Gameweek 7 of Champ Man 01/02 Fantasy Premier League takes place on Wednesday evening.
In the previous set of fixtures, Manchester United and Arsenal dropped points as the battle at the top of the table started to hot up.
The old adage from Fantasy Premier League ran through: never captain a player in the early kick-off. A significant number of managers ignored the maxim and they were undone by an early substitution of Thierry Henry (£13.0m).
Martin Keown‘s (£5.5m) dismissal in the 49th minute led to Arsene Wenger shuffling the pack and replacing the talismanic Frenchman in a 0-0 draw. Owners of David Seaman (£5.0m) and Ashley Cole (£6.5m) picked up bonus points and a clean sheet, but it was a scoreline very few would have predicted.
Of the early-season favourites, Arsenal remain unbeaten, as do Liverpool after a 3-0 win over Aston Villa. However, Liverpool’s injury woes continue with Stephane Henchoz (£6.0m), John Arne Riise (£5.5m) and Vladimir Smicer (£6.5m) joining Michael Owen (£11.5m) on the treatment table.
Manchester United were unable to capitalise on Arsenal’s dropped points with a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland.
It looked as if Ronny Johnsen‘s (£6.5m) goal from a well-received Ruud van Nistelrooy (£13.0m) assist was going to be enough but Gavin McCann (£5.0m) fired in a late leveller to deprive the Red Devils of all three points.
It was Leeds that moved top of the table with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Ipswich, with players that had flattered to deceive so far making the difference.
Mark Viduka (£10.0m) opened the scoring and, after being pegged back by Pablo Counago (£5.0m), Ian Harte (£6.5m) found a pinpoint cross for Harry Kewell (£8.5m) to net the crucial winner six minutes from time.
The two other sides starting to draw real attention both rewarded their early buyers.
Spurs continued their goal-rush with a dominant win over Southampton.
Teddy Sheringham (£7.5m), Gustavo Poyet (£6.5m) and Stefan Selakovic (£8.0m) were all on the scoresheet, while Sergei Rebrov (£10.5m) banked two assists and three bonus points – a fine reward for those that captained the Ukrainian.
The Scout has revealed the Lilywhites’ starting line-up for Gameweek 7 and the big guns all go again – though the injury to Christian Ziege (£5.5m) is a blow.
The surprise package emerging are Middlesbrough, who remain unbeaten and who have been lifted by the return to fitness of classy striker Alen Boksic, who netted twice in a 3-2 win at Blackburn.
At £7.0m, Boksic is emerging as an attractive option for many as a third striker – as is Rovers’ Corrado Grabbi at £5.0m, who netted again to remain top goalscorer in the division.
The big game of Gameweek 7 sees Liverpool visit Old Trafford. With Sebastien Veron (£12.0m) ruled out injured for two weeks, a lot of managers will be dropping down – will they back David Beckham (£10.0m) or Ryan Giggs (£11.0m) to deliver, or move elsewhere and re-invest the funds?
In the community, keep an eye on the FPL Wolfpack who are running competitions for entry to the Championship Manager Wolfpack Worthington Cup.
