Here’s our fantasy premier league teams GW23 article where we give our early thoughts on the FFGeek team for GW23. We look back at gameweek 22, The team planning schedule, transfer thoughts plus early captain thinking.
fantasy premier league teams GW23 – some early thoughts on the FFGeek team
Gameweek 22
GW22 points: 52 (average 49) Total points 1,297, Gameweek rank 2,461k, Overall Rank: 142k, red arrow 22k, Team Value: £102.3m
Here’s the link to my GW22 team selection article if you’re interested
Here’s the points:
So 142k OR and a 22k red arrow. 3 players returning, 2 of them only an assist is going to be a red arrow no matter what. A very disappointing set of returns apart from Salah.
I had thought even with all the injuries I could avoid a red arrow but it was not to be and only 8 points from Sane on Monday saved me from even further problems. If I hadn’t finally sorted out the Salah mess I dread to think what the rank would be now.
The template absolutely murdered me this week. My differentials are non existent due to my team value and my template replacements have to step up each week to avoid continued red arrows.
The non template scoreboard
Fabianski was £5.50 vs Foster £3.50 for a clean sheet but West Ham unexpectedly kept a clean sheet. If West Ham keep an unexpected clean sheet then you know Fabianski is in for bonus and save points and so it was. 5 points down
The clean sheet differential between Everton and Arsenal was always a bit of an issue with Digne vs Kolasinac but the loss of Wilson to injury increased the risk of an Everton clean sheet and Digne, who must have delivered umpteen crosses, got the assist and the 3 bonus. 11 points further down
Lastly the ridiculous Lovren injury when Klopp plays Lovren at CB against Wolves cost me 7 points depending on which Liverpool defender people have. 7 points further down.
Despite the differentials being Morgan and Barnes I had decent hopes of both returning but Leicester’s Mendy played as if it was Rugby and I had pain of watching someone else other than the injured Danny Ings take the penalty. Burnley despite the win just didn’t perform at all vs Fulham.
The situation isn’t looking great at the moment for my team. Without a Liverpool defender (although the downside mitigated by the Alexander Arnold injury to some extent). Also Arsenal have some tricky fixtures while Everton’s fixtures look good. Also add in the mix, less than ideal differentials to pick up the slack and it’s not a great situation at all.
By the way, just to add further pain, great fixtures for Man Utd where I have no one at the moment and it’s looking like a tough spell especially with me 70 points or so behind my last seasons rank of 17k.
The team planner
So for this gameweek the template replacement battles see Foster in a good place to outscore Fabianski although not the case for Digne vs Kolasinac.
The Alexander Arnold injury will mitigate the loss that the Liverpool defence template will inflict.
I’d bank on Sane outscoring Pogba. That assumes Sane starts although with Ben Mendy back soon I imagine he will be lined up for rest after that so hopefully he keep being trotted out.
So the template replacement position looks ok.
The differential position is only Ings and Barnes. I’m expecting nothing from Barnes but if Ings is fit he’s always a prospect to score against the non top 6 sides.
Obviously Aubameyang or Rashford could be differentials depending on transfers and Rashford especially you’d be looking for points.
On the face of it the odds for the attack aren’t too bad. Defence needs Foster and Doherty to return as I can’t see Morgan or Kolasinac doing so.
Transfer thoughts
1 free transfer £0.6m in the bank.
So assuming Kane is injured, reports indicate he will be out for as much as month, although no statement from the club as I write this. Then I will probably do Kane to Rashford for the Brighton and Burnley home games to come. I have thought of going for Aubameyang who has a nice clump of fixtures after this week starting with Cardiff at home (although Man City in the middle). If I transfer in Aubameyang instead of Rashford then I would then get Pogba instead of Rashford through Hazard or Sane. The Aubameyang transfer would also make it easier to get Kane back.
I need to have a think. It’s unlikely I’ll do anything before the end of the week.
I should be able to get a full team out without having to revert to Wan Bissaka coming off the bench although it would help if Ings is fit. Otherwise it’s closer to Wan Bissaka having to to take his place which is far less than ideal.
I had thought of a wildcard as the situation is so tricky but if you read my double and blank gameweek article it looks like it will be tough with the wildcard let alone if I use it now.
Lineup decisions
There is no decision required. With Lovren seemingly out and Hojbjerg a bench player and Wan Bissaka v Liverpool then the bench is decided.
Captain choice
With Kane seemingly out it’s hard to see past Salah even with Sane v Huddersfield as there’s always the no show risk with Sane.
Team lineup
Here’s how the team lines up at the moment. I’ve put Lovren in just in case he miraculously becomes fit and Ings in the lineup as well on the assumption he’s fit.
That’s it. Hope you found it useful in thinking about your team
If you want to see how these players performed in GW22 see our underlying stats article for that gameweek. Also there’s the players with the best fixtures upcoming in our fixture ease article. You can also see the most popular transfers so far this week in the bandwagons article
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