Fantasy Football Files - 2026/27 - Gameweek 4 - 'Gross Misconduct'

Gameweek 4 in FPL saw me up against my longtime friend Jacques (J). I was trying to avoid a third head-to-head defeat this season as I did not want to be cut adrift early on. Jacques was a good player and had the knack for making ‘risqué’ picks that did the job often. It was the first Saturday deadline of the season and it was not a 11am deadline but a 1.30pm one.

The extra time with the deadline may have worked for some however, I just did my team on Friday as I did not want to overthink. I made the non-spectacular free transfer of getting Tyrick Mitchell back into my team. I was not expecting him to get a brace like he did at Fulham, but I felt more comfortable having him back in my squad. I was going to sell Nordi Mukiele for Mitchell and then I changed and let Andrew Robertson go as he was the same price as Mitchell. I did not like having a Tottenham double at the back of Andrew Robertson and Antonin Kinsky anymore and Robertson was not in the starting XI for their draw against Nottingham Forest in gameweek 3. Jacques’ only change was to sell Rayan and bring in Morgan Rogers. He captained Erling Haaland while I went with Joao Pedro even though Chelsea were playing Hull, who were yet to concede a goal.

The action started on Saturday afternoon with the 3pm’s. Bournemouth and Brentford shared the spoils at the Vitality Stadium in a 2-2 draw. This meant I escaped with Michael Kayode only getting s solitary point. Kevin Schade (£6.1m) scored twice for the Bees and still has only 6.7% ownership. James Tavernier (£6.1m) scored again for the Cherries and with his set piece threat too is another useful midfield option. There was instant reward for Jacques as Morgan Rogers gave Chelsea another early lead at home to Hull, the opener was at least setup by my captain Pedro although Jacques did have him too. Then the Tigers clawed their way back through Mohamed Belloumi ‘s emphatic finish. Xabi Alonso’s men were to be in real astonishment as Belloumi added a second after Chelsea failed to clear a corner. Some people are flocking to Hull players as they are so cheap and Belloumi has raised to £5.1m. It was to finish all square as Pedro smashed in an equaliser with a low shot from a ball in by Cole Palmer. So, ‘CPR’ all returned points again so those that who went all out to have all three Chelsea attackers were happy but no three points for them here.

Bringing Mitchell back this week ended up being pointless as Crystal Palace were beaten 3-2 at home by Ipswich. Due to me knowing his minutes were guaranteed I automatically went for Dara O’Shea when I looked at the Tractor Boys’ defence, but Leif Davis (£4m) is the one producing the goods thus far. He scored and assisted twice as he hit the woodwork which led to Zian Flemming scoring the winning goal, registering him a ‘fantasy’ assist. Simultaneously, Mitchell had a torrid afternoon up against Abdul Fatawu.

The matches effecting the head-to-head then produced two goalless draws. The first was very surprisingly at Anfield as Liverpool and Fulham had a stalemate. Jeremie Jacquet was in Jacques’ team, and he had to clear the ball off the line from Goncalo Garcia after Alisson almost gave the Cottagers a gift. Alexander Isak put a shot wide that he probably took too early and Victor Munoz hit the bar with a header in a match that failed to get going. Virgil van Dijk cancelled out the points Jacquet got but Dominik Szoboszlai had a powerful strike beaten away as he blanked. Some are selling Szoboszlai, if you watch the games however then you will have seen he has been unlucky and the points will come. The other goalless draw was in the 5.30pm kick-off as Tottenham and Everton bored us all to death. The contest was more productive for my opponent as Kinsky, who I benched was his keeper. Trust Robertson to start after I sold him and Spurs not to concede. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall almost capitalised on a mistake by Kinsky only for the keeper to recover and save it. Then Dewsbury-Hall found Brennan Johnson, but he put a really good chance over the bar. I was so frustrated once again, I do feel a big Dewsbury-Hall haul is on the way soon.  

The late game was between Sunderland and Arsenal. In a plethora of mini leagues that I am in many have tripled up on the Gunners at the back, so in the second half when the Black Cats got a penalty, I was optimistic, only for David Raya to save Enzo Le Fee’s spot kick. Jacques at least only had Gabriel Magalhaes in his defence as a Bruno Guimaraes cracker and a Bukayo Saka penalty got Mikel Arteta’s men all three points. My opponent is an Arsenal fan and in addition he had Martin Odegaard and Christos Tzolis so thankfully they both blanked. Saturday concluded with me trailing 52-40. I was pessimistic and messaged Jacques to inform him I think he had won it, although when I separately spoke to Rian (Milito) he said keep the faith as he felt I will make a comeback.

I needed big things to happen on Sunday, first up was Brighton’s trip to Coventry. The Sky Blues had a decent start to the contest however; it was the away side that took the lead. Pascal Gross’ header was controlled and fired in by Charalampos Kostoulas. A good start but I needed more. Just after the break the Seagulls went further ahead before such much welcomed ‘Gross’ misconduct occurred. Do not get me wrong in life I would never promote gross misconduct but here it was desperately needed. After Taiwo Awoniyi was sent off for Frank Lampard’s men, Pascal Gross scored a penalty. Then after a banger from Lewis Dunk, he assisted again as substitute Yasin Ayari found the bottom corner. An unexpected 17-point haul I was over the moon and as it ended 5-0, I also got a clean sheet from Bart Verbruggen, so there was no need to dwell on Kinsky’s shutout. Verbruggen had to make some good saves to maintain the clean sheet. Coventry scored for fun in the Championship; it is a whole new ballgame now though. Malick Yalcouyé (£4.5m) got his second goal of the season and looks like a good midfield enabler. I now amazingly had a 13-point advantage.

It was then time for the Manchester Derby. After all the hard work from Gross, Phil Foden decided to get sent off. Well…to be honest he was provoked by Bruno Fernandes who kicked him twice, Foden lashed out and lost me three points, I laughed in my pain as ‘if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry’, it was just my luck. I feared that only one team would win the game but due to a highly controversial goal Enzo Maresca’s men came away with the three points. Haaland got the goal and the last touch before a deflection was from Josko Gvardiol so that cancelled out the double pointe Jacques got from the Haaland captaincy. With Rayan Cherki substituted at half-time because of the sending off and Iliman Ndiaye the man who came on for him who was Jacques’ other City player, their failure to return meant I got the win!

Neither of us had anyone in the Monday evening fixture that saw Leeds thrash Newcastle 4-1. Dominic Calvert-Lewin was unlucky not to get two goals as he looked extremely lively. The man who was credited for the first goal he thought he had, Jayden Bogle (£4.5m), also continues to impress and playing as a wing back regularly sees him in and around the oppositions’ box.

A second head-to-head victory now sees me up to 12th in the ‘Justice League’, so I need to go on a winning streak sooner rather than later. Do I sell Foden or not is the question as when his two-game suspension is up City have Ipswich. Decisions, decisions.

@DubulDee