Fantasy Football Files - 2024/25 - Gameweek 25 - Double Trouble

Gameweek 25 pitted me against Ravi. Wherever Ravi was in the table he always seemed to have the upper hand when we faced. He had gameweeks when it seemed he did not properly check on his team, somehow though he always had it in place when he was up against me.

I was conflicted as Cody Gakpo was injured, so did I replace Gakpo, or did I sell a different player in midfield and leave Gakpo in? I wanted to keep Kevin De Bruyne in midfield but with the fact I knew his minutes were being monitored I decided to let him go. I went for Jarrod Bowen who was another major differential with West Ham at home to Brentford. The issue here was I am trying to see how long I can go without taking a points hit and with an injured Harry Wilson still in my team, my bench was anaemic. My opponent’s only transfer was to sell Anthony Gordon for Morgan Rogers as he attacked the double gameweek. Ravi and I both of course captained Mo Salah.

The action began last Friday as Brighton met Chelsea at the Amex Stadium. I am usually on point with deadlines, but I did not realise until the Tuesday that there was a Friday night match, as I acted early on my transfer I was never in danger of missing the deadline anyhow. Since I sold him, Kaoru Mitoma has realised how good he is again, and he opened the scoring. The Japanese international showed superb control to pluck the ball out of the air from a ball by his keeper Bart Verbruggen, he took another touch and then calmly slotted in. Before the goal, the man we both owned, Cole Palmer missed a great chance as he went on to blank as the Seagulls won 3-0. Yankuba Minteh, copped a brace as now I am seriously looking at whether I can do without Palmer because of how expensive he is.

Saturday’s early kick off had Arsenal travel to Leicester. I was in desperate need of a goal from the Foxes as the opposition had Gabriel Magalhaes in his defence. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men had a couple of chances and probably looked the more likely to score bar Ethan Nwaneri hitting the woodwork for the Gunners with 80 minutes having gone. Mikel Arteta brought on Mikel Merino (£6m) and he was to bag a very late brace to get all three points. With Arsenal’s injury issues up front, Merino could be a short-term option as a false 9 and this could up his ownership as he would be a huge differential, as it stands, he is only owned by 0.5%. Understandably there are cheaper more reliable options.

The 3pm contests; saw Ipswich get an unexpected point at Aston Villa. The Tractor Boys were at a disadvantage as Axel Tuanzebe was given his marching orders getting his second yellow for a pull. Nevertheless, they still took the lead through a good finish by Liam Delap. Delap is another player who has gone from strength to strength since I sold him. Ollie Watkins was to salvage a point for the home side as he followed in after Marcus Rashford’s free-kick struck the crossbar. I was appreciative for Alex Palmer’s great performance in goal as he made sure Rogers blanked. At Craven Cottage, Adama Traore (£4.6m) is now on my watchlist as he continues to impress in Harry Wilson’s absence. He provided the opening goal as the Cottagers went ahead against Nottingham Forest. Chris Wood who is having the season of his life levelled to get us both points and it was also extremely helpful as Ravi had both Bernd Leno and Antonee Robinson. Calvin Bassey won it for Marco Silva’s men in the second half as Raul Jimenez assisted.   

Manchester City’s rough campaign had some people thinking that Newcastle could get a result at the Etihad, only for Omar Marmoush to announce himself in the best way possible. The Egyptian scored a first half hat-trick as the Magpies were stuffed 4-0 with James McAtee getting the other goal. I welcomed Josko Gvardiol’s clean sheet points as City’s defence has been outrageously underwhelming. This made the Alexander Isak blank easier to take and my opponent also had the Swede. I was punished for not turning to Bournemouth this week as they won again, this time 3-1 at Southampton. I seriously looked at Dango Ouatarra due to him playing false for the Cherries with their mass injuries, but I overlooked it to get in Bowen as mentioned. Ouatarra was of course to get the first goal of the game in true FPL fashion. Ryan Christie scored and assisted as he has taken over from Tyler Adams as the random Bournemouth midfielder who hauls when they win well. Kamaldeen Sulemana scored for the Saints to help me as Ravi had Milos Kerkez at the back. Justin Kluivert was the player who was the most transferred in and he assisted Christie’s goal to vindicate his new owners. Aaron Ramsdale is my keeper as Lukasz Fabianski is number two at West Ham again, so this made the result even more damaging. Meanwhile, Brentford undid my Bowen transfer as they won 1-0 at West Ham. Kevin Schade (£5.1m) got the goal as he is still surprisingly has just over 1% of ownership despite having double figures combined in goals and assists. Missing out on Ouatarra’s goal meant that Bowen’s blank cut deep, at least I survived a Bryan Mbeumo haul though. The day concluded with Ravi narrowly ahead 30-27.

Liverpool started things off on Sunday as they hosted Wolves. Luis Diaz scored at home for the first time since September as he bundled it in for 1-0. Diaz then won a penalty that Salah dispatched with aplomb. Salah was the most captained again as the Reds had a successive double gameweek. Wolves played Arne Slot’s men off the pitch in the second half but still fell to a 2-1 defeat. Ravi who was a fellow Liverpool fan had Dominik Szoboszlai, and I had Ibrahima Konate. Konate was withdrawn at half-time as he had been booked. Sunday ended with Ravi still leading 48-43.

The gameweek finally ended on Wednesday evening. I had faint hope that Gakpo may be able to make the bench for the Aston Villa trip but sadly it was not to be. This meant that I got a solitary point off the bench from Rayan Ait-Nouri. Now the only way that I could win was if Liverpool kept a clean sheet and Szoboszlai blanked. The Reds took the lead as Diogo Jota pounced on a mistake and fed the inevitable Salah to make it 1-0.  The chances of me stealing an unlikely victory went when Youri Tielemens equalised. Unai Emery’s men then took the lead just before half-time through Ollie Watkins. Salah was to gain more points however, as he setup the leveller for Trent Alexander-Arnold as it finished all square. Szoboszlai had the chance to win the game but slid the ball to Darwin Nunez who auditioned for the NFL with his finish.

I was relieved the club I support did not lose but someone who did lose was…me. Those that were around me won so it was very costly. I am normally a proactive person, with Gakpo playing for Liverpool and being in-form however, I had blind faith he would feature midweek, and I paid the price for it as I lost 76-69. My rank was annihilated as there were many people who scored over 100 points. One of those people was the Justice League’s Darren B. (D-Man) who got the most points with 114. Another quick turnaround means I cannot dwell on this mishap.

@DubulDee