I think Craig David was the only person busier than this GW! Don’t you just wish there were Premier League games every day? Can’t wait for Friday night football next season. Anyway, after saying last week that I would be joining Remi Garde in the job centre if we didn’t exceed 120 we thankfully broke the 150 barrier, totalling 152pts. I still can’t decide if I am entirely happy with this but its green arrows so maybe I’m just being greedy! 47k now and we can certainly hope for a little improvement on this as top 50k has been our big target this season. So let’s have a look at our GW34 performance.
Both our keepers managed to deliver a single clean sheet each which was pleasing, especially Karl Darlow with his 9 points. Considering Newcastle have been absolutely woeful of late, a clean sheet against Swansea and just the single goal conceded against City can be counted as positives. Mignolet of course grabbed his clean sheet in the demolition of Everton midweek.
At the back our star man was Mo Sakho. When the Liverpool team sheet for their first game came out I couldn’t help but think ‘oh sh*t’. With max Liverpool coverage in our GW34 team we were worried. Sakho managed a 24 minute cameo against Bournemouth but it was the second game against Everton that he really delivered. A goal, a clean sheet and 2 bonus meant he scored us 15 points, pretty much matching the other 4 combined. Hector Bellerin delivered us an acceptable 8 points. The goal conceded against Palace was fine seeing as the 4 points he lost for a cleanie were compensated by the 5 points for Yannick Bolasie. With more ownership of Arsenal defenders than of Bolasie, that actually worked out well for us. Our other 3 defenders Joel Ward, Gabriel and Jonny Evans combined for 8 points which was sort of expected but the Gabriel benching in the second game gives us a potential headache for the next few weeks.
Our midfield was led by our captain for the week, Alexis Sanchez! 50 points was certainly better than any of us could have expected. Just a few weeks ago it seemed a no brainer to have Ozil as the Arsenal coverage for this DGW but with form going into this week, Sanchez looked the one and so it proved. With 3 goals scored (all of Arsenal’s DGW goals) and 5 bonus points we were very much smiling. As mentioned it was one of our midfielders Bolasie that also notched during the DGW. 10 points scored in Palace’s first game so it was a real shame he wasn’t fit enough for the second. Coutinho was another who unfortunately fell foul to the GW34 rotation but did enough in one to keep us happy. No involvement in the Bournemouth game but he started against Everton and delivered a trademark goal to round off the scoring. It’s a bit early to look to next season but I have loved watching Coutinho in this Klopp system and I think he will be a huge player in next season’s FPL. Following his 1 point performance in the Leicester game, Dimitri Payet registered an assist against Watford to total us 6 points. And to think that he was being talked about as possible triple captain material in this GW or in GW37! Finally, Barkley grabbed 2 points… and that is it. Frustrating.
Up top was the absolute definition of bitter-sweet. Sergio Aguero scoring 4 goals and max bonus in both games accounted for 26 points. In comparison, Odion Ighalo and Romelu Lukaku combined gave us just 4 points. I can’t help but feel like we are to blame for Ighalo’s lack of form over the last few months. In the many weeks we have owned him he has scored 1 goal! He was an absolute monster before that. Lukaku on the other hand has been enjoyable to own but it is clear the feeling in the Everton camp is about as low as it can get. He had looked an absolute no brainer for this DGW and for the upcoming DGW in GW37 but now that looks a whole lot less clear.
So overall a week scoring 152 points can never be classed as anything other than positive but there were certainly some disappointments along the way. With us avoiding any transfers last week, we have 2 free this week which certainly helps.
If we consider GW34 as the big party on a Saturday night then GW35 is the f*ck off dreadful hangover on the Sunday morning. 6 teams without a game due to FA Cup semis mean we have just 7 games to choose from and here are the transfers we have made:
Lukaku (OUT) – Kane (IN)
Barkley (OUT) – Alli (IN)
Bolasie (OUT) – Loftus-Cheek (IN)
Hindsight is 20/20 and the idea of dropping Harry Kane and Dele Alli for the lures of DGW players now seems silly. But Stoke away seemed an acceptable fixture to drop them for. So with them back let’s have a look at our GW35 line up.
Typically enough both our keepers are playing and playing each other. I think it’s safe to say Simon Mignolet is the pick here. I miss Jack Butland!
At the back we have a 4 man defence. 2 of which are Arsenal defenders. Bellerin, fresh from his team of the year selection can hopefully return us some points whereas I have absolutely no clue if Gabriel will play. A slight concern given we are playing with 11. Sakho is next up and he is also a defensive double up with Mignolet. A cleanie for Arsenal and Liverpool could make or break our week. Last up is Evans. No hope there!
The midfield is led by last week’s hero Alexis Sanchez. His game against Sunderland looks full of potential although to be fair to them, Sunderland have started to show a little life. Next up is another rotation worry, Phillipe Coutinho. Granted Newcastle, like Sunderland, have shown signs of life but if Coutinho plays we are confident of a return. Then to 2 of our transfers this week, Dele Alli and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Dele Alli is obviously a no brainer so I’m not going to go into statistical breakdowns as to why we have him. He’s bloody good, done. RLC on the other hand is a different one. On the surface he isn’t a huge point scoring mid but given the fact Chelsea look like they have all but given up I can’t help but think a player like him will get plenty of game time through to the end of the season.
Lastly our big boy front 2! Welcome back ‘Arry Kane. I actually watched Monday Night football in a bar in Stockholm and if ever there was a game to drive you to drink it was that. 4 goals between him and Alli made it slightly painful viewing. Thankfully Stockholm bars are full of rather aesthetically pleasing blondes so that made me feel a little better! Anyway, he’s back and he’s been given the armband! Next to him is one of his main threats for the golden boot, Kun Aguero. I’m a firm believer of ending an FPL season with your strike force of those chasing the golden boot and this seems a no brainer. After watching Stoke on Monday it’s safe to say they are already more concerned with how many models they’ll go through in Marbs in June than their performances from now until the end of the season. The only small concern is Aguero faces Real Madrid midweek so do not expect him to play 90 mins.
Back in GW27/28 we put in place our plans for the last 10 GWs and have moved from 306,863rd to 47,554th. With triple captain still to go we are quietly confident of improving but the top 50k has been the goal all season.
As always good luck to everyone and let’s hope rotation doesn’t turn FPL into a 6-a-side!
Written by FPL Guru
