Welcome back for another article 🚨
A 3 week red arrow to stare at after a score of 44 points before the break! Not all doom and gloom though:
- Van Hecke an unsung hero with his third return in a row, 8, 8 and 6 points after scoring late on.
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And resisted the temptation to sell Joao Pedro for Barry, this was a very very tight call because I fancied Barry to score and he did but just 6 points, it boiled down to the fact that I want Joao Pedro long term so it's 2 transfers spend selling and buying.
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But that aside it didn't just result in a couple transfers saved but also 8 points gained as Gross came up with a 14 pointer against Arsenal. ⚽
I'll be the first to say that is a lucky return, over the last 4 gameweeks 14, 17 and 13 pointers. You might recall I pointed out in the article before last gameweek that Brighton were top in the league for xG and it's not out of the question for them to upset Arsenal, never saw a 3-0 win coming though. There is still a chance selling Joao Pedro was the right call for those that did it as well, but for now pleased the patient play came off.
That was it though:
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Blanks from Raya, Konsa, Saka, Palmer, Szoboszlai.
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Haaland scored 1 of Man City's 5 goals so no bonus as captain.
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Wissa missed a penalty, painful. ❌
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And Sangare named on the bench then booked after coming on for a 0 pointer.
Bad read on Sangare as a pick, might still be okay long term but there's 3 players competing for 2 spots in the pivot there. We left 0.7m in the bank on the wildcard intentionally for flexibility though, that money is an escape path out of De Cuyper if he becomes an issue when Mitoma is back in the picture and likewise allows Sangare up to any 6m mid.
Loads of flags over the international break 🏥, make sure you read the players to buy article from yesterday if you haven't yet, covered all the flags in that one. 4 in my team, the main concerns are Konsa, Palmer and Joao Pedro. Let's run through the team for GW6 and plan this week.
🧤 Goalkeeper
In to the team and in goal Raya faces Leeds home, with a back 3 of Konsa, Thiaw and De Cuyper. 🧤
🛡️ Defenders
What's the latest on Konsa?
He returned early to Arsenal after withdrawing from England's squad with a knock.
Konsa had been struggling with a dead leg before playing 90 minutes against Croatia and suffered a recurrence. The injury isn't believed to be serious, but he's a doubt for Leeds. Let's see what's said in the presser or if he is spotted training.
Not heard anything on Mitoma so we can safely assume De Cuyper starts vs Sunderland and likely out of position LW again where he's been immense. Take your time Mitoma! Whenever he returns you'd expect a cameo off the bench first and that's when I'll think about selling De Cuyper.
The clean sheet odds for GW6 have got:
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Arsenal top this week on 48%
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Everton but just 34%
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Man Utd, and Chelsea 28%
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Newcastle and Brighton 27%
Not very good odds this week, maybe we'll get a goal fest ⚽