Pro Pundits

How an early Wildcard helped me into the top 1k – and what I have learned

Currently sitting well inside the top 1,000, Let’s Talk FPL’s Andy looks back at the success of his early second Wildcard – and explains how he plans to cope without the prized chip going forward.


Nearly a month ago now (January 6, to be precise), I wrote an article about the pros and cons of playing the second Wildcard early in Gameweek 18, especially for those of us that had used the first one early as well.

After starting Gameweek 18 ranked at 41,610th, I’ve now moved up to 679th at the start of Gameweek 22. It’s safe to say that the early Wildcard has worked pretty well. In this article, I want to quickly touch on why it worked well, and what my future plans are without a Wildcard in hand.

Why did it work

As I mentioned in my article at the time, we were in a unique situation where there was a chance to attack a big Blank Gameweek followed by a big Double Gameweek, without any “normal” Gameweeks in between. They also both involved teams with good fixtures, good players and perhaps even more importantly, good fixtures following the Double. Those teams were Manchester City and Manchester United.

Of course, along the way, you need some lucky. Back in my January article, I wasn’t predicting John Stones (£5.2m), João Cancelo (£6.0m) and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.4m) to all score 17+ points in an individual Gameweek. Sometimes the luck comes all at once, and I couldn’t have been much luckier, really.

But the logic was there of targeting a Blank, Double and following fixtures all at once. At the time I had no Manchester City players, and they looked key going forward. A Free Hit would have plugged the gap in Gameweek 18, but I’d have been left with lots of hits from that point forward.

I’ve seen a few people now contemplating an early Wildcard but it does feel like the boat has been missed on the opportunity now. We’re so close to Double Gameweek 24, which is when we’ll likely have all the information we’ll need for a potential Blank Gameweek 29, and Double Gameweek 26, that using the Wildcard in Gameweek 23 could be a disaster. I’m not sure anyone’s team is in such a bad state they need to use it now, and Wildcards are such a good way to attack a set of Gameweeks that using it now would be sub-optimal, I would say.

Future Planning

One thing I’m finding is planning feels even more crucial than normal without a Wildcard, and so many big Gameweeks still to manage. I’ve already seen several content creators talk about getting players in for a few weeks because they’re Wildcarding soon, and I don’t have that luxury.

That’s why in Gameweek 21, I bought in Son Heung-min (£9.7m) and Jack Grealish (£7.8m) and ended up ignoring Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.6m). It’s likely that Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa will have a good Double Gameweek so I felt they were better long-term moves, to essentially save my transfers down the line. Everton have, of course, ended up getting a Double Gameweek before that – and this is naturally one of the downsides to Wildcarding so early.

With the Free Hit chip, I’m keeping my options open. Before we get more confirmed fixtures, I’m essentially trying to get in players like above that are good for right now, but also for the Doubles. If my team is set for Gameweek 26, then I will use the Free Hit in Gameweek 29 – but depending on how my team is looking for Gameweek 29, I could just use the Free Hit in the big Double Gameweek instead. I do have my Triple Captain as well but due to the number of fixtures that still need to be rearranged, there’ll probably be other chances to use it.

To Keep Doing

Fernandes stakes captaincy claim ahead of Gameweek 9 meeting with West Brom

I wanted to quickly touch on some things that I’ve changed in my strategy to FPL this season which I plan on carrying on for the rest of the season. I’m sure some of this will be simple to many, or things you’re already doing, but it’s helped me so far.

I will caveat straight away to say again that of course luck is a big part of FPL. Just because this has worked this season doesn’t mean it will work next season, but for now I’ll keep doing with it.

Captaincy

I think sometimes we underrate just how important the captaincy is. We might hear things like “I’ll just captain him instead” or “I’ll take a punt on him”. Both ways of doing things are fine, but this year I’ve made a conscious decision to always have who I believe is the best captain each week, even if that means transferring out a big hitter. This sounds simple, but often FPL managers will forgo the best captain because they don’t want to sell a big hitter. Obviously who the best captain is, is subjective but I’ve tried to target them in advance, and unless there’s something major which happens in between I won’t change my mind, even for “form”. For example, my next captain in Gameweek 23 will be Son.

I’ve sold Salah, Son, and Kane twice already this season and I’ve found not having value wrapped up in them makes my decisions much easier knowing I can just buy them back as there’s no money “lost”.

I’ve also not looked to take any punts. It’s whoever I think the best points potential is regardless of what everyone is doing. Will that player be 150% effective ownership or 50%? I don’t particularly care, and have ignored ownership so far this season.

Form and data
WOLAVL dd

One thing I said I wanted to do at the start of the season was using a more statistic-based approach to my decisions, but also reduce the amount of statistics that I use. Expected data incorporates so many other statistics so I’ve stuck largely to that, especially ‘per 90’ data.

I often look at the season-long data as well, rather than looking for differences in much smaller sample sizes like last four Gameweeks. There’s obviously a balancing act here, but I’ve tried to trust players putting up good numbers over a long period of time who have good fixtures. Simple, but so far effective.

An example of this is Grealish vs Harvey Barnes (£6.9m) vs James Maddison (£7.3m). I can see that Barnes and Maddison have scored well recently but when I needed a £7m+ midfielder recently, there was no question in my mind that Grealish was the one.

Grealish has an expected goal involvement per 90 minutes (xGp90) for the season of 0.51, compared to Barnes at 0.37 and Maddison at 0.28. Maddison has scored a few goals recently, but his xGp90 is just 0.14 which is low, and his creativity isn’t that high despite creating lots of chances through corners. I’m ignoring an “in-form” player right now in the hope his returns will start to dry up, but there’s no doubting he’s playing well at present.

There’s nothing wrong with looking at recent Gameweeks to spot any major differences, but too often we are looking for something to confirm what we want to see.

Form is something we could probably talk about in a separate article, but it’s something I’ve largely tried to ignore, hence choosing captaincies in advance. Rather than look at what they’ve scored recently in pure FPL points, I’d rather look at their underlying numbers for the season and their opponents. Son this week is a great example. Spurs looked really poor against Brighton, and I’m writing this before a game against Chelsea that I’m not expecting anything from, but West Brom are a truly awful defence. Even without Kane, I’d still back Son to get points, although I can see why people might be wary, especially with Antonio as a good alternative this week.

Limiting Defender transfers

Wildcarding twice before Gameweek 19 will help with this of course, but I’ve tried to limit defender transfers. Outside of the occasional big return like we’ve seen recently, the majority of the time a defender’s ceiling is quite low. You’re looking at six points a lot of the time.

This is one of the reasons I’ve only made four defender transfers all season (outside of Wildcards). I’m trying to make sure I can focus most of my transfer on attack and captaincy where the biggest amount of points are likely to come. The only defender transfers so far are:

  • GW2 – Vinagre to Digne
  • GW7 – Alexander-Arnold to Chilwell
  • GW15 – Chilwell & Lamptey to Robertson & Coufal

It’s something I’ll try and continue doing, especially when we have Manchester City defenders in the form of their lives, who are also very cheap and carry fairly big upside, like with Cancelo.

Gameweek 23

This is how my team is currently looking:


1,848 Comments Post a Comment
  1. King Kohli
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 1 month ago

    Who scores more this week?

    A. Pope (BHA)
    B. Martinez (ARS)

    Question is save FT or do Meslier > Pope this week and bench Martinez.

    1. Party time
        3 years, 1 month ago

        A on paper

      • Karan14
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        A

      • stu92
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Save, you’ll want the extra transfers over the next few weeks.

      • EmreCan Hustle
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        A

      • TKC07
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I would start Meslier istead, if Zaha is not fit.

    2. tibollom
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Hey guys, 1 FT and 2.0 ITB here... roll FT or get a burnley defender in for Mitchel/CTaylor?

      Lloris Button
      AWB Dias Cancello Mitchell CTaylor
      Raphina Son Bruno Salah Gundo
      Bam DCL Watkins

    3. R.C
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Anyone here still in the cup?

      I've had my best run ever so far winning all 6, hopefully it continues. Will you be taking hits for DGWers? Whats your strategy?

      1. diesel001
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I'm still in the FPL Cup. Don't really pay much attention to it tbh. I just stick to who I think will score most points and if a transfer looks good for the medium term I make it. Just luck that I have made it this far. Will probably go out this GW.....

        1. R.C
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Ok then the question will be, is it okay to take hits to bring in DGWers?

          1. diesel001
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Depends on your focus. If you are fully focused on the FPL Cup then I don't think it makes sense to bring in DGWs now for hits. When it comes to transfers in the DGW, then you can take hits. But then you have to believe that the ceiling for the player you bring in is way more than the -4 for taking the hit.

            1. R.C
              • 6 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Thanks, got it.

          2. Andy_Social
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Being in the cup shouldn't be a factor. If you're sure the player will play both games and haul, it's worth the hit. A City player might sit out one of the games. I'm thinking about breaking the cardinal rule and taking a hit to get Pope.

      2. g40steve
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Got knocked out this week they managed 88.

      3. Eh, just one more thing ...
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        No, leaving 32 points on your bench captaining Salah pretty much dumps you out on your ass I found.

    4. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Would you BB this team for DGW24?

      Martinez Areola
      Cancelo Dias Mee Lowton Cresswell
      Salah Bruno Son Grealish Gündo
      DCL Bamford Antonio

      A big problem with WC25 & BB26 is Leeds will have a DGW25 and only single game against Villa in 26.
      Want triple Leeds for 25 but then it ruins the BB in 26.

      Thoughts?

      1. Buck The Trent
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Hard to know without knowing DGW26 matches

        If sticks to original plan of WC25, BB26, maybe 2 Leeds for 25, then -4 to get them out and BB in 26

        1. Karan14
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Tbh I'd want 3 Leeds on my bench for GW26 in preparation for BGW29 when I won't have a FH.

          1. Buck The Trent
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Depends on personal situation,

            I just don’t wanna play with 11 players in GW26 when rivals with BB play with 30 players .. that’s already almost 20 players head start

            1. Buck The Trent
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Sorry bad maths 22 vs 30 .. so not so bad

    5. _Gunner
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Best Burnley defender to get?

      Have 1 FT to burn and need to build the team for gameweek 24.

      Or is it better to get Cancelo?

      Current Backline:

      Martinez (Steer)
      Stones Coufal Justin Dallas Mitchell

      1. Gabbiadini
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Mee.

      2. EmreCan Hustle
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Mee or Pope

      3. Evil Greg
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I got Mee for Stones (I had triple up)

        He's scored twice in 2 home games and now he has 3 favorable ones in a row.

        KDB could potentially be back earlier than currently stated so I had to give myself then chance of getting him, alongside the Stones/Laporte potential rotation concerns.

      4. TKC07
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Steer to Pope, if you can afford..

        1. Evil Greg
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Or Mitchell to Mee.

    6. Hotdogs for Tea
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Looking at the forth coming series of doubles and blank, its quite nice to still be holding all chips 🙂

      1. Gabbiadini
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        FH gw29 will be very nice.

        1. Hotdogs for Tea
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          yip - it’s always quite hard to run a double game week team in to a blank game week a few weeks later ...

    7. Calculated Risks
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Just looking at the doubles and they aren't that great, especially if you have players with upcoming doubles and don't want to lose them.
      City - pick 3. Probably Dias, Cancelo, Gundo the best 3
      Soton - Ings, maybe JWP if your midfield is dire, maybe a defender or McCarthy, but really who wants to get them in at present after losing 9 nil. It took them a few weeks to recover last time.
      Everton - DCL obviously and Digne maybe though his lack of clean sheets and a game v city is off putting.
      Burnley - Pope or Mee depending on your team.
      Fulham - nope
      Leeds maybe the best chance of points. Dallas and Bamford are well owned but add in Raphinia or Harrison for a nice boost. Problem is who to get out? Don't fancy losing Soucek personally.

      A lot of people's teams don't allow much manoeuvre though, most the moves I could do aren't adding an extra player for the double such as McCarthy to Pope. Could do Coufal to Digne but Coufal has SHU that week and so could backfire.
      Think for one of the first times I'll keep my in form players with double 26 coming up and not be blindsided by these slim pickings.

      1. AC/DC AFC
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I agree.

        Everton are less rotation risk but will they compete with which ever Man City team are selected.

        I think Pope and Mee makes sense.

        Everyone is going to pile into Leeds v Southampton again tho when it comes round.

      2. Andy_Social
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I agree. Most of us have 3 City - prob the 3 you mention.
        I wouldn't bring in any from Saints or Fulham, and I wouldn't transfer in a Toffee although I already have DCL and Digne.
        That leaves Leeds - I have Bamford, wouldn't mins a Raphinha but won't take a hit for him, and Burnley. Now Burnley does look intriguing - high chance of 2 CS for Pope and a Mee or Lowton.

      3. Hotdogs for Tea
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        BB in 24 though is quite nice and adds in some bench players to supplement the all the usual suspects 😉

        1. Calculated Risks
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          I'd forgot about BB...yes if you have it with Leeds and soton it could work

      4. diesel001
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Agree. Doubles look crap other than Burnley defence. More interested in BGW29 tbh. Want the FA Cup ties to go my way to maximise blanks.

        1. Hotdogs for Tea
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Pope, Digne, Coufal & Soucek probably on my bench in GW24, will be quite happy with that.

      5. Evil Greg
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        I've actually sold a DGW player, Stones for Mee, for a long term strategy (have Cancelo & Dias). I really wanted Rudiger (I like a bargain) but perhaps Mee has the greatest upside.

      6. pingissimus
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Never mind the quality - feel the quantity.

        Saints could have doubles in 25,26 and 27!

        1. Andy_Social
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          What's 6 x minus 7 😉

    8. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 1 month ago

      Would you play Salah or Justin?

      1. EmreCan Hustle
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Salah 😆 I don't think things are that bad yet.
        If you feel you need to bench Salah for some defender I would probably sell Salah instead.

      2. Party time
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Salah

        • Evil Greg
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          I'm playing Mane and Salah and benching Cancelo and Dias, 2nd and 3rd sub. All in!

        • AC/DC AFC
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          It was kind of a joke on the mood on here yesterday.

          Think I'd sell Salah but need to pick wisely...

      3. Mr. Mystic
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 1 month ago

        Which combo would you play this GW?
        A) Digne B) Stones (playing Dias)

        1) Martinez 2) Pope

        1. Party time
            3 years, 1 month ago

            A2 but I prefer A1

          • EmreCan Hustle
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            A2

        2. R.C
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          I don't think City players will be worth it for DGWs. They (except Ederson & Dias) will all be rotated.

          Thoughts of moving one City defender to one Burnley defender?

          1. DAZZ
            • 9 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Think Gundo will probably be worth it. Seen enough over the last few games that suggest he may be worth having. Downgrade stones and get Gundo

            1. R.C
              • 6 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              I have Gundo. Thinking of moving Stones to a Burnley defender

          2. EmreCan Hustle
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            I will probably to Stones to Mee.

          3. Calculated Risks
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            I did initially think that but I at least their games are sat, weds, sun so plenty of time in between

            1. Buck The Trent
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              This

            2. R.C
              • 6 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Have you seen the CL schedule? And Pep will surely rotate.

              1. Calculated Risks
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 8 Years
                3 years, 1 month ago

                Always a risk with pep...think it's the risk you take and hope even if they play just 1 game they score big

            3. pingissimus
              • 5 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Perhaps but City in effect have 10 matches in 5 weeks.

          4. Evil Greg
            • 14 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Stones to Mee already done.

        3. Zlatan F.C
          • 3 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Should I do Forster to Pope this GW or save and do next GW? 1ft 3.2m

          Marinez
          Coufal Dias Cancelo
          Salah Grealish Soucek gundogan bruno
          Antonio bamford

          Forster DCL Robbo Dallas

          1. EmreCan Hustle
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            save

        4. Wiking Warrior
          • 3 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Hey folks,
          Wtd with this team?

          2 ft. 1,4 m itb.

          Burn transfer or Chilwell out?

          Fab (McCarthy)
          Dias-Cancelo-Chilwell (Dallas, Justin)
          Son-Salah-Bruno-Soucek (Gundo)
          Antonio-Bamford-DCL.

          1. sentz05
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Fab to Pope

            1. Wiking Warrior
              • 3 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Thx.
              And play Pope vs. Brigthon over McCartney vs. New? 🙂

        5. iL PiStOlErO
          • 4 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          McCarthy Forster
          Cancelo Dallas Justin Coufal Lowton
          Sterling Salah Bruno Gundo Romeu
          Antonio Bamford DCL

          2ft, 3.5itb

          Do just McCarthy to Pope and save other ft for next gw?

        6. sentz05
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          I have a free transfer to burn, my only concern is Chilwell being benched and no Burnley cover. Would you sell him for Mee? Chelsea’s fixtures are really good unfortunately. I have no Burnley cover.

          1. Andy_Social
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            yes

          2. AC/DC AFC
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Chilwell isn't playing.

        7. R.C
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Lookman not an option for DGW24?

          1. FPL price manipulators are …
            • 10 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            He is for me

            1. FPL price manipulators are …
              • 10 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              One week punt then move into Raphina

              1. R.C
                • 6 Years
                3 years, 1 month ago

                Yeah I was thinking of the same move, cheers

        8. Eleven Hag
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Any Palace fans out here know about Zaha's injury status?

          1. R.C
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Presser today mate

            1. Eleven Hag
              • 6 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Have you sold him already or waiting for the presser?

              1. R.C
                • 6 Years
                3 years, 1 month ago

                Waiting

        9. LewanGOALski
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          What should I be looking as my transfer/s this GW?

          Martinez
          Dias - Cancelo - Dallas
          Salah - Son - Bruno - Soucek
          DCL - Antonio - Bamford

          Gundo - Coufal - Kilman

          2 FTs
          Bank: 5.1

          1. sentz05
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Martinez out for Pope

          2. EmreCan Hustle
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Who's your second keeper?
            Maybe bring in Pope or Mee(for Kilman)?

            1. LewanGOALski
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              some guy that never plays 😀

              1. EmreCan Hustle
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 1 month ago

                I have Button, considering Pope

        10. AC/DC AFC
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Presumably there is a way for Fulham to stay up in the North West after the Everton game?

          But with hotels lockeddown perhaps they have to travel 4 times?

          Either way Burnley have 28 hours extra rest before their double game on 17 Feb.

          1. EmreCan Hustle
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Interesting. Didn't know this. Thanks.

            1. AC/DC AFC
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Fulham finish around 9 pm Sunday and kick off again 6 pm Wednesday.

              Burnley finish at 5 pm Saturday. Okay they travel back on the train from London.

              More recovery time and I guess Fulham have travel time too unless they open up a property to stay over in with training facilities for recovery etc. Cooking. All locked down. Even if Fulham fly its a hassle and cramped seats etc.

              1. EmreCan Hustle
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 1 month ago

                This could be significant given the quick turnover.

        11. CapK
          • 3 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Best chillwell replacement outside of city def?

          A) AWB / Man Utd
          B) Alonso / Chelsea
          C) fodder as already have Justin / coufal / stones / cancello

          Thanks!

          1. Evil Greg
            • 14 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Fodder would be Rudiger or Lowton.

        12. Toonmad
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          On my wc and left with 4.9m itb but can't seem to justify anyone just to use my full budget thoughts

          Pope/peacock farrel

          Goalonso/rudiger/dias/Lowton/awb

          Fernandes/gundo/grealish/barnes/salah

          Bamford/Antonio/brewster

          1. AC/DC AFC
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Keeping Brewster as fodder?

          2. Chelsea91
            • 5 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Mendy,Sanchez
            Dias,Rudiger,Konsa,Lowton,Justin
            Salah,Bruno,Gundagon,Grealish,Son
            DCL,Antonio,Bamford

            1. Chelsea91
              • 5 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              My wild card team

          3. St Pauli Walnuts
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 5 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Rather have a bench headache than Brewster. Go Watkins for the doubles.

        13. tibollom
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Mitchell or CTaylor to Mee with my FT or roll on? 1 FT 2.0 ITB

          LLoris Button
          AWB Dias Cancelo Mitchel CTaylor
          Son Bruno Gundo Raphina Salah
          Bam DCL Watkins

          1. gellinmagellan
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Almost same boat and thinking about rolling, only you're better off because I have Robbo and CTaylor instead of AWB.

          2. sunzip14
            • 7 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Mitchell, if any of your defense is rotated you may be one short and Taylor could be back for the doubles as well.

        14. R.C
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Pope worth getting for -4 and benching Martinez in DGW24?

          Pope has to score 10+ at least to beat that

          1. EmreCan Hustle
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Are you bringing him in for Martinez or another keeper?

            1. R.C
              • 6 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              another keeper

              1. EmreCan Hustle
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 1 month ago

                I that case I wouldn't worry about Martinez's potential. I think Pope will do well.

          2. Eleven Hag
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            He is likely to have a double in 26 too and if you are bench boosting, it's worth it imo

        15. ZeBestee
          • 9 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Best Chelsea asset going forward? Or not worth getting one?

          1. EmreCan Hustle
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            No standout option in attack. Rudiger looks a bargain.

          2. AC/DC AFC
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 8 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            There's an Alonso bandwagon forming...

            1. Andy_Social
              • 11 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              I don't see England's #1 LB being perma-benched; Chilwell will share duties with an aging Alonso.

              In defence apart from Mendy, Azpili and Rudiger ought to be dependable. Too much rotation further up but I can see CHO and Werner getting sufficient gametime.

        16. sentz05
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Because I have Ederson in goal, would you bench Cancelo for Justin?

          1. Flair
            • 3 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            I'd bench Cancelo for Justin because I believe Justin will score more points. Ederson's presence has nothing to do with it.

          2. EmreCan Hustle
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            No

            1. Andy_Social
              • 11 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Is this 'coverage' nonsense still a thing? Who do you think will score more points? Simple As.

        17. gellinmagellan
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Pope
          Robbo Coufal Cancelo (Taylor Strujic)
          Son Salah Fernandes Raphinha (Gundo)
          Bamford DCL Antonio

          1 FT 2.4 ITB.

          A) Get in Shaw/Rudiger/Dias for Robbo/Taylor
          B) Roll the transfer?

          1. R.C
            • 6 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Dias for Taylor

        18. stu92
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 4 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          Martinez
          Cancelo Coufal Targett
          Salah Bruno Son Raphinha Soucek
          Bamford Antonio
          (Johnstone DCL Robbo Stones)

          How does this look? It seems like a really strong bench, but not sure who I’d play over who due to fixtures!

          2FT, 1.5ITB to make changes. Want rid of Son but keeping for West Brom.

        19. DAZZ
          • 9 Years
          3 years, 1 month ago

          It’s going to be one of those situations. Everyone benches 1 or both of their man city defenders, game ends 0-0 or City win 1-0. Then we complain saying it was obviously going to happen!

          1. EmreCan Hustle
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Starting Cancelo, Dallas and Dier. I do believe they have better chance of returns. Willing to leave Digne and Stones on the bench.

            1. DAZZ
              • 9 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Yeah im starting Cancelo + Dias and benching Stones. Can see a drab 0-0 or marginal Man City win. liverpool look awful

              1. Andy_Social
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 1 month ago

                It's Salah I'm benching. Dias, Cancelo and Gundo all start for me.

        20. @persecuted_by_mods
            3 years, 1 month ago

            Well done Andy, and I've done the exact same thing re captaincy. No punts, no captaining random players. I've basically planned out weeks in advance who my captain and vice will be and will only switch between the two of them.

            In previous years I have been very guilty of taking ridiculous punts, and caring too much about who everyone else was going to captain

            1. DAZZ
              • 9 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              So who’s this weeks captain? 🙂

              1. AC/DC AFC
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 8 Years
                3 years, 1 month ago

                Salah or Son!!

              2. @persecuted_by_mods
                  3 years, 1 month ago

                  Bruno, doesn't always go right but I earmarked him weeks ago. Usually does well Vs Everton

                  Also have son as vice so may switcharoo but spurs don't look good

            2. HollywoodXI
              • 9 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Held Son to captain him this week. But Spurs look so bad. Maybe Antonio is the right call this week. What do we think?

              1. DAZZ
                • 9 Years
                3 years, 1 month ago

                Bruno? He has 3 goals and 1 assist in both games against Everton, and max baps twice along with 2 MOTM performances. He always does well against them. Everton also conceded 7 shots on target against Leeds. I see an easy Man Utd win.

              2. Andy_Social
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 1 month ago

                Clearly Bruno for me. vc a toss-up between Bamford and Antonio.

            3. UnitednationsXI
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 1 month ago

              Hey folks, don't like either bruno/antonio for (c) so was planning Rash > Son (c) but with the dgw's etc..better to save? However, I already have 2x eve and 3x mci so just need 1 burnley def in which case no harm getting Son for cpt?

              Martinez -- Forster
              Cancelo • Dallas • Coufal -- Digne Stones
              Bruno • Salah • Gundo • Grealish • Rashford
              Bamford • Antonio --- DCL

              A: Rash >> Son (c). gw24: Coufal >> Lowton. WC25
              B: Save FT. gw24: Martinez/Coufal >> Areola/Mee. WC25