GW 16 & 17 – Review

Welcome back to your weekly dose of The Ultimate Goals stats review! Since last weekend’s fun and games we’ve played two – highly contrasting! – gameweeks that included our first ‘Midweek Bonus’ round, complete with Champion’s League fixtures to add a fresh twist! So with so much to discuss, let’s get cracking…..

We’ll start by comparing the table-topping scores from both gameweeks and see how the highest performing players ended up doing. Hayley French’s score of 90 in midweek (GW 16) was an impressive tally, but possibly a tad underwhelming as the top score for a Champion’s League round – we always seem to expect a little more on the rare occasions the ‘Creme de la creme’ are involved! Despite this, Hayley’s multiplier ladder showcased some strong selections; 5 goal Stockport County (56 selections) stood out on x5 for earning the most points individually, whereas 3 goal Atalanta (9) and Oxford Utd (18) reeled in a hefty slice of her total on x7 and x8. As for GW 17, things looked a lot rosier. For starters, we saw business return to Club 100 as nine lucky punters made it over the threshold, including the top scorer for the round, David Moss. His very healthy score of 118 contained two 3 goal sides, two 4 goal sides and 5 goal Alloa Athletic (9 picks) who reeled in the most points on x6. Both table-toppers made it to the summit with at least one Perfect 7 side named in their matrix – but who else scored highly enough to make an appearance in the fabled P7…..? 

As many as five teams were named in the highest-scoring lineup of sides in the midweek bonus. Stockport County and RB Leipzig (just two selections!) each hit five in their respective matches against King’s Lynn Town and Club Brugge, whilst Chelsea (13 selections), Burton Albion (just one pick) and Blackburn Rovers (also 13) all bagged four. Any 3 goal side padded out the lower spots, contributing to a total of a round 150 points. As for the weekend, despite having higher individual player scores, the P7 only amassed 146 points. Six sides named themselves in the highest-scoring lineup, Alloa Athletic leading the charge with 5 goals. After that, MK Dons (6 picks), Stockport County (just two picks and ‘only’ scoring 4 this round!), Stirling Albion (21), Liverpool (89) and Leicester (10) all found the net four times, with the last spot being occupied by any 3 goal outfit.

 

GW 17 had a much higher success rate for players picking the top-performing sides. The average score topped out at 60 points, the highest for seven gameweeks, whereas GW 16’s average reached a rather paltry 15 points. This included 28 minus scores, whereas GW 17 saw a marked improvement as only 10 players ended the round with fewer points than they started out with.

So the second round of the week was clearly the more profitable one on the whole, but who were the sides that were backed the most to earn that profit? GW 16 had Fulham (76 total picks) as the side most likely to return a glut of goals. They were the most popular x2 AND x7 choice, but in true TUG style they caused absolute chaos in the ranks by failing to score against Derby County – the crazy world of The Championship strikes again! Bayern Munich (64 total selections) occupied x3 and x8. Stockport County were slap-bang in the middle as the highest picked x5 choice, while either side of the them on x4 and x6 was Ajax (45). As for GW 17, Liverpool clearly won the hearts and minds of everyone playing TUG, with 89 total picks (77% of all players) and dominating the ‘banker’ x2 spot, as well as x3 and x4. Ayr Utd and Yeovil Town occupied the middling multipliers at x5 and x6 respectively, while Celtic claimed x7 and Dumbarton (56 total picks) x8. All of those teams found the net, although Yeovil kept us waiting for 78 minutes against a far more resilient than usual Dover Athletic!

That’s all there’s time for this week. Don’t forget to get those selections in well before the deadline should you wish to take advantage of the early kick-offs (or completely screw up your score by lunchtime!) Next week, West Ham Utd host Chelsea in what should be a feisty London derby, West Brom make the short trip to Coventry City in The Championship and the FA Cup Second Round is in play for you to take full advantage of……..the early match there sees Northern Premier League side Buxton take on Morecambe of League One. Good luck!

Sam Brooke-Wilkinson