A red arrow after the international isn’t a nice feeling. The side has stagnated over the over the past couple of weeks and I think that’s down to consistently choosing the wrong captain. So far the VC has outscored the Captain in each week. Putting the majority of eggs in the Manchester City and Liverpool basket is a risk and it hasn’t been paying off recently.
Heaton was the only player to pick up a CS in a 0-0 draw against West Ham on Monday night. He only made 1 save unlike his opposite number who scooped maximum bonus. Robertson got off the mark with his first assist of the season and was once again unlucky not come away with more. Just 1 CS this season for Liverpool has seriously made me questions his value. Digne and Everton had a horror week with a 3-0 loss and a booking for the Frenchman. Nul points. Zinchenko also had another poor week as City were shocked against Norwich.
New signings De Bruyne and Ceballos both started off their stint in the side with 1 pointers. The Spaniard was subbed on 59 minutes and De Bruyne was benched. Great start! Sterling failed to score for the second time this season and his blank hurt in a low scoring week. He was desperately unlucky not to get 2 assists and finish at least one of his chances. While Mane stole the show, Salah scored once and took 2 bonus points. Mount left it late to get on the score sheet in a big win for Chelsea against Wolves. His single goal in a 7 goal game got him 2 bonus points which was a pleasant surprise.
Barnes failed to score in against Brighton and had just a single shot in a poor performance and didn’t have a single penalty area touch. Pukki blew expectations out of the water. A goal, assist and maximum bonus against Man City was majorly needed.
Transfers: Saved
The defensive 4 have a mixed bunch of fixtures next gameweek. Heaton who faces Arsenal who look strong going forward and Robertson who travels to Stamford Bridge don’t excite me for points this week. Zinchenko faces Watford who are experiencing the new manager bounce at the moment which isn’t ideal. Digne has a really nice fixture against Sheffield Utd.
The Man City double up of Sterling and De Bruyne face Watford who’ve shipped 10 goals this season. Hopefully they can pay back the faith and lack of points from the past couple of weeks. Ceballos has a plum home tie against Aston Villa and he was deployed on more to the left with the absence of Lacazette. Salah travels to Chelsea who are yet to keep a clean sheet this season and have clear issues at the back. Mount keeps his place in the side but is likely to miss out this gameweek through injury. If he does Rico come in to face Southampton and he picked up an assist last week.
The front two of Pukki and Barnes face each other this week, so fingers crossed for a goal fest a Turf Moor!
Captain: KDB. A full 90 minutes midweek and lack of returns has put me off Sterling. The ideal captain would be Aguero but I feel KDB is a safer pick. Salah was very tempting but I don’t trust him as much on the road.
Any changes between now and the deadline will be updated in the members WhatsApp group and Slack Channel. There’s still a lot of team news to come out that could affect the side. You can use code “FPLJUNIOR” for 20% off membership to access said groups and the £1,000 cash league. Join here.
