GW Points: 38
Overall Points: 240
Overall Rank: 33,123
Transfers: None used
I made the risky decision to go into game week 4 without making any transfers. We had 5 available to use and I wasn’t entirely happy with my team but with an international break looming I took the calculated risk to hold them back. As expected, this cost me position on the overall leaderboard but thankfully it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Hopefully, this means the team will come good after the break, when I can use transfers to optimise for all those additional European fixtures. It was generally a very strange game week anyway with Liverpool getting thrashed by Villa and Man Utd getting thrashed by Spurs. Everton were a concern going forward with DCL scoring again – I’m hoping this trend slows very quickly as I don’t plan on bringing in any of their players at the moment. It also appears that clean sheets are generally few and far between at the moment, this does raise the question around if we should invest in expensive defensive assets. I don’t plan on taking the likes of Alexander-Arnold out just yet myself but it would free up funds for someone like Sterling. At this stage it’s just food for thought but I’ll want to see how this starts to pan out in the early stages of the season.
Positives:
My game week was saved by Kane and Salah who both got a goal each. It was a shame one of them couldn’t pinch a hat trick but I’m happy to keep both of them for the longer term.
It was good to see Havertz pick up 5 points, although I was hoping for a little more from a game which Chelsea won 4-0.
5 points from Fernandes was OK, not a huge positive and he’s so highly owned that it makes very little difference anyway.
I’ll take any points from Davies at this stage so 2 points for winning a penalty was more than welcomed.
Potential Issues:
Alisson could be out for a while, this could be a blessing with Liverpool not in form defensively. I think he needs to come out but the question is, do we go with another premium option such as Ederson or save some funds with someone cheaper? I’m personally considering Mendy who is fairly cheap if he plays most games for Chelsea.
Podence blanked against Fulham which wasn’t great. I may switch him for a player who has European football throughout October.
Werner didn’t look like scoring against Palace, which is a big problem. I’m also hiding behind the sofa every time Sterling plays, which makes me think I need to get him in. The only problem is this could significantly harm the rest of the team. I’m at a loss to know what to do at the moment. De Bruyne hasn’t done an awful lot since I’ve bought him in but his ownership is so high that it would be a risk to take him out.
Tips for Game Week 5
If you’ve been patient enough to hold any transfers until after the international break, my main advice would be to bring in players from clubs who are involved in Europe. I’ve updated my fixture spreadsheet to include these fixtures:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1t8-J8t2NKmHWDepR-Sf4Dqbd7oo7KcCkzR3ij4Fi3FU/ – may have some errors as I did it very quickly.
It’s hard to know what other advice to offer at this stage as we need to see who makes it through the international break without picking up an injury. However, this is something we can pick up in the comments. I’d be very interested to know what Alisson owners are planning to do with him? I’d also be interested in knowing if anyone is looking at the Europa League fixtures? Surely some heavy rotation to come into play but also some big points up for grabs if you’re brave/lucky enough to hit the right player.
Nice one Paul. I think holding transfers for after the Int break and when European fixtures kick in is a good idea; I’ve held 4 back for that very reason. Allison missing out yesterday was obviously a blessing in disguise and if he is out for 6 weeks then I think Leno, Schmeichel, Mendy and Adrian are all options to free up some pennies to upgrade elsewhere especially with clean sheets so hard to come by. I read however it may only be 4 weeks though which minus the Int break is only 2 weeks of games which could save transfers and pay off if clean sheets are restored to some form of normality, although I don’t think they will this season.
One of my strategies this season was to be more pro-active when opportunities presented themselves and I don’t feel I’ve been doing that which is maybe a sign I’m slightly more cautious than I thought, but I don’t think I can take another Werner blank. Him to Son, Vardy or Lacazette should be fairly straightforward with ‘downgrading’ Allison and may be my differential ‘attacking’ move for the European fixtures to help me climb the leader board.
What do you think you’ll do about the goalkeeper slot? I’m half tempted to do Alisson to Mendy this week as I think Mendy is the cheapest goalkeeper who might play in the league and Europe. He will probably go up in value on Friday as well.
I think it’s a tough strategy to stick to, it could work in some cases but not so much in others. Take Havertz for example, everything said take him out and being proactive if the funds were there De Bruyne might have been a logical choice to come in. But then Havertz bags a hat trick. I think it’s a lottery at the moment which is why I’m not rushing through transfers.
Well if I want to straight swap Werner to Son/Vardy/Lacca (which I do!) then I have to free up some cash elsewhere so Allison to Mendy or Adrian it would need to be, and this week before the price swings. I should then benefit from two favorable price swings on both moves, especially on Son who I think I’ll go for out of those three… Obviously the down side is if anything happens before the next game week but at least I’ll still have a few transfers remaining as back up.
Think I’ve talked myself into there! I’m going for it, bar any unexpected injuries this week of course… Allison & Werner OUT. Mendy & Son IN!
I guess the risk is fairly minimal, I’m thinking about moving Alisson on before Friday as well.
I don’t think that’s a bad looking team, Paul & i think you’ve been very wise to hold onto all 5 transfers. Spend the break studying the fixtures & use your transfers wisely for those games.
Thanks Rob, appreciate the comment. As you say, good break now to study the fixtures and hopefully invest those transfers wisely when we return.
Nice review Paul. I think someone needs to turn the PL off and on again to reset it after the start we’ve seen! 😂
I’m thinking of investing in that Spurs backline myself looking at the fixtures and the only mainstay I can see playing most of those is Dier. I think there is too much of a chance of rotation with some of the others. I don’t normally like to choose defenders which offer little attacking threat but I think I’m willing to make an exception due to the fixtures and chances of starting most of the games. Feels like such a dullard pick compared to how I normally play but I see value there for the next few weeks.
It could be an absolutely terrible idea but I’m also considering bringing Adrian in whilst Alisson is out. Klopp said 4-6 weeks with it more likely being 6 weeks (shoulder injury).
😂 that’s exactly what I was thinking, it’s been mad.
Interesting that you’re going for a Spurs striker – I had to move away from Doherty but looking at the fixtures they are tempting. They were in September as well though. I think you’re right though with rotation being a risk. I’m half tempted to hold onto Davies myself as I think he will play in the Europa League. Are you tempted to bring anyone in who might exclusively get game time against the lesser opposition in the Europa League or is it too much of a risk?
Europa League line-ups are difficult to predict historically and I don’t really see it changing much this season. My reasoning for Dier is that I see him as the Spurs version of Maguire and seeing how well Harry scored points wise last season (playing Europa), I’m hoping maybe Dier can bag a few clean sheets during the next few weeks.
Are you tempted by Adrian Paul? I think there will be a bit of a knee-jerk reaction from some SDT managers where they will offload Liverpool defensive assets. Whilst that Villa game was pretty shambolic, I don’t see anything like that happening again for them. They didn’t just become a terrible defence overnight.
I think if I didn’t have Davies, I might consider Dier myself. I’m not tempted by Adrian really, because it will take another transfer to take him back out again. I’ll keep TAA though but it might be an opportunity to move away from Alisson as I’m not sure if clean sheets for any club will be as consistent this season and I wasn’t 100% sold on him to start with. Mendy is cheap for a top 4 club keeper who should play in the Champions League.
Nice one Paul, I think I will hold onto
My Transfers also until after the break. It’s just a shame the DT coach function is a bit off key with the price changes. For instance if you have and view Grealish with the coach option on your table top team view the price increase for him is currently 200k and if you view him In the stats section, it is showing a 600k uplift !!! This type of error on the coach function is not making it easy to plan ahead with the funds !!!!
Yeah I agree, I’m not really using it myself now. Are you taking Alisson out (if you own him), I’m tempted to use a transfer on him before the end of the week.
Appreciate the write up. Too impatient with transfers and brought in Sterling, Zaha and Patricio.
Need some advice:
With Alison out, I’m getting rid of Robertson and Zaha. Really poor I know with waste of a trade but I need European football.
My question is, if I go now and use my last two I can avoid price drops. Useless coach function says Robertson only .1 drop but with the hammering could go more.
Choice between Castagne and Reguilon and Pulisic/Mahrez/Foden/Maddison.
Likelihood for rotation lower in CL I think.
Would really appreciate some guidance.
I personally wouldn’t be taking anyone out at the moment unless they are injured. I think both Castagne and Reguilon could face rotation for the European games with Leicester and Spurs being in the Europa League.
Would Sergio Reguilon be a good choice at £2.9 and in Europe
I’m thinking him mate!
Not for me personally. I think he will be rotated in the Europa League with Ben Davies.
I think all of that Spurs backline (with the exception of Dier possibly) will far rotation once Europa kicks in as well. For that reason, holding Davies may serve the exact same purpose as buying Reguilon? Plus with defenders, there’s always there chance of that cameo 5 pointer. I think there could be value in holding Davies.
*will face
Yeah I agree Chris – the problem with Reguilon is that you’ve got to make a decision to actively bring him in and use a transfer – plus he’s more expensive. I’m only really holding Davies because I’ve already got him and he’s so cheap.
I’m looking to offload mina and traore this week. (I’ll do mina on Friday because I think his price will go up as he scored) I’m think reguilon from Tottenham but not sure of a midfielder? I have havertz, fernandes, and Dr bruyne. Any advice would be appreciated!
I can’t say I’m drawn to Reguilon myself – I’ve had Davies since the start of the season and he’s been playing in the same position and picked up very few points with some decent fixtures. I also think he will be rotated in the Europa League – could be wrong though.
Any 1 else you’d suggest?
Semedo, chilwell, Dias?
I’m personally considering Zouma but I’m not sure at the moment. I’ll probably stick with TAA, Castagne and Davies for October.
You’re thinking too Dream Teamy haha. I’m a spurs fan and Reguilon makes us a better defence unit and hes more likely to get in the final third. Now it looks like hes settled i expect him to play most games. Davis can play along side him as shown on Sunday.
Haha if Davies can play alongside him then he’s the better choice because either way they will both get 5 points for a clean sheet and Davies is much cheaper. I’m basically only keeping him because I’ve already got him as well.
maybe this is good. news just spoken
to the sun through there help chat line.
they say there will be no price change this Friday
until after the national games.
so no need to rush any transfers.👍
That cant be right don? Do they not mean the following Friday?
that’s what they told me.
I asked them twice. go on to live chat on a lap top.
press help then you get a live chat.
my wife also asked them the same question
they said price change comes after the nationals.
It would be the first time they have ever done this if it does happen this way. Price changes have historically changed on the immediate Friday following the game week.
Thanks for letting us know though Don, it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
I will ask again tomorrow .
I need to make some transfers before the price rises
or I wont have enough cash.
Surely they’ve got that wrong – previously it’s always changed when football has been played during the game week but not the week after.
Hi mate nice write up! Just wondering are you putting team value into any of your transfer thoughts or are you just playing as if price changes aren’t a thing?
Cheers
I’ve tried to a certain extent. I bought in Castagne with price rise in mind. I kept Havertz after his hat trick because I knew he would go up. I’m basically trying to a get a balance between scoring points and increasing value but it’s difficult.
Are Chelsea’s fixtures even that good for the remainder of this month? If looking at Mendy, Chilwell etc thought they had some difficult games in Europe? Would Leno or Lloris not be better?
Their fixtures aren’t awful. Spurs are better. But for me we’ve got to weigh up who’s actually going to play.
I don’t see Lloris playing in the Europa League and Leno now isn’t much cheaper than Alisson. But even Leno might not play in the Europa League. Man Utd have been poor defensively and have bad fixtures. Leicester might rotate with it being the Europa League as well. That only leaves Chelsea and Man City – Ederson is as expensive as Alisson.
Has anyone still got patience with werner?
Nah I’m definitely looking to take him out , from what I’ve seen he never even looks close to scoring a lot of goals
Great GW read as always Paul! I wonder will Henderson get the shout in goal over De Gea after letting in so many? Davies deffo worth keeping. Played 17 min again Utd and got a 7/10 rating. 2 assists in the European game. What’s your thoughts on Cavani? I think he’s gonna take the premier by storm! Bale should be available for selection after international break. Decisions….(:
Thanks Mick – it’s a difficult one with De Gea and Henderson. I think at the very least they will share game time which isn’t ideal. Do we think Cavani will come straight into the team? I’m hoping he’s not going to be the next Falcao
Undecided myself – if he moves more central and loads of people ship him out it could well be worth holding onto him. On the other hand, if he carries on as he has been then it won’t be good at all.
Our very own Malaga Fox (Ben) is topping the entire standings at the moment! Nicely played Sir! 👏👏👏
👏👏 top effort that, I’ve never been anywhere near that at any point during the season
Yeah top lad as well Ben.
I’ve learnt a few lessons with setting up multiple teams this season. This is the first time I’ve seriously entered the full ten team allocation and already I can identify some of the mistakes I’ve made. The teams that loaded up heavily with Everton players (even defensively too believe it or not!) have gotten off to a flyer!
Yeah I bet – have you given up hope on any teams yet? I’ve got 10 but I’ve mirrored 4 and I’ve already forgot to keep on top of a few of the teams.
I’m still plugging away with them but I’ll probably drop a few as the season progresses. Just one worldy game from a player or two can still catapult a team right back into the mixer. These players will probably have to have reasonably low ownership however to get the full benefit.
Can afford to take a few more gambles and punts. If they don’t work out then those teams will eventually be ditched. Right now though anything could
happen.
Cavani is only 3.5 M
Bargain……?
With Leicester being in the Europa league, would u leave Harvey Barnes in the team? He had great start for me picking up 10 points but hasn’t done much since
I’m holding for now as I think his potential ceiling is pretty high considering his price, same goes for Podence. Obviously patience may eventually run out but if Leicester can hit form again then I’d expect Barnes to score well.
I can’t really see a reason to take him out yet.
Timo Werner will not be meeting up with the Germany squad and is self-isolating as a precaution after showing “flu-like” symptoms. He’s had the Covid test and is awaiting the results.
With European games starting, we have a balancing act with trying to get the most players potentially playing 2 games a week against the players who probably will play 2 games a week.
I understand dtt keeping Davies, as he already has him so makes sense and just European games for the Europa sides especially could bring in more points overall definitely.
If we are looking to bring players in though, it’s the ones like Chris S has talked about who will most likely play in both Prem and Europe. It’s also making sure we have a mix across the board. I will be targeting a couple of mainstays from each team in Europe as much as I can.
For me, that looks like De Bruyne and Sterling from City; Castagne and Barnes from Leicester; Dier and Kane from Spurs; Mendy and Pulisic from Chelsea; Robbo and Salah from Liverpool; Bruno from United. It just leaves me with no Arsenal coverage but Bellerin was out of my price range and there’s just no room for Auba in my top 3. They are the 2 I’d probably look at though from an Arsenal perspective.
I think there’s more of a chance that the Champions League teams will keep similar sides throughout each game week; Liverpool, City, Chelsea, United. Arsenal, Tottenham and Leicester are more likely to rotate. I’d say Leicester would put out a stronger team than the others though as the Europa probably means more to them.
Who else do we think has a strong chance of playing 2 games a week?
On Bellerin I reckon he’ll get rotated a fair bit anyway.
Barnes may also face some rotation but it’s not too much of a bitter pill to swallow with his price being pretty low anyway, a situation to monitor.
Auba hasn’t exactly lit up yet either and is playing far too wide for my liking, he’ll probably face rotation too with Europa starting up. I’m sure he’ll enter our thoughts at some stage of the season but there are better options right now for that price imo.
It’s an interesting one – but ultimately I think you’re right. I can see teams in the Europa League rotating a lot and it’s a lottery picking who might get game time. I can’t see any decent cheap options for teams involved in the Champions League. There’s some value in Chelsea players to a certain extent I think. What about Zouma?
I have pondered Zouma but I prefer the fixtures for Spurs so I’m moving for Dier I think. If Spurs can keep the odd CS over the next few weeks I’m hoping to eventually cash in on a price increase once fixtures turn.
Is Keane worth keeping or not he’s still the high points Defender I know he’s not in Europe
Not for me Hoffy. I’ve had my price rise out of him and moved him on. With Pickford in goal I don’t think Everton defenders are worth considering right now personally and I’m removing both Pickford & Digne (Keane already gone) after the international fixtures have been completed.
Whilst Everton’s away fixtures look good, the home fixtures look horrible and I don’t see many CS’s forthcoming:
LIV
MAN
LEE
CHE
ARS
MAN (Carabao)
MCY
When you add to the fact that there is also no European involvement, it’s a sell for me as there are plenty of other similarly priced options that WILL have European involvement.
Yeah prob what I’m thinking deep down
Now I’ve seen the fixtures – I’d suggest not as well
If I had him, I’d probably keep
Here’s my team for after the international break
Mendy
Digne
TAA
Castagne
Pulisic
De bruyne
Barnes
Fernandez
Kane
Werner
Salah
10 players in Europe, who will hopefully all play, Digne a problem only 3 games, & the calamitous Pickford behind him, hoping he can pick up the odd assist & rating of 7. November, replace to Dias, if price is affordable, should see Jesus return to front-line for City to hopefully nullify Stirling slightly, to counter that Chelsea’s best 11 should be on the pitch, including Ziycech, & Pulisic, & we should see the best of Werner playing down the middle.
I mentioned here pre season about Werner being on the left. I get the feeling that Werner is not capable of playing in the middle, he has not played there: first game RLC was in the middle, then Havertz in the Liverpool game, Abraham in the league and Giroud in the cup. I think Lampard likes him on the left as his defensive contribution is good. If you look at his heat map, you would think he is a left wingback as very few touches in the opposition penalty box. I think Lampard might go with Abraham through the middle as he holds up the ball better than Werner in my opinion. Not doing Werner’s confidence not taking the penalties (strange decision, think Lampard is being more patient with him than us fantasy football managers).
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Werner once Pulisic returns. Pulisic thrives on the left so I’d be surprised to see Werner there instead of Pulisic if I’m honest.
Once the creativity of Pulisic & Ziyech is introduced, all of sudden there are players there capable of playing Werner in with those well timed runs I’ve seen him make. He’s made plenty of good forward runs time and time again, it’s just that Chelsea have been playing sideways rather than try and find him. I’d expect that to change once Pulisic & Ziyech are in full flow though.
I do regret putting Werner in from the start but I’m by no means writing him off. If those front players start to look on the same wave-length he’s a player I’d certainly be willing to revisit.
Have you taken him out Chris?
Yeah I ran out of patience and brought in Sterling & Podence for Werner & Keane in before that last GW. Gave me a +14 point swing from those moves so I’m happy with that.
My team now feels a bit too top heavy now though but I’m happy to have Salah, Kane & Sterling up top for now. When one of these three looks like having a big price drop at some stage though it might be worth downgrading. With five transfers now I want to try and be flexible to allow me to play the value swings a bit without having too much of an impact on incoming points.
Who have you got as your front three? Surely you haven’t got Kane, Salah and Sterling?
Will you keep Werner for certain then?
This is obviously pending Werner’s results for virus, no premiership game till the 17th, so may return in time if positive, hopefully know by tomorrow, difficult to plan anything right now.
Timo Werner receives negative Covid test results and is free to link up with German team mates. 👌🏼
On there subject of Covid it looks like we might be going into stricter restrictions again in my part of the country soon (Mansfield, Nottinghamshire) after a recent spike. Had a fair few guys get it where I work too. 😬
Stay safe everyone. 👌🏼
This is good news… hopefully 33% of the game keep him and he continues to dud! I’m moving him on for Son this week and hope for a good price swing in the process as well as more points!
Werner will obviously now explode now I’ve removed him…
Thanks for info, Chris, I was just about to get an update on Werner, just hope for no injuries on international duty, gambled with transfers, one of my colleagues got a positive result for covid, so I am in my second week of isolation, feel like I’m going stir crazy, which incidentally in my opinion is the funniest comedy film of all time, Richard Prior & Gene Wilder together, unbeatable combination.
ok update.
just been back on to the sun help line
they are adamant there will be no price rises tomorrow
owing to the internationals.
anyway don’t take this for gospel please do your own thing.
Knowing the Sun Don you are probably right! I’m still moving Allison and Werner on today just in case. Mendy and Son IN!
I find that strange – it’s never worked like that before.
I wanna get Son for Werner in before price changes.
Alisson
TAA, Castagne, Semedo
Kdb, Havertz, Traore, Bruno
Salah, Kane, werner
0.1 m in the bank. Cannot change Alisson to Mendy and Werner to son as it leaves me 0.1 short.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Traore down to Barnes or Podence would free up some cash… that said I have/had the exact same team as you and can make those two moves with £0.2m to spare fortunately so get to keep the big man!
Thanks for the advice. Ideally I’d like to keep Traore for one more week.
Allison for Adrian or Joe Hart? What do you think? That would leave plenty for Werner to Son.
Any update on the sterling injury??
I’m assuming he’s fit but I’m not sure.
any changes at all??
I wouldn’t be making any transfers until having all the info. So I’ll be waiting to see the Chelsea line up. If Werner is out wide I’ll probably swap him for Sterling. Then I’ll probably swap De Bruyne for Foden but again not until I’ve seen how Man City line up. So look out for a post at 2pm. I’ll probably do both transfers though.