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.

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FPL: Gameweek 6 Review

A very nice gameweek for me. 71 points.

Gameweek Points: 71

Gameweek Rank: 724,245

Overall Rank: 887,176

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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

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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