This is more like it!! Another week of green arrows across the board has the FPL Updates XI backroom staff smiling! The way we were going through January and the start of February I started to feel a little bit Louis van Gaal. I even started subscribing to push notifications on totaljobs! As it stands though we scored a respectable 74pts on a 53pt average, moved up to just outside the top 150k and for once, we had points from across all positions. Below is how we did.
Well our decision to start Hennessey over Butland didn’t even matter in the end. The Palace man didn’t play so in came our boy Jack. We were confident in Chelsea scoring but 5pts isn’t bad considering. 6 saves took his save total to 97 for the season, comfortably ahead of anyone else in the league.
Our back line was seriously helped by our decision to bring in Ashley Williams last week. 9pts for the Swansea captain made sure the decision was a good one, regardless of his return this coming week. Next to him we had Christian Fuchs pick up a clean sheet and 5pts (we will let him off the yellow) and a big fat zero from Eric Dier. Considering Dier somehow escaped a clear red we will take the 0 and move on as that at least means he’s not suspended this coming week, a week that availability is absolutely crucial.
Our midfield was absolute points. I’m pretty sure the 4 of them combined for more points than the number of models Leo Di Caprio has been through. First up was Sanchez. We stuck by him half in blind hope, praying he would have a GW30 fixture. He now doesn’t so at least we had him for his first goal since mid-October. Dimitri Payet did it again. With 10 minutes left and West Ham 2 behind I can safely say I didn’t expect a 13pt haul from one of the players of the season, but come the final whistle he had been instrumental in a 3-2 fightback picking up a goal and assist. He is one of few that we will retain over his blank GW this week. A Payet double GW in a few weeks has us excited. If Riyad Mahrez doesn’t win the Player of the Season award this season I give up. Yet again it took a piece of brilliance from the Leicester playmaker to give them the win and a 5pt lead at the top. Bar injury he is not moving from our starting line-up for the rest of the season. Roberto Firmino played on Sunday and he made it a full house of midfield goals for us.
Up top we gave the armband to Kane and he returned us 12pts due to his wonder strike in the North London derby. The goal pleased us, the distribution of bonus points certainly did not. Quite how Ospina and Dembele shared 4 bps ahead of ‘Arry still baffles me but that’s a discussion for another forum. The other two, Vardy and Ighalo both blanked in a cagey 1-0 at Vicarage Road. With our 2 free transfers this week we have finally decided it’s time to drop the Watford striker. So with that said the moves we have made with our 2 FT’s going into a decimated GW are…
Sanchez (OUT) – Alli (IN)
Ighalo (OUT) – Aguero (IN)
Yes, it’s taken a little while to finally get the 2 of these boys in but here they are. With both involved this week and both involved in an exciting title race they look safe to keep for the rest of the season.
As everyone is aware, we are facing just 5 matches this week so our team picks itself. No point hits, wildcard intact and a full XI here should hopefully stand us in a positive position this week and throughout the rest of the season.
In goal again it’s Jack Butland. Home to a Southampton team that only have 5 goals in their last 7 games means there’s hope for points. Honestly I think Southampton score here though.
We are having to run with a back 4 this week due to keeping Payet and Firmino and unfortunately we have to start Russ Martin against City. If he even returns 1pt we will see that as a small win. Elsewhere there is actual expectation for points. Dier has Villa, Fuchs has Newcastle (who recently parted company with McClaren) and Williams has a slightly tougher fixture away at Bournemouth. I’d be happy with a 10pt return from the 4.
Our midfield 3 include Mahrez, Arnautovic and Alli and all 3 look to be points potential this week. Mahrez, like Fuchs and Vardy faces Newcastle. If ever there was a stat to give you hope of a decent points haul it’s that Newcastle have conceded 9 goals to midfielders in their last 5 games. They struggle to track runners and it certainly makes him worth a shout in the argument for who to captain this week, especially if Ranieri deploys him behind Vardy like he did second half last week. I’m not even going to try predicting what Arnie does. He could score 2 here or do absolutely nothing, get booked and then subbed on 59 mins. Last up is our new boy Dele Alli. I’m almost embarrassed that it’s taken us 30 weeks to bring him in but here he is and there aren’t many better fixtures than Aston Villa.
Our front line is a) the same as every other strikeforce in fantasy football but b) sexy! I could go into statistical breakdowns of Aguero, Kane and Vardy but in a nutshell they are all playing sh*t teams and have 52 Premier League goals between them. Aguero gets the armband because he is Sergio Aguero but all 3 could happily be given the captaincy with confidence. We are slightly aware of him not completing 90 mins with Champions League up this week but a 3-1 advantage from the first leg means we can’t see him being rested for much of this.
So, we have 11 players available, we have taken no hits since September and have all chips intact ready for the impending double game weeks. ‘The Plan’ is running smoothly and given that we are confident of another 50+ week it would be great to get a little closer to the top 100k after this week. Good luck to all and fingers crossed that City, Leicester and Spurs go a little goal crazy.
Written by FPL Guru
