With the next Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline almost here, we’re hearing from our panel of guest writers.
Here, three-time top 500 finisher FPL General – sitting at 40k in the world this season – talks us through Gameweek 18, plus his plans for Gameweek 19 and beyond.
Gameweek 18 Review
The festive fixtures have not been kind to me. It’s three red arrows on the bounce now but the rank has only dropped from 19k to 40k over that time, which is a result in itself. I always view this hectic period of games as a time to just survive and come out the other side in the New Year without too much of a rank drop, then kick on again when it goes back to having a week between deadlines and having more time to make decisions.
Two free transfers were used in Gameweek 18 to bring in Alexander Isak (£9.1m) and Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m). The players who made way were Matheus Cunha (£7.1m) and Bukayo Saka (£10.3m). Isak did the business but Bruno getting sent off and Cunha getting a 12-pointer ensured the arrow would be red.
The Bruno suspension is very annoying as I now need to use my only free transfer to replace him. I could just start Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.3m) in a 4-4-2 formation but that doesn’t feel great. With Liverpool on the horizon for Manchester United when Fernandes is back, I’m happy to let him go. The plan was to sell Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) this week but he’s likely to stay now.
I got the Mykolenko vs Timothy Castagne (£4.2m) decision wrong but I expected a two-pointer from both players going into the Gameweek. It was encouraging to see Fulham play with wing-backs in the win over Chelsea; hopefully we see more of that going forward. Castagne will be in my starting XI this week at home to Bournemouth, with Mykolenko first on the bench.
The double Arsenal clean sheet was worth about 8k places in rank and it was much needed on Friday night. With a third Arsenal spot now freed up having sold Saka, I’m open to the idea of going triple defence at some point over the coming weeks. I’m not overly keen on their attacking options. I was close to getting Martin Odegaard (£8.4m) last week but opted for Bruno instead.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson (£5.4m) has managed just four points in the three games since he replaced Mark Flekken (£4.5m). The Brentford shot-stopper outscored him in Gameweek 18 despite playing just 35 minutes! The Brazilian needs to start delivering soon…
It’s four blanks in five now for Chris Wood (£6.6m) but with other fires to fight and no attractive alternatives at the same price, he’s likely to stay for a while.
Gameweek 19 Bus Team
Best of luck for Gameweek 19, folks.
There will be a new video with Joe on the Scout YouTube channel on Monday.
