Welcome to the gameweek 33 review and after the week, no, season I’ve had. I just think I will let the song say it for me.
I feel stupid
but I know it won’t last for long
And I’ve been guessing
And I could’ve been guessing wrong
Forgive my indulgence, it’s an affliction I have for American rock/pop that I am not ashamed of but then I don’t talk about it much either, so for this week, just bear with me. Yes indeed, it was a big week for those of us with a free hit (or two) to play and boy did I get it wrong. But then, with this mad season who would have guessed this week right?!
Just look at the kings of the gameweek and think how many of them you would have in your team.
Let’s start with Forster in goal, no? how about a back three consisting of 2 Burnley and Southampton? Or do we need to go to the heady heights of a midfield that involved Mr 2 pointer himself Brownhill? Still think this isn’t a mad season… ok, play Nketiah up front. That should guarantee all the points right.
So, like I said. I feel stupid.
But it’s something that comes and goes
And I’ve been changing
The week started with an early kick off for Spurs against Brighton and obviously it was clearly all going to be about the continued rise of Son and Kane. But no. This was instead a game where Trossard scored the only goal and Spurs decided they really didn’t like the thin air up at 4th so why not let someone else have a go. Those owners who have been hanging on to the likes of Lamptey and Cucurella were finally rewarded with bonus points and clean sheets… oh lucky you. Any other team would have called this performance a bit Spursy.
Then we have the big one United 3 Norwich 2. Ronaldo had a classic Ronaldo performance, finally getting in on the goals. Since week 21 he has scored 7 goals. A single goal against Brighton, and two hattricks. Norwich on the other hand have Pukki back in the goals, including his goal here, he now has 4 in 6 games and is a decent cheap option if you are looking.
The rush to avoid a 4th Place finish was then confirmed when Arsenal went to Southampton, a team in dreadful form, and lost 0-1. Well done to all those Bednarek owners who picked up maximum bonus points from his goal and clean sheet (probably all three of you). Arsenal managed 23 shots in this game but couldn’t find a way through. Southampton play Brighton next and haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last 11 away games. So get those defenders in I say if this seasons style is anything to go by.
In other games we had Brentford beating Watford 1-2 but then everyone beats Watford, so this wasn’t a shock. Although Dennis raised his hand again as a selection option, but we all know where this leads… keep an eye on Jansson though if you really want to put the wild in your wildcard. He has four returns in his last eight starts.
Newcastle continued their comeback with a very good win at Leicester, who only managed to get 1pt from their two games in the game week after getting a 1-1 draw with “Frank Lampard’s” Everton (this I believe is their new name).
Newcastle also managed to get a second win when they met a much-improved Crystal Palace. The plaudits for these wins are definitely with Bruno Guimaraes who amassed 20pts from his 2 performances, a quite incredible return when you factor in that he scored 10 points against Southampton (most people who aren’t Arsenal players do though) and no more than 2pts per game in 8 of his other 9 appearances.
West Ham featured as the first of the Burnley’s double gameweek opponents and managed a 1-1 draw, featuring a goal from Weghorst (8pts), he haunts us still, who gained 8 points by sharing the maximum bonus with Soucek (10pts) who scored for the Hammers.
Burnley’s second game was a 2-0 win against lowly Southampton who proved their earlier win was just a blip. Maybe stay away from those defenders after all.
Arsenal then bounced back… or. Chelsea so the teams below them making 4th place look hard and came up with their own “hold my beer” moment. This game was indeed Mad. The much-vaunted Chelsea defence shipped 4 goals! Nketiah managed a whopping 13pts in this one game, just to add some context there, it took him 8 games to get 13 points before this. The game also featured another return for Werner (8) who is starting to look like a viable option upfront for those of us thinking of Chelsea’s upcoming double gameweek. Mount picked up an assist and is looking more and more the player to have, but then I like Mount in FPL and as I have said before, I could be guessing wrong.
Finally this gameweek, there were two easy wins for City and Liverpool against teams that are on the beach… one of them literally in Brighton and the other being Man United. If I was to give any advice (and I shouldn’t with my recent return), I would say play any attacking player who is against United, they made Norwich look good and gave Salah his first goal from open play since he went to Afcon. I will never question the generosity of Mancunians again. For fantasy purposes, another clean sheet for City and LFC was good for those “big at the back” teams and Mahrez (14pts) again proved what a class player he is. Mahrez currently averages 9.5pts per 90 mins, that’s better than Salah (8.9) – Thank you to Steve Cronin for that gem little gem.
So why do you have to stand there looking like the answer now, I ask myself when looking at Salah in another gameweek where there are teams doubling and he isn’t. Why indeed did I drop him from my free hit team (because you are stupid, I hear you cry). Someone who didn’t drop him though was Ally Edwards, who’s Radnorshire Tigers team had the highest gameweek score of 107. That’s a great return only beating Tim McEwan and Paul Marshalls efforts by 1 point.
There isn’t much else to say about this week, it was a perfect reflection of the season so far with teams losing that should win, winning that should lose and players coming out of nowhere to ruin a perfectly planned gameweek. The fight for finishing on top of all the FFUKer’s though is still going strong with just three points separating the top three places. Can Olly still be at the wheel for Ian Cayley who currently sits top of the league on 2270? Or will Ashley Mather on 2264 and Brendan Ryan on 2263 make a play for first, it could go down to the last gameweek, but that’s how we like it. Good luck to you all.
In the CONTS its was time up for Mark Leathem, who goes this week with 48 scored. Leaving just 5 FFUKers to battle it out. We are way past squeaky bum time now in this one.
I will leave you with the sage words of Rob Thomas.
I’m lost and I’m hopeless, bleeding and broken,
Though I’ve never spoken, I come undone
In this mad season.
Harvey Smith – Blinded by De Ligt (67th)
FFUK 