How FPL Harry, Mark Sutherns and more did in Gameweek 20

‘The Great and The Good’ are this season’s FPL Godfather Mark Suthernsthe BlackBox pair The And Andy NorthScouts FPL General, Joe And Tomthe FPL Wire trio of Pras, Lateriser And ZopharFPL Celebrities FPL Harry, Martijn Bakker, Pin green, FPL Frasier And Luke WilliamsHall of Famers Ben Crellin, Fabio Borges And Tom Dollimoreand the winner of last year’s mini-competition Hus E.

“Eat. Sleep. FPL. Repeat.”

Gameweek 20 arrived after the New Year’s Day matches had quite frankly bored us into a post-festive hangover. That’s why FPL executives approached the round with a sense of trepidation.

However, there was reason for optimism with shiny new chips available and the January transfer window open. This left managers all giddy and some started taking hits, even though they only recently enjoyed five free Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) transfers. Bad planning or bad variance? You decide.

In the meantime, Antoine Semenyo (£7.6m) was still playing despite being one ‘Fabrizio tweet’ away from Manchester City, Hugo Ekitike (£9.1m) went MIA due to DOMS (no idea), and Mikel Arteta continued his weekly selection conundrums as Declan Rice‘s (£7.2million) swollen knee turned out to be more smoke and mirrors as he dragged – much to the horror of Mark Sutherns.

OVERALL PERFORMANCE

Az – yes, Az – stole the show with a total of 69, boosted by the 17-point win of Malick Thiaw (£5.1 million) and Igor Thiago (£6.9 million).

Fabio Borges was close behind on 68, with the same dynamic duo. Is he copying Az’s homework?

A bit of luck took FPL General to 61 points as Thiago was his auto sub for Ekitike. That’s why the order of the festive benches is important, kids!

TRANSFERS

This deadline is approaching, Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.6m) was the standout move. More than a third of these elite managers brought him in, relying on Arsenal’s defensive shape and the Brazilian’s goal threat. It brought immediate success.

Three of these 18 got hits, including the normally well-prepared Pras, Harry and Martin Baker. Initially surprising due to the AFCON transfer bundle, FPL’s recent injury list and Gabriel’s madness should probably be taken into account.

However, not all decisions have yielded results. The most painful transfer was from Mark Sutherns, who sold Rice just before the midfielder’s seventeen-point explosion. And Lateriser did the same with Thiago. Ouch, very bad.

Mind you, it wasn’t all bad news, as Fabio chose exactly the right time to buy Thiaw.

‘THE GREAT AND THE GOOD’ TEMPLATE

Gameweek 20 has seen the FPL template shaken up just enough to make sure we’re paying attention.

Phil Foden (£8.9 million) and Matheus Cunha (£8.2m) remains outright owner – will that remain the case as young Phil appears to have entered the point avoidance phase of his season?

Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m) deviates from the model as managers quietly admit they would rather spend the money elsewhere, with Gabriel taking his seat seamlessly after his reminder that centre-backs can score points.

Dubravka (88.9%), Raya (50.0%)
Wood (55.6%), O’Reilly (50.0%), Andersen (44.4%), Keane (44.4%), Gabriel (38.9%)
Foden (100.0%), Cunha (100.0%), Saka (83.3%), Szoboszlai (27.8%), Gordon (27.8%)
Haraland (94.4%) 67, 7.8%, tenth (38.9%))

In the meantime, Yankuba Minteh (£5.9m) has left and ushers in Anthony Gordon (£7.4 million) directly into the proceedings. Yet there is very little consensus on those fourth and fifth midfielder spots.

BANK POINTS

‘Tis the season for rotation, so let’s take a look at some benches*.

*Note: this is from Gameweek 19

Andy and Frasier have both managed to knock out over 200 points so far. That’s over 10 points per Gameweek politely waved from the dugout.

Frasier had it the worst, somehow missing out on six double-digit catches, turning his bench into a weekly highlight reel of what could have been.

CONCLUSION

FPL is a funny old game, and some Gameweek 20 transfer nightmares showed that. Still, the great thing about this time of year is that there is little time to grieve before we jump straight into the next game.

Anyway, that’s all mine for now, and remember, don’t have any FPL nightmares.

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