Here’s part 1 of our FPL teams GW18 article where 4 FFGeek Contributors show their teams. There’s Kev in Canada, Kris 0, Scott Taylor and Andrew Whitfield. Between them they have 11 top 1% finishes in the last 3 competitive seasons including 3 top 10k finishes.
FPL Teams GW18 – 4 FFGeek Contributors With Their GW18 Teams Part 1
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ntroduction
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
Kev in Canada
Kev’s last 3 seasons overall ranks were 52k, 48k and 6k
GW17 Points: 71 (FPL average 45) Total points: 1,136, Overall Rank: 21k, green arrow: 12k Team Value: £105.8m
Follow Kev on twitter here
Kev has used his wildcard
I highly doubt this gameweek goes ahead. Even if it does, there is no way I would take a hit seeing as the games could get called off at any second. If I did do anything it would likely be Gilmour to Foden.
Captain Cancelo due to his yellow card rest, phenomenal fixture and Mo’s somewhat tough fixture.
Vice Mo
Good luck and stay safe!
transfer summary: Likely Gilmour out to Foden in
Here’s the time prior to any transfers taking place
Andrew Whitfield
Andrew’s last 4 seasons overall ranks were 34k, 132k, 6k and 19k
GW17 Points: 57 -4 (FPL average 45) Total points: 1,089, Overall Rank: 139k, red arrow: 27k Team Value: £104.1m
Andrew has used his wildcard
Gameweek 17 review:
Well things have certainly got a little crazy in FPL land, as Covid is now spreading rapidly through the Premier League, with three games falling victim to the virus. Fate played a part as some were dealt a tougher hand than others as the Covid lottery struck deep into our teams.
With five games already off in GW18, all that careful advance planning goes out of the window now and it’s going to get a whole lot crazier, if we don’t get a halt to the league of course.
Man City thrashed poor Leeds 7-0, with De Bruyne , Foden and Mahrez all amongst the big points, Liverpool came from behind to beat Newcastle with Salah making it 16 returns in 17 games. Chelsea were held by Everton as they conceded again for what is now the 5th successive game as those on the popular Blues defensive double ups licked their wounds again.
Villa march on under Gerrard to the joy of Watkins owners, Broja and not Gallagher was the star of Selhurst park, Arsenal beat the Hammers in the London derby, and Wolves ground out a 1-0, which means they have only scored two and conceded two in their last six games.
Frustratiion for Dennis and King owners with a very late Watford postponement, with Ronaldo having a day off too, and Spurs are already three games behind. Many managers were left without a keeper and many more will be keeperless in GW18 as the chaos continues.
My GW17 score and rank:
57-4 = 53 points. I was left frustrated as my Watford attacking double up meant I got stung by the late Hornets postponement which left me with just nine starters. I actually had 6/9 returns from those that did play. A popular Liverpool triple up of Salah, Jota and Trent were backed up by Smith Rowe, Reece James and Ramsdale.
I went backwards from 112k to 139k which was disappointing as my run of red arrows continued since the lofty heights of 30k in GW12. It’s all about trying to stay strong now, keep my head and make sound decisions and hope that the Covid variance and the bad injury luck of recent weeks turns back in my favour.
My GW17 talking points:
This gameweek was dominated by Foden and Watkins. I chose to sit on Ronaldo for a week with those great Man Utd fixtures ahead, rather than take the route that many did and cash him in for the nice Watkins fixtures and invest the money into that rampant Man City attack. When City are in that mood they are unstoppable and the fixtures are equally enticing. It was a costly call sitting on Ronaldo that heavily defined my gameweek as many others cashed in on.
If there is a lesson this week, it’s forget that advance planning. Take the opportunities and points that lay there in the gameweek in front of you !!!
The very late Watford postponement was a big blow as I had doubled up on both King and Dennis up front v Burnley and it was a game I was really looking forward to watching. With no available subs and down to a bare eleven, it was a bit of a stinger with both hornets reducing me to just nine players. I actually took out Toney who had no game and replaced him with Dennis !!
To have six returns from the other nine was decent. The three Liverpool boys all scored, Reece James assisted but could have had a monster haul in the first 20 minutes, Smith Rowe scored from the bench and Ramsdale kept it clean on his debut in my team.
The double up on the Chelsea defence continues to frustrate as it’s now five without a clean sheet. It was frustrating to see Rudiger concede but Alonso still get his clean sheet, not by an attacking return but due to a poor performance and being hauled off early, so an unfortunate 4 point loss in my Rudiger v Alonso battle.
I took a hit to swap keepers which was done on the widespread news that Sanchez was a Covid victim. With potentially no keeper in place, I just brought forward my planned Sanchez to Ramsdale move by a week and it meant it freed up a proactive move next week or a vital Covid transfer. Of course Sanchez started. Fortunately, he conceded, Ramsdale didn’t and I have the bonus of Ramsdale due to play this week and Sanchez now doesn’t. I have my template keeper of choice and have a keeper with a fixture.
So what next ?
Firstly, by the time you read this, there could be more postponements or the gameweek could even be suspended. Naturally that would completely change my plans below. What’s vital is you DONT make any changes until very close to the Saturday deadline which is now pushed back with the early game postponed.
I have 0.8M in the bank and one free transfer.
My transfer thoughts :
I had made my mind up to cash in on Ronaldo who no longer is a template pick amongst the elite managers that I stick closely to. Yes he will score points in those fixtures ahead, but that money can be spread around extremely effectively for better overall returns. The fact that Ronaldo now has no game in GW18 also means I don’t get immediately punished. So CR7 is out.
As a template manager, my two glaring holes to fill against the teams of my elite managers was the lack of a Westham attacker for a great run of fixtures and the lack of a Man City midfielder for equally enticing fixtures in a team that can cut teams to ribbons. Antonio was still heavily owned and a rank threat despite his desperate form. So I was going to move Ronaldo to Antonio, and my injured budget mid MacArthur to Foden. It filled both holes in my template perfectly.
However, Antonio now has no game in GW18. On the basis that we play the game in front of us, it makes sense to do Ronaldo to Watkins who plays Burnley, and MacArthur to Foden. It means -4, but both my outgoing players have no fixture, it takes me from 9 players to 11 and gets me a piece of that Man City attack.
It also frees up significant cash going forward. Enough to turn Raphinha into Bernardo and have TWO Man City mids in a midfield five of Salah, Jota, Foden, Bernardo and Smith Rowe, alongside my premium back four. It gives me squad depth for the chaos ahead and attacking double ups on the two most free scoring attacks in the league. A very effective use of that Ronaldo cash and a United team that are nowhere near as rampant as city and Liverpool.
There is even a bit left over to get a 2nd keeper in when I get chance, which is becoming a priority with so many games being called off.
Of course if I get Raphinha up to Bernardo next week, it does mean I go without a Westham attacker which has now been derailed. Antonio is an easy swap for Watkins though when I want to do that.
So that’s where I am at. Of course if more games get called off it changes everything but it’s good to have a plan in place.
My GW18 team;
There are currently five games on at time of writing. I can get 11 on the field for a -4. Many will be down to 7-8 this week so I am probably better placed than some. I have to take the -4 hit to lose Ronaldo and get in Watkins and Foden. Both my outgoing players score nil so the upside is high and comfortably justifies four points.
I will captain Salah v Spurs but put the vice on Watkins on the basis it’s the first game and any curtailment of the gameweek before Liverpool play, or a loss of that Liverpool fixture would give me potential captain points in a decent fixture.
Transfer summary
I won’t make any changes until close to the deadline and I will confirm on my Twitter account. But my plan is currently:
Ronaldo > Watkins
MacArthur > Foden
My GW18 team is below, BEFORE changes. Assume Ronaldo is Watkins and MacArthur is Foden.
Good luck, Stay Safe and stay strong !!
Transfer summary: Likely Ronaldo out Watkins in and MacArthur out to Foden in.
Here’s the team prior to any transfers taking place
Kris O
Kris’s last 7 seasons ORs were 19k, 39k, 44k, 46k, 23k, 12k and 19k
GW17 Points: 81 (FPL average 45) Total points: 1,138, Overall Rank: 19k, green arrow: 29k Team Value: £104.4m
Kris has used his wildcard
As things stand I have 10 players for the five remaining fixtures in GW18. My plan is to switch out Livramento for a defender. Although I have 5.2m itb I want to keep enough cash to switch Watkins back to Ronaldo. This means my budget is 4.5-4.7m depending on price moves. I’m likely to end up with White at 4.5m but if I can stretch I might go to Targett at 4.7m. I will vice captain Watkins (first kick off means I should have confidence the game goes ahead) and then captain either Salah or Cancelo. Currently on Cancelo. I will be very surprised if I end up with eleven players this week!
Good luck everyone
Transfer summary: Likely Livramento out for White
Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made
Scott Taylor
Scott’s last 4 seasons ORs were 12k, 15k, 1k and 12k
GW17 Points: 64 (FPL average 45) Total points: 1,117, Overall Rank: 50k, red arrow: 7k Team Value: £104.0m
Scott has all his chips
I will wait until the last minute to do any transfers but subject to any news, I’m likely to just go for form and fixture transfers as follows:
Bowen to Mount and Vardy to Watkins.
I’ll likely want Bowen back soon but at the moment it seems it’s just getting a starting 11 that’s the most important thing. Plus I still have my WC to use before GW20 to sort out any issues I create!
Captain: Salah. Vice: Bernardo (but I might change that to Cancelo)
transfer summary: Bowen to Mount and Vardy to Watkins.
Here’s the team prior to any transfers made
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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 3rd place with total points of 1138 and an overall rank of 19k. You can follow that team, including live transfers as well as the FFGeek team currently also in 13th position at 90k and the team run by Joe’s Transfer Planner in 1st place on 5K, all on our subscription Patreon site
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Analysing the teams of 12 top FPL managers
The FFGeek FPL Podcast for GW18
Joseph Crilleys FPL Transfer Planner and Points projection Tool
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