Review – GW 12

Dearie me! GW 12 was nothing short of a disaster for many of you, wasn’t it?! There were heaps of minus scores recorded and Club 100 stayed empty for the fourth time this season, yes a third of the rounds have seen absolutely nobody dine there! Here’s this week’s, relatively dispiriting, review…..

Despite the lack of triple-digit scores, someone still has to finish the weekend at the top of the pile. This week it was Elaine Simpson’s impressive score of 76 that took her to the summit. 4-goal MK Dons (just 2 selections) were the standout selection for Elaine on x5, with a plethora of 2 and 3-goal sides padding out her matrix nicely.

It will be no surprise to anyone that the main culprits for this gameweek’s nosedive in form were Manchester City and Celtic – two of the real ‘big-hitters’ in this game. There was a time not so long ago that the blue half of Manchester could be referred to as ‘sure-to-score City’, but that reputation is waning! In GW 12 they were selected 98 times – the most of the weekend – while 91 players backed the Bhoys from Glasgow. When one of these sides fails to find the net, it often results in a dip in scores, but this week both heavy-hitters were goal shy……..City had the ball in the net, but were denied by the scourge that is VAR, whilst Celtic missed a 94th minute penalty to really rub salt into some wounds!  In what can only be described as an absolute calamity, 22 players backed City on x2 (the most popular x2 choice of the weekend), while Celtic were selected relatively evenly throughout the multiplier ladder. This meant that the league table was awash with 43 minus scores, the joint-highest this season. These unexpected results, along with a dearth of goals elsewhere for our players, brought the average tally down to just 7 points. How grim is that?! Mind you, anybody who went backwards would have snapped your hand off for a score of 7!

Such stats make for even more grisly reading when you consider the Perfect 7 for the gameweek stood at a dizzying 178 points! There were five named sides in the P7 matrix this week; Rangers (56 selections) dispatched Motherwell 6-1 on Sunday to take the x8 spot, while x4 to x7 was filled with 5-goal sides – Leyton Orient (only 1 pick), Rotherham Utd (no picks!) and the County’s of Stockport (10) and Newport (just 2) all achieved this to combine for what was a very impressive Perfect 7 matrix. 4-goal sides that would have seen your scores boosted somewhat included Charlton Athletic (2), Port Vale (3) and West Ham Utd (just 3 picks despite their flying form).

Well, that’s that for another week – let’s hope GW 13 will see a return to form for many of you. It’s a great opportunity to do just that, with the FA Cup First Round ties included and the inevitable influx of goals those fixtures will bring. There’s an early cup match between Scunthorpe Utd and Doncaster Rovers (13:00), but that game is rather overshadowed by the early Premier League kick-off; a very juicy looking one as a recently under fire Manchester Utd host their noisy neighbours Manchester City at 12.30…….or is it Utd who are now the noisy neighbours?!! Select them if you dare! Good luck.

Sam Brooke-Wilkinson