The Manchester clubs are united in tormenting Fantasy Football managers.
In fairness, we should have expected Pep Guardiola’s City teamsheet to prove a source of frustration. It should come as no real surprise.
Even so, he seems determined to baffle us.
Having withdrawn Gabriel Jesus at half-time on Monday night following Kyle Walker’s dismissal, it appeared to signal that Guardiola’s affections were leaning towards Sergio Aguero for the lone striker role.
But just six days later, it was Aguero who made way as the City manager shuffled his formation and personnel in a bid to solve the frustration of Monday’s misses.
Aguero travelled to the Vitality Stadium today on the back of seven goals in his last seven away trips. He was backed by over 265,000 (5.7%) Fantasy Premier League managers with the captaincy.
Inevitably, Jesus took his opportunity to justify his selection. He served up his first goal of the season at Bournemouth having been sold by over 119,000 managers, triggering a 0.1 drop in price.
To make matters worse Aguero, along with today’s other omission from Monday’s teamsheet – John Stones – were both introduced from the bench by Guardiola. Auto-subs and Vice Captains were nullified.
City’s formation change – a move to 4-3-3 – also saw Kevin De Bruyne retreated alongside David Silva and Fernandinho as part of a central three.
That role muted his goal threat and again left him probing around the fringes of City’s 2-1 victory.
Statistically, the Belgian was still the most creative player in Gameweek 3 so far, providing four chances and laying on a big chance for Nicolas Otemendi who struck the post.
But those brief flashes will be lost on his Fantasy owners. They will continue to plot the exit of a 10.0 priced asset that has delivered three successive blanks. De Bruyne has already been sold more than any other player since the passing of today’s deadline.
As for United, while they engineered a 2-0 victory over a stubborn Leicester City at Old Trafford, Fantasy managers were left smarting by Romelu Lukaku’s penalty miss.
It remains to be seen if this dents Lukaku’s stock. There will be an ongoing debate on whether he will retain spot-kicks and whether Paul Pogba could be the beneficiary in waiting.
But for now, we can only consider what comes next in this current Gameweek.
Captained by over 1.7 million (37.3%) FPL managers, Lukaku’s zero point return sat alongside Aguero’s failing and a first blank from Pogba to set up Sunday’s performers.
Spurs’ Harry Kane now heads into a Wembley date with Burnley sporting over 741,000 armbands. Some 53% of his 1.3 million owners have trusted him as their skipper.
Confidence in Kane has been dented following his two single point returns, but now the scene is set for him to deliver the season’s first major twist.
A double-figure tally would cause a significant swing. Couple that with an impressive performance from Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez and it would represent a turning point that could spark transfer hits and Wildcards aplenty.
While Saturday disappointed, it means that Sunday could be huge for all kinds of reasons.
