Following the green arrows of gameweek 18 the FPL Updates XI have followed them up with some small red arrows in gameweek 19, not what we were looking for! We took an 8pt hit to facilitate a move for Alexis Sanchez but it was Nathan Ake who came up trumps as he covered that on his own. I said I was confident of a 50pt week and we scored 49. Close enough.
With these deadlines coming thick and fast let’s have a look at the FPL Updates XI gameweek 19 line up before we have just a few hours until our teams need to be ready to go again.
WBA have been an absolute sensation this season but for the love of god can they please keep a f*cking clean sheet. I felt really good about Tony Pulis’ side this season (hence my blind persistence with Foster) but I never expected it to be because of their attack. The 2-1 win at Southampton was the 7th game in a row they’ve conceded and if it wasn’t for a really positive upcoming run of games I’d be dropping him.
For once we didn’t have to rely solely on Marcos Alonso for defensive points. He was actually our lowest scoring defender, even with FPL giving him a questionable assist. Not before they played the hokey cokey with points though. His 3pts were overshadowed as both Nathan Ake and Dejan Lovren scored a very healthy 8pts. As we have said several times in the last few weeks, Lovren is looking superb value at 5m since the change at keeper. In the four games since Simon Mignolet replaced Loris Karius Liverpool have kept three clean sheets and Lovren has 21pts in that time. Nathan Ake was a real bonus this week with 8pts. We highlighted Bournemouth’s tendancy to concede on the road but we forgot how terrible Swansea are. There aren’t many better at 4.4m.
Our midfield didn’t hit the heights of previous weeks but thankfully captain Eden Hazard registered an assist for 10pts. A little disapppointing given that Chelsea hit four but points are points. Alexis Sanchez also only registered an assist as he crossed for Olivier Giroud’s obscene scorpion kick. Gylfi Sigurdsson made it four blank gameweek’s on the bounce and looks nailed on to be a transfer out after playing Crystal Palace in gameweek 20. He has Arsenal, Liverpool, Southampton and Manchester City after the FA cup weekend so he holds almost zero value in my eyes. Etienne Capoue picked up (2pts) to round our midfield off.
Up front Ibrahimovic returned again but it should have been so much better. I can only assume Lee Mason dropped him for Aguero this week as there is no other logical explanation for him to disallow that goal. His 5th FPL assist of the season will have to do. As expected Divock Origi was rested. 1pt not ideal but it makes him very likely to start against Sunderland today so every cloud and all that. Christian Benteke finished our gameweek off with a blank. We can live with that given that much like Origi he has a hugely favourable match up this coming gameweek .
49pts was fine but we are going to need a big week soon to get anywhere near our pre-season expectation though.
With just one more gameweek until the FA Cup 3rd round we are keeping our free transfer. With so much potential rotation in gameweek 20 we will run what we have got and then have ourselves two for after the break.
Ben Foster in goal. Home to Hull there is actually a slither of hope of a cleanie here. Cue the 3-1 win with late Hull consolation.
Dejan Lovren away at Sunderland, Marcos Alonso away to rampant Spurs and Erik Pieters home to Watford. This is as likely to accumulate 18pts as it is 3pts.
For the 3rd consecutive week we hand the armband to a midfielder. Alexis Sanchez against Bournemouth gets the nod. We have a few options this week but given Bournemouth’s tendancy to concede in bulk we will go with the Chilean. Eden Hazard faces a London derby against Spurs. Spurs may have scored 13 in their last four games but they have conceded in Burnley, Southampton and Watford in that run. Both teams to score looks nailed in my opinion. Gylfi Sigurdsson away to Crystal Palace and Etienne Capoue away to Stoke make up the midfield four.
If we dont get at least 15pts out of our front three I’ll be annoyed. Divock Origi has Sunderland, Christian Benteke faces Swansea and Zlatan Ibrahimovic has West Ham. Only six teams have conceded 33 or more this season and all three of those are included. We just need to keep an eye on the team sheets and cross our fingers.
I can’t even begin to tell you how tempting it was to call in the Wildcard. With Aguero and Costa back and Spurs battering teams it’s hard not to pull the trigger. But we will will stick to the plan and save it for the inevitable double game weeks later in the season. As tough as this season has been I still haven’t forgotten about last seasons 160pt + double gameweek last year. Patience is a virtue apparently.
So we head into gameweek 20 with gameweek 19 bonus points only just about in. We are all at the mercy of squad rotation so just pray your benches are strong enough.
Good luck all and Happy New Year!!
Written by FPL Guru (@FPL_Guru)
