Who Are The Leaders & High Scorers?
Shane Warnes Flipper are going from strength to strength at the top and just like Chelsea, the bookies will probably soon start paying out on them becoming champions. I don’t think any bookmakers are actually taking odds on The RR Fantasy League but if they were, you better believe they’d be refusing to take any further bets on The Flippermen. If they were a real team, that would definitely be their nickname and I now really wish there was an actual team nicknamed The Flippermen. Anyway, Jonathan Glover had Romelu Lukaku as his captain and Tom Heaton keeping a clean sheet so it’s no surprise that no one toppled him.
86 points was a pretty high score from The Flippermen (see, it’s catching on) but they were beaten by the beautifully named BlackCatSuperRainbow. Sounds like a racing track on Mario Kart. They’re not managed by an Italian plumber though, they’re ruled by Finn Skytte who also had Lukaku wearing the armband. Other players in Finn’s ranks, who also broke into the overall team of the week, were Jordan Pickford, Craig Dawson & Manuel Lanzini, which saw him rack up 100 points.
Who Is Struggling & Down The Bottom
All You Need Is Love are still bottom and still have loads of long term injured/suspended players. I’m really starting to hate Keir Bradwell.
They weren’t the worst team this week though, that title was taken by Wiseman AFC, who only scored 17. Well Than Styl isn’t a very wise man with suspended Zlatan leading his line, is he? Eh? Eh? Is this thing on?
Petr Cech was Than’s top player and he conceded three, underlining just how bad they were.
How Are The Roker Report Team Doing?
If you’re ever wondering how tough life at the top is, take a look at Jim Holmes’ lads. A couple of weeks ago, they scored 60 points and failed to progress. This week, they went 5 points better and fell to 12th. Harsh but if Lukaku & Alli keep up their form and Aguero, Coutinho & Sigurdsson return to theirs, Giroud - Sandstorm wont have too much to worry about. Perhaps they should though, as they’re in danger of being usurped in the writers mini league!
Dan Parker has been going along canny for a while now and a huge score of 89 took 50 Shades Of O’Shea to 16th. Another team to benefit from Lukaku’s goal & assist but it was consistency that gave Dan his reward. David Luiz, Sanchez, Eriksen, King & Valencia all scored a minimum of 7 points, meaning everyone contributed to a high score. Satisfying.
What isn’t satisfying is seeing Micky Lough’s team actually climb the ladder this week. I know I’ve mentioned this a few times BUT HE STILL HAS IVANOVIC IN HIS TEAM FFS! THE MAN PLAYS IN BLOODY RUSSIA NOW! Ahem, excuse me. FlyOnTheWingsOfLove are lucky though, lucky that the last time Micky checked his team, he put Lukaku as captain. They’re 81st but that won’t last.
I think I’m the only person who didn’t have Lukaku as captain this week. I thought I’d give the Champagne Papy Bodji armband to Jermain Defoe but no, Sunderland didn’t even give him the chance to get a single shot in. So I blame David Moyes for my team falling to 167th. I say that, Gav also didn’t elect to make Lukaku his leader, instead opting for Diego Costa. No big deal though, as King, Alli & Eriksen did well enough in midfield to move Ice Cream Kone up to 188th.
No too far behind Gav’s mob, is Tom Atkinson’s Sunlun, who revived their way up to 191st. Ever since I said I was the only one to not have Lukaku as captain, every other team I’ve looked at so far also neglected the Belgian strikers muscular biceps. Instead, Tom went for Eden Hazard, who didn’t even play. Okay, don’t panic, that’s why we all pick vice-captains. Unfortunately, Gini Wijnaldum’s score only doubled to 4. It could have been so much better, Tom.
Six of us in the top 200 is a bit of a shock, to be honest. Karl Maguire isn’t that far off making that seven either, with Steel Panthers sitting in 212th. They won’t be going up any more any time soon if they leave suspended strikers up front but that doesn’t matter as much when Sanchez & Lukaku bang in the goals.
There was a drop for Blackended Roar Mass, Lukaku’s goals not being enough to prevent them from finishing this week in 244th. Alli & Eriksen also did well for James Henchard but no one else really picked up the slack. Apart from Wilfried Ndidi, that is but he was sat on the bench. Carl Purvis is breathing down James’ neck, only six places behind him, and he also had the Alli & Eriksen combo. Lukaku’s was captain for Crystal Phallus however and that’s what put Carl within touching distance of overtaking James.
All is not well at The Team Simon Stadium. Or is it Team Simon Park? The Team Simon Memorial Ground? Well they’ll be getting a memorial if they keep on this trajectory because they’re 280th after only managing 34 points this week. Jordan Pickford did well in goal, scoring 10, but Harry Kane starting up front is a bit pointless when he’s crocked.
Who Should I Pick After The International Break?
Don’t rush in to make your changes. Let players come back from international duty before altering things, so as to make sure you don’t pick Jermain Defoe, only for some Lithuanian lummox to poleaxe him. God, imagine if that happened? I need someone to hold me.
The boy Defoe actually might not be a bad shout for the next gameweek. I know Sunderland are terrible but Watford managed to lose away to Palace, without Sam Allardyce’s men even having a shot on target. So there’s definitely opportunities to be had for Defoe, if David Moyes actually puts some players within 10 yards of him. If you need a striker on a budget, you could do a lot worse at £7.8M.
A week is a long time in football. Two weeks is therefore, well, even longer but that’s still not enough time for things to calm the flip down at Arsenal. The visit of Pep Guardiloa’s Manchester City could break Arsenal Fan TV, especially if Leroy Sane maintains his form. Considering he’s been doing well for a few weeks now, his price is reasonable (£7.5M) and only 3.3% of managers have selected him, so you can gain points where others don’t.
If there was anyone that Hull would want to play at the moment, it would probably be West Ham. The Hammers have been dreadful lately, winless in their last five and they’re leaking goals all over the shop. Players like Sam Clucas & Oumar Niasse would be risks but at £4.7M & £4.6M respectively, it’s a good time to take that risk.