The Fantasy Footballing Gods came down hard on my team last
gameweek in my loss to @nikarg, and they show no sign of letting up as we head
into the Christmas fixtures and @THE_IEFSA and Fantrax’s clearly biased
fixtures computer has me facing a resurgent @TomSunderland_. I would have
beaten eleven other sides in Gameweek 17, but @nikarg’s third highest score of
the week helped by an Ibrahimovic brace totally blew my side out of the water.
That result put me down to ninth, with the only consolation being that most of
the sides at the top of the table came unstuck too, resulting in only six
points now separating second from fifteenth. With everyone in close proximity
to one another a win over this festive season is even more vital. But to do
this I’ll have to see off @TomSunderland_’s side, whose star players are slowly
coming back from injury and into form.
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| I've never seen Santa and Zlatan in the same room together. Just saying... |
@TomSunderland_’s Team
Philippe Coutinho might still be side-lined for Liverpool,
but Tom did welcome back Southampton’s Jay Rodriguez recently with two goals
away at Bournemouth. This should sort out his Forward position as his other two
players eligible for that slot, Martial and Stuani, have only managed to start
seven games each this season. In Midfield he could also welcome back another player from
injury this week in the shape of Leicester City’s Danny Drinkwater, and when
the midfielder plays he averages nearly 17 points a game. The remaining
Midfield spots will more than likely be taken up by a combination of Spurs and Saints
players; two teams who face each other in the Wednesday night kickoff. Sissoko
of Tottenham, with Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg of Southampton making up a
formidable trio if Tom needs his team to get back in the tie come Wednesday evening.
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| @TomSunderland_ will be wearing his Southampton Christmas jumper this week |
He may not even need them though, as he has three of the
most in form Defenders in the game making up his backline. Marcos Alonso
averages 18 points per game and has been collecting clean sheets for fun at
Chelsea recently. While, both Seamus Coleman and Patrick van Aanholt have been
racking up to points thanks to their goal scoring exploits, despite playing in
two teams struggling to find form. In goals he will rely on Leicester stopper
Kasper Schmeichel. The Dane has only two clean sheets in nine starts, but does
welcome an out of sorts Everton side at three o’clock on Boxing Day.
What I Need To Happen
That old adage that goals win games means I’ll be hoping
that Tottenham can find a way to stop Rodriguez from finding the back of the
net again this week. With potentially three Saints players in Tom’s side, a
nice boring, but with lots of yellow cards, nil all draw, would do very nicely.
Speaking of goals, if my players could find some in the fixture between
Leicester and Everton, that would be great. At the back, hopefully the ball
ends up at Leighton Baines’ side of the pitch rather than Coleman’s. If Kevin
Mirallas could find a way to place the ball in the net that would be great; yet
if he could find a way into the Everton starting eleven first that would be a
bonus.
I do have a dilemma up front as Pedro did not start last
time out for Chelsea, while Arnautovic is still out through suspension. Should I
bring back in Fabio Borini, what with Sunderland making a daunting trip to Old
Trafford? And if I do, that surely spells the end for Claudio Yacob. But can I afford
the jettison the West Brom man when I’m unsure of the chances of a starting
spot for Lingard, Mkhitaryan, Mirallas, Wilshere, etc? Regardless of who
starts, it looks like I will have to fall back on Joe Allen to dig my side out
of whatever hole they have dug for themselves. The Stoke City midfielder heads back
to Liverpool on Tuesday with a point or two to prove, and will hopefully pick
up about forty fantasy points in the process.
Predictions
Five correct and four dead wrong predictions last Gameweek.
Getting more right than wrong is a positive I guess, and I’ll aim to end the
year on a high with a clean sweep of correct predictions. Here goes! Remember
to follow @THE_IEFSA on Twitter to keep track of the ups and down of each
match-up.
Good Luck Everyone, Plus, Merry Christmas and Happy New
Year.
@EPL_MOstradamus over @nikarg
@TRKingston over @nealjthurman
@FuzzyWarbles over @jasonuk17
@jwl_15 over @jforquer11
@RotoZdroik over @SmokeyLoogy
@wrigavin over @DFS_hambazaza
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