Fantasy Football Files - 2025/26 - Gameweek 18 - 'Beef Cherki'

I was up against another former ‘Justice League’ champion in Eman in gameweek 18. Eman was slowly climbing the table as he looked to get into the top 4 after not starting quite as well as he would have liked. Meanwhile I was just trying to get three points to stay away from the bottom 3.

I looked through all Eman’s previous gameweeks and saw that he had not used his ‘Wildcard’ bonus chip yet so with how his current squad looked I knew he would use it. There were only two gameweeks left in the first half of the season before he would lose it so it was either against me or gameweek 19. The only chip I had left was my ‘Free hit’ and though I liked my squad I needed a couple of changes due to injuries and suspensions, so as I refused to take a points-hit I used the chip. My instincts were correct as after the deadline I saw Eman used his wildcard and it seemed it was based on neutralising my team as he brought in the likes of Nordi Mukiele and Harry Wilson. I captained Erling Haaland, who yet again was the most captained player, whereas Eman captained Hugo Ekitike, who was the most transferred in player.

The action began at Old Trafford back on Friday evening. At the 11^th hour I transferred out Jarrod Bowen for Nick Woltemade as I thought Newcastle would exploit Manchester United’s defence. I was to be wrong as Woltemade did not have a proper chance in the contest before being replaced by Yoane Wissa as United won the game 1-0. Patrick Dorgu (£4.1m) got the only goal and could be a useful option whilst Amad Diallo is away at AFCON as he should have consistent minutes at wing-back. The only good thing to take from the fixture was that Matheus Cunha did not return for Eman.

In the early Saturday kick-off, I was hoping to get a nice lead as Eman did not have any Manchester City players for their trip to Nottingham Forest. After a goalless first half, City took the lead through Tijani Reijnders. The goal was setup by Rayan Cherki (£6.7m), and I was disappointed as I was putting him in my side and panicked at the last minute. Forest equalised only for Pep Guardiola’s men to get a late winner from you guessed it… Cherki. I was livid, as I liked my team, I did not use the free hit to its full potential and should have gone sideways from Foden to Cherki just for the week, that is the whole point of the free hit after all. Just as importantly Haaland not scoring really helped further give my opponent the edge despite I also owned his captain Ekitike.

In the 3pm games, Arsenal needed another own goal to help take three points against Brighton. Eman benefitted from this match too as the opening goal by Martin Odegaard was assisted by Bukayo Saka as it finished 2-1 to the Gunners. Riccardo Calafiori was a late withdrawal from the starting XI which meant my opponent would get points off his bench. Brentford hammered Bournemouth 4-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium. I let go of Igor Thiago and after doing nothing for weeks he found Kevin Schade for the opening goal. Schade went on to grab a hat-trick! Marcos Senesi’s defensive contributions saved him from getting zero points. Antoine Semeyo who Eman and I both had scored a consolation goal, and he somehow also got 2 bonus points. Things like this is how when many decided to sell the Ghanaian that thought did not cross my mind due to his work rate. He may be a Manchester City player soon which will cause problems in FPL.

I made the decision to keep Martin Dubravka as my goalkeeper as I did not believe Everton would have a massive goal threat with Iliman Ndiaye away at AFCON. Dubravka vindicated this with a clean sheet, but he really had to work for it as he made six saves and accumulated 13 points. The problem was Eman kept him in his team and got the points too. Liverpool looked in a bit of a struggle at home to bottom-placed Wolves before two quick goals just before half-time got the three points despite a Wolves goal in the second half. All the Liverpool players I brought in did a job. Jeremie Frimpong assisted the first goal for Ryan Gravenberch with a well-placed cutback after going on a good run. Then Ekitike, who of course was my opponent’s captain laid on the second for Florian Wirtz, as the German went on to get me 10 points. Eman’s inclusion of Wilson paid off as he assisted the only goal of the game for Raul Jimenez, as Fulham won at West Ham. I left Wilson on my bench and with Foden’s blank I paid the penalty. The opposition kept faith with Joachim Andersen, and that paid off for him.

The late contest saw Chelsea take a deserved lead at home to Aston Villa through Joao Pedro. This took a point away from Morgan Rogers which was not good however, it also meant Cash lost points as he was who would replace Calafiori for Eman. Cash was then also booked. Unai Emery made a triple substitution that worked wonders as the away side came back to triumph 2-1 thanks to a brace by Ollie Watkins. I was robbed of a Rogers assist for the first goal as Robert Sanchez saved his initial shot and then he scored from the rebound. Though Watkins was the intended target Rogers does not get an assist, yet Saka for instance got an assist against Wolves a few weeks ago for a corner that hit the woodwork and went in off Sam Johnstone. FPL Admins we need to have a word mate! This also happened with Haaland’s first goal at home to West Ham last week when his shot from a pass by Foden was saved and then Haaland scored the rebound so there was no assist for Foden. Though Foden was the last City player to touch the ball and Haaland was the intended target, the keeper’s intervention takes the assist away… 'Sod’s Law'. Rogers’ blank meant that Eman had won though the gameweek was not yet finished.

The only match that remained that had anyone we owned in was Sunderland’s 1-1 draw with Leeds. Eman and I both had Mukiele and his defensive contributions got him to 4 points despite the Black Cats conceding. Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m) scored for the sixth game in a row and has skyrocketed to almost 10% ownership. I just know if I bring him in, he will stop scoring. Anyway, the final score was 61-55 to Eman. If I had been bold enough to get Cherki in this week would have been mine. This is what FPL is about taking risks and hoping they come off. Last week, I got my highest score of the season and still drew. This week my total would have beaten 15 others in the league. There’s just no love in the heart of the city. I have now dropped down to 17th as this campaign continues to break me.

@DubulDee