GW Points: 105
Overall Points: 1,426
Overall Rank: 1,417
Transfers: Sanchez Out, Jesus In
Shaw Out, Bailly In
Game week 25 turned out to be an extremely successful week. The week got off to an awful start, my first transfer was Sanchez out and Jesus in, this was an attempt to pick up points with Man City’s “extra” fixture on Monday. With Jesus picking up an injury within 15 minutes this was not the start to the week that I’d hoped for. My second transfer of the week and third in total for the month was Shaw out and Bailly in. Shaw was excluded from the Europa League squad so I felt like it was time for him to go. He has rarely played and I could only see Bailly’s value growing. This was my last transfer for the month, as a result I’m stuck with Jesus until March. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue as there are not many fixtures remaining for February. A hat trick from Ibrahimovic and Kane saved my week and allowed my team to pick up its highest point total in a game week to date. This bumped me up the overall rankings to 1,417, which is a fantastic result considering the total number of teams entered. This once again brings home the importance of looking at upcoming fixtures and working on the probability of players having high scoring weeks, with either more game time or easier fixtures.
Positives:
Ibrahimovic (36 points) bagged a hat trick in the Europa League and also scored the winner in the FA cup. These fixtures couldn’t have gone better, and were targeted as potential high point scorers in the lead up to February. Pogba also picked up a few points this week, making it a successful transfer so far.
Kane (23 points) and Eriksen (12 points) both picked up a good amount of points. These points were accumulated in the FA cup over the weekend. After a poor performance in the Europa League luckily Tottenham fielded a strong team against Fulham. Again both players were targeted in advance for potentially having a good February with more fixtures than most clubs.
Stones picked up 16 points with two clean sheets over the course of the week. This was another good result considering Stones is a relatively cheap option in defence. However I doubt these points gave me much of an advantage over other teams as he’s owned by 42.5% of managers.
Bailly picked up 8 points instantly with a clean sheet in the Europa League. I regret not making this transfer soon. Had I made it before Man Utd played Watford, Bailly would already have picked up 16 points and his value is already growing.
Potential Issues:
Jesus picking up a long term injured now means I’m stuck with an injured player in my team until March. This could be easily solved by transferring in Aguero who should now get the majority of game time for Man City. I’m also relatively happy with the rest of my team, aside from injuries I may struggle to use my March transfers. I’m also slightly uncomfortable with not having Sanchez in my team at the moment. Luckily this panned out OK for now with Arsenal getting a poor result at Bayern as predicted.
The game week was dominated by Europa League and FA cup fixtures, as a result Foster, Coleman and Williams had no opportunity to pick up any points this week. This isn’t a major issue, however relying on two Everton defenders could cost me points long term as they have less fixtures than other teams. I generally try to spread my risk by having one player from each of the top teams to make up my back line. A transfer I may look at making is Williams or Coleman out for Azpilicueta who looks good value at 5.5m.
Tips for Game Week 26
Unfortunately I’m out of transfers for the rest of the month. With game week 26 being the last week in February if you are in the position to make a change, I’d personally consider the following players:
Kane/Eriksen/Alli – Tottenham: Genk (H), Stoke (H)
Ibrahimovic – Man Utd: Etienne (A), Southampton (Wembley)
Costa/Hazard – Chelsea: Swansea (H)
Aguero – Man City: Monaco (H)
Arsenal play Sutton tonight and may well rest many key players. Liverpool have no game this week. It’s worth noting that neither Man City or Arsenal have a Premier League fixture this weekend as their games were postponed due to the EFL cup final. Tottenham could be the team to watch, if they wish to remain in the Europa League they will need to turn around a 1 goal deficit against Genk but will also want to get a result against Stoke the Premier League. Man Utd could well rest players with as they take a 3 goal advantage to Etienne with the EFL cup final at the weekend.
As always, share your thoughts/ideas in the comments below.
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