Okay, okay. I’ll hold my hand up! I got the
bench players wrong last gameweek. You see, it’s not only Arsene Wenger who
struggles to put his best starting eleven out onto the pitch. I took a chance
that Jack Wilshere would get more points off the bench against Manchester
United, than both Ibrahim Afellay and Kevin Mirallas. I was convinced our Jack would
get a decent twenty minutes chasing a huffing and puffing Man U. Instead,
Bournemouth went down to ten men and dug in, while Wilshere never left the
bench. I was sure Mirallas would only scrape together a few points away at
Spurs. He got an assist. Because of these miscalculations, I lost to @TAMc10 by
three and a half points.
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| I'm sure Bournemouth's terrible run ending when Wilshere was absent was just coincidence |
No time to dwell on that loss though, as
Gameweek 28 starts midweek with the fixture of Manchester City at home to Stoke
City. Also, because of the FA Cup next weekend, there will be only a further
four fixtures in which to score points. This means it will be difficult for
IEFSA managers to get out a full squad of starters. This week the IEFSA/Fantrax
fixture computer throws up a match-up with @cjradune, and of course he can call
on three of his top four average scoring players, while my side on the other
hand, will only have Joe Allen from my top three average scorers.
@cjradune’s Team
Raheem Sterling averages nearly 17 points
per game and is C.J.’s top scorer with six goals. Sterling has also added five
assists. His highest scoring fantasy player is Everton’s Ross Barkley. He
averages over 18 points a game and has chipped in with four goals and six
assists so far this season. His third high scoring player for this week is in
Defence. Nathaniel Clyne of Liverpool averages over 15 points per game. And to
help confirm the ‘hidden’ bias against my team, all of these players have very
winnable home games this week.
 |
| Raheem Sterling should probably be rested with the Champions League next week, right? |
If the six players @cjradune has this week,
start and hit their averages, I will need my side to score 85 points in order
to win. But will I have enough players to be able to achieve this?
What I Need To Happen
Top scorer Pedro doesn’t have a fixture
this weekend. Arsenal are another team on FA Cup duty, meaning Bellerin will also be
absent. New signing Luka Milivojevic has had a pretty respectable start to life
at Crystal Palace, but no game for them this week, means he’ll sit on the bench
here. Fabio Borini is another with no game to play, but I’m not entirely sure
if that’s a good or bad thing.
Of those who can start, the three players
who gave me such a headache in Gameweek 27 will all probably still occupy their
sides respective subs list. Wilshere, Mirallas and Afellay could benefit from
rotation, but when combined they only got 29 minutes last weekend, so I wouldn’t
hold my breath on that one. Two fairly consistent performers from Stoke will
get the gameweek underway on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, that game is away
to Man City, and Arnautovic will be subject to a late fitness test, leaving Joe
Allen to carry my side’s workload. Not for the first time!
Predictions
There are going to be lots of interesting
match-ups this week because teams will be so shorthanded, so make sure you are
following @THE_IEFSA on Twitter. @RotoZdroik has extended his lead at the top
to nine points, and will be tough to catch this week because he has a full
playing squad to choose from.
Last week saw six correct and three
incorrect predictions. Will less teams playing mean the match-ups are easier to
call this time around?
Good Luck Everyone
@FantasyYIRMA over @TAMc10
@SportsByGotti over @wrigavin
@BenDinnery over @jforquer11
@FuzzyWarbles over @jwl_15
@nealjthurman over @jasonuk17
@nikarg over @TRKingston
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