Game Week 23 threw up many talking points this week. Haaland got an assist which proved that he is not only a goal machine. Arsenal slipped up again and drew with Brentford which closed the gap at the top to 3 points with Man City v Arsenal midweek. Spurs got hammered against a very good Leicester team. West Ham are starting to get points. And I hate to say it but Man United will be there and there abouts this season. They even won with Harry McGuire on the pitch. Ten Haag is the real deal then. Let us go into the games in more detail.
Liverpool needed a win badly against a rejuvenated Everton side and they got it with two goals from Gakpo and Salah. This is good news as both players were not exactly firing on all cylinders. A win here is huge for Liverpool but they are still way off the place. Although quite frankly I would be amazed if any Liverpool player is in a fantasy league team at the moment. Where was Pickford positioned for the Salah goal though. Unbelievable.
https://twitter.com/piesportsbooze/status/1625233206432636951?s=20&t=rC9UTh5q5tGfE7BKfmgAyQ
- piesportsbooze
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Joao Felix was on the scoresheet in an impressive post red card suspension debut for the Portuguese wonderkid. He looked good, very good in fact and for 7 million on FPL he looks to be a bargain. With Haaland out injured for the next couple of weeks , this guy could be a replacement, well maybe after Toney and Kane. West Ham have finally started playing football. They have Spurs next week. Another new boy Enzo Fernandez had the assist. Will this guy be worth his weight in gold. He would want to be considering how much Chelsea paid for him. West Ham equalised soon after with an Emerson goal with a Bowen assist. Bowen has been out of form for the entire season up to now. The assist wasn't really an assist. More of a rebound. Spare a thought for the poor Chelsea hoodlum who got his just deserves before the game.
https://twitter.com/6079smith/status/1624415350992343044?s=20&t=rC9UTh5q5tGfE7BKfmgAyQ
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Nottingham Forest have come into this game on form but were brushed aside by an impressive Fulham. Aleksandar Mitrovic hasn't scored in 4 games now but Willian and Solomon came up with the goods in this one. Andreas Pereira (£4.4m) is having some season and wouldn't be a bad choice in midfield as his assists are one of the highest in the FPL. Both teams looked solid at the back until Notts Forests two Centre Halves went off injured.
Leicester were extremely good against Spurs and should be nowhere near the bottom of the table come May. James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho impressed for Leicester while Tottenham's injuries stack up with Bentancur, Loris, Bissouma, Sessegnon all now out injured. Hojbjerg is suspended against AC Milan this week which means that Papa Sarr and Skipp will start for Spurs in the Centre this Tuesday. Son is not firing for Spurs and hotly tipped Peresic is not having the best season either. The new boy Pedro Porro had a disaster as well. It wasn't Spurs's day.
You know what they say about the Gunners. If they slip up once then they will keep doing it. Trossard was on the score sheet first but Toney equalised. Not the most favourite player in the Emirites that day. Martinelli started great but is beginning to wane as he came up blank yet again this week. Saka was quiet as well. Arteta did mention maybe it was fatigue creeping in so it is a good job he bought wise in January, Toney yet again with Brentfords goal. What a player this guy is. I would nearly have him in my team over Haaland because not only does he score but he assists quite a bit as well. He was the man of the match against Arsenal.
https://twitter.com/_lknighty/status/1625235000810520577?s=20&t=MhnywjpTnY4IdsIwLO7HiQ
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Palace against Brighton ended all square. Solly March with the goal from an assist by Estupinan who would be another 2nd half of the season contender to be transferred in. That is 5 assists now from him. James Tomkins equalised in a forgettable derby between these two.
4 wins and a draw out of 7 from Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves which is quite impressive. On the other hand going 2 -1 nil down to 10 man Wolves is not impressive especially having been a goal up and it resulted in Southampton sacking head coach Nathan Jones. Mario Lemina was sent off in the 27th minute so Wolves spent the entire game defending . It was hard to really see any standout performances here other than the Wolves team spirit.
Newcastle are not having the best time of it post World Cup. They drew against West Ham last week and another draw against Bournemouth this week. They are missing their star man Bruno Guimaraes through injury. But it was their other unlikely star Almiron who equalized from a Senesi goal here. Newcastle added to their miserable result when Almiron, Wilcock and Saint Maximin all went off injured.
City have had a turbulent week to say the least. Rumour's of dressing room discontent, the Premiership charges against them could mean they are playing Aldershot in the 2nd Division next season. But Pep came out fighting and they put Villa to bed pretty easily. It is the reason that Man City got in Arteta in the first place so that there was a human addressing the players rather than a nutty genius.
Every fantasy player in the country is biting their nails to see if Haalands injury is bad. Rodri, Mahrez and Gundogan sealed the deal for City. The problem with picking their players is you never know if they are going to play or not. There is no set team like most of the other teams in the premiership. Imagine Phil Foden not getting a game with any other team in the Premiership. They just have such depth that it is amazing. Not for the Hive EPL player it is not. And who knows where he will play players. Madness.Easy known the Champions League is coming up.
United were not great in this game but they got through it which is a sign of strength. A late goal by Rashford(again) and Garnacho sealed the seal. A mate of mine has Shaw in his defence and got the assist. Not a bad shout there as he often bombs up the wing and is coming good under Ten Haag.
So there you have it. Plenty to ponder for the next Gameweek. I am off now to check the Haaland and considering subbing the big man for a Kane & Toney forward line.
Team of The Week
The highest points this week was from our boy @tangram. Well done on the 76 buddy. What a midfield you have there.
Leaderbaord
Denis Y is still some bit ahead of Costa Guards overall but it is tight from 2nd place down and all to play for as there is only 39 points between 10th place and 2nd place. @belemo mentioned during the week that the pot is growing so it will give players more motivation to stay focused in the second half of the season.
Best of luck everyone in next weeks round of fixtures.