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They Might Be Tired: Gameweek 3

This is a new weekly community article meant to help with last minute decisions.  The sort that we have today before the Friday deadline.  Some of you may have read part of this as a hot topic comment thread on Fantasy Football Scout yesterday, but we’ve decided to try it as a short article.  If you read the hot topic, feel free to skip right to the new bit at the end for the stats on Wolves’s midweek game yesterday in Italy.

The goal of They Might Be Tired is to quickly take stock of the midweek competitions that affect popular FPL players.  If there are any midweek games it will analyze who played, whether home or away, and the most key FPL assets involved (players with over 5% ownership).

Do Midweek Games Matter?

Conventional wisdom says extra midweek game time (and extra travel) might leave players feeling tired and not at their (FPL) best come the weekend.  And the worst-case scenario is picking up an injury.  This doesn’t mean you bench Sterling just because he plays in a Champions League game on a Wednesday night, but for captaincy decisions or 50/50 bench calls this info could tip the scales in one direction.  Keep in mind that many teams will rest or limit important players’ minutes in midweek fixtures to keep them rested for Premier League games – especially during early rounds of international or League/FA Cup competitions.  If your team has players involved midweek (or you are planning late transfers), do make sure to check this column.  I also advise going a step further to check the full game results or an article to see how many minutes players got, if they stayed fit, and how they performed in the lead up to the weekend games.

For example, does a tiring midweek Super Cup match explain Liverpool’s lackluster display at Southampton this past weekend?  Mo Salah logged 120 extra minutes (plus penalty shootout) and thousands of miles of travel to and from Istanbul.  I still captained him – oops – so maybe I should listen to my own advice.

Carabao (League) Cup starts up next week and 14 of the 20 Premier League teams will have midweek games and just 2-3 days’ rest before Gameweek 4.  Then later in the season we’ll have FA Cup matches and the start of the Europa and Champions League group stages.  Are you ready for some football?

Midweek Games Before FPL Gameweek 3 – As It Happened

There was only one game this week, with Wolves traveling to Italy to play an away Europa League match last night against a strong Torino squad (7th in Serie A last year).  They play again on Sunday, at home against Burnley, with only two days rest in between and a flight home from the Alps.

Torino had the clear advantage in possession and shots, but Wolves were the better side.  The visitors from Wolverhampton looked good and won 3-2 with goals by Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota (and a Torino own goal off a Joao Moutinho cross).  Jimenez could have had a second but for a great save by Torino’s keeper.  Clearly Wolves are doing well in Europa League play, but that leaves them potentially stretched when it comes to Premier League games.  I own Jota and am still waiting for his first goal (same for Jimenez) in domestic competition.  Given the strength of Torino, Wolves started arguably their best XI, so many of us have players who got significant minutes midweek.  If they win again next week in the home match and advance further in Europa League it will mean additional weeks of travel and possible tired Wanderers for Premier League matches. 

Key players midweek:

  • Raul Jimenez (18% owned) – 76 minutes (1 goal)
  • Diogo Jota (11%) – 69 minutes (1 goal)
  • Leander Dendoncker (16%) – 90 minutes
  • Ruben Neves (9%) – 0 minutes
  • Joao Moutinho (7%) – 90 minutes
  • Willy Boly (7%) – 90 minutes
  • Rui Patricio (5%) – 90 minutes

Posted by FP Elephant

FP Elephant 6th season as an FPL player (and West Ham fan) across the pond in the US

18 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Dr. Mantis Toboggan
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    This is a great addition to the site, cheers!

  2. TimeDrifter
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Valuable info. I have Jota and am concerned. If they go thru to the next round, I'll prob switch to Barnes for Burnley's good fixtures from Week 5.

  3. Now I'm Panicking
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Nice article - shame it will be shoved out of the way on a community article 🙁 Real flaw of this site.

  4. brianj
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Bollocks! Moutinho will have tired legs come Sunday, may need to sub him

  5. Licious Lizard
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Great series! I hope you keep it up all season - especially when it becomes a bit more relevant (and more work).
    Cheers

    1. FP Elephant
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Thanks - lots of games this week, so hopefully Friday morning we'll get an article out covering all the League Cup games happening Tuesday/Wednesday as well as Wolves' Thursday night home match against Torino.

  6. RealVirg
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Just changed back to Pope on the sole basis of this article ;0)

    1. UnitednationsXI
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      i am still flip flopping between pope and heaton

      1. RealVirg
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Who did you go for in the end...I am banking for a wolves fail

        1. FP Elephant
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          I went with Pope and still have Jota. That might wind up canceling itself out

          Considering moving Jota if Wolves look sluggish and they beat Torino. But needed to use my two FTs elsewhere this week.

          1. RealVirg
            • 4 Years
            4 years, 7 months ago

            Damn I played Pope instead of Heaton...ah well at least I also had Mings

            1. RealVirg
              • 4 Years
              4 years, 7 months ago

              Bad choice in the end ah well, you win some you lose some

              1. FP Elephant
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 9 Years
                4 years, 7 months ago

                I played Pope too. It would have been a great call until the 95th minute penalty that ruined his clean sheet!

  7. The Train Driver
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Guilbert, great. Probably going to score now as well...

  8. Sharkytect
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Great idea for an article

    1. FP Elephant
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Thanks Sharky. More to come this week.

  9. FPL Forward Thinker
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Everton v Wolves Sunday 1 Sept

    Everton will be wounded, will have plenty to work in training on and be up for recovery. And their home form since February is very good. They have 8-9 days to prepare for their 4th league match in 23 days.
    Wolves will be playing 4th match in 11 days and their 10th match of the season as rotation is possible.

    I think it’s good Fixture for Everton. Won’t be selling Digne that’s for sure (6pts per game average across August)

    1. FP Elephant
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      I agree with you that Wolves will be feeling more tired after all their Europa League play, but don't forget Everton have a midweek match this week as well (Wednesday at Lincoln City in the second round of the League/Carbao Cup). They probably won't play their full starting squad, but last year in similar early round League Cup action they had a majority of their starting squad playing against Rotherham. So not a full week of rest...

      I'm keeping Digne for now as well.