Fantasy Football Files - 2021/22 - Gameweek 33 - What You Talkin' Wout?!

After losing two consecutive games I needed to bounce back. The only problem was my opponent was (Big) Sam and he was now sitting second after relinquishing the lead to Muji, nonetheless he was having a great season. Sam had won our first encounter after using his 'Bench Boost' chip despite claiming he did not know it was me who he was facing, I desperately needed revenge.

I was thinking about not making any changes but then I let things get to my head and I thought I had to make one. I considered a sideways sale in letting go of Wout Weghorst and replacing him with his teammate Jay Rodriguez. Burnley surprisingly however let go of Sean Dyche after clearly not taking a liking to his renditions of Louis Armstrong, and this put me off as I would not know what the caretaker manager had in store. Then after more drafts and overthinking I took Tariq Lamptey out of my starting XI as Brighton had Tottenham and Manchester City, I sold Crystal Palace's Tyrick Mitchell and brought in Newcastle's Fabian Schar. Schar is very good in the air and the Magpies played Leicester first in their double gameweek who have defended set pieces poorly this campaign. The immediate doubt after transferring in a defender came but 'confirm' had been pressed so there was no going back. Just after the deadline passed as we recorded the '#FootyOnTop' Show, Sam was reluctant to admit he had captained Heung-min Son. We informed him the deadline had gone so trying to keep your cards close to your chest did not matter as we could check on it anyway! I had thought about giving Mo Salah the captaincy especially as unbelievably Sam did not have him but after my pain from last week I went with James Maddison for Leicester's double gameweek.

The action started at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as Antonio Conte's men faced Brighton. The Seagulls played well when they came here last season but as Spurs had a different man in charge I thought it may be different. Brighton were to come away with a fully deserved 1-0 win and I was left with my head in my hands. Lamptey was on my bench and he got 8 points, as well as that I benched Wout Weghorst for Dejan Kulusevski who was lucky not to be sent off. I viewed Kulusevski could be a great differential in the head-to-head but my triple up on Spurs backfired, I knew now Wout would end his goal drought when the Clarets played West Ham. Despite owning Son it was nice of him not to get a hat-trick this week when I did not captain him so Sam's choice of captain failed. Sam got clean sheet points from Marc Cucurella and was laughing as he went clear in front.

The 3pm games saw Southampton beat Arsenal 1-0. Tino Livramento was only on the bench to my annoyance and I thought that he was not going to come on but Ralph Hasenhuttl decided to bring him on in injury time. There was nothing from Armando Broja but actually he did find time to get booked. The only good things to come from this game were the fact that Sam had Aaron Ramsdale in goal and he also had Gabriel Martinelli who of course both blanked. Watford were beaten 2-1 at home by Brentford. both my keepers featured in this contest but I went with David Raya and there only ended up being a one point difference between him and Ben Foster. Two of Sam's men featured for the Bees; Ethan Pinnock only lasted 20 minutes as he picked up an injury and luckily Bryan Mbeumo did not contribute. Saturday ended with Sam ahead 22-12.

To Sunday; Leicester took the lead at Newcastle so no clean sheet for me. The Magpies came back to win 2-1 but there was nothing from Schar. At the same time Burnley and West Ham drew at the London Stadium. Burnley took the lead and you guessed it, like Nas' sophomore album 'It Was Written' as Wout Weghorst scored a header after Jay Rodriguez's headed effort struck the bar. I screamed so loudly in anguish that my Mum came in to ask 'wout' had happened. FPL life is a killer man I swear. Upon Sunday's conclusion I had more points on my bench than in my starting XI as Sam led 30-14.

Tuesday saw Liverpool in action against Manchester United and for the first time all my three Liverpool men were differentials. The only man Sam had from the Reds was Luis Diaz and he gave Jurgen Klopp's men the lead as they went on to stroll to a 4-0 victory. It should have been more but the Reds decided to have mercy on their bitter rivals. Salah assisted the Diaz goal before scoring the second after a superb team move. Sadio Mane bagged the third after a nice ball from Diaz. This meant I needed more from Salah and thankfully I got it as he scored the fourth. With Diogo Jota coming off the bench to assist Salah and Andy Robertson's clean sheet points I was now somehow one point ahead despite Diaz's great showing, 'don't call it a comeback!'. I led 43-42 now.

Wednesday saw Arsenal win 4-2 away at Chelsea. Antonio Rudiger was out so this left Sam with only 10 men. Martinelli was only on the bench, Ramsdale's blank too meant that I had a real chance of pulling this off. Everton and Leicester drew 1-1 but there was nothing from Maddison. I thought he had assisted the Harvey Barnes' goal, but there was a touch from Kelechi Iheanacho and a nick off a defender. Maddison had chances to score but Jordan Pickford denied him twice, he hit the side netting and had an effort blocked. Newcastle edged past Crystal Palace 1-0, so I welcomed the Schar clean sheet points. Cucurella could not do it again for Sam as Brighton fell to a 3-0 defeat at leaders Manchester City.

So going into the last game on Thursday I still held a slender lead but needed Weghorst not to score again as Burnley welcomed Southampton. Sam also had Che Adams but he was on the bench again. Livramento was left out of the XI and he only got a few minutes at the end for the second match running as Burnley won 2-0. Weghorst did not get on the scoresheet but it was very close. Fraser Forster denied him and he also hit the post but I survived the scares to win. Adams also went close twice after coming on as this game did nothing for my health. My other Southampton man Broja worked hard but again gave me no return.

Sam was left with his head in hands at not having Salah as I pulled off a win I did not think possible before Liverpool's win. Despite the head-to-head win my 59 points was actually under the average score this week of 61, meaning I have dropped over 26,000 places in the world overall. I lay 5th in the 'Justice League' level on 63 points with Darren (D-Man) who incidentally I play next.

@DubulDee