FPL: GW29 Preview - No Idea What To Do

It's not often I go into a gameweek with so little idea of what I want to do. Normally I have quite a strong gut instinct, but this week I really cannot make up my mind. Given the way the FA Cup ties went I've decided to Free Hit in GW31. So that's one thing settled. As for my transfer plans this week though I'm still no closer to deciding.

• roll a transfer?
• take a minus 4 to bring in Aubameyang?
• take a minus 4 to bring in Sterling or Aguero?
• Digne to Bellerin?
• Cantwell to Saka?

Very unsure ..and as for captain choice. With De Bruyne yellow-flagged it really is a hard one. Bringing in Aubameyang would solve that, as he's more or less guaranteed to play both games, but it would mean taking out Vardy (at home to Villa) and also downgrading Maddison (probably to Saka).

Saka isn't nailed on to start, and also isn't nailed on for a full 90 when he does. So it's tricky.

I really like the idea of bringing Sterling in and sticking the captaincy on him. That would be a very off-the-wall move, but very much to my tastes. In fact, it's probably the move that would be closest to my "instincts". However, I can't really make that one work because I don't have the funds. I'd have to take out Vardy and put in someone like Ayew, and that's with a minus 4 😶 So that's a no-no.

[I'm now literally just sat staring at my team. What to do??]

It would probably be smart to wait until the morning, but it's Saturday and I know I'll sleep in lol. Plus, if I am up early enough I'll still have bed-head anyway. So my thinking will be as woolly as it is now.

Plus I have a damn blog to write.

I'm also trying to think about gameweeks 30 and 32 as well. I'd definitely like to bring in Fernandes at some point. Ideally in GW32 for Mahrez. They're both the same price currently. So it would be a straight swap. I'll have to make sure I have a few point-ones in the bank though going into that move just to make sure.

So I guess that would leave me a random free transfer to use in GW30. A luxury transfer! Genuinely no idea what I'd do with that.

**************** some time later ****************

Okay, so I've decided what to do. Still not sure it's the right move, but here goes. It's that last, and most boring, option on the above list. Cantwell to Saka. I can just bench Digne then get the extra game from Saka (hopefully). The Digne game away to Chelsea isn't particularly great. So I guess it makes sense.

And I've decided I'm going to be brave and stick the armband on De Bruyne. What can possibly go wrong? 😵

(4-4-2 . standard .)

GW28 Review: Do I Have To?

Really didn't like that gameweek. It started out badly when Vardy didn't start, then went downhill from there. I felt so optimistic at the beginning as well.

"I've just spent the entire week waiting to transfer Vardy in. So it's a relief to finally get that done and start the gameweek proper."

I guess you have to laugh 😄 If I'd have waited about another hour I would've been able to react to some of the reports coming out before the deadline doubting his fitness. I suppose it's a lesson going forward showing the value of waiting 'til the absolute last minute. Though saying that I'm so cautious I always think "..but what if the website crashes before the deadline and I can't make my transfers!!". So it can go either way I suppose. You never know when the Internet will go down 😨 I guess I can just put it down as a little bit of bad luck.

All in all it wasn't too bad however, and could've been much worse.

Gameweek Points: 27

Gameweek Rank: 3,258,346

Overall Rank: 222,762

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One above the average, but still a bit of a rank drop.

Jimenez and Dubravka really saved me. Everyone else did pretty appallingly. Though Cantwell's three looks massive in hindsight.

Fortunately the Liverpool defeat damaged everyone fairly equally, so it was a good week to have a bad week as they say. I'm now just waiting for these FA Cup ties to get sorted so we have a full GW31 picture. Liverpool lost again today, with a weakened team, so that means three more players for that week. Injuries and rotations permitting.

Sheffield United and Newcastle both went through, which means Dubravka is definitely out. As it now stands I have a potential eight players for GW31. Three Liverpool, two Wolves and the three free-transfers.

If Leicester get knocked out tomorrow - which is unlikely as they play Birmingham - then that would take me up to a full eleven. Likewise if Spurs beat Norwich that will push me up to ten (Digne and Cantwell then being available). So I'll be watching tomorrow's ties quite closely. If I have ten or eleven players (or even 13 if both ties go my way o_O ) then I can get through GW31 without a chip. Just eight though and I'll probably free hit.

Double Gameweek 29

We also have a double in GW29 now. With Man City playing Arsenal & United, and Arsenal facing City & West Ham. I'm quite nicely set with Mahrez and De Bruyne already. It would be nice to add another player though. Again however, it all depends on what my plans will be for GW31. Arsenal and Man City will definitely blank that week, so it's an either/or situation.

I'm intuitively hoping that the fixtures go my way tomorrow. In a way though it doesn't really matter too much. If I can ride through GW31 unscathed then great, but if I'm free hitting then that means I can get back to my natural game and start having fun with my free transfers. I wouldn't mind taking out the yellow-flagged Digne to bring in Bellerin. Everton's games are pretty poor, so with Arsenal having two games that would be a cheeky little move. We'll wait and see though.

GW28 Preview. Blanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few too many exclamation marks there, but I've just spent the entire week waiting to transfer Vardy in. So it's a relief to finally get that done and start the gameweek proper.

My one main issue now this gameweek is Digne, who has a yellow flag. There doesn't seem to be any clear info, so my feeling is that he'll miss. Meaning I'll most certainly need Greenwood to get at least some game time.

Neto probably won't start either, but I'm expecting he'll come on at some point. And I'll certainly take that this week.

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I do like the look of this team with Vardy in it though. With three Leicester and also Cantwell I'm going to be really dependent on tonight's game however. So weirdly by 10 pm tonight I'll have a fair idea of how my week's going.

I've still only got Vardy as vice-captain, which will take the edge off if I don't get any returns tonight. I was a little tempted to give him the captaincy, but I just feel TAA is the more sensible option. A clean sheet isn't immensely likely away to Watford, but it's hardly unimaginable. Then on top of that you also have a very real potential for an assist or a goal.

Captaincy could be especially huge this week, so I'm really hoping for TAA returns ..and a Salah blank (sorry Salah owners, but we're in a rank war right now! No time for sentiment!).

Anyway, not long 'til kick off now. Hopefully it'll be an entertaining weekend.

GW27 Review. Another Green Arrow :) ..just

I have to be pretty pleased with this week. Seven points above the average, a minor green arrow. So a fairly solid week.

Gameweek Points: 52

Gameweek Rank: 2,121,281

Overall Rank: 195,128

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I went up about 1,000 places. Which shows how much you need to do to get a decent rank boost when you start heading towards the higher echelons in fpl.

Oddly I think was probably most pleased with Dubravka this week. With Newcastle losing 1-0 I was expecting the standard two points, so when I looked and saw two save points on top of that I was over the moon. Simple things..

He was the first of my players to actually play at the weekend, so I think that adds to it. You always feel better when you get some points on the board early. When your first player comes out of the blocks with a big fat blank it seems to set the tone for the rest of the gameweek. At least psychologically.

The whole week really swung on the captain choice. It was another week where I was fearing not owning Salah and counting on TAA to pull me through, which fortunately he did. His three bonus points, plus the Robertson assist in a sense cancelling out not having Salah. Anyone with Salah, Trent and Mane this week will have done really well. Luckily Mane still isn't quite as highly owned as he was a few weeks back though.

Going Forward...

Going forward I'm now just waiting to get Vardy transferred in. I'd like to just do it now and get things settled, but with Mahrez and De Bruyne definitely blanking this week I can't afford anymore absentees. I already have a yellow flag on Digne. If he misses again I'll be needing Greenwood to come in off my bench. If he can get another eight points that wouldn't be too bad at all, but of course there's always the danger that he doesn't even play at all.

So I'm best off waiting to make sure Vardy doesn't get injured before I bring him in.

The deadline is Friday this week too so I better bear that in mind as well.

GW26 Review / GW27 Preview.

Wow, two whole weeks since I posted on here. That gameweek was a drag. Fortunately it was quite a decent week points wise for me though.

Gameweek Points: 78

Gameweek Rank: 413,433

Overall Rank: 196,342

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It goes without saying that I was super lucky with De Bruyne as captain. The game was called off due to bad weather - only to then be rearranged within the same gameweek!. Very fortunate. Especially as I had Mahrez vice, who in the end didn't play anyway. The 13 from Son was also a little lucky given he originally missed his penalty. His injury has evened things about a bit though. Meaning I'll need to transfer him out now.

Again though, this has in a way been a little lucky too, as I was going to remove De Bruyne to bring in Vardy. In preparation for GW28. Now I can just remove Son, meaning I'll be leaving De Bruyne and Mahrez on my bench GW28 with a potential double gameweek for City GW29. So it's not too bad.

It does mean my funds to get Vardy in are a little bit tighter though. I need to bring in a £5.1m or less midfielder for Son to leave me with the exact amount.

I've decided I'm going to go for the £5.0m Wolves star Neto. He came on off the bench in last night's Europa game, so I'm hoping he'll start come Sunday. Wolves also definitely have a game in GW31, so if the FA Cup fixtures fall my way it might help me navigate that week without having to resort to a chip. He's a player I really like the look of, but he doesn't often get the full 90 minutes. I can't really see a more suitable option at the price though, so it feels like a risk worth taking. Norwich at home is a pretty nice fixture too.

I got a rank boost of around 100k last week, so I'm starting to get towards the business end of the rankings. I'd really like a few more good weeks to push towards the top 100k now. If I could reach that high before I start hitting the chip buttons that would be perfect. It's a big ask though.

I've got the captaincy for this week on TAA. It always feels a bit of a weird choice when you're putting it on a defender, but he's such a great option. He's right up there with the top midfielders for points this season too. He's now on one more than Mane and is just the fifteen behind Salah. Which is incredible given the price. Very consistent points scorer too.

Anyway, hopefully this gameweek won't be as disjointed as the last one. Three days, ten games. Beautiful 😊

GW26 Preview.

Thanks to the "winter break" this week's fixtures will be spread out over the next 10 days.

I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.

I have decided that I'll be bringing in Jimenez and not Ings though. This feels like a big risk, but my instinct is overriding my common sense. I want Jimenez in my team. Ings, in spite of the incredible run of fixtures, just doesn't inspire the same confidence in me.

I'd like to say I'm bringing in Jimenez because he doesn't blank in GW31, but in truth it's highly, highly likely I'll be free hitting that week anyway.

I'm going to roll next week's transfer to have two for GW28. I'll be downgrading De Bruyne to bring in Vardy. I may bring in someone who definitely blanks GW31 for my cheaper midfield option. Just in case I can get through GW31 without using a chip. There'll have to be some big shocks in the FA Cup quarter finals though for that to happen.

As well as bringing in Jimenez this week I'll be captaining De Bruyne (better make the most of him). I'm also hoping that Mahrez and Son can have good weeks for me. I think I need at least one to haul to have a really nice gameweek. I've reached the point where I'm not really expecting anything from Maddison though. To be fair he has been very involved in games recently, and still gets a fair few shots away, but it just doesn't seem to be happening at the moment. So anything from him will be a huge bonus. Likewise with Pereira. Wolves will be a tough game for Leicester ..we'll have to wait until next Friday to find out how tough though :(

(It just looks so much better with

Jimenez in there)

GW25 Review.

48 points, 1 point above the average, but a red arrow :(

Gameweek Points: 48

Gameweek Rank: 3,473,590

Overall Rank: 290,984

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Not a huge red arrow though. So it wasn't too bad :)

It does mean my good run of green has came to an end though.

I was actually quite pleased with my tally by the end of the week. Given that I didn't have Salah (who earned 32 points for the multitude who had him as captain) I feel like I dodged a potentially damaging week. If Salah continues like this though I'm not too sure how much longer I'll be able to withstand the damage that will inevitably come.

Saying that, the three Liverpool clean sheets were great and having those three in my team has been a constant source of points over the last few months. It just means that I then need a big midfielder that Salah owners don't have to match Salah. Can anyone match him though?

Son scored again. That was a huge bonus. It's now a contest between him and De Bruyne for my captain choice this upcoming gameweek. It's currently on De Bruyne - at home to West Ham should be a great fixture for him. Son away to Villa is also quite tempting though.

Salah will have Norwich away 😟

Also Dubravka got 7 points against Norwich at the weekend. That was very welcome. So the transfer paid off. With this week's transfer I'm still not sure who to bring in for Haller. My instinct is saying Jimenez, but the Ings fixtures are just superb. Also Ings is cheaper too. So I may factor my future transfers into the decision.

I'll post a preview for GW26 closer to the deadline.

Overall Points: 1410

Overall Rank: 290,984