If Gameweek 14 was an annoyance, Gameweek 15 was an abhorrence, at least for this fantasy league player. An injury to Gareth Bale, a couple unforeseen benching, and a fifth yellow for a certain Uruguayan striker made for an unpleasant weekend. Nonetheless, I am back again with a review of the week and ratings and predictions for Gameweek 16
Gameweek 16 Predicted Scores
Changes and Notes this week:
Biggest Attack Gains
Swansea City + 7.30
West Ham United + 6.50
Reading + 3.80
Michael Ladrup’s bunch have been superb of late and appear to be back in good graces of fantasy managers everywhere. Their performance this week was superb, thoroughly dominating a top six club on the road. Solid performance all round. West Ham also dominated, but were at home, so the gains weren’t quite as much. The second half though was sensational as Chelsea fans sink deeper into their misery. Reading’s 3 goals look a bit more impressive than the underlying stats indicate, but that was not a fluke; they generated chances against United. Reading now seem like an attack capable of rotation, at least at home.
Biggest Defense Gains
Everton + 5.50
Newcastle United + 5.00
Swansea City + 4.40
Everton have quietly been playing solid defensive football recently but have no clean sheets to show for it. They held City to ten shots, four on target and a single Big Chance. Those numbers might not sound great, but keep in mind that City is averaging 18 shots, six shots on target and over two-and-a-half Big Chances per game. That was a fine performance at the Ethiad and indicative of a solid defensive unit. The Newcastle – Wigan game was a loss as Figueroa was sent off early. As mentioned above, Swansea were excellent all round against Wenger’s crew.
Biggest Overall Gains
Swansea City + 11.60
Everton + 8.90
Tottenham + 6.20
See above regarding the Swans. Same goes for Everton. We touched on their defence, but offensively they generated four shots on target and two Big Chances against a side that averages allowing just two-and-a-half shots on target and three-quarters of a Big Chance per game. Tottenham dominated a depleted Fulham with an impressive all around performance.
Biggest Attack Losses
Fulham - 7.70
Wigan - 6.20
Manchester City - 5.00
Fulham have been struggling recently, albeit through difficult fixtures. Seems the attack has stagnated a bit, possibly due to the numerous injuries on Jol’s side. It will be interesting to see how they perform with improved health. Wigan were undermanned the majority of the game against Newcastle. City remain up top of the ratings but disappointed against an admittedly excellent Everton side.
Biggest Defense Losses
Arsenal - 7.10
Chelsea - 6.60
Manchester United - 3.90
Arsenal were dominated by Swansea and Michu. The Swans recorded seven shots on target and four Big Chances, poor numbers for most defences and atrocious for a club of Arsenal’s calibre. Chelsea finally scored under Benitez but were absolutely dominated in the second half by a mediocre West Ham attack. The Blues have now dropped fifteen overall ratings points since Benitez took over, the second worst loss of defensive form after the other struggling London big club (Arsenal). Where is RDM when you need him? Manchester United were obviously poor against Reading.
Biggest Overall Losses
Arsenal - 12.00
Fulham - 11.00
Manchester City - 7.80
The London football scribes must be loving things right now. Chelsea are a mess, Fulham can’t score, QPR look like a good bet for relegation, and Arsenal are five points of out a UCL spot. Not surprisingly, two of these clubs are two of our biggest losers this week. City weren’t bad but their rating projects them to dominate everyone at home. They didn’t and have been adjusted accordingly.
Other Notes
- Liverpool put in a typical Liverpool performance, dominating play but failing to score. Probably should have had at least another goal, if not two.
- Sunderland chased the game again and paid for it with loss of shape and coverage in the back. This team needs to figure out a way to score without completely losing its resiliency.
- Can understand Rafael’s tantrum to some extent as he is not engaged in corner coverage (he mans the post). SAF’s explanation for the need for height made sense and I wouldn’t read too much into it. I expect Rafael to play in the derby this weekend.
- QPR dominated and should have won. Villa’s goal was superb and fortunate, while QPR continue to be the most wasteful team in the league.
That’s all for this week. Here’s to hoping for better fantasy results for all (especially me)!
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