Gameweek 7 proved to be another damp squib. My team went all out on Saturday and got close to the now coveted 1,000,000 mark. The only problem was that I captained Martial (when I had Sanchez) and I had no Sunday or Monday players; the latter being more detrimental as Lukaku (19% ownership) exploded. The hit for Begovic was pointless literally a negative move. My single day 400,000 net gain ended up as a 16,000 net fall and thus a much maligned red arrow came way.
Looking back to my lacklustre start to the season, there's no doubt that I've made some poor choices and have been unlucky at times. I may use the international break as a perfect window to activate my wildcard and tweak my team for the cold winter slog ahead. In the meantime, I didn't want to panic by taking another hit or spontaneously playing a chip. There's simply no need for that.
I purchased Payet as he's been awesome thus far. His 3 goals and 3 assists is testament of his prowess in a team that likes scoring goals. In addition, a quarter of #FPL managers own him which shows how much he is appreciated. Having said that he has yet to score on the road for West Ham. With good upcoming fixtures it made sense to buy him. He's also averaging more than a bonus point per game which is significant. I had no qualms with selling Chadli as he has been squeezed out with the returning Eriksen, revitalised Lamela and new signing Son.
The majority of my first XI are high ownership players. This puts me in danger of having a template team - and a rubbish one at that. In addition, as I'm "chasing" I feel that I have nothing to lose with my captain pick and can take risks. Yes, Aguero v NUFC makes sense on paper, but I want to be different. Kevin de Bruyne has bagged 17 points in his last two PL games - he's only owned by 6%. This makes him the perfect combination of not only being a de facto differential, but also being an in-form player. Barring a last minute change on Saturday morning, he is my captain. If all else fails, the wildcard is just around the corner.
The Stag surveyed the expanse of colours laid out before him. The jerseyed knights jostled for positions, snarling as they sought the upper ground and over enthusiastically celebrated their triumphs. However, The Stag required a differential. Only a knight less than 20% of the herd would do. Only one knight could help him vault the others over the next 3 gameweeks. Only one knight could bring him the fabled Green Arrows. A knight to brighten his day.
FPL's a funny old game isn't it? You spend
a whole week carefully deciding on transfers, you daydream about your players
scoring hat tricks and you subdue the awful possibility that the player you
transferred out does well. At the end of the day it's all a bit of luck. 53
missed shots and no goals caused me to ditch Alexis before gameweek 7. You can
imagine my pain as he tore Leicester's porous defence to shreds. I feared for
my selection of Coutinho as Stag's Knight after he wasted multiple
opportunities against Norwich for the same reason, lots of shots and no
returns. Yet there he was assisting the returning prodigal son Daniel Sturridge
to two goals against Villa. If there's any lesson to be taken here, it's that
irrational patience is key (I don't really believe this but it has proven true
this season). Does that bode well for Aguero owners? I hope so!
With Nathan Redmond, the same principle
could be applied in a microcosmic way. Sure, he started the season on fire,
racking up 24 points in three gameweeks for only £5.5m; after that though,
things changed. A drought descended where the young Englishman failed to pull
any attacking returns for three games despite his team netting 4 goals. In the
ruthless world of professional football, nobody is safe and Redmond's was
punished for his dip in performance, dropping from the starting line up to play
West Ham. He showed real character (at risk of sounding like Brendan Rodgers)
by slotting home in the 83rd minute with a low shot to put his team in a lead
that was cancelled out late on.
Why then, after telling you all that
Redmond was dropped for poor performances, am I telling you to pick the £5.7m,
7.7% owned midfielder? Is he even guaranteed his place in the team?
Well I'll attempt to allay your fears.
Redmond didn't start the Canaries' first game this season in the 3-1 defeat to
Palace but he did score a goal in his 37 minute cameo as a sub. For that, Alex
Neil rewarded Redmond with a string of starts which lasted until gameweek 7. As
far as evidence goes, that's as much as is available right now. As always,
keeping an ear open to the manager's press conference would be worthwhile, worry
not, there's no risk of price changes with Redmond.
Delving into the stats, in 500 minutes of
Premier League football so far this season, Redmond's offensive averages are
not to be scoffed at. He has had an average of 1.7 shots per game and gives 2.3
key passes per game. Keep in mind that with those he has returned 3 goals and
an assist. He also acquired 5 bonus points in gameweeks 2 and 3.
Finally I'll run through the fixtures.
Norwich entertain Leicester before travelling to Newcastle and then hosting
West Brom. Leicester STILL haven't kept a clean sheet so far this season in
spite of their unbelievable form. They're the sort of team that try to outscore
their opponents rather than choke them out and win 1-0. It would be astounding
if Norwich fail to put at least one past Kasper Schmeichel. Everyone to visit
St James' Park so far the season has managed to score and Norwich have lost
only once on their travels under Alex Neil. Both those facts bode well for
Redmond to do himself justice. Finally the home game against Tony Pulis' men
would be tough for any team. I could see this game falling to a stalemate or
exploding into life, let's hope it’s the latter with gameweek 8's Stag's Knight
Nathan Redmond getting on the scoresheet!
Another Gameweek, another captain fail. Benteke was unable to complete a full match against Norwich. Insult was added to injury when Ings replaced him and subsequently nicked his goal and cost me a few hundred thousand in the overall table. Hazard's dodgy goal (now classed as an own goal) didn't help my cause. On a more positive note, my -4 purchases of Mahrez and de Bruyne (high ownership & low ownership combo) worked like a treat as my team went up 300,000 net places. Progress is being made, slowly but surely.
With my wildcard still available, I feel as if I can make transfers on a calculated whim and with creative license at hand. I made a shotgun transfer on Sunday night (as stated on Twitter) and immediatey bought Martial in place of Benteke. With a £0.3m increase and 675,000+ purchases later, I feel this was justified. I also gave the France International an honourable mention on the Weekly Fantasy Football Show. I bought him when he was a differential, but his ownership has already surpassed 20%. I wanted to offset this by buying a genuine differential, in the same vein as de Bruyne last week.
I also wanted a Chelsea player - I believe they have turned a corner after their incident-laden win against Arsenal. Unfortunately, Chelsea don't have many low ownership players. Pedro/Hazard made sense against a dire Newcastle, but I'm giving Sanchez one final chance to bag a fantasy return before I sell him. This forced me to look at Chelsea's defensive cover. Zouma was viable, but I'm worried that he's competing a slot with Terry and Cahill - also I didn't want to sell Cedric for him. This led me to Begovic. I rarely take a -4 hit for a defender. But his next 3 fixtures are reasonable, owned by only 2% and I have saved £0.5m by selling Cech. I have nothing to lose as I am "chasing" and I can tidy up any failed transfers with my wildcard.
This week's captain was straight forward. It had to be the in-form Martial as he lines up against a woeful Sunderland team. He even scored during his League Cup cameo. Aguero's record against Spurs is of note, but his current form isn't correct for the armband.
Good luck to you all!
You can vote for FPLHints as the "Best Football Influencer",
The Stag surveyed the expanse of colours laid out before him. The jerseyed knights jostled for positions, snarling as they sought the upper ground and over enthusiastically celebrated their triumphs. However, The Stag required a differential. Only a knight less than 20% of the herd would do. Only one knight could help him vault the others over the next 3 gameweeks. Only one knight could bring him the fabled Green Arrows. A knight to brighten his day.
There we have it. Another week over and another Stag's Knight is on the prowl! This weeks choice sees a return to Man City's midfield, this time to young Raheem Sterling. Since his record breaking £49 million transfer from Liverpool, Sterling has added much need pace, flair and penetration to City's attack. Many people expected his appearances to be limited but that clearly hasn't been the case. Pellegrini has been happy to keep backing Sterling so long he keeps scoring goals and creating chances. Raheem has been confident, making daring runs, and has reaped the rewards of having much more talented players around him than ever before.
A quick look at Sterling's form this season will show you how much potential the kid has. He has two goals and two assists in six appearances. That includes a goal and an assist just this week in the Capital One Cup against Premier League strugglers Sunderland. I know that isn't a goal/assist per game but bear with me. Sterling is currently owned by 12.1% of managers and his price has fallen to 8.9. The hype that surrounded Sterling at the beginning of the season meant he garnered a large ownership to start. Them bailing out to get players in scintillating form like Mahrez is the main reason why his price has fallen. Rightfully, some would have got rid of him because one goal and one assist doesn't justify allocating almost a tenth of your overall budget. I believe that's about to change now. He can build on his midweek success and his man of the match performance against Watford.
In their next three games, City will take on Spurs in London before they host the hapless Newcastle and Bournemouth in Manchester. By investing in Sterling now, you are in place to reap the monetary rewards as his price rises if he produces like I expect him to over the next few gameweeks. Breaking down those fixtures a bit more, the Spurs game is obviously the most difficult one of the three. We all know Sterling could score here, but in truth it's a hard one to predict. Spurs' defence has been solid so far this season with odd lapses such as the Stoke game. Steve McClaren's Newcastle keep going from bad to worse. Their loss to Sheffield Wednesday during the week highlights how their confidence is at rock bottom. I'd expect a City goal bonanza in this one with Sterling sure to get in on the action. Bournemouth have struggled to keep clean sheets this season, Sterling again should have ample opportunity to add to his FPL points tally in that one.
Sterling's stats aren't too bad either. They show he is willing to put crosses in and take shots every game. He has averaged 1.6 shots per game and 1.6 key passes per game in his 5 Premier League appearances so far. Of course we'd prefer if these numbers were higher, but last week's Stag's Knight Philippe Coutinho proved to us that taking lots of shots doesn't necessarily mean you'll score goals. By the way, 83% of Sterling's shots so far have been on target, so he won't suffer the same plague as his ex teammate!
So there you have it, Stag's Knight for Gameweek 7 is Raheem Sterling.
If you want to contact me on Twitter, you'll find me @FPLStag.
The Stag surveyed the expanse of colours laid out before him. The jerseyed knights jostled for positions, snarling as they sought the upper ground and over enthusiastically celebrated their triumphs. However, The Stag required a differential. Only a knight less than 20% of the herd would do. Only one knight could help him vault the others over the next 3 gameweeks. Only one knight could bring him the fabled Green Arrows. A knight to brighten his day.
This week’s Stag’s Knight is Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian play-maker has been the only real bright spark in Liverpool’s
offence this season, providing the creativity and guile to unlock opposition
defences. Coming in at a pricey 8.1 and 14.8% ownership, he isn’t necessarily
the biggest differential you’ll find, but that’s irrelevant if he gets you the
points!
Unfortunately for Coutinho, his incisive passes have gone to
waste so far this season as Liverpool’s strike force continues to waste
opportunities. That said, we all know Christian Benteke’s ability when he hits
form. Maybe his spectacular goal against Man Utd last gameweek hints that he is
beginning to find his shooting boots. The low point for Coutinho so far this
season was undoubtedly his needless red card after picking up 2 yellows in the
embarrassing 3-0 defeat at West Ham. This Sunday’s game against Norwich will be
an opportunity for the ‘Little Magician’ to repent for his grave sin, missing
the grudge match at Old Trafford, to the Anfield faithful.
Coutinho’s highlight of the season so far came when he got
the one and only goal as The Reds overcame Stoke City in Gameweek 1. He
displayed that day the most vicious weapon in his arsenal. That is his ability
to lash in vicious shots from long range. That day Coutinho grabbed a very
ordinary game by the scruff of the neck, surged forward and perfectly mixed
power and precision to beat Jack Butland from 30 yards out. That goal wasn’t a
flash in the pan either. Coutinho likes to “have a go” at goal. This is
emphasized by the fact that he has averaged 4.5 shots per game so far in the
league this term.
What else has Coutinho got going for him? For a start,
Liverpool’s fixtures are very favourable. The next two weeks see them take on
Norwich followed by Villa at home. Norwich’s defence hasn’t been unbelievable
recently while Aston Villa continue to leak stupid goals. I also wouldn’t be
surprised if Villa struggle brush themselves down and push on after their collapse
against Leicester. Coutinho’s 3rd game as Stag’s Knight will be a
cross-city trip to Goodison Park. The Merseyside derby has been known to be
fiery and produce goals. I’d back Coutinho over any of the other Liverpool
players to be the difference.
Also, I saw Liverpool’s midweek Europa League match as a
possible turning point. Against a superior Bordeaux side, a team consisting of
5 teenagers (Ibe, Rossiter, Gomez, Brannigan (sub) and Pedro Chirivella (sub))
managed to hold out for a draw. For much of the game Liverpool were pegged back
and looked doomed. In the end, they could have won it with Danny Ings the man who missed the big chance. Lallana and Coutinho worked brilliantly together, with
Coutinho assisting Lallana’s fine goal. Success in tough games like these
breeds confidence in teams.
I view Liverpool’s next few matches as their best
opportunity before Christmas to get their season on track. Philippe Coutinho
will play a crucial part in every move Liverpool make, surely picking up goals
and assists along the way.
Stag’s Knights didn’t have much to brag about last gameweek.
Nacer Chadli and Matt Ritchie both finished with disappointing blanks as Spurs
barely overcame Sunderland and Bournemouth fell to Norwich. David Silva missed
out through injury but thankfully returns this weekend.
If you would like to contact or harass me, don’t hesitate to
find and follow me on Twitter: @fplstag
