I've made my bed, I'm going to have to lie in it.

..also, the bench boost is cancelled.

Joao Pedro is seemingly out. That puts me a man down and rules out a bench boost. It's quite fortunate in a sense, as it means I can just play Szoboszlai - a fairly sturdy replacement. It was Szoboszlai sitting on my bench that leaned me into wanting to use it in the first place. So this is a potential net positive, as the other fixtures my bench had weren't ideal. It's also saved me a transfer.

As for the bed I'll have to lie in that's not looking so rosy. Yesterday I could've used two transfers (meaning a minus four) to bring in Haaland. I could've upgraded Joao Pedro and downgraded Fernandes to a £4.4m midfielder. Alas, that's no longer possible, as Haaland increased in price last night.

I wouldn't have made that move anyway, though I did briefly consider it. In fact, I knew Haaland was rising (I've been using the price change feature a lot in the last few weeks). It does make Haaland even more expensive when I do get him though 😬

I think I've criticised Man Utd enough this week, but they really do seem to be in crisis mode. So captaining a Utd player, away from home, when everyone else has Haaland, feels ominous. Again though, I've made my bed, so I just have to roll with it. Hopefully Sunderland can do me a favour.

Other than the captaincy I quite like my team. The goalkeeper isn't ideal, and the Arsenal fixture isn't the best. However, saying that, I really don't think having a triple-up on Arsenal is that risky. Everyone has Calafiori, and many have Konsa now too. So if Arsenal lose the clean sheet it's just Gabriel versus whichever third defender other people have. Even with a concession Gabriel could get defcon or an attacking return. So losing the clean sheet isn't as damaging as it would appear on first viewing. It's not like having a triple-up when everyone else has no one from that team, or just one.

Bournemouth played away in Europe last night, so the Liverpool fixture isn't awful. Barnes and Barry are somewhat hopeful picks - I'm not expecting much, but the fixtures are nice. So there are reasons to be optimistic. Even if Utd lose again they could lose 4-3 and Fernandes could get a haul. Anything could happen.

And tonight's Chelsea game just feels like a bonus. Tough fixture for Palmer and Rogers, but I certainly don't mind owning either.