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
4 years, 8 months ago
This is a great addition to the site, cheers!