Final Word Gameweek 27 | Supercoach EPL trades, captains, PODs


<p>We waited so long for the first double gameweek of the season, and what a bitter disappointment it turned out to be. </p>



<p>Gyokores, Saliba, Timber &amp; Raya missing out on those real big numbers – what might have been had there been a clean sheet.</p>



<p>Gabriel’s assist saved his total somewhat for those who captained, and Rice’s output was as consistent as ever, but after this week, I’m only committed to holding that duo of the six Arsenal assets I mooted on the podcast with the great Timmy Williams a week ago.</p>



<p>Saliba’s retention will depend on his consistency of minutes over the next few weeks, and Raya’s on a return to the form that saw Arsenal keeping clean sheets regularly over the first half of the season. </p>



<p>I’ve lost patience with Calafiori &amp; Gyokores was always a short-term move – the fact he didn’t manage to hit the back of the net in either fixture was bitterly disappointing.</p>



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<p>Thankfully, the Bolywood Bhoys are still in a relatively strong trade position &amp; we have space to move ahead of blanks in Gameweek 31 &amp; potentially (pending FA Cup results) Gameweek 34.</p>



<p>If we cast our mind back all the way to GW26 – the trade-in of Palmer was well-timed, and there were finally big scores for Virgil Van Dijk and, particularly pleasingly, Phil Foden with City now on a relatively soft run of games, and I think now, favourites to take out the league title. </p>



<p>Rotation is still a real and present danger.</p>



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



<p>Sitting just outside the Top 4k and not having built cash like some of my more experienced SC Playbook colleagues, I’m going to back my ID to find some diamonds in the rough and ensure there’s cover for the upcoming blanks for Arsenal and City.</p>



<p>Top of the list is Bournemouth’s big money signing from Vasco da Gama, who is seeing game-time and results –&nbsp;<strong>Rayan</strong>. </p>



<p>The 19-year-old came with a big reputation and has lived up to it in his 3 games for a manager playing a style of football that looks purpose-built to give him as many opportunities as possible.</p>



<p>With my other recent move for a young Brazilian,&nbsp;<strong>Estevao,</strong>&nbsp;struggling to win back his place in the starting XI at Chelsea, I need cover, and he isa  budget option that is set to shoot up in value with Bournemouth’s fixture finally looking a little kinder toward the end of the season.</p>



<p>My other problem at the back leaves me looking a little higher up the table, but in a team rotating week-on-week,&nbsp;Rayan Ait-Nouri&nbsp;has been a consistent presence over the past 3 weeks after seeing off his early-season injury problems and returning from the AFCON. </p>



<p>I’m about 500k short of being able to afford teammate –&nbsp;<strong>Marc Guehi</strong>,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>but with a few good weeks from the Egyptian, I may have the option to move that way before the end of the season if the situation demands it.</p>



<p>Big swings? Yes…but I’ve still got Matty Jurman to catch, and with 10 weeks to go, time is of the essence.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Captaincy Plans/Team Set Up</strong></h2>



<p>I’m well covered in terms of starters after those trades so it looks a week to give yourself as much cover as possible coming out of a congested period of games. More predictability in terms of starting lineups over the next two weeks before the FA Cup kicks in again and the vast majority of managers are rotating.</p>



<p>Interesting point made by Steve Nikolovski on his loop player this week during the podcast which you can listen to&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/5sysUdLZWKu2D9F2K16W14?si=cM60t2v8Qn-DlmT_Ygscfg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. Not sure I’m ready to follow him into no loop for the final 10 rounds of the season but he makes an interesting argument for those right amongst the upper reaches of the SuperCoach universe.</p>



<p>Everton’s Monday Night Football clash with Manchester United leaves loopers in a good position this week.</p>



<p><strong>Bruno Fernandes&nbsp;</strong>is an easy pick given a rare miss last week – he’s due to bounce back.</p>



<p>I certainly can’t trust Arsenal this week heading into a North London Derby off the back of two shoddy performances over the last week – so it could be the week for a big swing with your VC.</p>



<p>Palmer against Burnley is my obvious choice although, Haaland is a tempting option heading into the clash with Newcastle on Sunday Morning AEDT.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Trades &amp; Skippers</strong></h2>



<p>Calafiori &amp; Gyokores OUT</p>



<p>Rayan &amp; Ait-Nouri IN</p>



<p>VC: Palmer</p>



<p>C: Bruno Fernandes</p>


Final Word Gameweek 27 | Supercoach EPL trades, captains, PODs

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