WELCOME TO THE GW15 REVIEW – ALEX PARTY
Ey up FFUKers! Quick turnaround required, so this will be short and sweet.
First up, I need to apologise. This week’s GW review track is a tenuous choice. Never mind Arsenal’s last-minute winner to edge Luton 4-3. Or Villa outplaying City and leapfrogging them in the table.
The highlight of the week (and the easiest way for me to select some classic 90s cheesy handbag house) was obviously Fulham trouncing Forest 5-0 at the Cottage. It was party time in West London. Or more precisely… it was an Alex Iwobi Party.
The much-maligned nephew of Jay Jay Okocha, Iwobi (14) bagged a brace to add to his goal nine days earlier, and suddenly Fulham players look like a source of FPL points. Andreas (15) bagged three assists. Willian (6) has two goals and an assist in his last three. And even Raul Jimenez’s (13) long-running dry spell appears to be coming to an end as he notched a brace.
They do have some nice fixtures coming up too. But in reality none of us are going to touch any of them… are we? But Fulham rarely command the GW review headlines, and I thought Sach, Lawrence and Jamie D would appreciate it.
I guess I should revert back to those other two results though.
After 58 minutes it looked like Luton might pull off the shock of the season by beating table-topping Arsenal. But The Gunners dug deep, and for the second time this season Rice (9) scored the winner deep into injury time.
City on the other hand were lacking that sort of commitment. Every time they’ve been without Rodri in the PL this season they’ve looked poor and been beaten. And it was déjà vu in Birmingham as Villa dominated the reigning champions from start to finish. Bailey’s (9) second half strike was ultimately the difference, but Villa could have won by a few.
Rodri or no Rodri, City have looked suspect at the back for weeks, and opposition teams are fancying their chances. Should be a great title race, and Villa might well be a big part of that race.
As might Liverpool. They’ve not looked brilliant when I’ve seen them this season, but they keep winning. And Spurs are still just about in the mix despite their home defeat against West Ham, but they’re currently going backwards at a rate.
I watched a decent chunk of the Everton vs Newcastle match whilst egging on my two Newcastle defenders. Unfortunately for me (and even more so for Statto Steve) Everton scored thrice late on and claimed the win. The Toffees looked decent actually, and it appears that the points deduction has given them that cliched ‘siege mentality’.
Elsewhere, Bournemouth continued their renaissance by winning at Palace, Brighton came from behind to beat Brentford, Wolves edged Burnley, and Man U beat Chelsea in the battle of the has-beens.
The FPL team of the week looks like this.
I had precisely none of them. But read my lips… Iwobi, Andreas and Jimenez are all in there proudly.
Now onto the stats. It was a low-scoring GW and our league averaged 36 points, slightly up against a game-wide average of 35.
Here are the statistical highlights…
- Mark Tarbox is back at the top of the table, with Bealer slipping to second – but only a solitary point behind.
- Based on expected points, Stuart Bennette should be top. But he’s actually 197th. Nuts. Someone definitely needs to check that expected points algo!!
- Joseph Reid top-scored in FFUK this week with a very impressive 75 points. Trent as captain was a master-stroke, ably supported by Jesus, Romero and JWP.
- Marcus Holford was the biggest mover up the league, jumping 37 places from 165th to 128th.
- Dubravka was our most transferred-in player this week – by 23% of FFUKers. Hwang and Saka were the next most popular new recruits in our league.
- Turner was the most transferred-out player this week (19% of FFUKers ditched him), with Cash and Diaby the next two on the list.
- Richard P W-H has STILL got the unfortunate accolade of having benched the most points (173) this season – sorry to bring it up AGAIN Richard, but it’s still a great stat!
And below is the current FFUK template team – how many do you own? (I’ve got 9/15)
Over in the CONTS league, the low scoring GW meant plenty of us were at risk going into Thursday’s last two fixtures. Dave Windsor in particular looked on thin ice, needing something from JWP.
JWP (8) duly stepped up with a goal to lift Dave to safety, and ultimately it was a three-way tie at the bottom. Coolers, Andy Turner and Adam Walker were propping us all up on 25 points, and the tie-break rules were dusted off. First up, captain score – they all captained Salah. So it went to bench score. Unfortunately for Andy, his cupboard was bare, and so the poor dog was eliminated.
That’s all for this week. But you only have to wait until lunchtime tomorrow for the next GW to kick-off. I imagine most of us are happier about that than Mr Klopp.
JDS – Rice Said Fred (73rd)
FFUK 