Time to find out who has made it to within touching distance of cup glory ahead of the Gameweek 37 semi-finals in our two Fantasy Premier League competitions.
There will be a new name on our open to all cup, as the 202-ranked Mark, the competition’s only remaining previous winner, lost his Live Hall of Fame top ten derby encounter with My Pretty Pony (aka Peter Kouewenberg) by just two points.
With an overall rank of 273, Peter is now the highest-placed remaining manager and will enjoy a David versus Goliath semi-final match-up with the 245,030-ranked K3lviN.
Both still have their Bench Boost to play, but with a full compliment of 15 double Gameweek 37 players, minnow K3lvin may just have the edge. His key differentials include Dele Alli, Nacho Monreal and Cesar Azpilicueta, while Peter will be hoping that his single Gameweek assets Josh King and Adam Smith prevail at home against Burnley.
Spurs talisman Harry Kane, Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus and Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez are in both sides, so canny captaincy choice may end up deciding this tie. Eden Hazard sits in both teams too, and it may be that they consider jettisoning the Chelsea schemer, who becomes a rotation risk for the Blues’ match against Watford should they secure the title against West Brom on Friday.
Kevin De Bruyne looks a possible candidate to bring in if they decide to roll the dice.
The other semi-final looks a far tighter affair, with 564-ranked Choppers13 easing past Team Fosu-Mensah to set up an encounter with 997-placed Sleepysi, who defeated Fouad Khan in the quarter-finals.
Bench Boost is also still intact for this pair of semi-finalists, who have both chosen a strong midfield by using Sunderland’s cut-price forward Victor Anichebe as an enabler.
Sleepysi will be banking on a strong finish to the season from Spurs, given he has Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane. Choppers13 also has treble Tottenham, but with Jan Vertonghen instead of Kane.
Both also have a trio of Chelsea assets, which means their tie may well be decided on the extent of rotation for Chelsea for their Hornets clash. While Sleepysi has Hazard, Marcos Alonso and Pedro, his opponent has Diego Costa, Gary Cahill and the Belgian midfielder.
In terms of pedigree, Choppers13 has the edge, with four top 10,000 finishes to Sleepysi’s one. Choppers also has a top 1,000 finish under his belt.
However, Choppers13’s dream of seeing his name on the Members Cup was shattered in the quarter-finals after he was seen off by 71,915-placed Barwood, setting up a semi-final tie with Malaikat Jahad, who has an overall rank of 25,254.
Costa looks to be Malaikat’s key differential, with Barwood perhaps regretting his acquisition of Southampton’s misfiring striker Manolo Gabbiadini.
Another key point of difference centres on the Spurs midfield, with Barwood favouring Eriksen, while Malaikay prefers Alli. Both own Laurent Koscielny, so will be waiting eagerly for news on whether the injured Arsenal centre-back will recover in time for Gameweek 37.
With just one single Gameweek player, King, Malaikay will fancy his chances. His opponent has three, including Swansea City’s budget midfielder Tom Carroll.
The second Members Cup semi-final has 5145-ranked aspern taking on 7448-placed Dynamic.
As with all our semi-finalists, they too look set to deploy their Bench Boost. They both also have very similar teams, sharing 13 players. Of their two differentials, Dynamic may have the slight advantage, particularly if Chelsea beat West Brom.
While aspern will be hoping Costa makes both of the Blues team sheets, Dynamic should feel more secure in two starts for Man City’s Jesus. Aspern’s capture of Gabriel, who failed to play at all during Gameweek 36, also puts him at a disadvantage to Dynamic – he has Nacho Monreal, who racked up a 12-point haul over his last pair of matches.
There is £350 in Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk vouchers up for grabs for the final top three managers in both tournaments.
Good luck to all those involved and if you would like more information on the schedule and prizes click this link.
