Here’s part 2 of our fantasy premier league team tips GW20 articles where 4 FFGeek Contributors show their teams for GW20. There’s Andrew Whitfield, Scott Taylor, Rob Reid and Sergio Torija. Between them they have 11 top 0.5% finishes in the last 4 competitive seasons
Fantasy Premier League Team Tips GW20 – 4 FFGeek Contributors Teams Part 2
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Introduction
It’s worth noting that the teams shown may not necessarily end up being the final teams or the transfers may have been made in the days prior to the posting . It’s an informal situation to give you an idea of trends. However the FFGeek team and the Contributor tracker team mentioned above on the FFGeek Patreon site all make transfers as articles are posted. So you’re always up to date and live
Andrew Whitfield
Andrew’s last 4 seasons overall ranks were 34k, 132k, 6k and 19k
GW19 after Sunday Points: 46 on FH (FPL average 30) Total points: 1,198, Overall Rank: 102k, green arrow: 6k Team Value: £104.5m
Andrew has used his wildcard
Well I am in the unusual position of writing this article on Monday, before the conclusion of the gameweek when Newcastle face Man Utd, a game that could have a big bearing on my gameweek, as well as everyone else’s.
Boxing Day review:
Three postponements meant six Boxing Day games, with no shortage of goals. Man City went six points clear after a 6-3 goal fest v Leicester, with Raheem Sterling scoring twice. Arsenal hammered bottom team Norwich 5-0 with a brace from Saka. Chelsea needed two Jorginho penalties to beat Villa 3-1.
Kane and Son seem to have rekindled their partnership with both scoring in a 3-0 cruise v Palace. Southampton pulled off a surprise 3-2 win at Westham, and Brighton saw off Brentford 2-0.
My GW19 score and rank :
I still have my captain Ronaldo to play as I write these notes, so if he happens to score it would really help matters.
I scored 46 points on Boxing Day, with 6/10 “returners”, which resulted in the smallest of green arrows after Sundays games, up from 108k to 104k. Whether or not captain Ronaldo gives me a boost on Monday night remains to be seen.
My GW19 talking points.
I went into GW19 with just 8 players, after the Covid postponements hit me hard, losing three Liverpool players, Raphinha, and my two Watford strikers. With the possibility of Smith Rowe and Foden being benched ( which they were ), I faced the prospect of just 6 starters and being without the two big captains in Ronaldo and Son. So with attractive games for Man City, Spurs and Arsenal, i decided to use one of my two free hits.
I could have avoided free hitting. I really wanted Ronaldo v Newcastle as a big captain favourite. I could have taken a -4 hit, put 10 players out, switching Salah to Bowen, and Dennis to Ronaldo. That would have left me without Salah v Leicester in GW20 too which I didn’t particularly fancy. If I had taken this route, I would have had just 8 starters as it turned out, and been 11 points worse off including the hit, compared to my free hit team.
So my free hit ultimately didn’t return too much of an advantage to my plans if I had avoided it. I would have picked up a Smith Rowe goal off the bench but not the returns of Son and Reguillon.
I targeted free scoring Man City who duly scored six, but my two City attackers both blanked !! I went for the explosiveness of Foden with a benching risk, plus the security of Bernardo who has started every league game. Ultimately my free hit failed to pay dividends as I got the wrong two, with De Bruyne, Sterling, Mahrez and Gundogan all amongst the points. I couldn’t really stretch to De Bruyne. I nearly chose Mahrez over Bernardo but went for a safer starter. Very disappointing. I targeted the right game but got the wrong players.
I also went for the in form Martinelli in a 5-0 win at Norwich and he blanked too !! But I did pick up a haul from Lacazette, a player I had in my normal team anyway.
I said I would only play free hit if the Spurs game survived. That proved a good call with both Son and Reguilon in the points. Reguilon could have had a monster haul on another day. He was very unlucky.
So my free hit was pretty underwhelming, gaining me an extra 11 points, compared to my alternative plan without it.
My week will in the end be defined by whether captain Ronaldo hauls v Newcastle, a move I would have covered with or without the free hit.
So what next:
FPL is a strange game right now. My game is all about forward planning based around fixtures. I am usually planning 3-4 moves ahead. Sadly, the many postponements are destroying that strategy. It’s now just about surviving each week and trying to get as many players on the pitch as you can, based on the postponements.
It’s not particularly a game I enjoy, making it difficult to switch off between gameweeks, with time consuming waits right up to the deadline and plans constantly evolving and changing in response to the goal posts being moved. A few missed the deadline this week too as the FPL site crashed with so many people waiting until the last minute. A right mess we have just now for sure
My possible transfers GW20
I won’t be doing anything until the last 30 minutes again as games can be called off really late. By the time you read this, all my plans below could be out of the window too. But here are my thoughts. I have one free transfer and 1M in the bank.
I have my three Arsenal players missing with Arsenal v Wolves wiped out. I also have Raphinha missing with Leeds struck with Covid and Leeds v Villa off too. So I currently have 10 players including no keeper as Foster is injured.
My keeper, Ramsdale has no fixture and he plays Man City next. I have seen a few considering moving him to De Gea with some very attractive fixtures ahead. But I think this is the time to address the problem of holding just one keeper through this mess. What if Man Utd future opponents get Covid next. They play Wolves at the weekend who have Covid.
I think holding two keepers now is becoming essential. So I plan to upgrade the injured Foster. Sanchez is a good price but he faces Chelsea this week. It’s a lot of dollar invested in two top keepers but I am likely to do Foster to De Gea. He has Burnley at home next. Man Utd have great fixtures. Having two keepers will help take advantage when one has no game, or when one has a double gameweek and the other doesn’t.
I have no bench. Livramento plays Spurs. I want to move out either Martinelli or Smith Rowe. They blank this week and then play Man City and it’s dangerous holding a triple on one team. I want to jump on Westham fixtures, so I could move Smith Rowe to Bowen but that’s an upgrade cost I can’t get if I buy De Gea. So I might switch Lacazette to the highly owned Antonio who is finally back with a goal. I could do Raphinha to Bowen too but Raphinha has Burnley at the weekend if fit. I think I prefer to dilute my Arsenal triple up, and Lacazette to Antonio gives me extra cash.
Of course if my Watford pair get cancelled again, or my Liverpool trio, I am in a desperate position with free hit having being used. I think I might give up at that point !! I paired up Dennis with King three gameweeks ago and all three Watford games have been lost to Covid. You just can’t plan or play the game seriously when that happens.
I am planning to sell Dennis when he goes to Afcon. I will look to move on Salah too for the same reason. If I move Salah to Son, I can get Dennis back to Lacazette alongside Antonio. I have money invested in Foden now and in a deeper squad , which has left me in a position where I had Salah and a premium striker to the prospect of Son and no Ronaldo. I can see having no Ronaldo hurting. I said I was happy to forego Ronaldo to jump on a Man City attacking double up. But Bernardo seems a bad buy now, especially with the risks of a City triple up, and Man City not currently having any double gameweeks compared to others.
I will be jumping off the double Chelsea clean sheet ahead of their two game disappearance for the World club championship. Reguilon is the plan from Rudiger. That will help with funding.
So all these plans, but Covid ripping them up by the hour. It’s not good for my style of play and I feel my team is a little out of control right now as I fly by the seat of my pants !!
My GW20 team
My team below is before changes.
I really need my two Hornets to line up v Westham, in a game I plan to have Antonio too. I deserve to see Dennis and King in tandem. I was looking forward to playing both at Burnley when they were called off just before kick off.
Mo Salah will be my captain as I don’t own Ronaldo or Son. Leicester conceded six at Man City so hoping a rested Liverpool including Jota can take advantage. It’s a game that could hold the key to my week. Salah has actually become quite a differential with many having moved him out to get onto Son or Ronaldo.
Phil Foden will surely be off the naughty step v Brentford. Surely. He always has a haul in him.,
If I don’t get any more issues or postponements, I have reasonable hope this week, even without Son or Ronaldo. But that’s a big IF…..
Possible transfers :
Foster > De Gea
Lacazette > Antonio ( -4 )
Here’s the team prior to any transfers taken place
Scott Taylor
Scott’s last 4 seasons ORs were 12k, 15k, 1k and 12k
GW19 after Sunday Points: 36 on WC (FPL average 30) Total points: 1,222, Overall Rank: 45k, red arrow: 15k Team Value: £104.1m
Scott has all his chips
The site crashed before I completed my wildcard transfers and that’s why I have the likes of Foster and Idah (placeholder) in my team. Very, very frustrating.
I’ll probably roll my transfer this week.
Captain Salah who survived my wildcard because of the site crashing. Vice: Son
transfer summary: likely carrying over the free transfer
Here’s the team assuming no transfers are made
Sergio Torija
Sergio’s last 5 seasons overall ranks were 262k 2k, 596k, 17k and 21k
GW19 Points after Sunday: 55 -4 (FPL average 30) Total points: 1,162, Overall Rank: 255k, green arrow: 54k Team Value: £105.3m
Sergio has used his wildcard
Transfer summary: likely Steer to De Gea to give 2 playing GKs
Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made
Rob Reid
Rob’s last 6 seasons overall ranks were 12k, 148k, 94k, 22k, 4k and 7k
GW19 Points after Sunday: 55 (FPL average 30) Total points: 1,189, Overall Rank: 132k, green arrow: 48k Team Value: £104.8m
Follow Rob on twitter here
Rob has used his wildcard
GW19 review
A quick recap of GW19 for starters – I made one transfer in the end which was Son for Salah, with the South Korean getting the armband. When the teams hit at 2pm, I was immediately down to 8 starters with Smith-Rowe, Foden and Antonio all benched and things were looking pretty grim at half-time with a Cancelo assist my only return. By 5pm things had changed considerably – 7 returns including goals off the bench from Antonio and Smith-Rowe, 11 points from Lacazette and a last kick goal from Captain Son. The later games were disappointing – only 2 points combined from Rudiger and James and dropping to 10 players and missing out on the Brighton clean sheet after a no-show from Duffy.
As it stands (before Newcastle vs Man United) I’m on a 28% green arrow, but with Ronaldo to come tonight that could disappear very quickly. To be honest, if someone had offered me a 10% red at 2pm on Sunday I’d have taken it. We’ll see where things are come 10pm Monday night.
GW20 Team
1 free transfer and £2.6m in the bank
The Arsenal postponement leaves me in a tight spot for GW20 – I’ve 10 available outfield players as it stands and no goalkeeper, but I don’t own either of the major Captain favourites; Salah and Ronaldo. I can see a few options. Firstly, I could simply reverse last week’s transfer and do Son to Salah; I’ve just got enough funds as it stands to do this. I could add a minus 4 to this to get a playing goalkeeper, but I’d then have to sell Ramsdale and as my selling price is £4.8m the pool of keepers I’d have to pick from would be pretty limited. Option 2 is swerve Salah and take a -4 to get Ronaldo in for Lacazette, though I’d likely have to sell Reece James to enable this. Option 3 is to Free Hit – I think the Free Hit chip could yield a 20 point gain this week, but I think it may be more useful in GW22 when there will likely be a double gameweek, with my 2nd remaining Free Hit chip probably better used in the likely blank GW30. One more cancellation though and my hand may be forced and I’ve prepared an initial draft just in case which I’ve posted below.
Ultimately, it will be a late call on this one and I’ll try and post my team just before the deadline on Tuesday. Hopefully there won’t be a repeat of the 125pm server crash that happened in GW19 – I got lucky here as you’ll see from the time I made my transfer in the Transfer History section of my page. Good luck for this week everyone.
Transfer summary: to be confirmed
Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made
and the draft Free Hit
The FFGeek Contributors League
The highlighted FFGeek contributors combined team finished with an overall rank of 8k last season and 52k the season before. It has started ok in 4th place with total points of 1,242 and an overall rank of 19k. You can follow that team, including live transfers as well as the FFGeek team currently also in 15th position at 121k and the team run by Joe’s Transfer Planner in 3rd place on 9K, all on our subscription Patreon site
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FFGeek Contributors Teams Part 1
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