Last updated on December 3rd, 2020
Written by @IamtheMarkus. Follow him on twitter for regular FPL insights!
Another good 4 days of Premier League action with plenty to think about from what we saw of the highlights. The only true negative of the weekend was the sickening horror injury of Wolves Raul Jimenez who is now recovering with a fractured skull. Much like the previous week, there is a full card of European fixtures starting Tuesday, however, most of the teams involved have almost all qualified so it was good to see a number of big names rested. Certain squads have a number of players coming back from injury/sickness or are just out of form and this midweek could be time for them to show their managers what they are capable of. Giroud’s masterclass on Wednesday may still only be enough for a place on the bench to Leeds, maddeningly.
As far as my own scores went this week, I had a decent showing for the second week in a row. What was a let down was Jamie Vardy’s solitary assist. I didn’t manage to fit a City midfielder into my lineup but opted for Jesus instead of Kane, this nearly worked out for the better, had his second assist stood I would have been pretty pleased with the result. At best I would have picked up KDB, as Mahrez was completely off the radar having shown very little interest in picking up more than 2 points for 80% of the year.
10 weeks in and about 25% of my total points are from my captain. I’m a little bit behind where I would like at this stage but I’m relatively happy as we go into December (which will take us up to GW16). As it looks like initially, I am happy with the players at my disposal.
A quick recap of last week’s possible selections:
Fernandes managed to have one of his more erratic performances, barely completing ⅔ of his passes but in the end, he walked away with 10 points. Heavily involved, but I’m not quite confident enough to put the armband on him, but I will take a consistent source of points any day.
DCL / Everton, I had a feeling this could be a tough game but one that they should have been set to win, but they were outplayed. Fixtures look like they may turn to sterner opposition after this week so it may be time to part ways for me and DCL soon.
Vardy – A solitary assist at Fulham was celebrated as if he’d romped away with the match ball in the end.
In my fear section was the Man City mids as there was indeed the traditional 5-0 haul against Burnley. It was mixed fortunes if you owned City players with most suffering at least one benching from defenders / Sterling. We saw a fair bit of rotation in Europe again but I would be surprised if Sterling did not start this weekend. Salah too was threatening, a disallowed goal and an assist before being taken off relatively early (Covid / precautionary). I’ll be on the pen and paper to see if I can actually get any of them in as it looks like they will feature prominently in the upcoming weeks as games come thick and fast.
Looking forward to GW11…
Friday
- Villa vs Newcastle (POSTPONED but to when?!)
Saturday
- Burnley vs Everton
- Man City vs Fulham
- Man Utd vs West Ham
- Chelsea vs Leeds
Sunday
- West Brom vs Palace
- Sheffield Utd vs Leicester
- Spurs vs Arsenal
- Liverpool vs Wolves
Monday
- Brighton vs Southampton
Newcastle have rightfully had to suspend their game, which is a shame as it’s left me reliant on my dubious bench. Thankfully I’ve possibly got a backup GK but I may just scrape an 11 to plug a Grealish shaped hole with a 1 pointer somewhere. Most of the sides who were in action in Europe have rested their ‘star’ men, meaning I’m expecting a few games to be played at a pretty fast pace this weekend. Chelsea vs Leeds, Man City vs Fulham, Liverpool vs Wolves. Leicester have a chance to redeem themselves at Sheffield but let’s hope they don’t set up for a bore draw. West Ham continue to impress so maybe they are ready to get one over United. I expect the Brighton vs Southampton game to be a particularly entertaining one on Monday night but own zero assets there which is a shame.
TLDR
My © will be KDB
Vice – Bruno
KDB – TSB ~ 21%
A welcome 10 points for his owners at Burnley, with more owners no doubt signing up now. He seems to be getting back to his former self and is certainly the chief architect we all know and enjoy to own. Seems to be continuing to shoot on sight this year, but the two assists last week show he has lost none of his bread and butter points source after a few quieter games (in terms of points alone).
The fixture should present a good opportunity and it has been a popular one for my captain picks so far this season. N.B. With the exception of Mr Jamie Vardy.
So I’m a little wary that I’m banking on a relegation candidate here conceding more than a few. Fulham really looked sharp against Leicester away from home and may continue to take this new-found confidence to the Etihad, but City are certainly a level above and most of the squad appear to be rested ahead of this game.
Norwich did a number on Man City last year and perhaps this could happen again, especially if Fulham continue to build on Monday’s impressive showing against Leicester. Given the different levels of players between the two squads, I would expect another win for Man City. My gut feel is City are the best shout this week and not many of my rivals own him either.
Jota – TSB ~ 27%
Another in-form player who just can’t stop scoring. 9,8,2,9,9 for his last 5. At even his current price he is a very handy pick to have. Coming back to his original club, it would be one of those things for him to score against his former side. Salah and Mane no doubt steal the prime candidate slots, but Jota is keeping pace atm. Tempted but I may not go for it here due to a lack of double-digit returns on show.
Vardy – TSB ~ 25%
A neat shot here, an okay pass there…this was a poor showing in a quieter game against Fulham. Just the assist in the end. Leicester really didn’t show much in the way of life against Liverpool and they didn’t look like winning against Fulham either. Whilst it is clear Sheffield are in a bit of a rut, they just don’t seem to be able to score goals but will defend in numbers. Vardy and his teammates will be looking to make amends and get back to winning ways and whilst they do have a european game on Thursday. Sheffield may sit in. The fixture is kind only when looking at the table and the form doesn’t look strong at the moment. I’ll probably avoid any captaincy here.
Bruno – TSB ~ 40%
Two double-digit returns in a row are pretty pleasing. West Ham don’t normally trouble Manchester United that often but they have looked impressive in recent weeks. Bruno’s performance last week was heavily involved but was erratic, as the lack of bonus points showed. He gave the ball away so many times and was at points wasteful. No rest either in the midweek with 90 minutes against PSG, but I expect him to start as Ole is incapable of subs / changing players who might need a rest. I think he’ll have a better game but I’m not sure that this will translate into points this week.
The Fear
You can’t have them all, but here are a couple of players who are not in my squad and I will be watching from behind the sofa as they look likely to cause serious damage this weekend.
Salah – TSB ~ 30%
Was not happy one bit after being subbed early last week but looked his threatening self. Wolves have not looked entirely at the races and other than the bullying Arsenal, have not looked their best self. Liverpool and Salah will be reliant on putting this to bed by half time. I’ve got Jota and have spent the cash elsewhere so hopefully he will keep pace.
Grealish – TSB ~ 40%
The fixture has been cancelled but no clue has been put out as to when it will be re-arranged. Whilst I’m not going to captain him, I’m at least keeping him in the 11 in case the fixture is somehow re-arranged for this current gameweek.
