For the last time this season, it's the team selection and transfer plans.
54 points last gameweek then, a red arrow by a margin of 4 points, or in other words had Saliba not gone off injured it would have been a green arrow. Although Gvardiol conceded that was actually beneficial to rank; in the top 10K he's 95% owned and Ruben Dias about 15%, so Manchester City clean sheets are no help at this point. Mbeumo's missed penalty was actually beneficial to rank as well, given he was over 100% effective ownership. Martinez kept his 3rd clean sheet on the bounce. Loads of assists from Rogers, Mbeumo, Sarr, captain Watkins, and Wissa with 1 goal and 1 assist himself. 800,000 transfers in for Watkins who just came away with the 5 pointer in the end.
It was a gameweek with a few goodbyes to some loyal servants for their clubs. You couldn't write a better script: Vardy scoring his 200th Leicester goal in his 500th and final Leicester game. A perfect ending and what a story to win the league with Leicester and the FA Cup. 🏆
De Bruyne with his last ever Etihad appearance as well, an emotional farewell after the game. 😢 1583 career points, a true Premier League legend, and City announced they'll be putting a statue up. I've had some incredible memories over the years owning both. Ward and Cresswell also said their farewell for Crystal Palace and West Ham after over a decade each at their clubs. Martinez's last home game too. Might be other goodbyes I've forgotten as well.
So with 1 gameweek to go, I'm 31 points off 1K, 26 points inside 10K, so the realistic target has to be to finish top 5K. Currently 7 points inside. If I can come away with a top 5K finish, that would be an absolutely stellar season. I'm 187 points off rank 1 so unfortunately, I am going to have to officially rule myself out of winning FPL this season, maybe next year!
Minileague Standings
Speaking of, it's the last chance to look at the Focal minileague standings and congratulations to Lovro Budisin who has it completely wrapped up with a 76-point lead and is currently #1 in the world. Awesome to see world #1 in our league! Martin Balogh is 2nd, Huss E is 3rd, Paul Mitchell 4th, and Dan Bullet 5th, who are all top 100 in the world. 🥳
I asked for your highs and lows for the last time this season, taking a quick look at your best and worst scores.
Final Team & Transfer Plans
That brings us to GW38. Let's get into the final team and transfer plans.
In goal it's Raya coming back in. Martinez has Manchester United away which isn't too bad but Raya undeniably has the better fixture. Wondering what sort of line-up we see from Arteta. 2nd place is all but secure; Arsenal would have to lose, City would have to win, and a 7-goal difference swing so let's be honest it's wrapped up. Does Arteta give a few peripheral players a start? You'd expect Tierney to come in at LB for his last ever Arsenal appearance perhaps.
In defense it's Gvardiol, Saliba, and Burn.
Really hoping Saliba pulls through. Arteta said after the last game "I think he felt something in his hamstring in the first half, unfortunately, so we had to make the substitution." I'll be keeping an eye on what's said in Arteta's press conference and whether he's spotted training this week. If need be I'm in a great position as far as defender depth on the bench.
Burn has the joint best clean sheet odds for GW38, here's the odds: Arsenal, Bournemouth and Newcastle all joint 1st with a 45% chance. It's a massive game for Newcastle, Champions League places are going all the way down to the wire. They're home to Everton and have to win. Everton are sandwiched in the league so will lack the motivation Newcastle have; they're 7 points off 12th, 4 points clear of 14th so they can't move up or down now.
Lastly Gvardiol who was 34% on the gameweek clean sheet odds. Not the explosive end to the season for him that we saw last season when he had 4 goals and 2 assists in something like 6 games. They're away to Fulham and again another must-win game; they can still drop to a Europa League place if they lose to Fulham. 145 points he's on which is second highest after Trent. We've seen defenders massively suffer under the BPS changes that heavily penalize goals conceded.