Best Team
GW Points: 110
Overall Points: 596
Overall Rank: 13,680
Main Blog Team
GW Points: 103
Overall Points: 487
Overall Rank: 237,675
Transfers used: Emerson out, Sessegnon in
Mbeumo out, Ake in
Diaz out, Bowen in (at the end of the game week)
Game week 9 was probably my most successful week of the season so far. I’m under no disillusion that the overall performance of the team is still way behind where I’d want it to be, however, a good game week resulted in jumping over 100,000 places on the leaderboard which is a massive step in the right direction. Bringing in Ake paid off with 13 points this week. Sessegnon not so much with only 3 points. Diaz picking up an injury was frustrating considering he could have had a big haul against Rangers but it wasn’t to be. I also felt a tad unlucky with Kane missing a late penalty, had he scored and pinched star man, I’m sure my position would have strengthened even further. Saka was a particular highlight this week with 22 points – especially given that I would have swapped him for Bowen if the funds would have allowed me to. Salah scoring a hat trick off the bench was another highlight as I know many people have taken him out.
Here are my thoughts on each player:
Ramsdale: -1 point. Although Arsenal have been good this season it’s not really been reflected in points for Ramsdale. If I was flush with transfers I’d probably take him out but I may need to prioritise the two I’ve got left elsewhere. Will review after this game week.
Sessegnon: 3 points. 3 points weren’t the end of the world for a cheap enabler. Reassuring that he started both games. Stays in for now.
Dalot: 8 points. Very happy with 8 points from another cheap enabler. Stays in my team.
Cucurella: 13 points. Happy with 13 points from another relatively cheap player. 5 points for a late cameo in the Champions League was also very welcomed. Stays in my team.
Ake: 13 points. Happy with 13 points for the same reasons as Cucurella. Stays in my team until I have a need to take him out.
Diaz: -1 point. Poor points returned and injured for the long term. Taken out before the end of the game week.
Saka: 22 points. Brilliant return from a player I was planning to move on. Still not convinced of game time in the Europa League but will hold for now.
Sterling: -1 point. I need more from Sterling given his value but with good fixtures this week, I didn’t want to take him out just to avoid a price drop. If he doesn’t perform this week and Foden does, I may swap them over.
Salah: 23 points. Delighted with 23 points considering many people moved him on. Holding for now and hoping this kick starts his season. If Salah and Kane perform consistently well until the World Cup break, I can see them getting this team back into contention for a half decent finish.
Haaland: 8 points. Season long pick barring any injuries so it’s irrelevant what he scores really.
Kane: 14 points. I’m not unhappy with 14 points for Kane this week but it should have been more if he had scored that late penalty. Now I’ve got him, I can’t see me taking him out with a really good reason.
Player watchlist
Here are the players currently on my watchlist:
Foden – I’m strongly considering bringing Foden in as my next transfer but with only 1 fixture for Man City it won’t be this weekend that I make the swap.
Cancelo – would love Cancelo but he’s out of reach for the time being.
De Gea/Kepa – I’m keeping my eye on a potential replacement keeper. De Gea seems to be getting the nod in the Europa League so could be worth considering – could be a sideways move. Kepa is bringing in the points at the moment, if I was flush with transfers I’d have bought him in last night but I’m not, think I’ll have missed the boat by the time this transfer could be possible for me.
Jesus – I still think Jesus is a solid pick so I’ll continue to monitor him.
Antony – has scored reasonably well since joining Man Utd. Appears to be getting game time in the Europa League. Risky move for me but I’ll keep an eye on him.
Martinelli – given his value he’s performed incredibly well this season. Had Salah not scored the hat trick against Rangers, I was planning to bring Martinelli in to free up some funds.
Aubameyang – seems to consistently score when he plays and could be a good differential. Will monitor until I have a good reason to take out one of my strikers – which I don’t have at the moment.
Rashford – another well valued striker, will monitor in the same way as Aubameyang.
Plan for game week 10
My plan for game week 10 in my blog team is to stick with the team I’ve got. Obviously I’ll review based on team lines ups but all being well, I’m not going to make any changes. In most of my other teams I made changes last night as well – taking out players who are injured such as Diaz. If you’ve got plans for the game week, it’s worth remembering that Man City only play once and that’s away at Liverpool so it might not be the perfect time to bring their players in.
If you’re interested in the fixtures for the clubs involved in Europe, you can check them out here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CJdq5SxZqrb7EXOpEBbCtbF0hDulMoL05ULja_ng5nY/ – I’ve updated this to include all the fixtures now in the run up to the World Cup.
My other teams
Most of my other teams continue to push on, with some performing fairly well. Typically, all of my best teams are the ones that aren’t entered into any mini leagues – the kind of teams that I make quick decisions on and bring in players who I don’t have that much faith in performing well but do help to cover as many bases as possible. It’s certainly worth remembering that we are all working with a fairly small pool of players and it can be very much down to good fortune with regards to getting the timings right on those players.
Either way, my best team is now just shy of 600 points and just outside the top 10,000 teams. It’s not too dissimilar to my blog team but has the likes of Foden and Bowen already.
Across my other teams, I’ve experimented with bringing in many of the players on my watchlist, that way, if I don’t pick up points from them in my blog team, I’ll pick up points in other teams.
As always, for complete transparency, here are my 10 teams:
had my best week for ages move from 17th to ninth
in my clubs mini league.
about time I had a bit of luck may it continue.
I had a half decent week as well. My blog team is my top scoring team so far for the week.
I have just witnessed arguably the biggest miscarriage in the PTS scoring this season or in fact any other, Mo Salah has one effort brilliantly saved by Ederson, he then goes on to make a mug of Cancelo through on goal chips the keeper to score the WINNING decisive goal, is a constant threat throughout the game making great chances for others scores 5pts with a score of 6.76, Haarlind restricted to very few chances, his rating 6.77, somebody should hang their head in shame, let’s not forget, the overall winner takes home normally around 75k.
I didn’t watch the game but also found this a bit strange while I was checking the ratings.
I was about to print the same as you Dave
watched the whole match Specsavers come to mind
Salah’s score is the most outrageous I have seen so far.
about time something was done about lots of scores that dont
add up or do justice.
For those with Ramsdale won’t complain but I don’t & every point is crucial but I’m failing to understand why he got points for a saving a penalty when the shot was wide & not saved. The rating system needs looking at as well like mentioned above. I don’t have Salah but i believe he should of got star man. He tormented that city defence & scored the winning goal.
It is a strange system. I thought Salah deserved more than just 5 points for the goal.
Will Gabriel Jesus drop in value tomorrow?