Here’s our FPL team tips GW23 article where the 1st group of the FFGeek contributors show their teams for GW23. In this article there’s Joseph Crilley, Rick Porter, Costas Chari, Kev in Canada, Alex Ball and Scott Taylor
FPL team tips GW23 – FFGeek contributors show their GW23 teams part 1
Introduction
This is part 1 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 won’t cover transfers in real time either. It’s just to give an idea of the trends for the week no more.
Joseph Crilley
Joseph’s last 3 seasons OR were 28k, 7k and 13k
GW22 points: 62 (FPL average 57) Total points 1,333 Gameweek rank 2,470k, Overall Rank: 11k, no rank movement, Team Value: £106.0m
On the FFGeek podcast last week, FFG asked me what/who had been the main factor behind my recent rise in the rankings and I put it mainly down to little things going my way during a gamweek to turn an average week into a good one. In GW23, I was staring a bad gameweek in the face until I was saved in the final match by my transfer punt of Mahrez returning a big haul which gave me the smallest of green arrows.
I do have a problem in goal for this week as the Fabianksi injury has scuppered my plans to have a double gameweek keeper and he needed to be replaced. I have chosen to bring in McCarthy as the long-term Southampton fixtures look strong and he gives me some extra cash as he only costs 4.3mil plus their underlying defensive stats have been very strong in recent weeks. That fixture list and his 9-shot performance against Leicester means that I have had to bite the bullet on Ings to bring him in as part of my first hit of the season. These transfers give me a couple of options for the Liverpool double and there is still the possibility of going for either Salah or Robertson as the third member of my Reds triple-up, but that decision will be made next week!
Back to GW23, and it is another battle between De Bruyne and Vardy for the captaincy. City play at home and seem to have really found their goalscoring form again while Vardy faces a Burnley side who have conceded 7 goals in their last 3 games. I’m currently leaning towards De Bruyne as City have averaged 3 goals per match in the last 6 gameweeks and look primed to take apart any defence that they face.
Transfer Summary: Jimenez & Fabianski to Ings and McCarthy (-4)
transfer summary: Fabianski to McCarthy and Jimenez to Ings
You can follow Joe on twitter here
Scott Taylor
Scott finished with an overall rank of 1k last season and 12k in 17/18
GW22 points: 72 (FPL average 57) Total points 1,309 Gameweek rank 906k, Overall Rank: 34k, green arrow 19k, Team Value: £105.7m
A good gameweek for me, moving into the top 50k OR for the first time this season. Surprisingly given my OR, it is only my sixth week in the top one million gameweek OR.
7 returning players including my captain, Vardy. I transferred in Mahrez instead of Fabianski which obviously worked out very well!
I’m happy with the majority of my team. The only to dos on the list at the moment are (1) Pope out, (2) Ings in and (3) keeping an eye on Rico. Subject to any injuries, Pope out will be done this week with McCarthy coming in. Ryan is also a decent option but, given that I don’t think there is much between them in terms of points potential, I’m going for the cheaper Southampton option. Depending on price changes, that also enables me to transfer in Ings for Calvert-Lewin. I already have Richarlison and so Calvert-Lewin feels like a little too much Everton attack representation in my team. It also means I can keep Mahrez (or equivalent midfielder if Pep roulette becomes too much for me) and reduce the number of transfers needed to get Ings in (the alternative would have been downgrading Mahrez and upgrading Greenwood). Rico’s benching over the weekend was annoying from my bench strength point of view but not too critical to my team given that he is solidly bench fodder so it’s a monitor and, if I have nothing better to do with a free transfer, get in, say, Williams from Man Utd if he’s still starting then.
My line up decisions this week revolve around whether to start Soyuncu and who to captain. At the moment, Soyuncu is first sub but given Burnley’s recent lack of goal threat, I’m not sure that is the right decision. The problem is who to drop if he starts. It would be between Calvert-Lewin and Lundstram. However, I’m never too happy starting a defender over a forward (i.e. Calvert-Lewin) and given that he plays out of position, Lundstram has a higher points ceiling than Soyuncu even if, on paper, he has the harder fixture. So I’m happy with Soyuncu as first sub.
The armband is on Vardy at the moment with KDB as vice. Vardy, KDB and Mane are decent options so it may change before the gameweek deadline. I’ll look at the polls and decide from there.
Transfer summary: likely Pope out, McCarthy in
Here’s the lineup prior to the above transfer
Rick Porter
Rick’s last 3 seasons overall rank were 1k, 30k and 2k.
GW22 points: 59 (FPL average 57) Total points 1,281 Gameweek rank 3,006k, Overall Rank: 101k, red arrow 6k, Team Value: £105.8m
GW22 review
An odd week for me as I was disappointed despite not faring too badly. I should have captained De Bruyne, of course, but nobody can be blamed for having faith in Vardy right now and many, many managers will have made the same call. My only real error was playing Grealish over Ings. I switched between them multiple times in the lead up to deadline and ultimately left Ings on the bench as I was playing Soyuncu and hoping for a clean sheet. It only made a difference of 4 points in the end, but irritating regardless. The end result was a small red arrow and I’m now on the rim of the outside of the top 100k rather than the inside.
Looking at Gameweek 24
I was hoping this week would help me decide which third Liverpool player I wanted. It hasn’t. Robertson is just as appealing as he was before, Firmino made a solid argument for his inclusion (after I’d pretty much discounted him) and Mane is still haunting my thoughts. His 40% ownership will be lolling all the way to the bank if he scores big over those two matches. Especially with Triple Captain chips being thrown around.
Then there’s the potential West Ham players…
Now, I dislike criticising actual athletes. I get out of breath at the sight of stairs and creak when I move, so I have very little room to talk. That said, none of the West Ham players I’ve mentioned in previous articles did anything to earn a place on my team. Honestly, after watching the match on Friday, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mount (who I’m planning to ditch due to fixtures) scores more points against Arsenal in GW24 than Fornals, Snodgrass or Noble do across their two games. It’s not that they were really that poor (Snodgrass could have had a goal and and an assist) but the minutes seem unreliable as well. Fornals only played 10 minutes and Snodgrass got 20. Noble? Well, West Ham have only had two penalties this season and he’s generally a 2 pointer sans pens. These three received 4 points between them in the Sheffield match and I’m not feeling the potential for anything much grander.
Anderson is interesting though. He didn’t do anything special – and I’d still be worried about minutes – but he played really well and I at least get the feeling he could make a difference over the two GW24 matches. If I end up with a West Ham player it’ll probably be him.
Transfer
I have two free transfers to use so no more delay… I have to pick which extra Liverpool asset I want for GW24.
For no other reason other than he’s owned by 40% (that’ll probably be higher by GW24) and I know people will be captaining/triple captaining him, it just has to be Mane. If he scores 4-5 goals over those matches then the non-owners are going to be crushed. Same for Salah. If I can get them both without compromising my team too much then I probably should – even if it’s just for protection.
Potentially missing an extra couple of clean sheets and a few assists from Robertson I can stomach – and he’s unlikely to be captained. Firmino’s ownership isn’t nearly as intimidating as Mane’s and, again, he won’t receive the armband in as greater numbers as Mane and Salah. That’s it then, decision made.
The path I’m going to take is a simple one. Greenwood’s goal at the weekend has convinced me to bring him in. It’s also a route that causes little disruption. He’ll be benched every week but his minutes seem to be increasing and he’s certainly showing his class when he’s on the pitch. I’ll be downgrading Abraham to Greenwood next week and upgrading Martial to Mane at the same time. That means I can use one of my two transfers this week on whatever I want – but I need to leave cash in the bank to allow for adverse price changes. Ideally, I’d like to see Mane get through the Man United match on Sunday before making the GW24 transfers.
Upgrading Mount to Anderson this week will leave me with 0.1m wiggle room for the Abraham/Martial to Greenwood/Mane changes. It’s tighter than I’d like, considering how quickly prices can shift, but as long as I keep an eye on things I should be okay. I’ll wait a few days just in case there’s a fitness issue after Anderson’s knock, but that’s the plan.
I’d like to keep Abraham for the Newcastle match but if I have to make the switch to Greenwood early (he’s currently on the rise) then I have the FT to do so.
Transfer Summary
Mount OUT Anderson IN
Captain
De Bruyne Captain. Vardy vice.
Here’s the team on the transfer page assuming the above transfer is made
Costas Chari
Costas’s last 3 seasons overall ranks were 84k, 29k and 27k
GW22 points: 62 -4 (FPL average 57) Total points 1,245 Gameweek rank 2,511k, Overall Rank: 307k, red arrow 18k, Team Value: £102.2m
GW22 review
I had 7 returning players but still got a 18k red arrow mostly due to the captain Vardy getting only an assist while De Bruyne the other popular option getting 2 assists.
New players Vardy and Sidibe returned so I at least covered the – 4 to get both in.
I really want to use my wildcard but instead I will just make tramsfers oriented for GW24 and then press the button.
GW23 team and GW24 planning
For GW24 I have made my mind on owning both Mane and Salah. However due to my low priced defence I can’t easily go for Robertson or Alexander Arnold and so since I also want to get rid of Tammy Abraham due to bad fixtures in GW24-28 I will go for Firmino. He has also scored in most of Liverpool’s away games and GW24 has them playing 2 games away from home.
To fund the 2 moves I need to raise funds so I have downgraded Zaha to Noble.. Yes Noble. I could have gone for Snodgrass but due to gametime reasons and because I wouldn’t want a Mane or Firmino price rise price me off from the moves I went for £0.2m less Noble. West ham have good GW23 and 25 fixtures and 2 in GW24. So I am basically hoping for a penalty in these 4 games.
Lineup. Although Dendoncker scored GW22 I wont be putting him in the starting lineup. Tomkins is against Man City so he is benched as well. Rico vs Targett as a choice? … Both bad defences both with a possibility of an attacking return but Targett flagged so he gets the bench. Rico was left out vs Watford so it could be an irrelevant decision anyway
Captain. Its De Bruyne all the way with Vardy as vice captain.
Good luck all!
Transfer summary: Zaha out Noble in
Kev in Canada
Kev finished in 6k last season and 195k in 17/18
GW22 points: 47 -4 (FPL average 57) Total points 1,229 Gameweek rank 5,882k, Overall Rank: 453k, red arrow 158k, Team Value: £106.1m
A few observations before getting into the player analysis:
• Fabianski is out for a couple of weeks apparently
• My Liverpool triple is already sorted.
• Do I need Ings or is he the current Pukki in form player that could cool off soon? It would have to be Vardy that leaves to get him.
Game week player analysis:
☆ Keeper
• Fabianski. Brutal start to the week with his injury set the tone for a massive red arrow.
• Gazzaniga. Don’t really want to play him.
☆ Defenders
• Alexander Arnold. One thought I have had is Captaining Alexander Arnold over the next few weeks to effectively have the double attack in Mo/Mané while then also having the double clean sheet play in effect through captaincy.
• Rico. As frustrating as it is that he is not playing, I think using a transfer on a bench player could be wasteful.
• Söyüncü. Will hold for now.
• Kelly. Get me one clean sheet. Please. Just one. I feel like I can’t win this season. The players like this have scorched me.
• Lundstram. Another crappy situation this week. Sorry. It is a glass half empty week when your rank doubles to close to 500K. Locking in the clean sheet was perfect when West Ham later scored, as there is an effective ownership of more than one SHU defender on everyone’s team. Then the goal was called off. Sheffield United clean sheets actually hurt my rank. VAR would have fixed that but it was a painful outcome.
☆ Midfielders
• De Bruyne. Seems to be a trend of owning the right player but not enough of him. Effective ownership over 111% meant it was a red arrow when he scored points because of the captainers out there moving up.
• Salah. One bright spot this week but it was minor.
• Maddison. Yet again, my phone said I got an assist that when I looked later.. it had all but vanished from the box score. Offside pains.
• Mané. I had a lot of self debate on whether to take a -4 to get in Mané right away or wait until after the games started to do it for the upcoming week. In the end it would have likely been -4 regardless due to the Fabianski injury.
• Grealish. I really regret starting him. I followed some other pundits comments even though I originally had him benched. I even called his Yellow he got. I assumed that he would get frustrated by City and yell at the ref and he did. It was a shame though because Southgate was there and taking a stupid yellow like that is just immature. It probably doesn’t help his England call up.
☆ Forwards
• Vardy. Disappointing game. As a captainer I thought he could have done way more. Based on my rank falling so much lately I may be bold and ditch him at some point to go to Ings to free up 3M.
• Ayew. Bench player that has had some decent weeks lately. Not enough to start though.
• Maupay. I will be patient with him. If he loses game time I would sell but his price makes him an enabler that I would actually start.
Upcoming GW23
☆ Musical Chairs
Fabianski out McCarthy in
☆ Captain
Salah. VC Mané.
☆ Substitute decisions
Gazzaniga. Ayew. Rico. Kelly
Good luck.
transfer summary: Fabianski out. McCarthy in
Follow Kev on twitter here
Here’s the team prior to the transfer
Alex Ball
Alex’s last 5 seasons overall rank were 523k, 17k, 10k, 28k and 3k
GW22 points: 56 (FPL average 57) Total points 1,148 Gameweek rank 3,888k, Overall Rank: 1,775k, red arrow 52k, Team Value: £105.1m
Moves made early (2 frees) Jimenez and Fabianski to Ings and McCarthy. De Bruyne captain.
Good luck all.
You can follow Alex on twitter here
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