Fantasy Football Files - 2026/27 - Gameweek 6 - 'Shindig at Dewsbury-Hall'

Leon (Bear) was my gameweek 6 opponent. After two FPL managers decided not to enter the ‘Justice League’ this season, Leon was the first person I asked on the waiting list as he won my free classic league, the ‘League of Gentleman’ last season. He was already near the top of the Justice League early on, so it was going to be another difficult gameweek.

Andoni Iraola confirmed that Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak were both out of Liverpool’s match with Manchester City after picking up injuries whilst on international duty. Erling Haaland also picked up a knock but was fit Enzo Maresca informed. Xabi Alonso stated that Joao Pedro was okay after he missed Brazil’s games in the three-week break. I toiled with selling Isak but then thought I will go back to what I was thinking of previously and sell the suspended Phil Foden for Harvey Barnes. Foden only had one game left of his suspension and Ipswich are City’s fixture in gameweek 7. However, with the Isak injury I needed cover, so a suspended player was no use when I was not yet going to sell the injured player, ‘stay with me here people’. Leon had two free transfers and sold the aforementioned Isak for Gonzalo Garcia, as well as Martin Odegaard for his teammate Bukayo Saka, and he gave Saka the captaincy. I knew many would go for Haaland as captain, so I went with Pedro as I knew people would be sceptical about the number of minutes he would play, so I deemed this as a differential captain to an extent.

Arsenal and Leeds kicked things off early om Saturday. Daniel Farke’s men were the better side for the first hour and took the lead through James Justin. Leon’s week kickstarted when Riccardo Calafiori levelled things. I said earlier in the season I felt he was the best choice amongst the Gunners’ defenders and he proved that again here getting 9 points. Bruno Guimaraes was to win the game rounding off a fine team move. Ezri Konsa was also in my opponent’s team, and Saka blanked as he had a massive chance saved late on, so I got off lightly here outside of Calafiori.

Jordan Henderson rolled back the years as scored twice and assisted as Chelsea smashed Bournemouth 5-1 at Stamford Bridge. Leon was beaming at the start as he was heavily invested in ‘CPR’ and Cole Palmer assisted Henderson’s first after just two minutes and Morgan Rogers scored the second just a minute later. Things were not looking good then Joao Pedro burst into life with two clinical second half finishes to vindicate my captaincy and basically wipe out the points Palmer and Rogers got for my opponent.

I had high expectations for Fulham’s trip to Ipswich. Leon and I both almost got points as Josh King’s ball saw Garcia’s shot blocked by Issa Diop. Ryan Sessegnon’s fine strike gave the Cottagers the lead however, Gary O’Neil’s men fought back to get all three points. Abdoul Ouatarra’s banger levelled things up and then in injury time the man on my bench Dara O’Shea won it with a header in injury time. I was lost for words! I needed someone not to start in the remaining games, so I got O’Shea’s points. To anyone who thought that Pascal Gross’ points would ease up were wrong as he assisted Brighton’s opening goal at Sunderland to get me some crucial differential points in the head-to-head. The popular Maxim De Cuyper scored the goal as his value has flown up to 35.6%. Despite having the other Pascal, Struijk, sent off a few minutes after the goal, the Seagulls went on to still win 2-0 as Jaouen Hadjam…’yeah I had never heard of him either’, emphatically dispatched Georginio Rutter’s pass. Leon and I had Bart Verbruggen who served us well with 9 points as he continued his impressive start to the campaign. Someone who seems to frequently get into good positions for Fabian Huerzeler’s men is Diego Gomez (£5m )and I believe the points will come soon for the Paraguayan, he is still only owned by 3.6%.

With neither of us having anyone in the 1-1 draw between Manchester United and Tottenham at Old Trafford, to Sunday we go. Dan Ndoye put Nottingham Forest ahead at Crystal Palace. The Eagles fought back to gain a 3-1 victory despite being outplayed for a decent amount of the contest. Tyrick Mitchell got me some defensive contribution points here at least. Simultaneously, my patience with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall paid off as he scored and assisted away at Hull. The Tigers took the lead through the lively Joe Gelhardt’s smart finish, then Dewsbury-Hall took over. Ainsley Maitland-Niles had been at fault for the Hull goal; he went on to redeem himself with a good ball in that was headed home by Dewsbury-Hall. Thierno Barry could have had a hat-trick on another day and after Dewsbury-Hall intercepted he was challenged as he tried to find Barry and Barry finished well for 2-1 after the ball ricocheted to him. With my opponent having Nobel Mendy this made it even better. I said the ‘Wedding Reception’ was going to be amongst the points and he showcased a double figure haul. Mohamed Belloumi was only on the bench but still came on to continue his fine start to Premier League life as he levelled. Jordan Pickford should have saved it…if only his arms were bigger.

So, to the big game of the weekend. Manchester City and all the King’s men…sorry, I mean all the charges made the trip to Anfield. Just before the game it came to the fore that Dominik Szoboszlai was missing the game with tightness in his hamstring. Szoboszlai rarely gets injured, so this was a big concern. The consolation was that this meant I got O’Shea’s points. Liverpool’s depleted side were the better team until Ryan Gravenberch was sent off after a harsh second booking. Then not even three minutes later, Haaland put Maresca’s men ahead as he just got in front of Virgil van Dijk. Jeremy Doku then produced a stunning curler into the top corner which is turning into a bit of a trademark for him for 2-0. As if that was not enough, the away side then pieced together a superb team move that saw all their players touch the ball and then Rayan Cherki showed some tidy feet before sliding in the third. A real shame as without the sending off I am 100% sure the Reds would not have lost. Despite van Dijk’s blank, I ended Sunday 78-66 ahead after finishing Saturday behind, 57-48, what a turnaround it had been.

Monday was gigantic. It was Harvey Barnes for me up against Lewis Hall for Leon. Things began in my favour as the Magpies conceded an early penalty and Jack Rudoni put it away. The Sky Blues lead was extended as Newcastle could not ‘shoot the Sheriff’ and Sadiki Cherif made it two. Sven Botman’s rocket made it 2-1, before two more goals from Coventry came as they won it 4-1, the last goal by Stephen Mfuni was very special. With Hall getting a big fat zero, I won 80-66. Barnes put a good chance straight at Carl Rushworth in the first half and would have a won a penalty later but there was a narrow offside. I had wondered why so many people were getting Bobby Thomas, but I saw first-hand as he got 21 defensive contributions.

A good win as I went in with low expectations. One thing I tried to do was be decisive and captaining Pedro did the job. I will try to keep that in mind in future weeks, sometimes do not doubt yourself, you already know what to do. Now excuse me, I am off to the ‘Dewsbury-Hall’ to celebrate.

@DubulDee