginho and Pukki. Even after the TAA transfer I'll have 2.6m left in the bank. So it's a question of whether to upgrade the fourth mid or upgrade the striker. I quite like the idea of bringing in Maddison, but that would limit my options up top. I'll have a good chunk of time to think about it though. So it's all good :)

Overall Points: 658

Overall Rank: 2,036,734

GW13 Preview.

Quick one today. I'm working nights atm so I'm struggling to keep up to date with everything.

I have however made a transfer, and it's a biggie. Salah -》Son.

Next week I'm then going to upgrade a defender to Alexander-Arnold. So finally the big three Liverpool defenders at the back.

Again, I'm not really sure how this week will go. I'm pretty much relying on Mourinho. With Alderweireld, Gazzaniga and now Son I'm really desperate that they all play and Mourinho has an immediate impact.

Now I'm going to get to bed, with the aim of hopefully waking up before the West Ham v Spurs game kicks off at 12:30 :)

(click to enlarge)

Sterling captain.

I could really do with Robertson recovering from his injury too.

FPL: GW12 Review

Another poor gameweek *sad face*

Gameweek Points: 41

Gameweek Rank: 4,734,315

Overall Rank: 1,970,649

(gameweek points; 41)

The average was 48, so it wasn't a complete disaster, but it was yet another big rank drop. I now have a mountain to climb if I'm going to achieve a decent rank this season.

Bringing in Alderweireld completely backfired as he missed his first Premier League game this season. Meaning Greenwood came in for just the one point. What really saved me this week was Salah returning as captain. So that was a huge silver lining.

I'm now not entirely sure what I'm going to do going forward. Fortunately I have the international break to think about it. I can't really bring Abraham in this week as they face Man City. So that may mean giving Pukki yet another game (!). Looking at the Crystal Palace fixtures that are coming up I'm actually very tempted to wait until GW14 and then bring in Jordan Ayew. I could then upgrade a midfielder to Pulisic or Maddison.

Greenwood, Connolly and Ayew would be a super cheap attacking line up though 😅

However, I am sticking with my plan of five big at the back and cheap up top. It hasn't quite worked so far (to say the least), but I think it's more fun and interesting to try to stick with it for a full season. 12 weeks is a decent chunk of time, but it's not really that huge in the context of an entire season. So perhaps it still may kick into gear at some point. ..Hopefully!

Overall Points: 608

Overall Rank: 1,970,649

Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 12 Preview

Surely this week can't be as bad as last!

I've made my two transfers. So my team looks a little better, or at least feels a little better anyway.

I was going to bring in both Chilwell and Pereira. However, I'm now bringing in Chilwell and Alderweireld. My thinking is partly based on the games both teams have this week - Leicester have Arsenal, whereas Spurs are home to Sheff Utd - but also on the fact that the cheaper value of Alderweireld means I'll be able to bring Abraham in for Pukki in one move next gameweek.

I still like the idea of the Leicester fullback double up though, so that's definitely an option going forward.

I've struggled with my captain choice this week. I'm going with Salah, but I've been considering Sterling ...and even Pukki (!) Salah seems the sensible option though given Liverpool are at home.

(Line up for GW12)

Hopefully I can get more than 28 points this week.

GW11 Review - Arghhhh!!!

Hellish, hellish gameweek.

Gameweek Points: 28

Gameweek Rank: 6,598,924

Overall Rank: 1,575,334

(don't look ..bad team)

I've dropped a million places ! 😧

Where do you start? Basically everyone had a bad week with the exception of Robertson and Jorginho - and Jorginho got a yellow card which now means he's out for GW12 lol

The final nail in the coffin was Everton's goal in the 97th minute which wiped out my Gazzaniga clean sheet.

Fortunately I at least have two free transfers this week. Though I think I probably need about 5 or 6 to fix things.

• Otamendi needs removing
• Alsonso needs removing
• Pukki must go
• Cantwell too

Actually, that's just 4 lol. So maybe not so bad. Should I stick with Salah though? I really could do with rejigging the whole team. Perhaps I should do an imaginary wildcard and try to aim towards that over the coming weeks.

*************************

UPDATE.

I've had a little look at doing a wildcard team (not that I actually have a wildcard sadly). With Son now suspended I actually don't feel like my current team is that far from where I want to be. Ideally I would have Alexander-Arnold instead of Van Dijk, and Abraham instead of Pukki. Then on top of that it's just a case of jigging my other defenders about.

I'll probably bring both Chilwell and Pereira in this week. Doubling up on Leicester full backs. I can give Pukki the Watford game, then go from there.

I think I'll be aiming for something along these lines. Which would only take 4 transfers.

(With Hayden just being an enabler to

get Abraham really)

Overall Points: 567

Overall Rank: 1,575,334

FPL: GW11 Preview

Well, miracle upon miracle, I think I'm actually going to roll a transfer this week o_O

This is not my natural game! In fact, I'm hoping to roll one next week too! As I'm planning on keeping Pukki for next week's game at home to Watford.

So let's just whack my team out for this gameweek;

(click to enlarge)

Just the one flag, and that on my bench. It seems Salah and Van Dijk are fine now. So hopefully they both start. If Otamendi gets a game too that would be huge, though no doubt Jorginho will come in. Alonso is a bit of a doubt with Emerson now back as well I guess. It'll be a disappointment if he doesn't play as he's been great since I brought him in.

Other than that all the games look set up quite nicely this week. Hopefully I can get a decent points haul. I'm really hoping that the Brighton v Norwich game will be a goal fest. I'm truly desperate for some Pukki returns.

It's one of those weekends where all the major games are on the Saturday too. I think I have just two players playing on the Sunday. So tomorrow it should be exciting watching the scores roll in. Both Liverpool and City have 3 o'clock kickoffs. Not often we see that.

This Season / Last Season

Also, finally, I've been thinking about this season in relation to last season. This time last year I was a little bit higher. Around 400k compared to my current 530k. Not a great deal of difference, so I'm confident I can achieve another decent finish.

I feel that last season I made more mistakes, but that I also had a bit more luck. I captained Aguero for his hat-trick and Hazard for his in the first ten weeks or so. So that really helped to offset that bad moves I made. This season I feel like my team has been much more solid and sensible, but I haven't quite had the rub of the green yet.

I've just checked last year's GW10 review and it was the week where Success came off my bench with six points. Again, that was kind of lucky :)

It was also the week where I posted this image;

In many ways I've been much more zen this season really. I certainly wasn't rolling any transfers back then that's for sure.

Also I went into GW11 last season with Sterling captain, as I have this week - and he got me 42 points!

Hopefully that's sign.

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

FPL: GW7 Preview

I think Lloris looks good to start. Plus there's a chance my back-up keeper, the 4.0m McGovern could play. So that means I don't have to worry about wasting a transfer on a keeper.

My bench is still a bit weak, and I should really be looking to strengthen it. However, the temptation to use my luxury transfer for my first eleven is just too much to resist. So I'll be bringing in Alonso for Digne.

Chelsea have some great fixtures, and with Emerson now out Alonso looks a good option (if a little expensive). I'm not expecting many clean sheets from Chelsea, but with Alonso there's always the possibility of goals and assists. So it feels like a good shout. Especially given how attacking Chelsea look.

I may bring Digne back further down the line. Maybe even next week. This is one of the things I like about having five big at the back. Five expensive pegs means I can pretty much own anyone in that position. Without having to lose someone I may regret dropping.

It feels like we're starting to see some good defensive options coming to the fore now. Otamendi looks good now he's guaranteed starts. Tomori at Chelsea looks like an interesting cheaper option. The Leicester fullbacks are looking good.

It's a shame really that I don't have Alexander-Arnold as well. I went with Robertson and van Dijk at the start of the season and I'm sticking with that for the time being - even though TAA has clearly been the best option so far. I don't really see the point in wasting transfers chasing points though. Also I'm still quite interested in having all three. If another non-Liverpool midfielder steps up to match Salah then I could go that way. Feels a bit scary to do that at the moment though. Plus there isn't an obvious Salah substitute. So I'll just have to hope TAA gets rotated a little bit over the next few weeks :)

As for my team this week. I'm taking another minor risk in starting Greenwood ahead of Cantwell. Surely he has to start for Man Utd now (!)

Other than that (and Alonso coming in) it's pretty much as is.

(click to enlarge)

FPL: Gameweek 6 Review

A very nice gameweek for me. 71 points.

Gameweek Points: 71

Gameweek Rank: 724,245

Overall Rank: 887,176

(click to enlarge)

I ended the week with only 9 players. Lloris missed his game because his wife was giving birth. Obviously that's much more important than my fantasy football team, so I can hardly complain about that one. Then on top of this Sterling also missed out. Though again I can't complain as De Bruyne came in as captain 😃

My bench really let me down though, so no one came in to fill the gaps. Greenwood, after scoring in the Europa League, came down with an illness. Wickham was still injured, and I think Douglas Luiz was either rested or simply dropped.

My 9 players did very nicely though. Especially the recently transferred in Otamendi.

Going forward..

I'm now thinking about my transfer for this week. Hopefully Lloris will be back (he's on the bench for tonight's League Cup game which bodes wells). If he isn't guaranteed to play I'll probably just bring in his no.2 Gazzaniga so I have both Spurs keepers in my squad. He's only 0.4m more than my 4.0m bench keeper, so it might be a good move. Interestingly though Norwich's first and second choice keepers both have flags at the moment. So potentially the 4.0m McGovern could get a game. So I might have a temporary back up already. I'll need to look more into that one though.

Aside from the keeper I'm not quite sure where to go. I'm again looking at the cheaper Chelsea midfield options. Kanté scored at the weekend and Jorginho has picked up two assists since I dropped him from my side (doh). Chelsea are looking decent at the moment and very attacking. They have some nice fixtures too.

Another question I have is whether to start Digne against City.

Overall Points: 345

Overall Rank: 887,176

FPL GW6 Preview

Okay, so got my team sorted. I'm very happy with my 2 transfers. I kind of feel like they've fell into place quite nicely. I wan going to switch Azpilicueta to Vertonghen - essentially moving sideways from Chelsea to Spurs in the hope of clean sheets. Then I was going to upgrade Wickham to Ayew with the extra cash to improve my bench a little.

However, with John Stones getting injured it now means that Otamendi is more or less guaranteed to play for the next month or so (hopefully). So I've decided to move Ederson to Lloris, which covers the nice looking Spurs fixtures. Then I've brought in Otamendi for Azpilicueta.

If Otamendi does play every game then he's a step up from Ederson as he also brings a bit of goal threat from set pieces. Likewise Lloris should be a safer bet than Vertonghen as the Spurs back line isn't always nailed on. So I'm getting another player more certain of starts. Plus Vertonghen tends to offer very little going forward anyway.

The transfers also save me a cool £1m - so I now have an extra million to invest elsewhere going forward! So these transfers feel very right.

(GW6 line up)

As for the rest of my team this week. I'm going Sterling for captain. There's a risk of rotation - as ever. However, I'm happy to take the risk. I'm not too confident in risking Greenwood though after my huge get out of jail last gameweek. Greenwood scored in the Europe League, and with Daniel James doubtful there's probably even more chance he could start this week. I'll be starting Cantwell though. Greenwood can be my first off the bench.

FPL: GW5 Review

:(

Gameweek Points: 34

Gameweek Rank: 6,222,618

Overall Rank: 1,679,245

(click to enlarge ..probably best

not to)

Truly brutal gameweek. The emoji says it all. What else can be said.

To be fair it could've been much, much worse. So I should be grateful. I actually started Greenwood! So if he'd have came on to get me one point I'd be sitting here with both Pukki and Cantwell on the bench. I thought I was going to be super lucky last night when I saw Douglas Luiz benched too, but unfortunately he came on for just 9 minutes towards the end. Meaning Cantwell stayed put.

The bad gameweek has really forced me to think though, so hopefully I'll benefit going forward.

First up, there are now three players that I don't have that I feel I want; Son, Mason Mount, and Abraham.

However, with the way I'm set up I have no way to bring them in. I'm sticking with my plan, which means that it's either Son or De Bruyne in midfield. I can't have both at present (I'll stick with De Bruyne for the time being). It's likewise similar with Abraham. I only have room for either him or Pukki, so I'll continue to go with Pukki and then assess going forward.

With Mount it's a little more likely I'll be able to bring him in, but I'll need to rejig things a bit. So I'll put that on hold too. Chelsea play Liverpool this week, so it's not an ideal fixture anyway. Though I said that about Norwich v Man City.

My plans for my two transfers this week are to bring in Ayew and Vertonghen, and take out Azpilicueta and Wickham. These are quite boring changes, and not how many would use their transfers following a gameweek like I've just had. However, I feel I need to strengthen my bench for the coming weeks and a playing 5.1m striker seems like a useful addition. Having just Greenwood and Wickham potentially leaves me a bit short. I also like the look of Tottenham's next four fixtures. I'm hoping they might actually get some clean sheets. They seem to be like gold dust this season, and with five at the back it's really destroying my rank.

I'll post a preview on Friday confirming my team and transfers for GW6. Hopefully things go better :)

Overall Points: 274

Overall Rank: 1,679,245

FPL: Gameweek Five Preview

The international break wasn't too bad. It hasn't dragged that much. Still though, it's good to be back. It's also been quite good in that my team hasn't suffered any injuries. So I'm pretty much as is. I was considering bringing in David Luis for Azpilicueta. Mainly just as the next few games look a little better. However, with Watford changing manager I thought I better hold off. Chelsea away to Wolves and Arsenal away to Watford is six and two threes really.

(Greenwood ahead of Pukki,

urgh ..feels reckless)

Now I'm just toying with the idea of starting Greenwood ahead of Pukki. Norwich have so many injuries you would think it'll be difficult for them to even get the ball against Man City. However, Greenwood again is unlikely to start. United do have a lot of injury problems though. So there's an outside bet.

If he doesn't start and just comes off the bench it's then a question of say 20/30 minutes of Greenwood against Leicester at Old Trafford or 90 minutes of Pukki facing City.

The obvious choice of course is Pukki. Especially given that if he does score I'll really be missing out given how highly owned he is. Conversely a cheeky little gamble would be quite satisfying were it to come off. Basically a huge differential.

At least I have until 11:30 tomorrow to mull it over ..hopefully I don't sleep in.

GW4 Review.

I was over the moon with my points tally on Sunday evening. Digne's assist bumping it up to 59 points led me to feel like I'd had a very solid week. However, when the average updated later that night it took the edge off a bit - 57 points, quite a high one. Nevertheless, and in spite of a little rank drop, I'm still feeling quite good about it.

Gameweek Points: 59

Gameweek Rank: 2,658,807

Overall Rank: 559,602

(click to enlarge)

The only thing that really let me down this week was my captain, with Sterling blanking for the first time this season. I have no complaints really though, you can't expect returns every week, and I'll probably stick with him as captain next time out.

Starting Greenwood also failed to pay off. He only came on for a grand total of eight minutes in the end, so I was fortunate that it didn't cost me more. Getting just one point compared to the two points I would've got had I started Cantwell.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with Greenwood going forward. Pereira didn't have a great game for United, so if Martial remains out you'd think he'd again be in consideration for a start. Especially given that he looked quite bright when he eventually came on. United really are just a few more injuries away from a crisis looking at the sparsity of options up top. It could be good for Greenwood owners, but watching United struggle against Southampton I wouldn't be hugely surprised to see them finish in the bottom half this season.

In fact, the whole idea of a top six - out in front of the rest - really seems to be breaking down this year. Though to be fair we are still only four games in. Chelsea have definitely looked average so far. Particularly at the back. Which leads me to my one main concern at the moment, Azpilicueta. Traditionally clean sheets have been a major part of the appeal with him. He does chip in with the odd assist, but he's mainly a player you want for the consistency. If Chelsea are conceding four goals in two games against newly promoted sides then that doesn't look promising.

It's not a major issue, but I think I'll be looking to move him on. Going big at the back seemed to work this week, so I'm definitely sticking with the plan. Once you get past City and Liverpool though it's difficult to find players that justify the price tag. David Luiz is a possible replacement. Arsenal have some nice fixtures, but again clean sheets are far from expected with them. I may also look to Leicester players once their fixtures get a little easier.

Obviously it's the international break at the moment, so there's no rush to make any plans or decisions. Hopefully there won't be any knocks or injuries.

Overall Points: 240

Overall Rank: 559,602

FPL GW4 - Greenwood, Greenwood, Greenwood

I should start this with the caveat that I haven't really been following the latest team news today. With the wildcard still active I'll be doing a more thorough check later on. Normally I'm all sown up by this point barring major team news, but with the deadline being tomorrow I may as well take the time to tinker the wildcard as much as possible.

The one major point of consideration that has been occupying my thoughts is the possibility of removing Joelinton to bring in Patrick van Aanholt. Essentially meaning a return to five at the back. PVA is already top for points in defence and Palace have some nice looking games. Joelinton's home fixture against Watford looks too nice though. Plus it would be galling if I took him out now to see him score a couple of goals. So I'm sticking for the time being.

(..as things stand)

The real point of this article, hence the title, is Mason Greenwood though. There's a possibility he could start tomorrow and at the moment I even have him in my starting eleven (that may change though).

At the start of the season I was quite excited when I saw Mason Greenwood at 4.5m. Obviously he was bottom of the pecking order, but with Lukaku going and no one coming in it meant he would be guaranteed at least some game time. Especially with injuries being an inevitability at various points during the season. Now with Sanchez leaving that's even more so the case.

Therefore if he does start tomorrow it shouldn't really come as too much of a surprise to anyone.

Anyway, my initial enthusiasm for Greenwood was dampened as I listened to various other FPL commentators downplay his prospects of getting serious minutes. I should perhaps say at this point that though I tend to just keep to myself in FPL and do my own thing. Posting my little blog posts. A bit like someone alone at sea filling in their journal. I do watch a lot of FPL content, especially on YouTube. There's so much good stuff out there. Fantasy Football Scout and Let's Talk FPL are pretty much essential viewing. I'm really enjoying watching Planet FPL this season. FPL Wildcats, FPL Cougars. Capkin Gaming, FPL General. The list goes on. There's so much good stuff out there, and they all actually seem like quite decent people too. (I like to imagine that they all hate each other behind the scenes lol but that probably isn't the case.)

So I do benefit a lot from listening to other people when it comes to information. I think the one problem with watching so much content though is that it makes people overthink things, or dampen their own instincts. It seems to add a fear factor. No one wants to look like a casual player or like they don't know what they're doing. Taking a risk on an obscure player that no one's heard of is one thing, but just sticking a player in your team because he plays for Chelsea or Man United can look a little amateurish if it doesn't pay off.

I've had this problem myself with players like Kanté. He's not a bad option for his price (116 points last season isn't too bad at all), but putting him in your team looks like the sort of move a casual player would make, or that a child with only a limited knowledge of football would make. So you avoid doing it for fear of looking like that.

I think it could be similar with Greenwood.

This is potentially a Manchester United striker, getting serious game time, that costs just 4.5m.

It would be massive if he gets a run of games, but it's almost too obvious a risk for people to take. Everyone instead is looking for a 4.5m gem from Aston Villa or Norwich or somewhere like that. A clever choice. An original find.

If fact, it's quite fitting that I'm currently trying to decide whether to start Greenwood or Cantwell. Obviously it's quite possible that Greenwood won't start, so that's a big risk factor, but if he does start who would I rather have?

If you asked a ten year old whether they would rather have a Manchester United striker or a Norwich midfielder they would say a Manchester United striker without even hesitating.

Is that because it's so obviously the better choice that even a child can see it? Or is it just because kids are idiots?

If I go with my inner child perhaps Greenwood will start and get a couple of goals. Then again, he could sit on the bench for 85 minutes and Cantwell could get a very boring, but valuable assist ..and I'll be sitting there feeling and looking like a child. It's a bit pathetic to be bothered about such things really, but we're all social animals and we can't completely escape worries about how we're perceived by other people.

If Greenwood starts getting games though, then the Greenwood / Joelinton strike partnership is definitely on. Stuff Pukki, he'll be straight out, far too expensive for my tastes :)