Fantasy Football Files - 2025/26 - Gameweek 22 - 'Blank Cheque'

Gameweek 22 pitted me against Ravi. Ravi had a good start to the campaign and was top of the table earlier on but recently he had fallen to 8th place due to how congested the top 10 was. He could move up with a victory whereas I was again trying to keep clear of the bottom three in this woeful season.

Boringly I made no transfers again, which will give me 3 free transfers for gameweek 23. I toyed with the idea of getting Igor Thiago back in for Jarrod Bowen, but as I thought West Ham could win away at Tottenham, I kept faith thinking if the Hammers did score then he would be involved. I even more strongly considered selling Phil Foden for Florian Wirtz, the German international had improved and I felt he would contribute against Burnley. The only thing that stopped me from pulling the trigger was that Foden has a very good record against Manchester United, so I stuck with what I had. Ravi had as many as five free transfers and the ones he made partially nullified me. Matty Cash and Antoine Semenyo came in for him who I owned. In addition to that he transferred in Martin Zubimendi, Cody Gakpo and Igor Thiago for Amadou Onana, Eberechi Eze and Nick Woltemade.

The action began with the Manchester Derby early on Saturday. When you have three players from one team in your side as I did now that Semenyo had moved to Manchester City, you first hope that they at least score. It was not to be the case however, as United fully deserved the spoils as they won with two second half goals. Foden was substituted at half-time for Rayan Cherki and although Liverpool were yet to play, I knew I had made a blunder not getting Wirtz. United’s best two FPL midfielders this season Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes combined for the opener and Patrick Dorgu (£4.3m), who I mentioned would be a good enabler a few weeks got the second. The only welcome thing from this match was that Gianluigi Donnarumma was my opponent’s goalkeeper.

In the 3pm’s, despite a good start by Brentford, my hopes of a Caoimhin Kelleher clean sheet were dashed as Joao Pedro gave Chelsea the lead against Brentford. Thiago headed wide in the second period before a Cole Palmer penalty sealed the points for the Blues. I had hope as Kelleher is good at penalties, but it was not to be. The Harry Wilson run cooled off as Leeds got a late winner to get past Fulham. The Welshman was lucky he was only booked for a bad challenge in the first period.

Liverpool took the lead at home to Burnley thanks to a lovely finish by Wirtz as once again my gut was leading me in the right direction, and I should have acted on it. The German international now has three double-figure hauls in his last five outings. The Reds wasted some good openings, including one where Wirtz found Gakpo whose tame effort was cleared off the line. Arne Slot’s men were then punished as Marcus Edwards drilled in an equaliser for the Clarets. This took away my Jeremie Frimpong points as well as Virgil van Dijk’s points going for Ravi.

Sunderland edged past Crystal Palace. To my pleasure, Nordi Mukiele assisted Enzo Le Fee’s (£4.9m) leveller after Yeremy Pino put the Eagles ahead. Brian Brobbey (£5.5m) won the game with his 4th league goal of the season; the finish was straight out of the top draw as he guided the ball in off the bar. I benched Micky van de Ven and I was proved right as my prediction of a West Ham victory came to the fore. The Hammers beat Tottenham 2-1 thanks to another late goal; this one was by Callum Wilson. I was confused as I was under the impression that he had left the club, Spurs were clearly under that impression too as he was able to squeeze the ball in from a couple of yards out as a corner was not cleared. Bowen not returning when his side score 2 away goals may just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The transfer to him from Thiago is arguably the biggest mistake I have ever made since playing FPL.

The late game saw Nottingham Forest and Arsenal have a goalless draw. The Gunners could have had a penalty and missed some great chances. Their clean sheet had a huge impact on the head-to-head as Ravi had Ben White and William Saliba. Saturday concluded 30-23 in Ravi’s favour, so it was already over as we both had the same players left. In a low scoring contest, just pulling the trigger on Wirtz would have won this for me, I was gutted.

Sunday had the last of the games that concerned the head-to-head as Everton travelled to Aston Villa. The Toffees almost took the lead in the first minute as Merlin Rohl hit the post. Villa did not really get going and they messed up the chance to close the gap on Arsenal as a smart finish by Thierno Barry won the game. Rogers tried his best as he had a certain goal blocked by Jake O’Brien in the first half and he was denied a late equaliser by an outstanding save by Jordan Pickford. With Ravi and I both getting 4 points for Cash and Rogers it ended 34-27.

It’s all good having 3 free transfers now but I should have made the change for Wirtz. Liverpool’s indifferent results made me overthink as I was not sure whether to have three players from the team I support or not and it turns out it would have been the right thing to do. I need to recover as I remain in 16th as Ravi moved up to 7th in the ‘Justice League’. My miserable season somehow worsened as Mukiele was the only man out of 11 who did not blank, this is just beyond stupid now.

@DubulDee