Finally my run comes to an end, my first bad gameweek of the restart. It burns a lot less though, since nearly everyone had it. This seems mainly down to the dearth of clean sheets, which I honestly cannot complain about after back to back squeaky clean backlines. The failure of other premium assets, bar the United boys, certainly led to a lot of frustration as well. I finished this week all out at 58 points, leading to a small red arrow down to rank 167k. Let’s take a look at this weeks culprits.

Goalkeepers

Nick Pope: 2 points

Something I will be saying a lot today, is that I can’t be mad. This certainly goes for Pope, coming off the back of two monster scores. A bit annoying for them to concede so late into the game, but what can you do.

Alex McCarthy: 11 points

Nobody likes seeing a haul like this on the bench, but it would have been absolutely idiotic to play him for this fixture. He played an amazing game through, seemed to just get everything hit into his reach.

Defenders

Trent-Alexander Arnold: 6 points

From the only one of my defenders not to return, to the only one to do so. The clean sheet never looked in question but Liverpool as a whole were not great and he seemed really off his game, hardly crossing and creating chances.

Matt Doherty: 2 points

Wolves were finally penetrated, and the streak of 8 consecutive returns were finally broken. Arsenal certainly ate their apples because they kept the doctor at bay. He was subbed early, for tactical reasons. Afterwards, they immediately lost all of their attacking identity, so I doubt this experiment will be repeated.

Roman Saiss: 0 points

Wolves conceded 2 in this game, neither of which was a gift. Both were from very skillful finishes, so I don’t think this is a real indicator of any defensive frailty from the backline. In typical fashion, he picked up a yellow, leaving him with a fat 0 points. Good that it was this week rather than the last, so the yellow accumulation ban is avoided. That is, unless he gets 4 more in the next 4 weeks, which honestly isn’t that ridiculous of a notion.

Kiko Femenia: 1 point

I watched this game, to my dismay. Watford are a team without drive, identity or passion. They truly deserve to go down and I don’t think anyone would miss them. A few bright sparks in their squad but the vast majority of players are just championship quality.

Brandon Williams: 0 points

He didn’t play, and I really wish I didn’t have a United slot used up on him right now. He will be leaving my team this week, I wish he got more of a run in the squad but Shaw has seemingly cemented his place in the side once again.

Midfielders

Kevin de Bruyne: 1 point

I’d like to quickly rant here. This week was a perfect illustration of what has been happening all season, City lost a game they clearly should have won, while Liverpool scrape a win in a game that they should have at best drawn. Just from watching the game, I knew it would be an expected goals debacle, and I was right, it ended on 3.40 for City to 0.61 for Southhampton. The chances came thick and fast, but nobody was able to put them in. KDB has not started 5 games this season, and City has lost 4 of them. The inexplicable decision to take of Mahrez and Sterling to bring on Foden and KDB was also to blame, as nobody was left to put the ball in the net, while 4 creative mids were left on the pitch. This team is crying out for Aguero, and Jesus is not doing much to calm anyone’s nerves in his absence.

Ismaila Sarr: 2 points

I didn’t expect anything against Chelsea away, and I didn’t get much. Every week when I watch him, I wonder where that spark has gone that attracted me to him in the first place. He bears the brunt of the creative responsibility in the side, yet only completed 4 passes in the first half. A home fixture to Norwich will be his last venture in my team, hopefully he can give me a farewell gift like Aubameyang did.

Anthony Martial: 14 points

An interesting game. Like I predicted, he did well from the center against Bournemouth, but he was having another invisible man performance until his wondergoal came from nowhere. He also racked up a nice two assists and a bonus point, which I’m very pleased with.

Bruno Fernandes: 15 points

Once again, Bruno shows up with a massive haul and I am so happy that for once, its not hurting me. Well it actually did hurt me, since I didn’t captain him. He looks to be a great shout for the armband for the rest of the season, as he was involved in everything, and could have had another goal if he didn’t gift the penalty to Rashford. With the way the United attack look, it seems like using a spot on a defender is a waste.

Mohamed Salah (C): 6 points

I was pulling out my hair watching this game. Liverpool were simply awful, all of their attacking structure seems to have left them, as they failed to break down the Villa defense in any meaningful way. I jumped for joy when he got the cheap last second assist, as he deserved nothing from this fixture. This will be the last time I captain a Liverpool player this season, their heads are gone.

Forwards

Raul Jimenez: 2 points

Once again, he fails to deliver. I see a lot of talk about losing him, which seems like lunacy to me. He will be back to his scoring ways soon, although I do worry about his soon to be born child, having already been burned by Vardy.

Eddie Nketiah: 2 points

A new addition to my team, stayed firmly on my bench. He had an okay game, but more importantly he started again, which is all I want from him when I call in his services for the bench boost

Dominic Calvert-Lewin:

This game was last chance saloon for DCL. And he was awful once again, yet another blank on the bounce. What a complete failure this punt has been.