Here’s part 1 of our FPL teams GW9 article where 3 FFGeek Contributors show their teams. There’s Andrew Whitfield, Costas Chari and Kev in Canada. Between them they have 9 top 1% finishes in the last 4 competitive seasons.
FPL Teams GW9 – 3 FFGeek Contributors With Their GW9 Teams Part 1
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Andrew Whitfield
Andrew’s last 4 seasons overall ranks were 34k, 132k, 6k and 19k
GW8 Points: 61 (FPL average 49) Total points: 539, Overall Rank: 59k, green arrow: 13k Team Value: £102.1m
Andrew has used his wildcard
Gameweek 8 review:
Well a gameweek full of talking points and drama and plenty of hard luck stories along the way too, with some popular players stuck on the bench and blanks again for both Ronaldo and Lukaku, as De Bruyne, Vardy, Son and Kane gave us a gentle reminder that there are other premium players at the party.
The week started with the FPL community tracking flight GL5T from Brazil as Raphinha failed in his audacious attempt to play two games in two continents in two days and make the Leeds line up. Mo Salah scored another wonder goal but was eclipsed by a hat trick by his team mate Firmino, a Brazilian that wasn’t on flight GL5T as he was back home resting and didn’t go to Brazil !!
Man Utd capitulated 4-2 at Leicester, Chelsea survived a Brentford battering to somehow stay top of the league, Arsenal salvaged a 95th minute equaliser, Wolves won 3-2 at Villa from 2-0 down, and the new Saudi owners at Newcastle had a rude awakening as Spurs were the Toon party poopers.
My GW8 score and rank:
61 points with just 5/11 returners. Captain Salah was my only return amongst seven attacking players, but my four clean sheets from Sanchez, Trent Alexander Arnold, Cancelo and Livramento ( off my bench ) saved my gameweek.
Enough for a rank rise from 72k to 59k. Very pleased to come out with a green arrow from a week when so many wildcards were played. To come out in front when 6/7 of my attackers blanked is a real bonus and relief. I am absolutely delighted with the rank at this early stage.
My GW8 talking points:
Captain Salah seems to be on a different level right now. A 26 point captain haul, capped by another sensational individual goal. But for two fingertip saves, he could have had a hat trick and 40+ captain points. He now gives us a big captain dilemma this week. More on that later. His points had only very small rank benefit due to his high ownership and captaincy. But wow, Mo is the man !!
Salah was the only one of my seven attacking players to get a return !! Big blanks from Antonio, Benrahma, Lukaku, Jimenez, Sarr and Gallagher. So some big decisions now ahead. Jimenez only had a late bench cameo due to his international schedule, but the West Ham pair seem to be scratching for points with their tough Europa schedule maybe a factor. One return in five for Antonio, one return from six for Benrahma. Both Sarr and Benrahma have tough fixtures ahead and are likely to give way soon and exit my team.
Only one return in six for Lukaku too, although he has hit the woodwork and had goals narrowly ruled out. He now plays the bottom three teams back to back, in Norwich, Newcastle and Burnley, which brings optimism of finding his scoring boots. He won’t have a better opportunity.
It will be interesting to see with Lukaku and Ronaldo scratching for goals, how many will turn to Vardy or Kane instead. As a manager on a “two premium “ plan, I really can’t look beyond an irrepressible Salah and the fixtures of Lukaku, but for those on a “threemium” option, I can certainly see the appeal of replacing Ronaldo on his tough fixture run with either Vardy or Kane.
It was down to Sanchez, Alexander Arnold, Cancelo and super sub Livramento off my bench to save my Gameweek with four clean sheets !! Proof that clean sheets are as good as goals !! I was never going to give Trent up for a one game injury. 4/8 clean sheets for a 4.5M keeper ( Sanchez ) is very solid. The loss of the popular Ramsdale clean sheet on Monday night was a relief. It was a big call on wildcard to stick with Sanchez. I just trust the Brighton defence more than Arsenal. Sanchez is so well protected that he is not getting save points though. That might change with Man City and Liverpool up next !!
My double transfer of Ronaldo and Shaw out ( 2 points ) to Lukaku and Cancelo in ( 8 points ) brought its rewards. Ditching two Man Utd players ahead of leaky Leicester was a big risk. Ronaldo could have punished me. With Man Utd now facing Liverpool, Spurs, Man City and Chelsea, it’s an easy sell and avoid of Man Utd players, with Chelsea by comparison set for Norwich, Newcastle and Burnley. Plus Man City are also on a very favourable fixture run too. Definitely the two premium teams to be on.
I have two Chelsea defenders but neither played in their fortuitous clean sheet at Brentford !! When I wildcarded in GW6, Rudiger was the rock solid nailed Chelsea option, and Alonso had played 90 mins in every game and looking great going forward. But Rudiger was injured so missed out on Saturday and Alonso has been seemingly ousted by Chilwell for the last two. It’s tough to choose the best Chelsea defender now, with James, Chilwell, and Azpiculeta all staking a claim. I still prefer Rudiger when fit, which is why I didn’t sell and kept him on my bench. The big decision now is Alonso. It’s a tough sell ahead of Norwich at home. If he gets this game, he could go nuts and score huge !!
As always in any gameweek, it’s also about what the players you DONT own do. My biggest threat to my rank came from Ronaldo and Raphinha. So for them to score only 2 points between them was huge. Then throw in the surprise benchings and blanks of Jota, Dias, Walker, Grealish, Reece James, Mount and Armstrong, and all the popular Arsenal players blanking on Monday, then it’s obvious that I got away with one this week !!!
Having said that, Lukaku had a goal disallowed, Sarr had a shot tipped onto the post, plus Trent and Cancelo came close to scoring too, and Gallagher had a shot brilliantly saved in the final game. So maybe I was actually unlucky and could easily have had much more than I did !!
So what next:
I have one free transfer and 0.5M in the bank.
I need to caveat this by saying I am drafting these notes on Tuesday before the midweek European action. So before any confirmed injury updates on Rudiger and before my players from Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool and Westham are in action, so any significant injuries there could impact my plans below. I don’t have players from Man Utd, Spurs or Leicester in the other European games.
I am probably three transfers away from where I want to be right now. That’s not great, two weeks after a wildcard but just how it’s worked out. I want to avoid hits if possible, so it’s about prioritising my transfers, and hoping my plans are not impacted by injuries. It’s often said not to book in transfers, particularly so soon after a wildcard, but lots of very good FPL managers plan well ahead. It’s like a game of chess, so it’s important to have your moves mapped out for the next 4-5 weeks, with a view to fixture changes, albeit staying flexible to the inevitable curve balls that lie ahead.
So what are my planned moves ?
I probably made a mistake in selling Raphinha on my GW6 wildcard, having held him from GW1. We saw with his performances for Brazil, as well as Leeds, what a fantastic player he is, and probably one of the best value assets in FPL. At the time of my wildcard, his injury diagnosis was unclear. I certainly dodged a few bullets in his last two games and was relieved to see him left out on Saturday after his long late flight back. He is very heavily owned amongst engaged managers and so represents a rank protection risk that needs covering. He is my priority buy this week.
My second midfielder on the shopping list is Mbeumo of Brentford. He seems to be hitting the post with uncanny accuracy !! Six times in eight games actually !! How he didn’t score v Chelsea I have no idea. He is playing up front alongside Toney, Brentford seem to play without fear against anyone, and they have a great little run coming up with Leicester next, followed by the current bottom three teams of Burnley, Norwich and Newcastle. I certainly want him in for the Norwich game in GW11, but ideally for GW10.
So giving way for Raphinha and Mbeumo will be Sarr and Benrahma…..Watford and Westham both have tough fixtures coming up, contrasting with those of Leeds and Brentford. If I bring in Raphinha this week, I need to lose either Sarr or Benrahma, and play the other one I don’t sell, which might be for one week only, before selling for Mbeumo. Ideally I prefer to sell Sarr and play Benrahma. But prices changes are tight with little margin. If I prefer to not commit too early, I might be priced out of selling Sarr and have to sell Benrahma. I don’t mind playing Sarr for this week and next too if injuries intervene, even though I do prefer Benrahma in my side.
Instead of selling both Sarr and Benrahma, I could just sell Benrahma and keep Sarr and sell Gallagher instead. But that means it restricts my plans for potential defensive changes I have my eye on. I might need to keep a little back to upgrade Alonso to Dias, depending on what happens. Besides, I like Gallagher as a nominated bench player who can step in when needed. If all goes to plan, by selling both Sarr and Benrahma and keeping Gallagher, I could have about 0.5M up my sleeve after a potential Alonso upgrade, which will be handy right across my team.
Unless Rudiger is ruled out long term, and it looks like he was pictured training on Monday, I want to keep him as my securest route to the Chelsea defence. I held him patiently through his injury when many sold him. Livramento is an excellent back up anyway. Alonso might be on the chopping block soon. I am going to definitely keep Alonso this week at least. Whilst Chilwell seems to have grabbed the shirt, I can see Chelsea resting players v Norwich, in which case if Alonso gets the nod, he could run riot and fill his boots v Norwich. It’s definitely not a week to sell Alonso in my opinion.
Once Mbeumo enters my team, I will have the funds to move Alonso to Dias of Man City. My preference going forward will be to have Rudiger of Chelsea, and a double up of Cancelo and Dias at Man City, alongside Trent.
So over the next three weeks, depending on other fires to fight, I am looking to lose Benrahma, Sarr and Alonso, and bring in Raphinha, Mbeumo and Dias. They are three changes I would be very happy with and probably a bit of spare cash too.
How is GW9 looking ?
The captain polls amongst engaged and elite managers seem to be a two horse race, around 60% Lukaku, 35% Salah and only 5% across other players. Salah’s ownership at higher levels is close to 100%. It feels like Lukaku ownership amongst engaged managers will be close to 70% too and about two thirds of Lukaku owners are giving him the armband over Salah, based on my own Twitter polls.
It’s a classic form v fixtures dilemna. An out of form Lukaku v Norwich, against an unstoppable Salah away at Man Utd. It’s a tough call. I am favouring Lukaku. If you can’t captain him at home to Norwich, then when can you ?? My only niggle is that Salah is 100% going to play v Man Utd. How confident are we that Lukaku starts v Norwich ??
I am going to play Sanchez v both Man City and Liverpool. Yes, I have Foster on my bench and Watford may have better clean sheet odds, but they haven’t kept a clean sheet all season and Everton away is a tricky game. If they are not likely to keep a clean sheet, I would rather hoover up the save points which look inevitable in these two games.
Depending on injury news, I am going to throw both Rudiger and Alonso in v Norwich. If they play, happy days. If not, I am very happy with Livramento and Gallagher on great fixtures off my bench.
My likely transfer will be Raphinha in, with either Sarr or Benrahma out.
Good luck everyone !!!!!
Transfer summary: likely Raphinha in for either Sarr or Benrahma
Here’s the team prior to any transfers being made
Kev in Canada
Kev’s last 3 seasons overall ranks were 52k, 48k and 6k
GW8 Points: 52 on WC (FPL average 49) Total points: 511, Overall Rank: 334k, red arrow: 69k Team Value: £101.8m
Follow Kev on twitter here
Kev has used his wildcard
Rough week for me. I didn’t want to WC but pulled it late due to injuries, etc.
I feel like every 50/50 I made went wrong. The most painful being Dias+James over Azpi+Walker. That cost me 10 points, as the two 1 pointers came on instead of Azpis 6 and I would have got Livramento off the bench if I had Walker, as he didn’t come on for a 1pt like Dias did. So net -10pts. Ouch.
Anyway, whoa is me, my life sucks, wah wah wah. All I can do is take a few days off to forget about it. See you at the pressers.
Here is how I look for now.
Lukaku cap over Mo. I am sure that will be the big discussion all week but if I don’t cap Lukaku at Norwich and he bangs I am not sure I will get over that one.
Good luck.
transfer summary: likely carrying over the free transfer
Here’s the team assuming no transfers are made
Costas Chari
Costas’s last 5 seasons were 191k, 17k, 84k, 29k and 27k
GW8 Points: 77 on WC (FPL average 49) Total points: 536, Overall Rank: 75k, Green arrow: 189k Team Value: £100.8m
Follow Costas on twitter here
Costas has used his wildcard
Great start to the post wildcard life! A gameweek rank of 63k and a consequent 189k green arrow! inside the top 100k after a while and a 75k OR
It has been a difficult 2 months of 7 red arrows after a super GW1 that required patience and I’m buzzing to be back!
Lets see the wildcard choices. Although it is too soon to assess a wildcard we can however draw some conclusions
To start, I had Son and Walker in the wildcard and had to quickly react so I went with Foden and Alexander-Arnold! It has worked out in the short term but I really wanted Son and Walker. I will now have to spend a transfer and get Son in soon and I am left with Foden that is a gametime risk.
What did not work out.
The arsenal double up. Due to fixtures White was always staying in the team at his price point. I should however had gone for Raya instead of Ramsdale.
Adam Armstrong. I got him in for the short term due to the fine fixtures. Getting benched at one of them was a disaster. Thankfully Livaramento came to the rescue.
What went right.
I chose to go with De Bruyne and Aubameyang instead of Salah with either Jimenez/ Antonio/ Toney as all of FPL. So far so good. I came above the first round! Its GW9 and then GW10 I will get Salah and Toney in. I immediately felt that I barely got away with it after the Watford game- I was actually happy Salah only got 13 points, could have easily been 20+
Chilwell. my thinking was he was nailed last tear when fit and since Silva and Rudiger would be out Tuchel would prefer him as he is better defensively. I did not expect a goal so that was a great bonus!
De Bruyne – did his bits and scored so all good. I expected more from City but it is what it is!
Lukaku- I am not worried at all he always goes through these periods and bangs! I have only owned him for a week though so I am cool about him!
GW9
Pretty straight forward team and I am hoping some of my players get rested midweek so they can start the weekend!
I am starting Armstrong again and question is whether to start Alexander Arnold or Livramento … I will probably play it safe with Alexander Arnold but lets see
So baring no injuries or Covid etc I will roll the transfer !
Captain Lukaku
transfer summary: Carrying over the free transfer
Here’s the team assuming no transfers are made
The FFGeek Contributors League
The highlighted FFGeek contributors combined team finished with an overall rank of 8k last season and 52k the season before. It started ok in 9th place with total points of 529 and an overall rank of 118k. You can follow that team, including live transfers as well as the FFGeek team, on our subscription Patreon site
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