Final Word Week 19 | Supercoach EPL trades, captains, PODs


<p>This game&#8230; After a week of excess and bathing in big performances, a week later, I come to you humbly &#8211; without one player scoring in double figures and a grand total of 46 GW18 points. </p>



<p>A shambles. </p>



<p>A drop of just over 1k and in the short term the look of a manager who has missed the boat on Ekitike, stuck for too long with Woltemade and been hamstrung (pardon the pun) by an injury to Calafiori &#8211; further worsened by the loss of his teammate Jurrien Timber &#8211; meaning a reliable sideways Arsenal move is also out of the picture. </p>



<p>How the tide turns.</p>



<p>All that after holding with captain Haaland for the first time in nearly a month, to be rewarded with a miserly 3 points &#8211; his worst return since Gameweek 2 against Spurs, while Ekitike captainers triumphed.</p>



<p>But, it is 1 week &#8211; it is in the past, and our average for the 4 prior to that was 126.</p>



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<p>Having said that, there are issues to address &#8211; most notably in the backline, where 1 of my trades will certainly be going this week. </p>



<p>I&#8217;ll discuss with you my conundrum in the forwards, where it is not Nick Woltemade on the chopping block. </p>



<p>Not this mid-week round anyway.</p>



<p>Unlike some of my esteemed (and higher-ranking colleagues) at SCPlaybook, I still have the luxury of 20 trades over the remaining 20 weeks of the season. </p>



<p>While I doubt I&#8217;ll be able to chase the top boys down, I&#8217;ve got 150 points to make up to finish in the top 2k overall (and catch my regular podcast colleague Matt Jurman). </p>



<p>It&#8217;s still achievable.</p>



<p>We&#8217;d have 3 weeks to go until Supercoach Finals Series if this were the NRL &#8211; We&#8217;re less than halfway through the Premier League. </p>



<p>Football is a fantasy sports marathon.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Injuries at the back</strong></h3>



<p>Arsenal&#8217;s duo of Calafiori and Timber are under big injury clouds heading into the hectic period of Christmas/New Year&#8230;</p>



<p>This is a particular nuisance because, as Mikel Arteta&#8217;s preferred full-backs, one for the other in case of an injury would be an ideal move sideways that has been plucked away.</p>



<p>Fortunately, the straightforward replacement of <strong>Patrick Dorgu</strong> has emerged as a get-out card for those wanting to follow the pack and be near certain that he will take you to approx 11.5mil over the next 3 Gameweeks as a certain starter for United who face Wolves (H), Leeds (A) &amp; Burnley (A) before either a move to <strong>Gabriel</strong> who should cement his place in the Arsenal team after returning from injury or if you held the Brazilian &#8211; a return to one of his defensive teammates and a small upgrade elsewhere in your midfield or forward line.</p>



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<p>I will be going for Dorgu but will be sticking solid with Calafiori as I&#8217;ve completely lost faith in Bournemouth and Marcos Senesi after a stinky run at the back, despite what was a decent 7-week stint in my side. </p>



<p>It could have been better, it could have been worse.</p>



<p>I&#8217;ll wait for news on Calafiori before moving on him.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Forward Foibles</strong></h3>



<p>There are a few of the big boys up front who are worth considering a move on this week. Relevant to the Bolywood Bhoys&#8230;</p>



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<p><strong>Nick Woltemade (6.46mil)</strong></p>



<p>There will be plenty that jump off this week &#8211; I can understand why. </p>



<p>Wissa is waiting in the wings, having been brought off the bench for him in the last two weeks, and 2 poor returns from his last 3 games. </p>



<p>I&#8217;m not encouraging anyone who isn&#8217;t an owner to jump on board at this juncture.</p>



<p>Here&#8217;s the counter as an owner as to why he&#8217;s a hold &#8211; he should have had a hat-trick against Chelsea, that game spoke to the outstanding goal-scoring positions the German puts himself in &amp; while the performance against United was poor &#8211; they now face the uninspiring opposition of Burnley, Palace (who&#8217;s form has fallen off a cliff since Munoz&#8217;s injury) &amp; Leeds. </p>



<p>Crucially, the latter 2 are at St James Park, where Woltemade has scored just shy of a goal a game since his move to the Magpies.</p>



<p>There are no better options out there at his price, and the best I can do with 1.2mil in the bank is Thiago, Joao Pedro, or Watkins. </p>



<p>My faith is staying with the German.</p>



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<p><strong>Morgan Rogers (12.7mil)</strong></p>



<p>I watched Pretty Woman this week, and there is a line in there somewhere about staying unemotional about business &#8211; <strong>Matheus Cunha (10mil)</strong> is the new face of Manchester United with Mbeumo on International Duty and Fernandes under a big, grey injury cloud.</p>



<p>That means penalties and responsibilities for the Brazilian ahead of a trip to his old club. </p>



<p>It also could mean more cash to get me to Gabriel, upgrade Woltemade in a week&#8217;s time, or capture the next big thing if I&#8217;m a week late, as I have been a few too many times this season.</p>



<p>Villa&#8217;s fixture goes &#8211; Arsenal (A), Forest (H), Palace (A), Everton (H). </p>



<p>It looks okay on paper &#8211; if you&#8217;ve watched their last 4 games as I have, you&#8217;ll know they&#8217;ve been fortunate &#8211; and if I&#8217;m the house, I might be inclined to think their luck is about to turn.</p>



<p>I&#8217;m not set yet, though.</p>



<p>Elsewhere&#8230;</p>



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<p><strong>Igor Thiago (7.5mil) </strong>&#8211; played like Harry Kane on the weekend &#8211; dropping into midfield, providing for Kevin Schade, who was the beneficiary of a mercurial ball-playing performance.</p>



<p>Great for Brentford, but until Outtara returns, he might be asked to do that a little too much for my liking if I were an owner. </p>



<p>The price is dropping too, with a BE of 9 again this weekend ahead of Spurs (H), Everton (A), and Sunderland (H). </p>



<p>Particularly if you can get to Cunha (or even better, Ekitike) &#8211; make the move!</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Trade Plans</strong></h3>



<p>Dorgu IN Senesi OUT</p>



<p>Deep in thought on Rogers to Cunha, but thinking less likely than more on Tuesday Morning.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Captaincy</strong></h3>



<p>Tricks here with injury clouds over Szobozslai and Calafiori. </p>



<p>Szoboszlai, my looper, if he&#8217;s not fit for Leeds. Regardless, likely Foden holds the C against Sunderland &#8211; I like him ahead of Haaland here because of the relative inexperience the Black Cats have in wide areas with players at AFCON &#8211; I think the Mukiele-Alderete attention on the big Norwegian might create space for teammates.</p>



<p>Dorgu VC at this point &#8211; that may go to Cunha if I make the trade.</p>



<p>VC: Dorgu</p>



<p>C: Foden</p>


Final Word Week 19 | Supercoach EPL trades, captains, PODs

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