GW 5 – Review

Deary me! Things really have slowed down since those explosive opening gameweeks in August. On the goalscoring front, the weekend was awash with them but mainly from unexpected places. Unfortunately, some of the more popular teams failed to deliver on their assignments and left many of you feeling blue, after what threatened to be a tough gameweek turned out to be exactly that. Here’s how GW 5 played out…..

Before we get to the negatives of who let who down this week, we’ll commence on a much cheerier note and that’s Will Bowen’s table-topping total of 102 points. Dining all alone in Club 100, Will was the only player to score a ton in a gameweek that offered up plenty of opportunity to reach three figures. 4 goals apiece from Leyton Orient (12 picks) and Manchester Utd (the weekend’s top pick with 108 selections!) on Will’s x3 and x7, as well as 3 goals from Liverpool (23) and Celtic (91) on x6 and x8, nudged him over that hundred-point line, which has proved to be highly elusive for so many of our players in recent weeks. With just four entrants to the star-studded venue in the last three gameweeks, this is one club in serious danger of going under!

So where did it go wrong? Which team was the biggest letdown on such a potentially profitable week? We’ll start with Fulham! The Cottagers gained the backing of 63 players and travelled to newly promoted Blackpool (just 4 picks) unbeaten so far this season. However, a solitary goal early in the second half from The Tangerines secured their first win of the season and stopped many a score in its tracks, especially as Marco Silva’s outfit were the most picked x3 AND x4 selection of the weekend! Fulham’s lack of goals also caused nine players to dip into the red, with GW 5 amassing 21 minus scores in total, the most so far this season. With so many scores limited by faltering Fulham, it’s no wonder the average score dipped to a season low 26 points. Plenty of work to do for those of you who saw red at the weekend, but where were the big points racked up?

Well, the obvious destination for goals was Manchester, and Utd as I’ve already mentioned were the top pick of the weekend! The Red Devils’ little known new forward Cristiano something or other bagged a brace on his second debut for the club, in a dominant 4-1 victory over a blown away Newcastle Utd (unsurprisingly written off with 0 selections!) Solskjaer’s men were also the most picked ‘banker’ side on x2, as well as a points earner as the most popular x7 choice. Chelsea and Liverpool received a combined backing of 91 selections and returned the faith with 3 goals each, however neither made the ‘most picked’ matrix this week, with Kelty Hearts, top of the Scottish League Two, receiving 58 selections and becoming the most popular x5 and x6 choices. The Jambos only found the net once, a 93rd minute equaliser against Elgin City, which was enough to keep scores climbing and a huge relief to those of you who had them on your lower multipliers. Finally, and sounding like a broken record, Celtic rounded off the multiplier ladder on x8 and bagged 3 second half goals for their backers.

That completes another weekly review of Ultimate Goals action. It was a tricky week that many of you struggled with, so let’s hope we bounce back stronger with a packed out Club 100 and a much higher average score. There are early kick-offs in the Premier League, Championship and League Two, with Brentford travelling to Wolves, Hull City hosting Sheffield Utd and Northampton Town facing Swindon Town. Good luck and make those selections wisely!

 Sam.