59 points and Joel Ward comfortably our highest scoring player! Not particularly the FPL week we envisaged. A drop of 18k Fantasy Premier League places is tolerable given we are now walking into a monster gameweek for us and many others. So before we review our sexy looking double gameweek 34 line up let’s review our team from last week.
What did we say about Wayne Hennessey?! His double gameweek’s were false hope seeing as he hadn’t kept a cleanie in 2016! Well we well and truly ballsed that one up. While he posted 18 points, our keeper, Simon Mignolet, posted a measly 2 points. Yes Mignolet has a chance to claw us back some points this week, but that one is a tough one to swallow.
At the back we had a monster performance from Ward. Brought in due to his 2 double gameweek’s and his appealing value he delivered 18 points. Should have given him the armband over Rom! Alongside him we had 2 of Arsenal’s backline who got well and truly Andy Carroll’d! What Carroll did to Gabriel wasn’t too much short of domestic abuse. I guess when you pay 4.3m for an FPL defender you can’t expect too much. Bellerin also returned 1 point in a game he was unfortunately unable recreate his previous months form.
Our midfield started positively with an Alexis Sanchez goal 35 minutes into the early Saturday game, but that was about as good as it got for us. Dimitri Payet blanked and our double gameweek duo of Ross Barkley and Yannick Bolasie gave us 5 points apiece. We knew the risks with the pair considering their crap return over the last few months, but we went with the risk. With all 4 on a double gameweek this week we will be a little more expectant.
Up top we dropped Jamie Vardy. I still stick by the logic, but it’s tough to take none the less. Odion Ighalo came in and returned 1 whole point. His drop off from 2015 is alarming, but I seriously do think he will notch this coming week. Sergio Aguero, one of the 2 to retain his place in the FPL Updates squad cooly dispatched a penalty against West Brom, but our double gameweek captain Rom disappointed. 2 blanks and an 8 point return hurt.
After the Wildcard last week we have had a fairly quiet week on the transfer front. None used to allow us 2 free transfer’s in gameweek 35 for the notable blanks and because we have already got 15 double gameweekers this week, so let’s have a look at our line up for gameweek 34.
Bench Boooooooooost! I’ve loved the twitter debate over when to use the chips, but for me the Bench Boost with 15 double gameweek players in gameweek 34 looks the one. The fixtures are far more appealing than a gameweek 37 stockpile and this gives us 30 games played between our team. Almost 3 weeks’ worth of games. Yes there are Triple Captain options, but the ceiling potential on return looks far lower than the potential here. If we don’t score at least 120 points here I think I will be in the same Job Centre queue as Remi Garde.
In goal it’s Mignolet again. The bitterness about shipping out Hennessey could be eased if Liverpool can deliver defensively against Bournemouth and Everton. He is joined by Karl Darlow. Basically Newcastle are s**t, so he should face so many shots that basic physics dictate he will be making a lot of saves.
Our back 5 will be heavily reliant on the Arsenal duo. 2 home games against Palace and West Brom couldn’t be a lot more appealing, especially given Adam Johnson was given more years in prison than goals these teams have scored in the last month! We have Mo Sakho with points potential. Bit of a shame he reserved his 1 goal a season for the Dortmund thriller, but Bournemouth and Everton aren’t the worst of games. Joel Ward, fresh from his monster week last week faces a tough double gameweek here against Arsenal and United, and Jonny Evans against Watford and Arsenal, make up our defence.
Our midfield needs to bounce back. After his poor double gameweek performance last week, Ross Barkley has an opportunity to redeem himself. A couple tough games against Southampton and Liverpool don’t fill us with confidence but this is likely to be his final week in our line up so we will have our fingers crossed he goes out with a goal or 2. Yannick Bolasie, like Ward, has a challenging gameweek. Dimitri Payet, fresh from being named in the shortlist for PFA Player of the Season will certainly be looking to guarantee West Ham European football this double gameweek. Leicester away is always a tough one, but I’m adamant they finally concede. Watford at home on the other hand is a far more appealing proposition. Given Liverpool’s incredible comeback win last night, it’s anyone’s guess as to who plays and who is rotated, but Phillipe Coutinho is one we expect to start both. He has thrived under Klopp and should be flying after his goal yesterday. Last up is our gameweek 34 captain, Alexis Sanchez! The decision as to who we hand the armband to was one of the toughest decisions we have had to make this season. I’m pretty sure one of the 10 FPL Commandments is ‘Thou shalt always captain Kun Aguero on a double’, but Sanchez is firing and as we previously said, Palace and West Brom are a bit poor (to be polite).
Up top it’s the same 3 as last week. Where’s the Ighalo and Lukaku from earlier in the season? We could certainly see the return of them. I can certainly see the argument for keeping Kane and Vardy over them, but I’m a sucker for a striker on a double gameweek. The main hope is our VC Aguero. It really was a tough call with not captaining the City man, but we think the slightly more favourable games for Sanchez give him the advantage here.
So the build up and planning has led to this gameweek. 15 players with a double gameweek and Bench Boost active. This will be our defining week and as I said we have a target of 120 points and a move into the top 50k.
It’ll be great to hear what you all have decided to run with so feel free to drop us a tweet. We wish you all the best of luck and let’s all hope for some gameweek 34 green arrows!
Written by FPL Guru
