GW 18 – Review

While GW 18 may not have dazzled on the stats front, the weekend’s round of footballing action was definitely an entertaining one nonetheless – as is almost always the case when we have the FA Cup included! We witnessed comebacks, last-minute goals, complete flukes and jaw-dropping strikes. However, in this game it matters not how the goals go in, just that they do! Here’s the breakdown from another exciting week of TUG action…..

As custom dictates, let’s cast an eye to the summit of the Global Weekly Leaderboard to see who came out on top. With 5/7 of his sides bagging three times, Nick Ilic’s impressive score of 96 was enough to crown him the winner of the gameweek. 3 goal Man City (90 selections) and Celtic (41) stood out as the highest earners on x8 and x6 respectively, as wise selections earlier on in Nick’s table helped him amass a score just four short of a ton. 

Alas, Club 100 goes another week without any custom whatsoever. It’s not like the goals weren’t out there to be seized, they just tended to come from the more unexpected sources. Queen’s Park’s recent dip in form led 0 players selecting the Glasgow based side, but they spearheaded the Perfect 7 after whacking Falkirk (0) for six! Other Scottish sides Aberdeen (2) and Stranraer (0) each found the net four times, alongside Leyton Orient (2) and AFC Wimbledon (4), while Accrington Stanley were the only side to score five over the weekend. So with six sides named in the P7, only the x2 spot remains, where any 3 goal side could have won you that juicy jackpot prize of £7,777! Those teams included in-form West Ham (0 picks!) in their incredible comeback to beat title hopefuls Chelsea (9 selections) 3-2, while Luton Town (0), Sheffield Utd (3) and Millwall (3) each bagged three in The Championship. Cheltenham Town (0) and Mansfield Town (0) each scored three in the FA Cup, while Tottenham Hotspur (43) and Celtic (41) chipped in three apiece on Sunday. Just one of these teams added to your matrix in the right spot could have propelled you right up the table!

This is a game of uniquely fine margins though, and while only 8 players recorded minus scores over the weekend, things could have ended so, so differently!! Liverpool’s trip to the Black Country and Wolverhampton Wanderers (0 picks) was heavily backed by 76 players and many of those would have been distraught if it were not for cult hero and super-sub Divok Origi’s lifesaving 94th-minute winning goal to break the goalless stalemate……and Wolves hearts! That goal saved a plethora of minus scores and almost singlehandedly helped us achieve a reasonably decent average score of 35 – a lot higher than it would have been otherwise!! It’s not the first time that some of our players have massively profited from a goal deep into injury time and it won’t be the last! 

As for the most selected sides, it was the familiar faces of Liverpool (x2), Manchester City (x3, x4 & x7) and Rangers (x5 & x8 – and most selected side of all with 92 picks) who dominated the matrix, while little old Wrexham were most selected at x6 – they nearly caused some major problems before finally getting on the scoresheet in the 85th minute!

That’s your lot for another week. GW 19’s early kick-offs see Wolverhampton Wanderers visit Manchester City in the Premier League, while Huddersfield Town host Coventry City in The Championship. Select them if you dare!!

Sam Brooke-Wilkinson