This is going to be competitive. It’s hard to beat a 12 team draft league with 12 active, knowledgeable (I assume) participants and this league certainly fits the criteria.
Gameweek 1 was good, Gameweek 2 was better. Three of the six match ups were decided on the Monday night and only three 100% records remain. Let’s get into this week’s round up!
As shallow as it sounds, I’m going to start by talking about myself.
In what is probably the match up of the season so far, both teams posted scores that come into the “unlucky to lose” category.
Kevin De Bruyne (34.5), who looks good to be the overall top scorer if he keeps up his incredible form, had seemingly decided this match up in Stipe’s favour on Saturday evening. Stipe bravely started Dwight McNeil away at Arsenal and was rewarded with an assist.
Will Jack O’Connell be this year’s Sean Morrison? Quite possibly. He dragged us back into this match up, his 16.25 giving us a lead of 3 points going into Chelsea v Leicester. After being questioned (rightly so!) for splashing $20 on Mason Mount, the Chelsea youngster repaid some of that fee and gave Stipe a MOUNTain to claim.
Maddison and Martial sealed the deal to send us to the top of the table after two Gameweeks.
The honour of top scorer this week goes to my younger and less successful brother, Joe Rivers. Well done Joe.
His impressive 139.75 came largely thanks to Norwich sensation Teemu Pukki (43.5) whose treble showed that he really can Finnish. Looking like he could be a steal in a lot of draft leagues this year. Could he be this year’s Raul Jiminez?
Jofo’s Villa duo Grealish and Elmohamady combined for a tidy 38.75 points while Sergio Aguero get off the mark against Spurs. But Joe’s punt on Bernard paid off thanks to a surprising haul of 26.5 points.
Goals from Lucas Moura, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Ruben Neves made up the rest of Joe’s whopping score. He makes up the other half of a Rivers 1-2 which is currently in the correct order.
The final 100% record belongs to Andrew Russell who still can’t think of a team name.
Andrew put a lot of faith in the Sheffield United defence this week and was rewarded with a triple clean sheet, a gamble which accounted for just under half of his total score for GW2.
Any score of under 100 is generally a fortunate one to win with but you can only play what’s put in front of you! Sky player Paul definitely won the team name Battle but lost the one that matters.
Joao Moutinho (18) was the pick of his performers and he will have been left very disappointed by Mo Salah’s miserly score of 3.
The Chaps are off the mark! Fantrax HQ’s very own struggled in GW1 but registered an impressive 118.25 to fend off the challenge of last week’s top scorer @draft_fpl.
Ashley Barnes got The Exiles off to the perfect start in the early kick off but $100 man Nicolas Pepe started from the bench once again. Those who performed so well in GW1 faltered in GW2.
The Chaps capitalised with a series of solid but unspectacular performers. Lucas Digne was (of course) the pick of the bunch with 27 points and five others contributed with double figure scores.
Harry Kane didn’t exactly help, in fact a score of – 0.5 proved to be a hinderance. We face The Chaps next week where Kane faces Newcastle and will most likely be a different proposition. It should be a decent battle!
Satish Vasanth also got off the mark this week in another close match up. If you make a century, you’re always giving yourself a chance of winning and that’s exactly what Satish did.
Alexandre Lacazette got himself off the mark, playing up front with his brother (if you know, you know) and earning himself 15 points. Surprisingly, Erik Lamela top scored for Satish. Starting anyone away Manchester City is always a brave tactic but this one came up trumps. A solid 22 points from the Argentine put Satish in control.
@FPLHazardous will have been delighted with the 32.5 point contribution from his returning first round pick Sadio Mane but ultimately, the rest of his team let him down, ten players combining for only 54 points.
Satish is off the mark but Hazardous falls to 0-2.
No offence to @PhatPhantasy and @tottiandor but we finish with a bit of a stinker.
The two managers combined to score 0.75 points more than Joe Rivers alone in a match up to forget.
But there’s a winner in every match up (unless it’s a draw) and Phat Phantasy chose the right opponent in Totti this week.
There’s not a lot to shout about in the rest of this match up but it came down to Monday’s clash between Wolves and Manchester United or, more accurately Rashford (Totti) vs Doherty and Pogba (Phat Phantasy) .
It looked like an uphill battle for Totti but an assist for Rashford couple with a Doherty injury meant it was well and truly game on in the final 45 minutes of the Gameweek.
Despite Pobga’s penalty nightmare, Phat Phantasy held on to claim the win and get him off the mark, leaving both managers on 1-1.
Next week…
@TheFFChaps v FF92, JofoMofo v The Exiles, Never Won a League FC v Lingardium Weviosa, Totti’s Legion v New Team 4, PhatPhantasy v @FPLHazardous, Minato FFC v Yellow Card Wanderers
Fantasy Football 92 