The Pre-Match Preamble – Gameweek 31

Nothing quite revives our hopes like a double Gameweek. The pleasure of scanning your squad and seeing those two fixtures nestled under each name. The promise of double figures next to each player come the final update. A potential three-figure haul and the prospect that your selections would have given you an edge on rivals and transformed the mini-league landscape. It’s a giddy time.

When such scenarios arrive with eight Gameweeks to go, they also heighten a further dilemma – whether to use them to drive up your overall rank, or take some gambles in order to differentiate your lineup from rivals.

As I’ve mentioned in recent ScoutCasts, it’s very difficult to do both. In a season where clear “essentials” have emerged and are still in place thanks to some extraordinary consistency, the Fantasy manager left making up ground is continually struggling with the prospect of being forced to take a gamble against his better judgement. Either that or settle on the fact that the mini-league status quo will remain intact.

Personally I’m left wondering if somehow rescuing a respectable rank should always be priority. I’m still outside the top 400,000 – many would consider that a “shameful display’ given previous seasons and the fact that Fantasy Football consumes much of my headspace.

My prospects of bettering that position look fairly decent this week – I’ve nine double Gameweek players in place, with three Chelsea players to plug the gaps and maintain momentum following Gameweek 31. But do I gamble with the armband?

There’s little doubt that Luis Suarez is the “gimme”. A truly explosive Fantasy asset, Suarez has broken out of his recent drought to deliver double figures in his last two outings. Over the season no player can match the Uruguayan’s consistency when it comes to delivering big rewards. Despite that run of blanks, he remains the clear captain contender of choice, this week and almost every week.

Give him the armband and I’ll almost be assured of keeping pace with the masses. That will leave my few differentials to help me climb the ranks. However, that plan is unlikely to make a dent on my present mini-league position.

The 90-point gap between myself and Granville has been yawning for months. I’ve been unable to make any impression – I’ve made errors but so has he; the reality is, the opportunities to differentiate my score from my rival have been few and far between.

This morning offers the opportunity to change that. I could overlook Suarez. It would be completely the wrong decision for the preservation of my rank and perhaps my sanity. However, in terms of “playing” my present mini-league scenario, there is some logic and certainly the temptation of reward.

Should there be a freak pair of blanks from Suarez and an explosion of points from another candidate, the prize for those brave enough to gamble could be huge. It’s clearly risk versus reward. An uneasy situation in a season where taking risks has rarely paid dividends.

Double Gameweeks deliver excitement and expectation. Do I really want or need to add another layer to that? Can my existing differentials do a job for me or am I forced to expose myself to such risk?

So many questions. Here’s another. Am I even wrong to consider mini-leagues over rank?

I’ve asked this before and many have barked that it’s the case but, by chasing an improved rank, what do I really achieve? Is it pure vanity – kudos amongst my Fantasy Football manager peers that, when I consider that my rivals will always rank above me, amounts to very little?