We’ve just closed the books on Gameweek 24 and already we have a new GW kicking off on Tuesday, deadline is at 17.00 CET. With such a swift turnaround, active management is needed or you might get caught out!
Gameweek 24 review
Without lingering too long on the past now that GW25 is just around the corner, the big game of the week was undeniably the Stockholm derby between Hammarby and AIK. There were ahead of the game some question marks regarding Hammarby’s ability to both score and keep AIK out. Usually, it seems these games tend to end up 1-0 in favour of AIK who’ve been experts at shutting Djurgården and Hammarby down in recent years. While they managed to do that with Djurgården, turns out Hammarby’s attack was just too potent on the day. Bit part player this year but still a pretty big signing when he arrived in 2018, Vladimir Rodic (8.1m) sure has been taking his chances when other players have been injured and suspended. Two goals against AIK, and 1 goal 1 assist at home to Göteborg in GW23. Before you think about drafting him in this week though, he’s suspended for the game against Sirius, a fate shared by Alexander Kačaniklić (8.6m). Nikola Djurdjic (10.3m) started as the spearhead in the absence of both Aron Jóhannsson (8.5m) and Imad Khalili (6.7m) but failed to capitalise much on the move up front, his one shot on target being the only one he was able to let loose all game.
For AIK this game was the fifth of their last six games in which they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet, worrying stats for managers who have bought into their defence, especially with Djurgården, Malmö and Norrköping all delivering on that front. Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (9.0m) got himself suspended for the game against Göteborg and overall struggled, not registering a single shot from his 63 minutes played after replacing the injured Chinedu Obasi (8.5m). Henok Goitom (9.7m) had a goal ruled out and though he was very involved in the build-up in general, he only registered one shot that was blocked. Nabil Bahoui (9.6m) on the other hand fired off three shots (one on target) and got a well-deserved assist, demonstrating once again that Rikard Norling would do best in playing him as often and as high up the pitch as possible. Could be he gets the nod again up top along with Goitom in GW25…
Elsewhere we saw Norrköping deliver on their potential at the start of the brilliant fixture-run, with Sead Haksabanovic (9.0m) back to delivering again. Norrköping keeper Isak Petterson (6.0m) and his backline got another clean sheet, making it seven from their last eight games. Djurgården steams on with striker Emir Kujovic (9.6m) threatening to rip up the template with his three goals and two assists in the last two games (with a combined 85 minutes played). Aslak Fonn Witry (5.4m) and his defensive colleagues failed to keep another clean sheet, yet he himself was at his attacking best – getting one goal and one assist to register another double-digit haul, his sixth of the season. For Kalmar Nils Fröling (5.7m) got his rest but should play on Tuesday, the manager stating the tight schedule was the reason he didn’t start. For Malmö who beat Elfsborg 3-0, the worry is primarily around the state of Anders Christiansen (10.0m) who is an injury doubt ahead of Thursday’s derby against Helsingborg along with Eric Larsson (6.6m). The latest news indicates that Larsson should be fine and that AC has a swollen knee, which isn’t a big issue bar the short turnaround. Hard to say right now whether or not he starts on the bench or on the pitch.
Finally, here are some gameweek 24 stats, credit to poohdini;
The three most popular captains in the top 1k were:
Sead Haksabanovic; Captained by 47.3%, Effective Ownership of 111.7%, scored 11 points.
Robin Söder; Captained by 10.2%, Effective Ownership of 67.9%, scored 6 points.
Muamer Tankovic; Captained by 7.1%, Effective Ownership of 97.5%, scored 2 points.
Gameweek 25 preview
As mentioned, GW25 is already upon us with a Tuesday deadline at 17.00 CET! GW26 then kicks off on Sunday, at 13.00 CET. It’s potentially a big “chip-week” with plenty of favourable fixtures lining up! Djurgården-Falkenberg, Häcken-Elfsborg, Norrköping-AFC Eskilstuna, Malmö-Helsingborg (though it’s still a derby so expect Helsingborg to not go down without a fight), Sirius-Hammarby, and to a lesser extent, Kalmar-Sundsvall. AIK-Göteborg is a crucial game for AIK to recover after the derby loss, I think there’s a good chance Nabil Bahoui gets to play at least a part of the game as a striker, which is a very intriguing proposition.
If you still have a chip, now could be a good time to throw it out there and gain an advantage on the rest of us…
Players to target
Emir Kujovic – will he start? Does it even matter…? Of course it does, but who can deny his blistering form right now with three goals and two assists in just 85 minutes? How he lines up alongside (or instead of) Mohamed Buya Turay (9.7m) remains to be seen, but it’s becoming hard to ignore how much of an upgrade he seems to be for this squad. Owned by just 3.3% of all managers at the time of writing.
It’s time to start getting some proper differentials and Nabil Bahoui is only owned by 2.9%. Much like Kujovic, he has the potential to make or break your season at this late stage. Playing time and position is still a bit doubtful but Rikard Norling has a devastating weapon at his disposal, it would be strange not to use it.
Darijan Bojanic is coming into a nice bit of form as the season draws to a close, on most set-pieces and very involved in the build-up. With Kačaniklić suspended for the game against Sirius, could Bojanic step up and be in the points yet again?
Captaincy thoughts
Sead Haksabanovic faces AFC Eskilstuna at home and he is swiftly racking up the points, reaching double-digits in three of his last five games. Barring rotation due to the tight schedule, there are few reasons for not trusting Haksabanovic with the captaincy again. Markus Rosenberg (10.5m) should get a start at home to Helsingborg and pretty much always delivers at home. Any Djurgården defender or Buya/Kujovic are also interesting options as they face a Falkenberg side that has only scored two goals in their five last games away from home, and they’ve only kept on CS away all season (against AFC Eskilstuna in GW8).
As always, good luck this gameweek and if you want to chat about fantasy football either comment here below, or hit me up @FF_Meltens on Twitter!
4 years, 7 months ago
I have no idea how you keep up, but a massive thank you Meltens for these articles. You do a tremendous job!