Alexander-Arnold captain (!) pro-gamer move

No wildcard. Transfer now locked in. Digne for Van Dijk.

My bench is looking slightly better now that Reed is only yellow-flagged, so there's a chance he could be involved. Though Mitchell is no doubt on borrowed time, so things ain't exactly brilliant. Still, it's nice to have at least some potential on the bench. Just in case I need a blank spot filling.

The main news this week is my captaincy. Trent Alexander-Arnold is a very left-field pick. In fact, on the Fantasy Premier League site he's the fifth most transferred out this week. So the choice seems to be going very much against the grain. I'm fairly happy with it though.

As for the rest of my side I think the games look nice, it's just a question of whether Foden and Traoré actually start.

A return from Bamford tonight would be quite useful. It would also be good if Aubameyang could start scoring for me. He hasn't looked great value so far this season, but the fixtures going forward are quite decent (Villa and Leeds in gameweeks 8 and 9). So I wouldn't mind leaving him in until GW10.

Ideally I'd like to be able to use my transfer next week to take out Traoré. I've got 2.7m in the bank to help upgrade, so it would definitely improve my first eleven.

My finger's still over the wildcard button too though. So if things aren't looking good after this weekend then it could be all change.

(GW5) SOLID Week.

Bang on the average this gameweek. Given the week I had last time out this felt like a win, so I'll gladly take it.

Gameweek Points: 60

Gameweek Rank: 3,642,604

Overall Rank: 2,831,024

This was also the first time I've had a decent captain return this season. So that was good. Plus I got a little green arrow. I'm still high up in the multi-millions, but I've stemmed the rot at least.

I'm now a little bit in two minds about wildcarding. I don't think I will, but if I get another flag I think it'll most certainly tip me over the edge. Traoré isn't starting games, Van Dijk is now out, and my bench is hanging by the threads. So my one transfer this week might not paper the cracks.

Currently though I'm planning on simply transferring Digne in for Van Dijk. Then I can move for Salah going forward.

I also currently have the armband on Alexander-Arnold (!). He hasn't looked in form so far this season. However, Sheffield United look very unthreatening going forward, and if they sit back there should be plenty of opportunity for crosses into the box ..and potentially the odd free-kick. So it's tempting, as I don't really fancy any of the other fixtures.

I'm now gonna have a little tinker around to try to put together a wildcard team :) If I do hit the trigger I'll post the results up on Friday.

Overall Points: 257

Overall Rank: 2,831,024

Back in the Saddle

Feels like a long time since the last post. Anyone visiting might have wondered if I'd quit after last week's disaster.

..but no, I'm back. Tentatively.

De Bruyne red-flagged so that's the obvious player to lose. I'm just bringing Son back in to replace him. It seems the sensible move. Aubameyang also has a flag, but I think he'll play, so hopefully my first eleven should be fine.

If it's not I'm a bit worried about my bench. Harrison Reed out, Ben Johnson highly unlikely to be featuring, and Mitchell now becoming a slight doubt as Palace players return to fitness. I was briefly considering another minus 4 to upgrade a bit, but there's little point when I'm happy with the first eleven.

(The Return of the Son)

The Liverpool back three is a worry too after last week lmao, but I'm going to stick with the plan for the time being.

My biggest worry is not so much the defenders, but the fact that no one seems to be matching Salah in that 11.5/12m bracket. My thinking at the start of the season was that the Liverpool defenders would be consistently great options, and that I could then cover Salah with players such as De Bruyne, Sterling, Fernandes and Aubameyang.

However, that clearly hasn't happened so far, and Salah looks like he'll finish the season head and shoulders above those four at the moment. So a Van Dijk to Salah switch now has to be in my thinking going forward. I could even wildcard to do it.

I'm going to hold my nerve and leave things a few more gameweeks though. After all, it is still fairly early in this very strange season.

I'm going to captain Son too. Jiménez was a tempting option, but I'm worried Wolves will be a little flat. Even though that does look like a good fixture against Leeds.

Finally, I brought the graph back from last season. So I can chart my progress this time out too.

(click to enlarge)

I'm currently off the chart ..by quite some distance. Not where I want to be.

I really need to get back within that top 1m ASAP !

(GW4) Review - AHHHHHHHHHHHRGHH

😩😬 This week killed me. 23 points with a minus 4. The Jiménez transfer didn't pay off. Traoré didn't start. De Bruyne blanked. Liverpool conceded seven lmao. Basically everything bad, with the exception of Calvert-Lewin and the goalkeeper.

Gameweek Points: 23 (-4)

Gameweek Rank: 6,546,383

Overall Rank: 2,876,233

I honestly don't know where to go with it after a week like that. Should I put it down as a one off, or do I do a total overhaul?

My bench was full of big round zeroes too. So maybe we're in wildcard territory.

Fortunately I have two full weeks to mull things over.

I think I'll probably just stick with what I have and ride out the storm. It was a very strange week after all.

Either way I'll post again once we get to the GW5 deadline 😢

Overall Points: 197

Overall Rank: 2,876,233

First Minus 4 of the Season

I haven't quite made my transfers yet - yes, that's transfers, plural. I'm taking a minus 4. I haven't pressed the button yet, but I'll be doing that when I've finished this short article. Perhaps typing things out may solidify my thoughts a little. I've been umming and ahing over it since about 4 o'clock this afternoon, so I could do with making my mind up and getting it put to bed.

My original plan was to just do Son to Mahrez.

However, when I was playing around earlier the opportunity to do Son to Foden and Mitrović to Jiménez presented itself. I normally recoil at the thought of a minus 4, but the next few games for Jiménez look great (Fulham, Leeds, then Newcastle). So there should be a very decent chance of him earning back that 4 point hit.

Also Foden has been excluded from the England squad, so I'm thinking that that could potentially make him a bit more likely to play the City games sandwiching the international break. Likewise there'll be less opportunity to pick up an injury.

So I'm liking the look of these changes. Still though it feels risky taking a hit before an international break. If either player gets injured in the next two weeks (or leaves in the case of Jiménez) then it all essentially becomes a one week punt, and I'm left hoping that Foden and Jiménez outscore Mahrez and Mitrović by more than 4 points.

I'd feel more confident having Mahrez for tomorrow's Leeds game, and Mitrović is always capable of grabbing something. Plus Wolves were poor against West Ham. So it's definitely a gamble.

As for the rest of my team I have De Bruyne captain (I'm really looking forward to the Leeds v City game 😃 hopefully it doesn't disappoint). Aubameyang still being in my side almost feels like a huge bonus at this point, and the Liverpool game looks very nice for my defence.

(..made my moves)

Hopefully it all works well.

(GW3) Review

I was actually quite pleased with this week, despite the captaincy blank. Seven points above the average and a green arrow. So all good.

Gameweek Points: 50

Gameweek Rank: 1,910,262

Overall Rank: 870,649

Bamford hit the net yet again. It's also looking like he's more nailed to stay in the team too, so I'm very pleased with that. Likewise the Liverpool back three paid off again. Van Dijk didn't return this week, but a goal and a clean sheet in his first three games is more than I expected, so I feel like those three are ticking along nicely.

My midfielders disappointed, but I'm not hugely concerned. Man City were poor. However, I'm still confident they'll get lots of attacking returns going forward, so I'll be leaving the armband on De Bruyne for GW4.

I didn't intend to leave Aubameyang in my side for this long, but now I have other fires to put out I'm quite happy to just leave him in there for the foreseeable future. I'll probably do Son to another City player with my transfer this week.

Son's already dropped in price, so I'm not in a rush to do anything just yet and will probably just wait until Friday to hit the button.

My transfer of Werner to Calvert-Lewin last week paid off quite nicely as well I should add. So that's another plus.

Though my overall rank isn't anything to write home about I feel like I'm making some good calls so far this season and I think the balance of my team is quite decent. Going forward Mitrović and Adama Traoré are the two players I'm not entirely confident in. I also need to start bearing in mind penalties a bit more, what with the ridiculous number being awarded.

At the moment Fernandes is the one player I'm quite eager to own. I'm not entirely sure how I'll get there though.

I'll do a little post later in the week with my updated team for GW4 :)

Overall Points: 178

Overall Rank: 870,649

Made my transfers :/

Very nice haul this gameweek. Back in the saddle. The patience paid off.

Gameweek Points: 85

Gameweek Rank: 512,674

Overall Rank: 1,155,870

Son went very big. I wasn't expecting that at all. In fact, during the first half of the game I was thinking about taking him out because Spurs looked so bad. Very bizarre two halves of football looking back. He's staying now though :)

Liverpool three at the back worked out nicely (though very luckily).

And Bamford and Mitrović, well, that's some very tidy returns for two very cheap options. I need to make sure my expectations are lowered back down now as we come to the next few games.

Finally, the Aubameyang assist, though not overwhelmingly impressive, I was very pleased with. Especially coming on the heels of my blank captaincy last week.

Anyway, onto this week..

I made my two transfers last night. Normally I would wait, but I saw De Bruyne was due a price rise last night so I pulled the trigger early. It was a bit impulsive, but I pretty much had my mind set on the transfers by Sunday night, and last night's City performance only confirmed it further.

I went;

Saint-Maximin --> De Bruyne

&

Werner --> Calvert-Lewin

Obviously the Werner transfer could come back to bite me. What with Chelsea being away at a leaky-looking West Brom. However, I feel like I only have Werner in my team based on fear and hype. The two Chelsea performances so far leaving little impression on me. Conversely having seen Everton I feel like I really need a way into their attack, and I think Calvert-Lewin looks like the best option. The service he's getting from James Rodríguez, Allan and Digne is looking unbelievable at the moment. If that continues I want the player that's on the end of all that.

Downgrading Werner also meant I had enough cash to upgrade to De Bruyne. So there was a double plus. I can now leave Aubameyang in my side for at least one more gameweek. Potentially bringing in Sterling alongside De Bruyne for the Leeds game.

I'm looking like this at the moment going into GW3.

Overall Points: 128

Overall Rank: 1,155,870