Welcome back for another article.
A Free Hit is active, and what a hectic midweek round of games it was! I scored 57 points, recording with Man Utd vs West Ham the final match remaining, where of course the team has Bruno captain left to play. 😬 Regrets in not sticking with Haaland, who produced a goal and two assists against Fulham. This was quite a surprise because Fulham have been immense in home fixtures this season.
The other disasterclass was Truffert. He did hit defcon by halftime, and he actually had a fantastic game! He was on maximum bonus for an 11 pointer until the Everton goal. But if you recall, the other player I was looking at was Van Hecke, and I basically fancied Bournemouth to have better clean sheet odds. I also thought if anyone was going to get an attacking return, Truffert was likelier, and he did come close. But Van Hecke goes and scores a brace. You can't write it. 🤷 I'll just have to move on and get over that, a crazy outlier game. I know a fair few of you said you went for him, so I'm glad some of you got those points.
Munoz was a big carry, delivering a 14 pointer with a goal and a couple of bonus points. He's now the top-scoring defender. It really could have been a lot worse if not for him. The second top-scoring defender is still Gabriel, Guehi is third, and Lacroix is fourth. Crazy from Palace, with three of the top four, or five of the top ten. Anyway, all in all, it was a Gameweek to forget, unless of course Bruno hauls against West Ham. He'd need a goal, assist, and clean sheet point to match Haaland, which would take some doing. It's a juggling act when to play template and when to split off; it felt like an opportunity to go against Haaland, but I was massively punished. Let's see how that final match goes anyway.
The Free Hit is active for GW15. Let's run you through the team.
The challenge with the Free Hit at this time of the season is the schedule and random rotation. A lot of us thought we were relatively safe, and yet, in my case for example, Thiago and Saka were benched midweek. Fortunately, Saka scored, but the Thiago benching I didn't see coming. So the point I'm making is I've got a call to make on the Man City defenders. I'd love to have O'Reilly or Gvardiol if I knew either were starting. Sunderland are no pushovers, and Pep might even go full strength again, though they do face Real Madrid in the Champions League next week, so they have that to contend with. So, all things considered, it's Donnarumma in goal. 🧤
Defenders
The back three is Hall, Burn, Andersen.
The Newcastle defence is a difficult read, or maybe I'm overthinking. Hall, Burn, Thiaw, and Livramento all have their merits. I've landed on Hall and Burn.
- Hall is my favourite of the Newcastle defenders, as he's really attacking. Burnley have conceded 197 crosses down their right flank, which is 43 more than any other team. Their left side has conceded 155, which is also worst, in fairness, but only 2 worse than the next worst. 64 key passes conceded down Hall's side is also most in the league.
- Then I've landed on Burn. Howe absolutely loves him, and he basically never misses a game, a real leader in the team, and obviously a big aerial threat.
The clean sheet odds have Man City top with 50%, then Newcastle second with 48%, Brighton and Arsenal joint third with 38%. Basically, I've stacked the midfield, which has left me with minimal funds for the back. I could go for Timber, who was benched against Brentford, though Mosquera and Rice went off injured, so this could be an opportunity to have a try against the Arsenal defence on a Free Hit.
The final spot could be Andersen or Van Hecke in the starting 11. I was surprised to see Palace go full strength vs Burnley, and I think this could be a tough game for them. Again, it might be an opportunity to have a try against Palace. Mateta came off at 63 minutes. Fulham did concede 2.17 xG to Man City, but previous games they've been stellar: 0.17 conceded to Sunderland, 0.24 to Wolves. Before that, it was Arsenal with only 0.55 conceded, 0.6 v Brentford, 0.79 v Leeds, and 1.63 v Man Utd. They've had some easy games but really gave Arsenal a game too.
The latest standings have Senesi top still on 12.45 defcons per 90, then Andersen with 11.24, Lacroix moves up to third with 10.71, then Esteve, Van Dijk, Collins, Tarkowski, Richards, Mukiele.
