WELCOME TO THE GW4 REVIEW – RECOVER
Ey up FFUKers! Before we get to the internationals, let’s have a quick look back at GW4.
I had a few thoughts on the title track this week. “Ice Ice Baby” was an obvious option with Declan Rice (10) scoring a late winner at the Emirates. And Evan Ferguson’s (17) hattrick against Newcastle in the Saturday evening game tempted me to use “Fergus(on) Sings The Blues” (I’m a big Deacon Blue fan!).
But the most salient moment of the GW for me was David Brooks (8) scoring his first Premier League goal for Bournemouth since recovering from Hodgkins’ lymphoma. Ultimately it didn’t earn the Cherries three points, but it’s another impressive step in Brooks’ return, and well worthy of this mini tribute.
So this week’s title track is “Recover” by The Automatic. It’s probably a bit niche, might be nearly 20 years old, and sounds remarkably similar to the band’s better-known track “Monster” (what’s that coming over the hill), but it’s a good old indie rock track.
Brian Mbeumo (8) equalised for Brentford in stoppage time of that match – his fourth goal in as many games. The Bees remain unbeaten this season and Mbeumo is the second highest points scorer in FPL.
However, both Man City and Erling Haaland (20) can go one better than that. City have won all four games and it looks like it’s going to be a big ask for the chasing pack to keep up. Haaland tops the FPL scoring chart (and surprise, surprise, the Premier League scoring chart) and was captained by 214 out of 224 FFUKers. No doubt a few of the 10 who didn’t captain him just missed the deadline. 96% of FFUKers having the same captain isn’t ideal for FPL, but Haaland and City are phenomenal to watch.
Another highlight from GW4 included Luton’s first Premier League home game at Kenilworth Road. West Ham spoiled the party with goals from Bowen (7) and Zouma (11), and Mads Anderson’s (8) injury time goal was too little too late. JWP (7) made it three assists and a goal in three games and is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Sheffield United and Everton both picked up their first point of the season against each other, and Cam Archer (12) made an impact with a goal and an assist for the Blades, although the vast majority of owners will have had him on their bench. Will many FFUKers be tempted to start him against Spurs in GW5…??
Chelsea lost at home to Forest and don’t look like they’re Champions League material yet. But Spurs do. They ran riot at Burnley with Son (20) replacing Richarlison (1) in the central attacking berth and duly banging in three. Along with Haaland and Ferguson, that was a record-equalling three hattricks in the GW. There’ve been plenty of goals so far this season, and no 0-0s yet. Long may it continue…
On Sunday, the first half of Palace vs Wolves looked to buck that trend, but five goals in the second half saw Palace come out 3-2 winners with Edouard (13) and Neto (10) the standout FPL performers.
I didn’t really know what result to expect when Liverpool entertained Villa, but Liverpool dominated in the 3-0 win, and kept their first clean sheet of the season despite a bit of a makeshift centre-half partnership. Darwin (8) bagged a couple of assists, TAA (12) looked back to his old self and Salah (8) notched to just about satisfy his owners. Will that be his last Anfield appearance before heading to Saudi?
Arsenal vs Man U was the final match of the GW and again there was plenty of entertainment. Man U looked to have won it in the 88th minute when Garnacho (1) went clear and slotted home, only for VAR to rule he was marginally offside. Rice then banged in a 96th minute winner and Jesus (6) added some icing to the Gunners’ cake with a very nicely taken goal in the 11th minute of stoppage time. A draw would probably have been a fair result, so Arsenal will be delighted to remain on City’s coat tails, and Man U might feel hard done by to be sitting in 11th.
All that means the FPL team of the week looks like this.
Now onto the stats. It was a high-scoring GW and our league averaged 77 points, against a game-wide average of 72.
Here are the statistical highlights…
- Paul Bagshaw is back at the top of the table, with his early chip usage clearly paying dividends.
- Based on expected points, “Statto” Steve Cronin should be top. But he’s actually 143rd. Someone needs to check that expected points algo!!
- Robert Simpson top-scored in FFUK this week with a very impressive 101 points (10 of which came from his Bench Boost).
- Rob Scott made the most effective move in the transfer market this week, swapping Mubama to Alvarez.
- Jamie Stephens was the biggest mover up the league, jumping 90 places from 154th to 64th.
- Raheem Sterling was our most transferred-in player this week – by 29% of FFUKers. Maddison and Gusto were the next most popular new recruits in our league. I brought all three in.
- Gabriel was the most transferred-out player this week, just as he looks to be back in the starting XI. Martinelli and Rashford weren’t far behind, so their attacking returns will have irked the 15% of FFUKers who got rid.
- Between us we utilised 15 Wildcards, one Free Hit and one Bench Boost. 19% of us have now used our first Wildcard.
- Excluding captain picks, Jason Beal (currently 2nd in the league) has picked up the most points so far this season.
- Richard P W-H wins the unfortunate accolade of having benched the most points (58) this season – sorry to bring it up Richard, but it’s a great stat!
And below is the current FFUK template team – how many do you own? (I’ve got 8/15)
Finally we have a conts eviction to confirm:
This week the unfortunate FFUKer that is evicted is none other than Duncan Galloway, who amassed just 33 points, checking his team it was always going to be a tough ask without Haaland or Salah.
That’s all for this week. Can’t wait for the Scotland vs England ‘Heritage’ match next Tuesday…
JDS – Rice Said Fred (61st)
FFUK 