Last weekʼs suggested squad delivered a tidy profit of 56 MEDALS and Iʼll begin tracking and showing the successes and failures through the season once thereʼs a bit more data to plot!
I was definitely helped out by the big hauls of Isak and Josh King but equally by choosing budget players, even where my picks didnʼt come off, they didnʼt significantly drop in price. The largest drop was -4 MEDALS for Kelleher who didnʼt get the clean sheet I was hoping for.
This week has the potential to be a little tougher due to the way the fixtures fall and with European football kicking off, there is the real chance that players minutes will be impacted.
GK
Iʼm not really convinced by any of the options this week and so Iʼm not going to select a keeper. If you really want a full XI then the better options are likely James Trafford and Martinez but I wouldnʼt bank on either keeping a clean sheet.
DEF - Maatsen (Villa) 25 MEDALS
Iʼll be sticking with Maatsen in defence. His value may have gone up but there is still a strong chance of making a profit off Villaʼs home game against Forest this weekend.
DEF - OʼShea (Ipswich) 23 MEDALS
Nothing fancy about this pick, just good common sense. Ipswich travel to Palace and OʼShea can deliver me profit if he gets anything beyond 2 points. Heʼs almost a risk free investment at his current price.
DEF - De Cuyper (Brighton) 57 MEDALS
Yes, heʼs higher value but that is based more off his GW1 score and his GW4 tally will not drop significantly if he blanks. On the flip side, Brighton face a struggling Coventry team and so there is the real potential for him to push that value even higher!
MID - Palmer (Chelsea) 65 MEDALS
Blanked in GW3 but Chelsea were once again threatening on their visit to Arsenal and Palmer could easily have come away with a GI. Heʼll face the unbreakable Hull defence this weekend though something tells me that record wonʼt last much longer. Given his fitness issues in recent years youʼd be concerned about game time now that 2 matches a week are coming along but with the Blues not in Europe that no longer looks to be an issue. Wouldnʼt surprise me to see him rested for the EFL Cup match.
MID x 3
Iʼm going to be boring and stick with 3 of the players I had last week in Elanga (Newcastle) 46 MEDALS, King (Fulham) 48 MEDALS and Buendia (Villa) 27 MEDALS. Itʼs worth remembering that for the first 4 GWs of the season, the price is influenced primarily by the average score from last season. All of these guys were scoring 2 or in the case of Buendia 3 points per game in 2526 and so at present, all they need to do is beat that average to deliver a profit.
FWD - Delap (Forest) 19 MEDALS
Looks like heʼll be Forestʼs first choice number 9 going forward although there is still competition at the club. At 19 MEDALS though you know youʼre getting in at a good price for a player who is going to struggle to go much lower. Forest have an away game at a Villa side short on form and who have to contend with European football from this week onwards. Forest looked good on their previous away day this season at Liverpool where they were a constant threat on the break.
FWD x 2
Again, Iʼm sticking with Isak (Liverpool) 61 MEDALS and Wissa (Newcasle) 36 MEDALS. The only slight concern on the later is that Newcastleʼs new signing Fernandez-Pardo may well take the number 9 spot. Thatʼs not to say that Wissa wonʼt play, heʼs likely to drop into a number 10 or second striker role instead which may actually suit him more.
