Review – GW 30

Form has definitely been on the up for the majority of you since the new year and the last few gameweeks have been no different! The streak of attendees entering 100 Club has reached 7 weeks in succession now – but only by the finest of margins here! Here’s how things went down in a round that was somewhat affected by the recent storms…..

As usual, we’ll begin at the top of the weekly table and Mark Mcfarlane’s admirable score of 105 points. Mark’s lineup of teams boasted some strong scoring sides such as  3 goal Sheffield Wednesday (11 selections) and 4 goal Bolton Wanderers (also 11), on x8 and x7 respectively. His x5 spot displayed one of the teams of the weekend in 5 goal Wycombe Wanderers (3), in what was easily a standout fixture of the season – The Chairboys fought out a thrilling 5-5 draw with Cheltenham Town (0), the only other named side in this week’s Perfect 7, in exactly the sort of match we just love to see here at The Ultimate Goals!

The other sides that would have made the Perfect 7 lineup included all the 4 goal teams of the weekend; Sheffield Utd (4 picks) dismantled Swansea City (0) 4-0, with Bolton Wanderers and Oxford United (1) also beating AFC Wimbledon (0) and Charlton Athletic (1) by the same scoreline. Bristol Rovers won convincingly at Stevenage (0) in another 4-0 result, while Manchester Utd (8) got the better of Leeds Utd (0) in a Premier League classic, with a 4-2 win at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon.

As the pick statistics suggest, the weekend’s highest scorers didn’t attract too many backers. In fact the week’s best score only made up 68% of the Perfect 7, which stood tall at 150 points – a very challenging figure in a tough round! Meanwhile, this week’s average score remained respectable at 32 points, a score that 45% of you bested, so well done if you were in that bracket!

Plenty of those stronger scores came from well-backed teams finding the net, if not in extraordinary numbers. Liverpool (the most popular side of the gameweek with 97 selections) bagged three at home to Norwich City (0), while Manchester City (72) scored twice despite losing at home to Tottenham Hotspur (0 backers!) to really open up the title race. Celtic (chosen 86 times) hit three past Dundee (0), while Stockport County (64) maintained their National League title charge with a hard fought 1-0 home win against Woking. Stockport were also the most popular x3 and x4 pick at the weekend, with Celtic occupying x5, x6 and x7. Liverpool bookended the ‘Most Picked’ matrix at x2 and x8.

That’s your fill for another week. Next Saturday’s (26th February) early fixtures see Tottenham look to build on that sensational victory at Man City with a trip to struggling Leeds, with out of form play-off contenders QPR’s visiting an equally out of form Blackburn Rovers, who are still hopeful of an automatic spot. Good luck!

Sam.