EXTRA LIFE: Preparing for tonight's Blank Gameweek
Stay for Pep taking passive aggressive to the next level
***GAMEWEEK 12 DEADLINE: TUESDAY - 18:00 GMT***
Hello! A quick extra email this morning to deal with mid-week games, Gameweek 12. It was always going to be a complicated one with Man City and Arsenal not playing, but it was made even worse when James Maddison did the most FPL thing ever - by getting a yellow card in the last minute at the weekend - and a ban for this round of games. Obviously, this was just after loads of people had brought him in. We’ll deal with it below.
PS - I’ll produce a regular edition of FPL Is Life for Friday morning, but it’ll be shorter than normal - partly because of this extra newsletter, and party because my day job is quite busy. I’m a UK political journalist, and the British government is currently imploding faster than wet cardboard. Remember TONIGHT’S DEADLINE!!! Oh, and share the FPL Is Life word.
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It’s ok to take a hit this week - but think carefully
A load of people are taking a points hit this week - that’s largely down to FPL plonker James Maddison. Also, people need to take a hit to remove an Arsenal/Many City player to make sure they have a full, or nearly full team this week (they don’t play, as regular readers have prepared for). So a -4 points hit this week won’t hurt you in the way it normally would, especially if you’re keeping the player you bring in long term.
The issue is this - the players we’ll really want after this week are those Man City and Arsenal players. If you’re replacing Maddison, you’re probably thinking about a one-week punt on a player. Obviously, you have to believe they will definitely secure FPL returns this week or there’s no point… the most obvious one-week punt is Trossard vs Forest. It is an option just to do nothing and play with one less player for a week.
Replacements for Maddison
If you went for Mason Mount after last week’s item on him, you’re welcome. He looks terrific under Potter. There must be a risk of rotation this week, though, so bear that in mind. Mount has played every game under Potter.
Here’s a good graphic - click to zoom in. It takes projected data from different sources and comes up with a Top 3 to get for the next few weeks. It doesn’t include Salah, who’s the Big Get this week. Zaha hasn’t looked great, but has the best fixtures until the World Cup.
A Free Hit for this week
It’s actually not a great time to use a Free Hit - in the vast majority of cases, there will be better weeks to play it when more teams don’t have a game, or good teams have a Double Gameweek (two games in the week). BUT if you are *really* stuck and have decided to play it, here’s a decent one. A couple of things to add - having THREE LIVERPOOL would be a good differential - and Sterling or Rashford are fun but risky punts.
Wolves have a strong Twitter game
Forest brought this on themselves, but strong stuff from the Wolves social media team.
James is out for a while - some options
He’s a sell. On the fixtures, it’s probably worth taking money out of defence and going for Crystal Palace (Guehi, Andersen), Brighton (Dunk, Webster) or a bit risky and more attacking with Doherty from Spurs.
In terms of defenders with attacking potential, it’s tough. BUT if you have the money, the Liverpool buys should be back. Robertson is just £6.7m now - Trent came on at the end of the Man City game and should play - he came on as a right winger… Liverpool’s fixtures are now good until the World Cup, but rotation is a risk for everyone this week - especially the big teams. Some other options here:
Hurrah! We get to pick a captain this week
We get to think about a captain again. Hurrah! The options below. For me, it’s between Kane and Salah. As a dark horse, Forest are clearly the team to target at the moment, so Trossard. If you have De Bruyne, the move to Salah is an easy one. Some are even thinking about swapping Kane for Salah, though that’s probably not worth a -4 points hit. Here’s what a Big FPL Twitter Account thinks:
Pep - the king of the aggro interview
He actually looks like he’s going to hit the guy. He’s got “passive aggressive” down to a fine art - though maybe this is just… aggressive? I laughed a lot, though.
Please get in touch with any FPL dilemmas or general football internet gold. Remember the DEADLINES and see you next week! I’m on Twitter here. Please help me grow FPL Is Life by sharing… thanks!