GW Points: 87
Overall Points: 2,469
Overall Rank: 91
Game week 22 was another that wasn’t ideal but also wasn’t a disaster. I dropped around 30 places on the leaderboard which is nothing in the grand scheme of things but looks worse when you’re within the top 100. My biggest downfall was not keeping Watkins but he’d been awful for me when I did have him for a number of weeks. I think this is where psychology comes into play – because I’d just taken him out after a poor run in my team, it didn’t seem right to bring him back in as he’d let me down week after week. Typically he hits a big score and many people even captained him. That’s two weeks in a row that I’ve missed out on big hauls from Pedro and now Watkins. As per my comments last week though, I’ve still not got any major regrets. We can’t have good fortune all the time and if I’d have picked either of them on another day they may have blanked. I’m still in a fantastic position so I’ve got a huge amount of perspective and find it difficult to be deflated by a couple of average weeks considering where I’m sat on the leaderboard currently.
Here is my breakdown of each player:
Dubravka – 1 point wasn’t ideal but I’m keeping an eye on Ederson’s price anyway. City normally come good at the business end of the season and it’s a switch I’d consider making at some point.
Saliba – another poor return from Saliba, I could be tempted to swap him for a City defender this week.
Trippier – happy with 9 points from Trippier considering he conceded 4.
Van Dijk – 1 point wasn’t ideal but he’s done well for me and can’t expect returns every week.
Palmer – 13 points was another good return from Palmer.
Saka – decent 8 points from Saka, joint highest scoring midfielder so he stays in my team.
Foden – brilliant 21 points from Foden, now the joint highest scoring midfielder and certainly stays in my team.
Sterling – only 3 points from Sterling, time to move him on.
De Bruyne – a steady 8 points from De Bruyne. Stays in.
Haaland – only 6 points from Haaland wasn’t ideal but at least he’s back in my team now with City having good fixtures ahead.
Jota – 3 points from Jota wasn’t great but happy to keep him for the time being.
Player watchlist
Alvarez – has had a good couple of weeks and could be a contender to bring in this week for the price rise and double game week.
Walker or Gvardiol – it might be worth targeting a City defender for their double game weeks ahead. Gvardiol has a higher average points per game when he does play but Walker appears to get more game time.
Alexander-Arnold – only took him out due to injury. Would be looking to bring him back in when he’s fit again, probably for Trippier.
Pedro – more points for Pedro this week, he’s going to be hard to overlook when European fixtures kick back in for Brighton.
Salah – will need to come back in when he’s fit.
Bowen – I won’t be bringing him back in this week as he’s not scored well recently and West Ham play Arsenal but definitely one to consider when European fixtures restart for West Ham.
Plan for game week 23
I’ve not firmed up my transfer plans for next week just yet. However, after a quick glance I’d be happy to lose Saliba and Sterling based on the fixtures for next week. The team to target appears to be Man City and I’d be happy taking a punt on Alvarez for Sterling given the double game week. Gvardiol could be a good replacement for Saliba for a couple of weeks although Man City seem far from convincing defensively so fixture volume might not help much. I’ll ponder on it a bit further but these seem like the sensible moves on paper at the moment.