Here’s our fantasy premier league team tips GW23 article where the 2nd group of the FFGeek contributors show their teams for GW23. In this article we’ve got Rob Reid. Pakhar Patel, FPL Word, Rob Cosgrove, Costas Chari and Sergio Torija. Rob Reid and Costas update us on their wildcards.
Fantasy premier league team tips GW23 – FFGeek contributors show their GW23 teams part 2
Here’s part 2 of the FPL managers who contribute to the FFGeek site with good histories who show their teams each week. This will give people a feel for what other managers are doing. It’s a fairly informal thing with no obligation on anyone and these teams may change at anytime before the deadline without further notice. It also wont cover early transfers. It’s just to give an idea of the trends for the week no more.
You can see our part 1 contributors article here.
There’s also Keith Spencers transfers for the injured Kane and Alexander Arnold
Rob Reid
Rob finished with a rank of 94k last season 22k in 16/17 4k in 15/16 and 7k in 14/15.
GW22 points: 46 (average 49) Total points 1,201 Gameweek rank 3,475k, Overall Rank: 902k, red arrow 106k, Team Value: £102.9m
See also Rob’s rationale for wildcarding and his first 3 wildcard drafts article plus his usual player picks article
GW22 review
A quick recap of my GW22 to start before I get onto my Wildcard. Another bad week, another red arrow. Actually ended up with 5/11 returns (if you include AWB’s mysterious full bonus point haul) but only Digne in double figures, no goals scored and another captain blank, this time from Aubameyang. Again had the indignity of benching a defensive return after Diop surprisingly returned 7 points, just to rub my nose in it. An injury to Kane compounded things and with having already taken an early -4 to get Salah (which included TAA coming in) and with too many passengers and problem players in my team, I hit the Wildcard button – I went into more detail as to my reasons why in another article earlier the week.
GW23 Second Wildcard Team
I posted 3 draft options in an article yesterday with a poll and Draft 3 was the overwhelming winner on 61%. This was the draft I was leaning towards after much deliberation so I’m going to go with something close to this but perhaps with a variation on the theme. So here’s a recap of the line-up.
Goalkeepers
Alisson and Speroni.
Alisson gives me a Liverpool double up at the back and a guaranteed keeper (injury permitting) for the rest of the season. Speroni is super-cheap at 3.9 and is a filler if nothing else but has the bonus of getting some game-time at the moment. I’m hoping these two are now set and forget, though I may burn a transfer on a keeper for my Bench Boost chip further down the line if Speroni gets ousted once Guaita or Hennessey are fit.
Defenders
I’d quickly decided on Liverpool cover and I’ve stuck with Virgil Van Dijk. The TAA news today was a bit of a surprise. Ok it was a bit of a boot between the legs to be honest! It was a bit on the vague side so I’d still be surprised if we see him this week, though GW24 looks a reasonable return date. I did consider putting him in and riding out his injury to free up funds, but I like the certainty of Alisson and VVD’s gametime. I also have the bonus of having bought VVD at 5.9m so he represents good value for me in this regard.
Next up, Digne and Aaron Wan-Bissaka also keep their places from my pre-Wildcard squad. Digne I’ll likely hold and sell in GW27 where he’ll have a blank gameweek. He’s got some good fixtures before then so hopefully will continue to pick up some returns. AWB has been there since GW1 for me and represents a good budget filler, playing every week in a team with a solid defence. On the subject of budget players, Bednarek is another I’ve brought in, again good value at 3.9m for a player who’s been playing reguarly.
My last defensive slot is still open at present. I’ve got Shaw in there at the moment, but he could become Lindelof for reasons I’ll state later. He’s kind of my differential in defence with only 7.8% ownership, hopefully he’ll be in the same form as he was at the start of the season when I previously owned him. Sadly I’ve once again been denied Doherty in this position, but I was just short of funds.
Midfielders
First name on the team sheet was Mo Salah. It was a stupid decision to sell him a few weeks ago and it’s cost me dearly. He’s back in and will no doubt be wearing the captain’s armband most weeks. Pogba remains from my pre-Wildcard team. He looks a different player from the one who played under Mourinho, playing with passion, flair and drive. My budget choice was also fairly easy. Puncheon is only 4.2m, looks to have good gametime and has a GW33 fixture. He’ll be bench-warming for the next few weeks so I didn’t want to tie up too many funds here.
Now it gets tricky. First up I’m hanging on Richarlison, despite blanks in the last 3. He’s still posting good stats and having plenty of attempts so I think things will change soon and away to a Saints team that’ll be tired after 120 minutes in midweek looks a good fixture for him. He’s basically got between 2 and 4 weeks in my team. If he blanks in the next 2, I’ll sell him in GW25 unless it’s a double for Everton. If not I’ll probably hold until GW27 when he have a blank week and then move him on. He’s temporarily not in my team though as his price is likely to drop tonight so I’m hoping to burgle 0.1m in OTV, so I’ll buy him in tomorrow morning.
This is where I have my debate now. 5th mid will be another premium and it’s between Sane and De Bruyne. I did also consider Alli and Eriksen for this spot with Spurs good fixtures but I’m worried about how good their attacking output will be minus Kane and Son. I’d prefer to sit on them for another week which at the very least will give more information on whether they’ll have a GW27 fixture as the Carabao Cup 2nd leg will have been played by GW24. So it’s Sane vs De Bruyne then. Sane is in ok form and has been getting game time but I do worry about him when Mendy comes back. KDB has posted some brilliant returns in recent seasons but is just back from injury and faces a fight to get his place back, especially with Bernardo Silva playing so well. Tricky one. I need Richarlison’s price to drop to be able to afford KDB and Shaw in defence so I’m going to make a final call on this in the morning.
Forwards
Ok 2 easy ones here first up, Rashford and Jimenez. Rashford is in great form and a snip price-wise. Jimenez looks the best of the other sub-7m options, though I’ll be keeping an eye on the likes of Ings and Wilson, especially if Wolves get through to the later rounds in the FA Cup.
So my final debate is on my premium striker. At the moment I’m fairly sure it will be Aubameyang, but I’ve just got a little feeling about Aguero. I reckon he’s going to explode in one of these next 2 fixtures. I’ve got to play the long game on this one though. I’m going to be tight for transfers over the next few weeks and Aguero won’t be playing in GW27 (though he might get a double GW25!) Who do I think will score better over the next 8 weeks? On this basis, it’s probably going to be Aubameyang with more guaranteed game time and a good fixtures GW26-28 but I’m not 100% sure! If there’s any firm evidence that comes out overnight (extremely unlikely) that Aguero starts tomorrow I might change to him, but for the moment it’s Aubameyang.
So for my team this week:
Picks itself really – my 3 budget players make up the bench and Salah is captain. I’ve got a strong core of 8 higher ownership players then my 3 differentials are having a double Liverpool defence, my City midfielder (KDB or Sane) and my United defender (Shaw or Lindelof.) Here’s hoping my 2nd Wildcard team does a bit better than my 1st Wildcard team did!
I’ll post my final team on Twitter tomorrow morning. Best of luck for GW23 folks and many thanks to all of you who voted on my Wildcard draft article and who posted such detailed comments. As usual, it’s been a lot of fun interacting with you all.
Prakhar Patel
Prakhar finished in 17th overall in fantasy premier league last season. An amazing achievement
GW22 points: 57 (average 49) Total points 1,369 Gameweek rank 1,565k, Overall Rank: 18k, red arrow 3k, Team Value: £102.5m
After an above average game week with 57 points,I am currently ranked 18k which is pretty good considering I have had a string of red arrows for the past month or so.
This week the main focus was bringing in Salah and dealing with the Kane in injury. I wanted to get rid of Alonso too and Richarlison hasn’t impressed me at all but I am just sticking with him due to the fixtures. Bringing Salah in was possible by replacing Alonso for Victor Lindelof with United having a couple of tasty fixtures and they look a bit stable defensively after a long time not.
Injured Harry Kane made way for Raul Jimenez with him having some nice fixtures as well over the next 7 weeks or so. These two moves made it possible to upgrade victor Camarasa to Salah and that is all.
Captaincy this week is a no brainer with Salah at home to Crystal Palace.
I have a bench decision to make before the deadline between Mitrovic and Holebas but for now Mitrovic gets the nod.
I’ll post any changes on my Twitter account.
Good luck everyone and may your arrows be green!
Transfer Summary : A -4 hit with Alonso,Kane,Camarasa our for Lindelof, Salah and Jiménez.
Costas Chari
Costas finished with an OR of 29k last season and 27k in 16/17
GW22 points: 45 (average 49) Total points 1,277 Gameweek rank 3,815k, Overall Rank: 224k, red arrow 58k, Team Value: £101.1m
You can see Costas’s wildcard draft articles here
Hello all
Firstly I would like to thank everyone who responded and voted on my wildcard article! Your thoughts were a tremendous help!
I will continue with a mixture of teams 3&4 as were most votes.
My team includes Lloris as the GK due to the favourable fixtures. Van Dijk as my Liverpool asset in defence. I decided against Matip as he is too short term as a solution. Lindelof is in from United and a mixture of cheapies in Wan Bissaka, Bennett and Bednarek, all of which have good fixtures.
Midfield is my price jewel. Pogba has the form the fixtures and pens. Salah is Salah. Alli I think is a good differential and cover for the Spurs attack. He might be downgraded to Moura in a few weeks saving me 2.0 as Moura when he returns will surely play further forward. Until Mendy is fit I am keeping with Sane as my City asset. Puncheon is a cheap bench player at 4.2
There’s great values in attack in Rashford and Jimenez. Both have form and fixtures. I went for Firmino up front. I believe he will do better than Aubameyang in the next 3 fixtures. He can then be upgraded to either Aubameyang after Gw25 or Aguero when he starts playing in the starting 11.
Captain – going with Salah definitely!
Good luck all
FPL Word
FPL Word finished 35k OR in 17/18. 9k in 16/17, 1k OR in 15/16, 5k OR in 14/15
GW22 points: 40 (average 49) Total points 1,317 Gameweek rank 4,752k, Overall Rank: 87k, red arrow 39k, Team Value: £102.6m
I moved early after my shocker for over a GW last weekend.
I took a -8 and brought in Salah, Pogba, Lindelof and Rashford. Got rid of Alonso, Hazard, Son and Mitrovic. Was way too conservative in previous weeks and that has cost me dearly – I’ve fallen to a season low rank of 87k. Hoping to recover fast!
Robert Cosgrove
Robert finished with an OR of 20k last season and 23k in 16/17
GW22 points: 54 -4 (average 49) Total points 1,287 Gameweek rank 2,098k, Overall Rank: 180k, red arrow 33k, Team Value: £102.8m
After a poor run recently which has seen me fall far down the ranks I was thinking more and more of an early second wildcard. When I saw Kanes injury earlier this week I thought to myself ‘I’ve gotta wildcard now’. So all week I have convinced myself I am using my wildcard on Friday.
I even wrote a draft article last night ready to send to FFGeek this morning about my decision to wildcard with who I was bringing in and why etc etc….but I woke up today and have had a complete change of heart!
I asked myself ‘Is it really necessary to react to Harry Kanes injury with a wildcard?’ After looking at my current team, even though some players are testing my patience, it’s not the worst team I’ve seen at the moment and I am still top of 3/4 of my mini leagues (some have decent wagers on too!) So it’s not all doom and gloom.
There was some immediate problems to fix however, with Kane and my new goalkeeper being injured (only transferred Guaita in last week because Joe Hart got dropped!). Kane was easy to solve by bringing in Rashford, but a GK replacement took more thought. I thought about Etheridge but I already own Peltier who I’ve herd will play the next couple of games due to Morrison’s injury (don’t quote me on that though!) I like Southamptons fixtures even though they are in a relegation battle so I have gone for McCarthy to replace Guaita.
I decided to make a third transfer for a -8 point hit (for the first time ever!) Due to Man Utds easy home games and Alonso being away to Arsenal. I am fairly confident that I will get these points back with some profit this week.
My captain was going to be Salah but historically Liverpool don’t blow Palace away so have changed it to the in form Rashford hoping to gain some rank back if Rashford outscores Salah.
Sergio Torija
Sergio finished with an OR of 17k last season and 21k in 16/17
GW22 points: 60 (average 49) Total points 1,215 Gameweek rank 1,062k, Overall Rank: 722k, red arrow 73k, Team Value: £102.1m
A decent GW22 for me with a 70K green arrow despite being again punished by not owning Salah and indifferent returns in attack with only Calvert-Lewin and Hazard (C) returning 5 points each. My defence saved me though with great scores from Fabianski, Robertson and Digne.
For GW23 the main target was clear: get Salah in, and I did that on Saturday night since I had the exact funds then for: Son, Alonso, Murphy out for Salah, Bednarek and Puncheon in. Of course the uncommon week in which I move early, someone gets injured the day after, Kane as you all know. So I took another hit to replace him. Even though the most obvious choices were probably Aubameyang or Rashford, I decided in favour of Firmino as a bit of a differential on a player with great next four fixtures (to the end of the season really). The week could have turned even worse though, since my original plan was to bring in TAA on the Saturday already, however the reports with his injury-no injury in warm up scared me away from him.
Finally, welcome back to my team captain Salah, and forgive me for my offence of removing you in December.
Good luck for GW23 Geekers !
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