Here’s an article where 4 FFGeek Contributors show their FPL teams GW20. There’s Andrew Whitfield, Rob Reid, Kris O and Andrew Pratt.
FPL teams GW20 – 4 FFGeek Contributors teams part 1
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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. The teams are shown as their “final-ish” teams so they could change. Where they have twitter accounts I have shown this and they may update them there or on our Slack Channel which is part of our subscription Patreon site but this is not guaranteed
Kris O
Kris’s last 4 seasons overall rank were 39k, 44k, 46k and 23k
GW19 points: 105 -4 (FPL average 74) Total points: 1,201, Overall Rank: 70k, green arrow: 10k Team Value: £104.5m
Kris has used his Free Hit Chip
So my first century of the season and a move into my highest rank of the season. The key for me was the surprising 27 points from Stones – one of my best impact transfers of all time!
Like many the dilemma has been who to replace the injured KDB. I also want double city defence which requires funds of just over a million, so that ruled out Sterling.
– I didn’t like Liverpool as a re-entry point for Son, plus I have Kane.
– Rashford was considered but his knee injury rules him out, as even if it’s not serious I’m sure that will impact his minutes over the busy few weeks.
– I considered Barnes and Maddison too, but I’m concerned the temporary loss of talisman Vardy will impact their form.
I decided to plump for the inform Gundogan, who may also be on pens and has three great fixtures. At 5.5 it’s minimal risk cost wise and creates lots of options with cash in the bank. I did the transfer on Sunday night as it looked like his price was rising and if I’m taking a hit I’d like to maximise price moves. My second transfer will be Dias, most likely for Holding. I’m hoping that transfer can wait until Tuesday. I’ve been considering a -8 for Antonio but (I think) I have decided against it with Liverpool in 21 and a slight question mark over his fitness to play four successive games – of course I may come to rue this decision!
At the moment Coufal will play, as he’s the best clean sheet odds (vs Mitchell, walker peters and Holding), plus he got a rest at the weekend. I’m then left with the classic dilemma of Soucek or Adams to play, currently on Adams who’s at home and has his partner Ings back. Captain Bruno and vice Bamford.
Good luck all!
transfer summary: De Bruyne out and Gundogan in plus likely Dias in for Holding
Here’s the team with the De Bruyne transfer out completed
Andrew Whitfield
Andrew finished with an overall rank of 132k last season and 6k in 18/19 and 19k in 17/18
GW19 points: 108 -4 on Triple Captain (FPL average 74) Total points: 1,204, Overall Rank: 62k, green arrow: 18k Team Value: £103.9m
Andrew has used his Free Hit Chip and his Triple Captain chip
Follow Andrew on twitter here
– Well that double gameweek seemed to go on for ever. Lots of triple captain tension, ripples from a 27 point defender, Liverpool finally lost their long unbeaten home record and the Manchester teams have a one two at the top of the table . Oh and Vardy and KDB got crocked and are now out injured !!
My GW19 score and rank:
– I made it over the 100 points line on the final game, scoring 108-4. It seemed like everyone on Twitter was scoring 130 points, but I was comfortably above the top 10k average of 94, a useful landmark of active and serious managers, so another welcome green arrow, up from 80k to 62k. That’s now 12 green arrows in the last 13 weeks, so I have to be extremely happy with that.
My GW19 talking points:
The “triple captain chip” was disappointing. Just a solitary assist from De Bruyne across two nice looking home games in which he started both. He was a bit unlucky not to score more but it ultimately ended in disappointment with him hobbling off two mins before the 60 min mark, which would have seen him gain an extra 6 points. So 24 points and only 8 “extra points” over the standard captaincy but it wasn’t meant to be. It’s better than the two blanks for the Salah triple captainers, and definitely better than the Mane 3 point fiasco last season.
– It took until the final game for Ollie Watkins to deliver the only goal of my double gameweek, which sounds remarkable in a 100+ green arrow week !! But of the 12 most highly owned attacking players, Kane was the only one to find the net in the double gameweek and he only had one game !! So not what we were all expecting with the likes of KDB, Salah, Vardy and Fernandes all failing to find the net in two games.
– Defenders were the heros of the double gameweek. My only double figure scorers apart from my tripled captain points were Dias with 18 points, Justin with 14 and Coufal with 12. Anyone on John Stones and his 27 pointer were in dreamland, those points pretty much defining the week !!
– I took the risky move of taking out Vardy with two home fixtures and moving him to Watkins, which worked out well with Vardy also getting injured too. That was my move to be able to get KDB in for Grealish to triple captain him and also to move to a “four premium” set up. Now KDB is injured having taken a hit to get him in, and I probably need another hit to get him back out !!
– I was originally set up for the bench boost chip after careful planning, but that all came unstuck at the 11th hour when Leeds and Southampton lost their 2nd fixtures. The decision not to proceed on the single fixtures proved correct with Leeds and Southampton both losing their only game with zero goals scored.
So what next:
– I have 0.4M in the bank and one free transfer. I have a “KDB problem “ to fix and plenty of decisions to make.
Who to bring in for KDB ?
– The easy option would be De Bruyne to Sterling in a straight Man City switch and one move. City have three great fixtures and Sterling is an explosive player on only 7% ownership. It’s definitely the simple move with lots of explosive potential. It also tops my bank up to almost 1M. It will be a popular move for many.
– I could then look to move Che Adams to Antonio who is a key target. I could also look to get Stones in for a Man City defensive double up with Man City having conceded only two goals in ten games and one Man City defender not looking to be enough !!
– But I am instead looking to “spread the cash” for the wider benefit of the team. I also feel there is an opportunity to jump on Harry Kane who will be popular amongst Vardy sellers and is dangerously highly owned. That also fits more with my playing style and “covering risk”. Arguably, three games of Sterling on these next three fixtures, carries more potential points than three tougher fixtures for Kane. But I do love the idea of pairing up Son and Kane, especially when they combine so often and owning only one of them can be such a rank killer based on ownership when one assists the other.
– So I am going for KDB to Gundogan. He may prove to be a trap but he is very cheap, saves me 6M on Sterling and allows me to get Kane in for Che Adams plus Cancelo in for Walker Peters. Cancelo carries more of an attacking threat than Stones ( who won’t score two headers every game ) Gundogan is on penalties, has scored five goals in the last seven games and allows me to triple up on Man City for these next few fixtures. I have Soucek there as a very able “8th attacker” to cover any Gundogan rotation.
– I won’t make all three moves this week. I could just do KDB to Gundogan this week. But I want Kane and Cancelo by next week so that means taking a -4 this week or next. I am inclined to just take it now as who knows what can happen next week. Cancelo looks almost nailed on for a clean sheet but unless he also gets an attacking return, a clean sheet would barely cover the hit. There is every chance that Dallas and Coufal can match the clean sheet anyway, whereas Che Adams is not Harry Kane, who I think carries a greater points ceiling, even playing Liverpool. So that’s the move I will probably prioritise this week.
The “premium four”
– We have been faced with tough choices all season of which 3 ( or 4 ) of Salah, Fernandes, De Bruyne, Kane, Son and Vardy. You can’t own them all. It’s meant a lot of hiding behind the sofa but my “chosen three” have just about managed to come out on top and out score the ones I don’t have. I have taken on Kane and Son for long periods which wasn’t good for blood pressure but I have emerged with consistent green arrows.
– With KDB and Vardy now injured, I have an opportunity to now own the other four, and having moved up to 62K, it’s a good chance to “put the defensive shutters up” a bit and protect my position. Another reason why I want Salah, Bruno, Kane and Son. I have all the highly owned premium bases covered and that fits with my risk controlled playing style.
What about the wildcard ?
– All eyes now turn to what will be a double GW26, and a blank GW29, caused by the cancellation of games for the FA cup quarter finals. We have the 5th round to be played yet which will be a midweek and won’t wipe games out, but we are starting to form a firm
Idea of what lies ahead, now we know how the 5th round lines up.
– There will be an opportunity to play the 2nd wildcard in GW25, to set up a double gameweek bench boost in GW26, but for those without a free hit ( including me ), filling up with 15 doubles in GW26 will leave a woefully light team in blank GW29, as the two directly work against each other.
– We saw how the hard work of planning ahead for the last blank and double can go up in smoke. With Covid still a very big factor, I am more inclined to avoid that degree of forward planning, and just use this next block of five games to play whats in front of me, not plan too far ahead, then wildcard in GW25, to set up a team that combines plenty of doubles in GW26 but which also gives me the opportunity to get close to 11 players out in GW29. A balancing act for both. That might also mean getting the bench boost “out of the way” before, if a decent opportunity arises, as I already have a deep squad from my abandoned GW19 bench boost. I can take a -4 for a 2nd keeper which would cover its cost with two games. That way, I can achieve a better GW25 wildcard balance if I can concentrate on getting close to 11 doublers out and putting some GW29 single game players on my bench instead.
My GW20 plans:
– My likely transfers will be De Bruyne to Gundogan, and Adams to Kane. I want to see Kane and Son safely through their monday cup tie before I commit. I am prepared to accept any price movements against me for the security it provides.
– I would then do Walker Peters to Cancelo in GW21.
– With Liverpool playing Spurs, and no KDB, it looks set up for a Bruno Fernandes captain. He was rested for the cup which removes any doubt about rotation in what is a great fixture v Sheff Utd.
– I am happy for Kane and Son to double up v Liverpool against a defence that can be breached as we have seen regularly. The spurs pair gave Liverpool plenty of trouble at Anfield in the reverse fixture. With Salah finding his goal streak in the cup, that makes for an interesting final game with three of my four premiums facing off together.
– Bamford and Dallas won’t mind a trip to Newcastle, I have a sneaky feeling Dallas might get points at both ends but whisper it quietly.
– Here is my squad for GW20 if I make my two planned moves.
Good luck everyone !!
Transfer summary: likely De Bruyne out to Gundogan in and Adams out and Kane in
Here’s the team assuming the transfers are made:
Rob Reid
Rob’s last 5 seasons overall rank were 148k, 94k, 22k, 4k and 7k
GW19 points: 105 -4 on Triple Captain (FPL average 74) Total points: 1,197, Overall Rank: 80k, green arrow: 12k Team Value: £104.8m
Rob has used his Free Hit Chip and his Triple Captain chip
Follow Rob on twitter here
Rob is also on this weeks FFGeek Podcast
The first major double gameweek of the season certainly felt like it went on forever! In the end it was a bittersweet one for me – bitter in that I felt my Triple Captain Chip fizzled out somewhat but sweet in that I ground my way to a net 100 point score and another green arrow.
The gameweek was all about the defence for my team as I bizarrely managed to hit my ton without my team scoring a single goal.s There were 7 clean sheets and 5 assists (2 from my defence) and although I’m a little disappointed in my Triple Captain outcome, 24 points from Kevin De Bruyne could have been worse. For anyone else disappointed by their chip performance it’s important not to be too focused on it. For perspective, I got 24 points from this chip in the season I had my highest every OR finish and I also know of a certain well known FPL manager who finished in the top 50 last season and was one of the unlucky ones who had Mane for 3 points after he went off injured 20 minutes into the first game of the double. If the chip feels like a failure, it’s not the be all and end all of the season – put it behind you and move on. For me, I’m happy with the decision-making process on playing the chip – I was just unlucky with injury and with a couple of outcomes (KDB could certainly have had several returns over the course of the 2 games.)
Looking at the rest of my team, I feel grateful to have escaped with a fairly decent green arrow seeing as I firstly took a points hit and secondly didn’t own Stones or Antonio – 2 of the big winners player-wise. It’s the story of my season so far I guess, no 5 figure GW ranks to give me massive rank jumps but grinding out smaller green arrows with steady scores – no complaints here! The major winners from my team were Dias and Coufal although minor rant time – owning Cancelo is so frustrating. I’m sure he’ll finally get that elusive EPL attacking return when his season xA and xG reach around 30, but boy it’s frustrating to watch.
So it’s back to single gameweeks now for a few weeks, but the games come at us thick and fast again. We’ve 4 GWs over the next fortnight – make sure you’re organised folks and know when the deadlines are. Here’s what I’m planning for GW20 and the weeks coming up.
GW20 Team
1FT and £07m in the bank. A big red flag on De Bruyne sadly so he’s my immediate transfer out target. I’m also concerned about the lack of goals in my team so this is something I plan to remedy over the next couple of weeks.
I’ve got a couple of options for my KDB replacement. First up is Son – he continues to produce consistent returns and looks good on the eye test. Spurs have a mixed bag of fixtures coming up, but I consider their attack to be fairly fixture-proof because of their style of play. The other trade-off here is that Kane is my preferred Spurs asset. He is more expensive but he’s on pens and been super-consistent this season. The other midfield option I’m considering is Gundogan. He’s now on pens with De Bruyne injured and is in good form and posting good numbers for his £5.5m price tag. He also frees up a considerable chunk of budget – though you do have to bear in mind he’s not a premium player and expectations should reflect that.
Up front I need to make some changes too – my forward line of Bamford, Adams and Decordova-Reid looks decidedly lightweight now. There’s 2 players I’d like here – the aforementioned Kane and the in-form Antonio. This is why I’m favouring the Gundogan move – this gives me enough funds to get both these in. Adams will probably be first to go and I’m likely to take a points hit to get Antonio this week for the better fixture against Palace, with the plan then to get Kane next week for the Brighton fixture.
As usual, I’ll be waiting as late as possible to make these moves, though my work patterns do limit me here so I’ll likely make them Monday night. For my team, I’ll use bookies odds for my defence so this means I’ll be benching Robertson and Walker-Peters with Soucek being the 8th ‘attacking player’ that misses out. Fernandes will be my Captain.
Looking further forward, the line-up for the next round of doubles and blanks is starting to materialise. GW26 is the next big double and City and Spurs look like they’ll feature heavily in this. City could also get doubles in GW23 and 24 so having triple cover is sensible I think going forward. GW29 looks like it could be a very big blank with the way the FA Cup fixtures are going – maybe as few as 2 or 3 fixtures. With no Free Hit, I suspect I’ll therefore hold my Wildcard until GW30 with the plan of dead-ending my team in GW29. As for my Bench Boost chip, I suspect I’ll probably save it for a smaller double towards the end of the season but GW26 is still a possibility with possibly 9 or 10 doublers and 6 single gameweek players who also have a fixture in GW29.
I’m not set on this yet though, I think things will be much clearer come GW24 when we’ll know the full line-up of the FA Cup quarter-finals and therefore the teams blanking in GW29. Keep your eye on fixture announcements either way though folks as I expect we’ll get some news on extra GW23 or 24 fixtures fairly soon. All the best this week everyone and enjoy the games!
Transfer summary: Likely De Bruyne and Adams to Gundogan and Antonio
Here’s the team prior to the transfers being made:
Andrew Pratt
Andrew finished with an overall rank of 313k last 8k in 18/19 and 1k in 17/18
GW19 points: 108 (FPL average 74) Total points: 1,220, Overall Rank: 34k, green arrow: 16k Team Value: £104.4m
Andrew has yet to use any of his chips
GW19 review
Gameweek 19’s total of 108 points and a green arrow despite not using a chip is satisfying. I had figured that not using a chip in GW18 and GW19 might result in me falling outside the top 300k, so this outcome is a boon. Cancelo somehow continues to evade the big haul he seems due. Stones delivered for his many recent converts. Thankfully Liverpool and especially Salah did not punish me. The Manchester United double defence and Antonio were a big boost. Leicester is looking good and Newcastle very bad.
GW20
Gameweek 20’s burning issue is de Bruyne’s layoff for what sounds like several weeks. I can’t let so much value sit on the bench especially when City has such attractive fixtures in the short term. I have only one free transfer this week.
I considered taking a hit to remove de Bruyne for Grealish / Barnes / Maddison and Dallas or Walker-Peters for Stones. A City triple defence should rack up the points over their next three plumb fixtures on the trot. However, I’m quite averse to taking a hit right now to swap out Dallas or Walker-Peters who I’m happy with for the short term. I think a lot of managers will be buoyed by a big haul in DGW19 and feel they can capitalize by taking a hit this week. I suspect many hits will be luxury moves which will disappoint. My bench is strong and don’t see any ‘must have’ players worth taking a hit for. Barring hearing of any other injury / rotation news, I will stick with my single transfer this week, which is de Bruyne to Gundogan.
I agonized over bringing in Sterling instead but the allure of what I can do with the spare funds and Gundogan’s penalties swayed me. I regret pulling out of the Walker-Peters to Coufal move last week. This week I fear Stones / Sterling will haunt me.
Beyond gameweek 20, the game-plan is to wildcard in around GW25, bench boost in DGW26 (a potential bumper week with many doubles) and free hit in BGW29. So, I will play the next few weeks with the view to dead-ending my team in GW24. I have my eye on the re-scheduling of other fixtures which may yield smaller double gameweeks before gameweek 26. The postponed Leeds v Southampton fixture will likely only happen much later in the season.
I plan to hold a strong bench to insulate me from further Covid interruptions and from rotation. With the spare funds from the de Bruyne transfer (6.6mil ITB) I’ll consider upgrading Soucek and Raphinha to Grealish and Barnes / Maddison (LEI has good fixtures in GW21 and GW22). I’m also interested in bringing in Calvert-Lewin for Everton’s GW21 and GW22 fixtures against Newcastle and Leeds. A nagging concern is having no Liverpool assets and whether I can go without them until the GW25 wildcard.
This week the armband will probably be on Fernandes. Vice undecided but is between Gundogan, Bamford and Kane.
Good luck and stay safe.
Transfer summary: De Bruyne to Gundogan
Here’s the team with the transfer completed
FFGeek Contributors League
The highlighted FFGeek contributors combined team finished with an overall rank of 52k last season is going ok in 3rd place with total points of 1,225 and an overall rank of 27k. You can follow that team, including live transfers, on our subscription Patreon site.
You can also follow Joe’s transfer planner team which finished with an overall rank of 32k last season currently in 20th place with total points of 1,121 and an overall rank of, 577k.
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Other posts
The GW20 fixture difficulty schedule
The best attacking defenders GW19 review
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