My Team
I admit a couple of poor decisions this week. I was talking to my friend the other day when we were playing soccer that Eden Hazard had a habit of playing badly in away games, and that Mourinho tend to park the bus during the first half of away games, restricting the creativity that Hazard is entitled too. However, I went ahead, and even recommended Hazard for captaincy in my guide because the Belgian's form is excellent in the past few weeks, and that Villa were having troubles with their team stability. Sure enough, Chelsea threw the game away at Villa Park, with Hazard notching only 4 points (after 2x). Liverpool inflicted heavy damage on Manchester United the past game, and I regretted delaying my purchase of Gerrard before the previous Gameweek. Lallana didn't really perform well, but that's not much of a concern as his uncharacteristic performance was likely just an off-day for him. Anichebe disappointed me for the second week in a row, and my patience have worn off. Sturridge and Suarez played well, combining for 15 points, saving my team from absolute disaster in a tough-to-navigate Gameweek 30.
My overall points (I started only from GW5), stands at 1,531.
In total, I made six changes this week. Yes, six is a lot. I would only recommend making at most three per week, or two should you falter badly during that weekend. However, this is probably the team that is going to last me through till the end of the season. Nine players are in contention for points in the second leg of Gameweek 31 as well, although it is likely only seven of them will start. In goal, Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczsny is shipped out to make way for his fellow Arsenal colleague, Vito Mannone, currently on loan at Sunderland. At £1.5m less, this freed up some funds for a major overhaul in the midfield department. David Marshall remains on the bench. In the defense, Patrice Evra made way for wonder boy Seamus Coleman, who is expected to notch at least 12 points during the two games against Swansea City and Newcastle United. Branislav Ivanovi and Koscielny are fielded together despite their teams facing each other this week, as José Fonte will probably have a hard time dealing with an expectedly rejuvenated Spurs attack. The midfield is the department I'm most excited about for the remainder of the season. The top five scoring midfielders are all included, with Raheem Sterling and Thomas Ince making way for Steven Gerrard and Kevin Nolan. At the point in the campaign, it is of vital importance to proceed with tried and tested players over youth, and a couple of bad judgements in the past few weeks (I should have listened to my own advice), this is the lineup I'm desperately counting on to bring back the points for daddy. In attack, the reliable Jay Rodriguez partners up with Luis Suárez, who I made captain this week. Rodriguez should only get the basic two points against Tottenham, but I'm relying on Suárez to grab home the points after the Uruguayan scored two goals following 355 minutes without scoring. On the bench, Carlton Cole, who actually played up to the mark whenever he gets a full 90 minutes, replaces Victor Anichebe, who played disappointingly in his last two games in the wake of 24 points in four games. Overall, I'm expecting 88 points in total in the first part of Gameweek 31; approximately 28 in defense (inc. goalkeeper), 35 in midfield and 25 in attack.
Click "Next" to read the reader's tip of the week and find out how you can contribute to this fledging Fantasy Football guide in its subsequent editions.