GW 14 – Review

International breaks can be a bit of a lottery, especially if you haven’t first carefully analysed the redrafted non-league sides. As is often the case on these gameweeks, this edition of the international break did not dazzle us with stratospheric totals, but it kept a decent amount of players ticking over nicely. Here’s how the weekend’s action played out…..

It was certainly a weekend to remember for Vincent Clare, whose impressive score of 112 leaves them sitting pretty atop the Weekly Global League Table. Vincent’s winning lineup held a mishmash of high and low scorers – but scorers nonetheless! 4-goal Kettering Town (6 picks) returned the most points (32) for the weekend’s table-topper on x8, with the excellent choice of eventual 6-goal Wrexham (10 picks) providing 30 points at x5. Chesterfield (the most selected side of the GW with 72 picks) also bagged four times on x4 while 1, 2 and 3-goal sides ensured Vincent’s score kept on climbing. Kyle Hewitt in second came tantalisingly close to a ‘green score’ but 99 points just won’t cut the mustard at Club 100!

High scorers Wrexham were in fact the top-scoring side of the weekend (bagging 6 goals doesn’t always guarantee that in TUG!) and contributed to a substantial tally of 156 points. However, the Red Dragons were also the only named side in the Perfect 7 matrix, with the remaining spots occupied by any side that netted four. Those who would have bolstered your totals included Plymouth Argyle (14 selections) or MK Dons (19), who each secured 4-1 wins in League One, while Chesterfield and Dagenham & Redbridge (2) each matched that goals total in the National League. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Kettering Town, as well as Ebbsfleet Utd (1), also hit four in the Northern and Southern conferences of the National League. Partick Thistle (1) were the only Scottish side to end the weekend with 4 goals to their name, in what was a low scoring week for those leagues north of the border.

The subject of low scores brings us nicely to the average for the gameweek which stood (or stooped) at just 19 points, a marked reduction from last week’s strong average of 51. And however testing international breaks may be, coming away from any gameweek with 25 minus scores always leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Moving on to the most selected matrix for GW 14 and perhaps the major culprit for the low average score and a large proportion of the negative scores; Queen’s Park! Backed strongly by 68 players, The Spiders were also the most selected x6 side of the whole weekend and held a lot of players back from hitting their more lucrative multipliers. Chesterfield were the top x2, x4 and x7 choice, seen clearly as both a ‘banker’ and a solid points building side. Exeter City (54) were the most selected x3 team, while Kidderminster Harriers (39) and Torquay Utd were the most popular x5 and x8 choices respectively.

That’s the review for another week. Remember to get those selections in early should you dare to risk not making it to the 3pm matches! Leicester City host Chelsea in the Premier League, while Coventry City head to Sheffield Utd in the Championship. Good luck and happy scoring!

-Sam Brooke-Wilkinson