Fantasy Football Files - 2025/26 - Gameweek 28 - 'Dances With Wolves'

My gameweek 28 opponent was Michael B. who was the defending champion. He was slowly falling away from the pack at the top of the table, so therefore he needed a win to put him back in the mix. I was in danger of dropping back into the bottom three if I lost and other results did not go in my favour.

After missing the win last week at Nottingham Forest, Florian Wirtz was not going to be fit for Liverpool’s game with West Ham Arne Slot said, therefore I sold him to get Antoine Semenyo back into my side. I also gave Semenyo my captaincy. Michael’s only change was to sell the injured Nordi Mukiele for Matty Cash and he captained Hugo Ekitike.

The gameweek’s action began on Friday as Aston Villa made the short trip to play Wolverhampton. Though their fate was sealed a long time ago despite still being bottom, Wolves have improved since Rob Edwards took charge. Unai Emery’s men were to feel the wrath as they were beaten 2-0 as the home side got just their second win of the season. Wolves may be going down but they are going to mess things up for everyone else in the process. Michael and I both owned Morgan Rogers and the aforementioned Cash so we only picked up 2 measly points between them. Rogers (£7.6m) has become a bit of a problem as he has not returned in three games and has Chelsea and Manchester United coming up. He does have the ability to score past both, so I will probably keep him, but we will see.

Saturday saw the early contest finish in a draw. Sunderland took the lead denying me of clean sheet points from Marcos Senesi, the Argentine did at least get defensive contributions which had recently eluded him as James Hill had been getting them. Evanilson levelled in the second half for the Cherries. Eli Kroupi Jr blanked for Michael here. In the 3pm matches, Caoimhin Kelleher missed Brentford’s trip to Burnley as his wife was going to give birth. Congratulations to them both, therefore the other keeper in the game Martin Dubravka became my goalie for the week, so trust Burnley to concede 3 times in the first half. They did score 3 goals of their own to be fair after being 3-0 down only for Brentford to steal it in injury time through Mikkel Damsgaard (£5.6m) who bagged a brace and got an assist as he got a mammoth 18 points.

Liverpool beat West Ham 5-2, amazingly the result was maybe a little flattering. I knew I was in trouble as Ekitike scored the first goal. I overlooked him for the captaincy as he had scored in only one of his previous six games. Virgil van Dijk (£6.1m) scored again, and it was assisted by Dominic Szoboszlai as the Reds turned into set piece FC on the weekend. Ekitike added two assists to punish me further. I mentioned Alexis Mac Allister (£6.2m) last week and he justified that as he scored again. The 5.30pm game saw Manchester City travel to Leeds. Erling Haaland missed the game with an injury and there is no timeline on his return. Dominic Calvert-Lewin should have given the home side the lead as Daniel Farke’s men were easily the better side. Nonetheless, City went in ahead as Antoine Semenyo slid in to make it 1-0 from Rayan Ait-Nouri’s ball. And that surprisingly was to be the only goal of the game. I needed more from Semenyo as my opponent had him too, but I was still pleased as so many times my captain choice has failed hence my position in the ‘Justice League’ table. Nico O’Reilly came off injured, so I thought I had got away with an early clean sheet like with Reece James last week but as Leeds failed to score Marc Guehi got points for Michael too. Saturday concluded with me ahead 53-46, however he had more players left so I was very wary.

On Sunday, the 2pm kick-offs saw Harry Wilson get Michael and I some early points as he crashed a shot in to give Fulham the lead at home to Tottenham. Wilson also went on to assist the second goal for Alex Iwobi as well as getting defensive contributions before coming off injured with an ankle issue as the Cottagers went on to win 2-1. Iwobi (£6.3m) is an alternative to Wilson should you be seeking a Fulham differential as he is only owned by 2%. Everton got a big 3-2 win away at Newcastle and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall came off the bench for me in Haaland’s absence, so I was pleased he assisted the third goal for Thierno Barry. He was booked but critically got defensive contribution points too so ended with 6 points, ‘great stuff’.

Manchester United went behind against Crystal Palace and I was hoping the Eagles would hold out for a crucial away win as I was facing Bruno Fernandes. Unfortunately, the goalscorer Maxence Lacroix was harshly sent off, and the Red Devils went on to win 2-1 with a Fernandes penalty and then the Portuguese assisted the winner for Benjamin Sesko. Unless a miracle happened, Fernandes’ points meant I was now surely beaten.

The final match was the London Derby between Arsenal and Chelsea. I only had Joao Pedro left whilst Michael had David Raya and Gabriel Magalhaes from Arsenal along iwth Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea. The Gunners took the lead from a set piece believe it or not as William Saliba scored. It was over already but Gabriel assisted the goal to compound what I already knew. Chelsea levelled through a Piero Hincapie own goal, only for Timber to win it for Mikel Arteta’s men. The own goal was from a James corner, and he was on my bench, so I was not pleased. Predictable stuff in the end you have to say, I expected too much from Chelsea.

So, it ended 86-67 to Michael. With Andrew winning his match I fell back into the bottom three and if things continue to falter then I could find myself rock bottom as Jacques who is currently 20th won so he is only 3 points behind me. Can we not just end the season now please! My next opponent is Michael’s twin brother Darren B., ‘I feel sick man’.

@DubulDee