GW Points: 71
Overall Points: 1770
Overall Rank: 2,899
Transfers: None used
Game week 26 was another pretty flat week for the team. It looked like I was going to hold position on the leaderboard again (which wouldn’t have been such a bad thing) until Van Dijk managed to grab a couple of late goals. This basically cost me around 800 places. Laporte picking up an injury was also less than ideal as he missed out on a clean sheet against West Ham. The most infuriating part of the week was Aubameyang being dropped against Southampton, I really can’t understand that decision. Yes, they got the result they needed anyway, however it’s a complete contrast to say Spurs – who start Kane pretty much in every game he’s fit for. Even when he comes back from injury he’s straight into the starting line up, yet Arsenal seem happy to leave probably their best striker on the bench.
Positives:
Two cleans sheets for Ederson. I’d imagine he will now be my keeper for the rest of the season.
Two clean sheets for Robertson and 17 points.
13 points for Lindelof from a clean sheet against Liverpool and an assist and 7+ rating against Palace. For a budget option I’ve fairly pleased with the points he’s picked up recently.
Despite being dropped against Southampton it was good to see Aubameyang get a goal against Bournemouth.
Another goal and 8 points for Aguero.
Potential Issues:
A poor game week from Doherty, Sterling, Sane, Hazard and Salah is a concern but I don’t think it’s necessarily an issue. These are the same players that have got me to the position I’m in so far so I’d imagine it was just one of those weeks.
Laporte being injured is an issue. He will obviously need to come out and I’m also worried about Kane’s return. Both are fairly big problems. I will use my remaining transfers (2 for the month) to address this. The striker to come out will be Aubameyang, however I’m not sure I’ll make this move just yet. For now I’m just looking to be in a position where I’ve got the funds to make this move. As a result my changes are likely to be:
Laporte out, Rudiger in
Sane out, Mane in
My reasoning being – Sane to Mane creates a little more budget for the Kane upgrade. Also I don’t think there’s much between the two in terms of point scoring capability but Mane gets a lot more game time. Laporte to Rudiger might seem like a strange one, however Chelsea have a good run of fixtures. The only regular defender, from Chelsea, I could afford is Rudiger. If I could pick any I’d have gone for Azpilicueta but it’s out of the question. This leaves 2.6m in the bank, with the price difference between Aubameyang and Kane being 2.3m this leaves a little bit of room for price changes.
With regards to Kane himself – Spurs only have 4 games during March. As a result I’m trying to hold out as long as possible when it comes to bringing him back in. The player I’m comparing him to is Aubameyang. If we compare their game week Spurs and Arsenal face each other at the weekend, which is an equally difficult game for both players. We then compare Spurs travelling to Dortmund and Arsenal travelling to Rennes. I’d massively favour Arsenal’s fixture in this circumstance. If we then look at the week after as well, Spurs only have one game and Arsenal have two. For me it just doesn’t quite feel like the right time to put Kane back in – making sure I’ve got the funds to do it is more essential at the moment.
Tips for Game Week 27
Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs all have a double game week. However Chelsea are the only team with two relatively easy fixtures – Fulham and Kyiv. Man Utd have a decent home game against Southampton but then travel to PSG. Arsenal have a good Europa League draw against Rennes but face Spurs at the weekend. Spurs themselves play Arsenal and then travel to Dortmund, which I’d expect to be a tough game despite the 3 – 0 win at home.
Liverpool and Man City both only have one Premier League game during the game week. With Liverpool travelling to Everton and Man City travelling to Bournemouth.
I’ve outlined my thoughts around transfers above and the Kane situation but it will be interesting to see what everyone else is planning to do in the comments section.
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Great analysis as always DTT. Are you definitely bringing Kane in for that last fixture of the month then I presume? Away at Liverpool? Of course he can score against anyone but this is one of the reasons I’m prolonging the move until April’s transfers. Aubameyang and Kane both have blank gameweeks for GW29.
Not definitely – I’m just trying to give myself the option to do it whenever I want to. I think I’ll hold off until I think I’m basically being forced into it, whether that’s because of good form or price changes.
Yeah, decent strategy mate. I think you’re a bit more patient than myself as that blank gameweek 29 for Aubameyang and Kane is just too much for me to take. 😂 That is why I’m going to go Rashford for three games then onto Kane.
😂 I might come across as patient but it drives me up the wall. In particular Aubameyang, seem to have very little patience with him despite holding onto him I’m always quick to moan about him.
That’s exactly why we need this website my friend. A place to vent our Dream Team frustrations. 😉
The problem in the Sun Dream Team game is that patience is not always rewarded as player prices fall down after a string of poor performances. Even holding for good fixtures is not enough as Aubameyang only scored 8 points in two easy games vs Southampton and Bournemouth which to me is a poor outcome. Even lacazette scored more points (put in my best team as ffscout podcast recommended him as his stats were better). The problem I have with Aubameyang is that is he is not selfish enough in front of goal, he might not be the assassin like Kane, Aguero, Lukaku, Salah.
Aubameyang price has fallen from 6.8 since January to now 6.1 with a modest return of around 30 points and outscored by Jesus, Son and Rashford who are considerably cheaper and all benefited from price increases.
What makes the Sun Dream team game interesting is when to make the transfers at the right time bearing in mind fixtures, form, injuries (Mendy injury led to Sane increased minutes), changes of manager (Man Utd boost maybe Leicester next) or tactics (my team Newcastle’s form has improved since going to three at the back and now look more solid at the back).
Great review DTT, as always. Everything you have said also applied to me, those 2 late goals from VVD really punished me as did the brace from Mane.
Rudiger is a solid option and one I may also consider. Have you thought about Zinchenko? He has been nothing short of a revelation recently but with Mendy coming back you’d have thought he’d go straight back in. You can never seem to trust the fitness of him.
Those two late goals really annoyed me. I think I favour Rudgier slightly over Zinchenko purely because he’s more likely to get a lot of game time. I can’t be doing with someone who might be on the bench for long periods of time.
Great summing up DTT – I can’t believe how similar our thinking is. I agree with all you have said – My team currently on 1791 – 49 points clear at top of my ML – 1 transfer left tonight to use and £2.7m in bank
Eddison – Keep for rest of season
Laporte – swapping tonight for Azpiculeta
Robertson – keep
Lindelof – been great keep
Hazard – sticking with – will explode soon
B Silva – lovely cheap nugget into man ciy midfield pep likes him plays regularly -ticks over 3-5 points a game
KDB – Not firing how I would like – on the radar for possible swap to Mane before Liverpool game vs burnley on 9th/10th march
Pogba – keep
salah – sticking with, again like hazard feel he will explode soon
Auba – goal vs bournemouth helps me keep him for bit longer plus games vs rennes
Aguero – no explanation needed
So using last transfer tonight on Laporte out to Azpiculeta – he seems to score well, plays a lot and assists , also last 2 games chelsea clean sheets against 2 good teams so signs are positive
Then sit and see how 1st week pans out before committing to any transfers with a healthy bank balance to deal with Kane if need be
What are your thoughts on that please
Best striker option for March if you have to pick one ……?
Kane
Aubameyang
Lukaku
Son
I think Son may have had his purple patch for the season now.
Kane, most explosive striker in the game but with fewer fixtures. Blank GW 29.
Aubameyang, tough PL fixtures but good Europa. Blank GW 29 though.
Lukaku, interesting to see you put him ahead of Rashford? I still think Rashford is Ole’s main striker but Lukaku could hit form if given plenty of game time. He did look impressive last night.
Glad to know my thinking is along the right lines – I do question myself quite a lot but try to play the game as logically as possible. Think the transfer you’re making is a very sensible move – I’d be going for him if funds would allow it. Interesting to know when you think you might bring Kane in?
If he has a good 1st week vs arsenal and Dortmund I will probably bring him vs Southampton just to nullify the guy in 2nd place although that then leaves a 2 week gap vs liverpool . I’m hoping I can last through to April without him
I think you’re summarisation if your team is pretty spot on AJF. I’d be holding KDB too if I owned him.
Great read as always and I Love everyone’s comments.
Cheers DTT
Cheers John.