Fantasy Football Files - 2024/25 - Gameweek 33 - The Curse Of The Double

Gameweek 33 saw me up against (Coach) Kojo. I was just playing for pride as previously stated nonetheless I badly seeked a victory. Kojo was propping up the table however, his team had some players that could easily cause some problems.

With it being another double gameweek, for the second consecutive week I decided to take a points-hit. In came Morgan Rogers and Omar Marmoush for Cole Palmer and Evanilson. Kojo also took a points deduction as he too sold Palmer and replaced him with Bukayo Saka, as well as this he sold Marco Asensio for his compatriot Mikel Merino. I captained Rogers as I wanted to try something different as I missed out on a win last week by not following through with the original idea to captain Jacob Murphy. My opponent captained Alexander Isak. 

There was not an early Saturday kick-off so the action started at 3pm. After selling Palmer, I had a big dilemma regarding who I should leave on my bench. With Murphy in-form I chose to start him over Bryan Mbeumo, and it came back to haunt me. Brentford took the lead against Brighton, and it was Mbeumo who tucked it away on his weaker right foot. Brighton levelled through Danny Welbeck at the end of the first half only to then be hit by two goals from the Bees before the hour mark. Mbeumo grabbed his second goal and then he assisted the third which was scored by Yoane Wissa. You see, double gameweeks are sometimes just a lot of hype. You spend all this time organising your team, going through different drafts for single gameweek players to oust the double gameweekers. Thomas Frank’s men went on to win 4-2 as Wissa also punished me with consecutive returns since I sold him. The only positive from this fixture was that I was up against Pervis Estupinan, and he only delivered -1.

It was the last week of my ‘Assistant manager’ bonus chip, and I had left it with Oliver Glasner for the whole duration of the three weeks. I was hoping for a home win for Crystal Palace as they hosted Bournemouth but as Chris Richards was harshly sent off, I was grateful that they hung on for a point as it ended goalless. This gave Glasner five points which were extremely valuable as it wiped out my points deduction. Antoine Semenyo blanked for Kojo. Dean Henderson got another clean sheet as he was the top scoring keeper this week. Daniel Munoz got me points although he was cautioned. Manchester City left it late as they won 2-0 at Everton. There was no goal for Marmoush, who was denied by a good save by Jordan Pickford. Nico O’Reilly (£4.9m) got their first as the midfielder continues to perform well at left back and may be cheeky addition to your FPL team. Kojo and I both got points from Jarrod Bowen as he gave West Ham the lead at home to Southampton. Despite already being relegated the Saints got a last-gasp equaliser from Lesley Ugochukwu to deny me a clean sheet from Alphonse Areola.

In the late Saturday contest, Aston Villa wasted no time in taking the lead against Newcastle as Ollie Watkins’ deflected shot went in after just 33 seconds. I had not considered Watkins as I had no idea if he would start or not. Fabian Schar levelled only for Villa to run away with it in the second half in this important battle for Champions League qualification. Ian Maatsen and a Dan Burn own goal made it 3-1 as I thought nothing was going to come from my captain Rogers. Unai Emery’s side were to get a fourth though as Rogers who almost scored himself but for a great save by Nick Pope, then laid on a fabulous strike from substitute Amadou Onana. Saturday, concluded with me leading 32-11 due to Isak’s blank.  

Sunday, saw Arsenal roll over Ipswich 4-0, I do not know how Saka was not amongst the points as he had two good chances, the best chance he put well wide. Merino was to get a goal for Kojo, as Leandro Trossard owners were the greatest recipients here as he a bagged a brace. A late free-kick from Pablo Sarabia got Wolves three points at Old Trafford. Rayan Ait-Nouri was unfortunately booked but Kojo and I were still content with the clean sheet points outside of that as Mason Mount almost scored twice late on for Manchester United. Then again Coach Kojo is a United fan so he would have been cussing.

Liverpool edged closer to the title as they won 1-0 at Leicester. Both teams hit the post early on, in fact Mo Salah’s shot hit both posts as he should have given the Reds the lead. Salah was to have another first half effort saved as the Reds were not clinical in front of goal. The Foxes had a goal disallowed for a push on Alisson before a late Trent Alexander-Arnold shot won the game. Sunday had me still ahead 46-24.

On Monday, Nottingham Forest won 2-1 away at Tottenham. Kojo had Chris Wood, so I was happy he only found the net once. The goals from Nuno Espirito Santo’s men meant that Djed Spence only got a single point. The Spurs goal scored by Richarlison was needed as the opposition had Nikola Milenkovic in his team. On Tuesday, a late Matheus Nunes goal got all three points for Manchester City against Aston Villa. It was another crucial clash in the race for Champions League football. Marmoush’s second blank meant that he was outscored by Wissa in just one game, as I said double gameweeks are overrated. Rogers was booked so only returned a solitary point. This left the door ever so slightly ajar for Kojo to steal a win if things really went his way in Wednesdays’ match.

I was happy to know that Mikel Merino was not in Arsenal’s squad for the visit of Crystal Palace. Saka was only on the bench also. Arsenal took the lead through Jakub Kiwior and then the man I overlooked Eberechi Eze scored a fine goal to square things up. Leandro Trossard put the Gunners ahead again and as it went past the 80th minute it looked like Mikel Arteta’s men would get all three points. I was unhappy that Jean-Philippe Mateta began the match on the bench, nonetheless he got an 83rd minute equaliser. The goal was extremely important. It pushed my team Liverpool closer to the title, but in terms of FPL it got me Mateta points and a draw table bonus for Glasner, giving him 10 points to add to his 5 from the weekend.

So, though there were very minor concerns, in the end it was completely fine as the late show from the Eagles gave me a comfortable 70-35 victory. It could have been even better had I not benched Mbeumo, I must be happy I won though regardless. I am back in the top 800k overall now but stay only 9th in the head-to-head league. A shoutout to Boods (Ash) who got the highest ‘Justice League’ score this week with 118, as he used his ‘Free hit’ to devasting effect, including captaining Trossard. Next week is a blank gameweek due to the FA Cup semi-finals so expect more overthinking, how I wish I had my free hit chip still.  

@DubulDee