Fantasy Football Files - 2024/25 - Gameweek 24 - 'Oliver's Twist'

Gameweek 24 saw me up against my D&D Football Factory co-host Darren B. (D-Man). His twin brother Michael had now gone above him in the table and was now at the top of the ‘Justice League’, so this was a must-win for him. I, on the other hand was just trying to keep pace with the pack chasing the top four as my results had been so inconsistent recently.  

Darren and I both made two free transfers. I was originally going to get Morgan Rogers in for the injured Harry Wilson. However, Jhon Duran who was on my bench was sold to Al Nassr. As well as this I was going to sell Chris Wood for Cody Gakpo as they were around the same price, therefore, I had to change things up. I left Wilson in the team and decided to sell Duran for Gakpo, but to facilitate this I had to sell Andy Robertson for his much cheaper teammate Ibrahima Konate. There was no way I was going into this double gameweek without three players from the team I support. My opponent’s changes were to sell two of his forwards. Iliman Ndiaye came in for Wood and Matheus Cunha was let go of for Gakpo. We both of course captained Mo Salah who was always going to be the most-captained man this gameweek.

The gameweek began back on February the 1st. The early kick-off was at the City Ground and Brighton started well enough despite the home side taking the lead. Lewis Dunk scored an own goal, but the Seagulls almost replied as Danny Welbeck’s shot was tipped onto the bar by Matz Sels and 80% of the ball crossed the line. The birds were to end up lost and not being able to fly out of the Forest as Nuno Espirito Santo’s men went on to humiliate them as it ended 7-0. Much to my joy, Wood chopped up a hat-trick that I would not have got if Duran was not sold, this was a massive differential. Anthony Elanga (£5.3m) got three assists and Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.5m) scored and assisted as Nottingham Forest ran riot. Given the form they are in it may make sense to own more than just Wood…pause! Even Neco Williams (£4.4m) got on the scoresheet. Oprah Winfrey may as well have been on commentary, ‘you get a goal, you get a goal!’.

The 3pm games saw Liverpool get through an extremely tough game at Bournemouth. Salah justified his large captaincy with a brace. The first was from the penalty spot partially against the run of play after Lewis Cook tripped Gakpo, giving the most transferred-in man a ‘fantasy’ assist. Gakpo’s ownership went over 22% due to all the people who got him in. The ‘Egyptian King’ settled matters as he curled in a lovely goal after a shocking miss from a rebound at the other end by the in-form Justin Kluivert. In 10 years of playing FPL, I have never had such a good return from my triple captain and there was another match to go. A clean sheet also of course for Konate, but this was neutralised by the fact that Darren had Trent Alexander-Arnold in his defence. Everton thumped Leicester 4-0 at Goodison Park and Beto was at the double as David Moyes looks like he is doing the impossible job of polishing a turd. With Dominic Calvert-Lewin out injured, the Toffees forward many had invested in Ndiaye was to leave with something as he grabbed the fourth goal which I was not amused by.

With Lukasz Fabianski losing his spot at West Ham, I was worried about not having an active keeper again, however, Aaron Ramsdale was passed fit after being flagged. Liam Delap who I really would like to bring back at some point levelled Joe Aribo’s goal as I was denied a clean sheet. The Saints were to get the three points through a late goal by Paul Onuachu. Jacob Murphy gave me a dream start at St James’ Park as he found the net in the first half, but Fulham fought back to take all three points. Alexander Isak blanked effecting us both as he struck the bar in the second half. Darren had Lewis Hall, so the Cottagers’ goals really helped me. In the late contest, Wolves had another shutout under Vitor Pereira as they beat Aston Villa 2-0. After Champions League games; Unai Emery’s team have only won one out of eight league matches. You could possibly bear this in mind if you have any Villa players in your team when they play in the next round. Wolves’ clean sheet meant Rayan Ait-Nouri was to provide more points for me as Saturday concluded with me nicely ahead 96-55.

Not owning Bryan Mbeumo anymore had turned out to be more nerve-racking than I first expected it to be, so I was overjoyed that he did not return in the Sunday game with Tottenham. Brentford’s top scorer shot straight at Antonin Kinsky with the best chance he had. Spurs walked away with the three points thanks to an own goal and a smart finish by Pape Sarr. Anyone that knows me will tell you how much I despise Manchester United, however, I needed their help as Dean Henderson was Darren’s goalkeeper. As expected, the Red Devils were to let me down. Kobbie Mainoo hit the post, and Henderson made a good save from Bruno Fernandes as the Eagles excreted on an already leaking Old Trafford thanks to a brace from Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.3m). Mateta is in great form with six goals in his last five games and is on my watchlist. The only positive from this was that Amad Diallo was in my opponent’s team.

The clash of the weekend was at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal and Manchester City locked horns. The Gunners came flying out of the traps and took the lead as they pounced on City making a mess of playing it out from the back. It was almost all square when Omar Marmoush hit the bar. Kai Havertz produced a finish that Darwin Nunez would have been proud of as he fired the ball well wide with a majority of the goal gaping. As Darren had Gabriel Magalhaes, I needed Pep Guardiola’s men to improve and they were able to equalise in the second half through Erling Haaland, only for the home side to reply instantly through Thomas Partey. That was only to be the start of the away team’s pain as they were then pillaged by Mikel Arteta’s boys as it ended 5-1, yes you read correctly! As good as last season’s runners-up are, when you have Josko Gvardiol and Kevin De Bruyne in your team you are not expecting just one damn point between the two of them! This was diabolical to say the least. Thank God my other players had done well on Saturday. Sunday, concluded with me still with a sizeable lead, 97-66.

Monday, saw West Ham take the lead at Chelsea through Jarrod Bowen, who I did not even know was match-fit. The Blues were to make a second half comeback and take all three points as Cole Palmer’s ball was deflected in by Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Darren and I both owned Palmer so there was no advantage as we both gained six points to make it 103-72.  

As the 4th round of the FA Cup was on the weekend, the gameweek finally came to an end on Wednesday night. The rearranged Merseyside Derby between Everton and Liverpool was to be the last one ever at Goodison Park. It did not start well for Arne Slot’s men as Everton took the lead from a quickly taken set-piece that caught the Reds lacking. Beto must have heard me call him a ‘turd’ in the group chat as he got his third goal of the gameweek, telling managers he should have been their triple captain. The lead did not last long as Salah turned provider crossing for Alexis Mac Allister to head in. I know numerous people who used their triple captain on Haaland early in the season and they were watching on in envy. In a scrappy game filled with free-kicks referee Michael Oliver had main character syndrome again as he booked Liverpool players for sneezing. Arne Slot’s tribe looked like they had overcome adversity as triple captain Salah scored after Curtis Jones’ shot had been blocked. I was ecstatic but there was one more twist in the tale. The game should have been put to bed by the away side when substitute Diogo Jota was through. Instead, he delayed shooting and looked like he was in two minds as he tried to find Salah in injury time. Two Everton players clashed heads, and further time was added on for the stoppage in injury time. Up popped James Tarkowski to deny the Reds going nine points clear at the top of the table in the bloody 98th minute! Oliver was not done there as Abdoulaye Doucoure, Curtis Jones and even Slot were all sent off after the final whistle. Oprah Winfrey popped up again on commentary, ‘you get a card, you get a card!’. I am not here for the romanticism of a late fightback in the last game at a ground, clearly Oliver was though. Or maybe he was intimidated by the fact Arsenal fans might be on his case again, we will never know. This really was the only way to make someone angry after they just accumulated 145 points in a single gameweek!

So, it finished 145-102 to me as I moved up in my overall rank by well over 400k. 145 was only the third highest score in this epic gameweek as Stel got 146 and Muji turned into Ronnie O’Sullivan as he was highest with 147…get it? With the Justice League table being so tight I only moved up by one place to 7th. No time to pine over this win as gameweek 25 is right around the corner. With Liverpool getting to the Carabao Cup Final they have another double gameweek, so I doubt many people will replenish their teams, unless they want to flood it with Aston Villa players who also play twice.

@DubulDee