GW 18 Review

Ally: As gameweeks go that was pretty successful for the vast majority of players. While it wasn’t a record-breaker in terms of absolute scores, it was a rarity in that so few of the selected teams failed to score, with the result that most players went right through the scorecard from x2 to x8. This contributed to a season high weekly average score of 67 points per player, hot on the heels of our midweek round which to most certainly didn’t feel like a bonus given that it was the lowest scoring Gameweek so far with an average score of just 19 points.

Despite a top score of just 111, we saw 23 visitors to Club 100, and over half the field (68 / 130 players) scored 80 points or more to show just how consistent the scoring was. As I mentioned earlier, the reason for the consistent scoring was the sheer number of selected teams scoring, but also that of these teams very few kicked on and scored big, as the top scorers with 5 goals were Stirling Albion (zero picks) and Arbroath, who certainly made up for their costly Gameweek 17 blank, much to the delight of the 85 players who chose them.

The four teams bagging themselves 4 goals also had just 11 picks between them, which helps to explain the lack of any huge totals, as many players were relying on teams scoring 1, 2 or 3 goals to supplement the goals of Arbroath. This Gameweek really illustrated the importance of getting your order correct if you wanted to bag yourself a visit to Club 100.

The most popular team were unsurprisingly Manchester City, who amassed 112 picks (from 130 players) for their home game against Bournemouth which they comfortably won 3-1. Completing the top five most popular picks were the aforementioned Arbroath (85), Chelsea (78), Salford City (65) and my own team (and top tip no less!) Nottingham Forest with 44.

Of the teams that didn’t score, by far the most destructive were League Two side Swindon Town who were selected by 15 players, as they slumped to a 1-0 home defeat to Woking of the National League South, two divisions down the football league pyramid. Other blanks were drawn by Charlton Athletic (8 picks) and East Fife (4). They were very nearly joined by Liverpool (22 picks) but for an absolute howler by Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in about the 8th minute of injury time at the end of the Merseyside derby.

Good luck for Gameweek 19!