Welcome back for another article. 💥
80 points, a really good Gameweek before the international break for a number of reasons, so a quick recap. Clean sheets from Raya, Gabriel, and Gvardiol, with Gvardiol also providing the assist for Haaland's goal in the 1-0 win over Brentford. Really happy with the decision to go for him over Tarkowski so far, and of course Man City are home to Everton next. So yeah, captain Haaland with 16 points. I don't know if you guys have been the same but one thing that has gone right this season is captaincy, 100% success rate with all 7 so far, from 3 different captains.
It was the Semenyo Gameweek though; 18 points was more than any player. He left it pretty late, was on 2 points at 77 minutes, scored a minute later, assisted Kluivert's screamer 6 minutes later, then a 96th minute goal to secure 18 points, the second biggest score of any player this season so far. It of course means his ownership has skyrocketed so every passing Gameweek the gains from his points are lessened and we'll need to make up the gains elsewhere. The other reason it was a satisfying Gameweek beyond the 80 points was the decision not to bench boost. I had it active as of the Wednesday but a few doubts had crept in, flagged players. Got a bit lucky there though since everyone did play in the end. It's active for GW8 and I just hope everyone plays this week; the Gameweek after breaks can be a little unpredictable. 😅
Let's get into the team for GW8 then, bench boost active! 🟢
In goal Raya faces Fulham away, who could potentially be without Muniz and Jimenez, who both missed out last Gameweek in their loss to Bournemouth. That could potentially be good news from the perspective of the Arsenal defence. They're joint top on the clean sheet odds, given a 44% chance. 🧤
The other team with a 44% chance are Man City. The back 3 is Gvardiol, Gabriel, Senesi. I was having a quick look at Croatia's international break games; they played on the 12th, so a really nice turnaround from that match to GW8 and Gvardiol was benched as well, coming on second half. Is he worth buying though? I still think he's a fantastic option at 5.9m despite some mixed fixtures: Everton home, then Villa away, Bournemouth home, Liverpool home, Newcastle away. Villa are rated red on the fixture ticker which isn't a fair reflection right now let's be honest. 🤔
Argentina played on Tuesday 14th, or 15th early hours UK time. Senesi was called up for Argentina but was named on the bench and an unused substitute which is good news too. They're away to Palace on Saturday. I think Senesi is one you can make a case for waiting before buying, I hope he continues to do well, though the fixtures are a bit average next 4 then GW12 they looks amazing, so he's looking like a long term hold until the new year. 30th December is the next time there's a bad fixture swing for Bournemouth: Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Brighton, Liverpool. Though if he continues to do well I'll keep hold throughout that given the value tied up in him. 💪
Gabriel was called up for Brazil, good news for owners - he too was named on the bench in their final match and didn't come on. Richarlison and Cunha were also benched if you've got either, both were subbed on. Gabriel's averaging about 40% more defcons per 90 this season, though across the league there has been an increase which is quite interesting, what would cause that? Have attacks improved? Is it the drastic rise of long throws? More corners? Anyway the takeaway is more defcons across the league increases the value of defenders. 📈
Midfield