Another Win! And finally, my side is
actually off the bottom of the table! @FantasyYIRMA had a week to forget as
some of his new signings failed to come alive (Mangala, Sturridge), while a
goal from Milivojevic and six saves from Nick Pope was enough to see my side
over the line. In an effort to scrape enough points and in order to give my team a
chance at victory, Tammy Abraham was sent to Free Agency after he failed to
start another game for Swansea. Dan Gosling of Bournemouth was brought in, and
he contributed an acceptable 9.8 points. Gosling may have to be offloaded this
week though as I try my best to get eight players onto the pitch. My side might
be off the bottom, but they are lagging well behind in fantasy points scored,
if I’m tied on wins at the end of the season with someone, I’ll be in big trouble.
I need to try and address this imbalance.
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| Every game is a relegation six pointer now it seems |
Abraham might have been one of my top
scorers this season, but I had run out of patience with the striker, as I can’t
afford to have too many players who are not guaranteed starters in my squad. My
impatience is @FuzzyWarbles gain though, as he picked up Abraham midweek for a
paltry $5. He was not the only big mover midweek, as a number of teams picked
up players on big fees. @TAMc10 put $100 down on Lucas Moura of Spurs.
@BenDinnery hopes the $19 spend on Alex Sorloth at Crystal Palace will help
fire him to promotion. @TomSunderland_ spent his money on Joao Mario of West
Ham, Defender Laporte of Manchester City, and Guido Carillo who now plays with
Southampton. $68 for all these players could well be a bargain. The big money
though was splashed by @cjradune. In order to secure the services of Arsenal
new signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang he bid $176. My opponent this week is @jwl_15,
and he invested his budget on Gerard Deulofeu at Watford. Spending $25 to claim
him for the remainder of the season. I refused to get drawn into any transfer
bidding shenanigans after being left with a terrible squad beset with injuries
and woeful form after the last signing window. A philosophy of scouting the
dregs no one else is interested in, is how my side will play out the next few
weeks.
@jwl_15’s Team
Deulofeu will slot straight into the
Forward position for Jake. If needed he could put in Brighton’s Jose Izquierdo,
who has three league goals this season (none of which were scored when he was
in my squad by the way). In Midfield is where @jwl_15 gets most of his points.
N’Golo Kante tips along with nearly 15 points per game. His two Arsenal players
have been in fine form recently. Aaron Ramsey has six goals and six assists on
the season, while his new teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan has eight assists, three
of which came last week. Both of these players face a tricky trip to Wembley to
face Tottenham in the early Saturday kick off this week.
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| Deulofeu could worm his way into the Spain World Cup squad |
In goals is Swansea’s Lukasz Fabianski. Since
the appointment of Carlos Carvalhal, things have been looking up at the Liberty
Stadium. The Swans have not lost in eight games in all competitions. They may
only have gotten two clean sheets in that time, but Fabianski has been racking
up the saves. 99 on the season so far. Now if Carvalhal would only find a place
for Renato Sanches…
What I Need To Happen
This tie could go one of two ways as early
as the first game of the weekend, which as mentioned is the game between
Tottenham and Arsenal. If Ramsey and Mkhitaryan inspire a Gunners victory, it
could be a long couple of days for my side. If on the other side of the coin Serge Aurier
starts and Spurs keep a clean sheet, I could try and ride out the upper hand
that gives me.
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| I'll be heading to bed early if Ramsey and Mkhitaryan are on song this weekend |
Unfortunately, it looks like I will have
five injured players this week and not a lot of room to move people around in
order to get the magic eight starters playing. As I alluded to before, Gosling
could be sacrificed for a Defender or a Forward if need be. If Dan is to keep his place, I’ll need to see
starts from players like Tom Ince, Marcos Rojo, Ayoze Perez and Victor
Lindelof. But I wouldn’t be holding my breath on too many of those.
Predictions
A poor five correct from nine last week, in
what was a surprisingly low scoring round overall. My opponents this week,
@jwl_15 were the highest scorers of course, hence why the IEFSA/Fantrax fixture
computer ‘threw’ us together. The big game this gameweek is the clash of the top two in @TRKingston and @FuzzyWarbles. To follow all the transfers, scores, and general
mayhem in the league, please follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter. Here are this week’s
predictions.
Good Luck Everyone
@TRKingston over @FuzzyWarbles
@TAMc10 over @FantasyYIRMA
@cjradune over @TomSunderland_
@jforquer11 over @FPL_MNOP
