Approaching Man City for the double

Hello everyone!  What a crazy few months it has been.  Firstly, I hope you are all well and are now ready to enjoy the rest of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season.

The forum is flooded with Rate My Teams (RMT) and rightly so as the excitement builds up in preparation for the return of FPL.  A lot of the advice I see is, “Can you not squeeze such a player in?”, or “It’s missing so and so”. I often think the opposite when I see teams different from mine. We are allowed different opinions. We are in different situations and one size certainly does not fit all.

I am finding the Manchester City players debate very interesting. Even educated guesses could be miles off. What we do know is Ederson (6m) is nailed…after that, it gets complicated. Sane (9.3m) could feature more than any of us anticipate. Despite what we think, any one of Laporte (6.3m), B Silva (7.7m), D Silva (7.3m), De Bruyne (10.6m), Mahrez (8.5m), Foden (5.1m), Sterling (11.7m), Jesus (9.6m) or Aguero (11.8m) to name a few, could easily start both games.

Picking 2 or 3 players from the above mentioned is not supposed to be easy. Further down I will go on to give you my thoughts on who I have chosen and why they top my list of the world-class players on offer.

Firstly, I can see why people have opted for Mahrez ahead of Sterling (he is 3.2m cheaper for starters). He has shown signs of being back to his best this season and his confidence has gained momentum resulting in some very impressive displays.

I also acknowledge the few teams I have seen Foden in. At 5.2m, he is cheap as chips. I am sure he will have a much bigger input in regular game time over the next 10 league games. He played 90 minutes in City’s last league game in the Manchester derby back in gameweek 29. Crikey, he even started against Arsenal in the reverse fixture back in Gameweek 17 when City demolished the Gunners winning 3 nil. He should be involved in at least one of the games you would imagine?

Though for me, the 3 nil demolition job at the Emirates back in December was all about Kevin De Bruyne. The in-laws had invited us round for Sunday lunch… I had seen the team news that Pep was rolling out a 4-2-3-1 formation and big Kev was in a more advanced, exciting position. Surely, they won’t mind me having my phone on the table streaming the match? “Of course we wouldn’t” (I heard them say in my head) “You’re the best son-in-law we could ever wish for.  Now get yourself a beer and turn the volume up”

It took Kev just 2 minutes after kick-off to get to the far post to slot home a delightful Jesus cross.  I leapt up into the air, knocking my beer and a gravy bowl across the table drenching my father-in-law (I made that part up for effect).

In the 15th minute, he then tore the Gunner’s defence apart drawing a few of them out of position before cleverly squaring a pass for a simple tap in for Sterling.

5 minutes before the break, Foden drove at the Arsenal defence in aggressive fashion before picking out the Belgian, who hit a beauty from 25 yards out and that was that.

He casually ended that Sunday with a whopping 19 points next to his name.  I am not saying he will get the same freedom come Wednesday, as we would have to hope that Pep started Rodri (5.5m) and Gundogan (5.2m) in the double pivot again.  Though he is an assured starter for me, and it would take a brave FPL player to ignore him going into the double.

My second Man City asset is getting the armband…  sit back down Mr Aguero, I am referring to Raheem Sterling. This may surprise a few but it is mainly a hunch. An exciting feeling I have that makes me believe he is going to do very well from these games.  Pep Guardiola has previously told us how naturally fit Sterling is.  Praising how he regenerates quickly.  He is the type of player who can play 3 games in a week and recovery time is not an issue.

Captaincy in a double gameweek is a tough call…. A nervy call which more often than not, can leave you full of remorse and regret.  Last season, I opted for Sterling – Triple Captain (TC)… he missed the 2nd game but picked up 10 points from the opener so I was happy (Mainly because Sane TC’ers had the right to be legitimately miffed a lot more than I was).

My hope is that Sterling explodes as he did in the opening game of the season against West Ham.  I appreciate that this 20 points haul is a distant memory for most.  His last goal of the campaign was his 11th of the season.  A brace against Wolves back in gameweek 19.  Once he scores, my guess is he finishes this season in fine form.

This is more than likely our last double gameweek of the season.  If you feel an opportunity, the potential to catch a rival out, or just have a general hunch about a certain player…. go for it!

I am looking forward to Gameweek 30+ and whatever happens. If it does not work out the way I had hoped at least I knew I backed my beliefs and had a go.

Good luck all

Pep Pig