Well that was a disappointment. Our gameweek 35 performance was far more befitting of Matty Kaye’s S**thouse XI than an FPL Updates XI aiming for a top 50k finish. With a pretty pathetic score of 26 FPL points we dropped from 47k to 76k and now leave ourselves with an uphill battle to achieve our early season aim.
Last week I compared gameweek 34 to the Saturday night party and gameweek 35 to the Sunday morning hangover and my lord that couldn’t have been more apt. With no more blank gameweeks left let’s hope we can actually field 11 players. Yeah, we are looking at you Mamadou Sakho!
Both our keepers played each other, both conceded 2 and both scored just 1 point. At least we didn’t pick the wrong one. Glass half full and all that.
At the back we already had the concern that Gabriel would leave us playing with 10, but then came the news of Sakho. Standing there waiting for a train innocently scrolling through Twitter when I saw the news. Thankfully I was waiting for yet another delayed Southern Rail service so the ‘F**k sake’ I said way too loudly would have seemed completely in keeping with usual train etiquette down here. Gabriel didn’t play, but at least Hector Bellerin picked up a clean sheet, otherwise our defence would have been a complete joke. Jonny Evans rounded our week off with a single point.
This is where I say things got a lot better for our midfield. But I would be lying. Dele Alli was our highest scoring midfielder with 4 points, in what turned out to be his last kick of a ball until he inevitably starts against Russia in June. Yes we have to waste a transfer on him, but at least he will be fit for the Euros. Alexis Sanchez couldn’t replicate his form of the previous few games in the goalless game against Sunderland. Phillipe Coutinho was last up and his 20 minute cameo returned us a paltry 1 point.
Up top we had a 2 man strike force of Kun Aguero and Harry Kane. Every bit of sensible planning said Kane as captain. Guess what? This season is weird. He had his chances but just couldn’t deliver so we picked up 4 points for him. At least we didn’t triple captain him. Aguero on the other hand scored in his 5th straight game and continues to defy those sure he will be rested.
So with our lowest scoring week of the season out of the way it’s time to start planning for the final 3 weeks of the season. We have a full fixture list this week with the double gameweek 37 on the horizon and a triple captain chip left. We had 1 FT to use this week, but given Mo Sakho has channelled his inner Lance Armstrong and Dele Alli decided he fancied a little breather before the Euros we have taken a rare hit.
Sakho (OUT) – Cresswell (IN)
Alli (OUT) – Lanzini (IN)
Given the extent of team rotation we have decided to bring in 2 West ham players who we feel will play full strength for the final weeks. Plus they have a fairly favourable last 4 games including a double gameweek 37.
In goal we have a toss up between Mignolet and Darlow again and it’s one of those weeks I cannot see either keeping a clean sheet. Darlow with the slightly easier fixture and something to really play for gets the nod though.
We are playing a 3 man back-line of Gabriel, Bellerin and Cresswell. Yes we know Gabriel is highly unlikely to play but with Arsenal home to Norwich we can’t not include him just in case. Cresswell, making his FPL Updates début starts with an away game against WBA.
The midfield is led by our gameweek 36 captain Alexis Sanchez. As with Bellerin and Gabriel, his match up against Norwich looks about as favourable as you can get at the moment. Yes they still have something to play for, but their last 2 losses to Palace and Sunderland show that they just don’t have Prem quality. Phillipe Coutinho is next up. Klopp’s unpredictability with his Prem starting line ups is causing us and everyone else a load of headaches. The one bonus here is he was withdrawn last night at half time due to illness, so will hopefully get the nod on Sunday. Our last 2 mids are the West Ham duo of Payet and Lanzini. Payet is fairly sure of a start, but we know Lanzini could be the worry. But, given he is on a double gameweek next week, he has the ability to deliver points when he plays and the games are nice, we start him.
Up top we revert back to a front 3. Aguero and Kane obviously start against Southampton and Chelsea respectively, but we also bring Odion Ighalo back in. 1 goal in his 15 games in 2016 yet he is still somehow the 5th highest scoring striker, ahead of players such as Costa, Martial, Giroud and Rooney. This season is weird BUT he is at home to Aston Villa! If ever there was a game to end a goal drought, it’s that.
This is one of them weeks that I have no idea if we will score 20 points or 70 points. Rotation and a general lack of giving a s**t from teams is making it very hard to call. What we have done though is given ourselves a decent platform to achieve our top 50k goal. We will likely have 7 double gameweek players next week with a triple captain chip ready to use.
With just 3 gameweeks left, play your remaining transfers/chips wisely and avoid those teams that are playing like they are already on the summer booze up. Yeah, we are looking at you Stoke and Swansea. Good luck to all and let’s put gameweek 35 behind us.
Written by FPL Guru
