There is another double gameweek on the way for Manchester City so are you ready to spin that wheel once again for a bit of ‘Pep roulette’?
The biggest winners in gameweek 26 were the Riyad Mahrez owners with 17 points from 180 minutes played, while keeper Ederson, defenders Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias, and midfielder Kevin de Bruyne also started and completed both games.
But if you had Phil Foden in your team then you have probably sworn to yourself that you are never picking a City player again after just 25 minutes of action and one point in the double gameweek.
Do not give up on City players but never try and second-guess manager Pep Guardiola – that is the first rule of fantasy football!
You could move heaven and earth to get Mahrez into your team for gameweek 27 only to find him on the bench for the Manchester derby or, possibly more painfully, the home game against Southampton next week. Equally, you could ditch Foden this week and then watch him play 180 minutes and end up as City’s top points-scorer in the gameweek.
Statman Dave suggested in this week’s Fantasy 606 podcast that Ederson, Dias and De Bruyne are your three most solid City picks if you were building a squad from scratch right now and do not forget that comes from the president of the Joao Cancelo fan club!
I have got Dias, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan in my squad at the moment – and I am sticking with them. The difficult decision is whether to give Gundogan the captain’s armband in gameweek 27, but we will come to that in a bit.
Take a chance on Bale?
I wish I had had the foresight to go with Tottenham’s on-loan Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale in gameweek 26.
Everything seemed to point to the fact that he might start against Burnley – eye-catching appearances off the bench against West Ham and Wolfsberger, and Spurs boss Jose Mourinho speaking warmly about a player getting back towards his best.
And so it proved – 19 points in the 4-0 win over Burnley led to another start against Fulham, although he could not match the output there. But if you went really bold and triple-captained him then you will be feeling very smug about your 63 points.
I decided to go for Son Heung-min and Harry Kane instead, making the England skipper my triple captain, and I certainly cannot complain about their returns, with 38 points from the pair of them, even if a sole Kane goal felt a little underwhelming.
Funnily enough, I would make exactly the same choice again.
I think Bale is a luxury pick, and quite an expensive one at £9.3m. You cannot bank on him starting every week but there is always the potential of the odd big haul – so if you have some money sloshing around in the kitty, if you are looking for a differential against a rival in a mini-league and if you think you can predict Mourinho’s team selections, then he could be a great one-off at the right time, as he has proved in gameweek 26.
Son and Kane are obviously safer bets though.
Time to drop Fernandes?
The other question I have been asking myself this week, which seems slightly bizarre, is: is it time to give Bruno Fernandes a rest?
Yes that Bruno Fernandes. The Manchester United midfielder with 15 goals, 12 assists and 196 points so far this season, which makes him the top-scorer in the game.
I am thinking maybe just a short-term break with tricky-looking games against Manchester City and West Ham to come, followed by a blank in gameweek 29, and then reassessing it when I play my second wildcard in gameweek 30 or 31.
It is only worth doing if you are picking someone of the calibre to outscore Fernandes over the next few weeks and also with the fixtures to do it – De Bruyne, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah and Tottenham’s Son Heung-min spring to mind.
I would also be tempted by Leicester’s James Maddison or Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish in my midfield, if I knew they were going to be fit. Grealish comes with the added bonus of having a fixture in gameweek 29.
Can we trust Man City for captaincy?
Finally to the captaincy for gameweek 27. Manchester City have this double gameweek so all the usual candidates present themselves, but will your man play both games? If not, could he do enough damage in one game as Gundogan did with his 19 points against Tottenham in gameweek 24?
If you do not fancy that risk then Liverpool’s Salah and Sadio Mane have a home game against Fulham, although the Cottagers have conceded one goal in their past five games.
Tottenham host Crystal Palace if you are considering Kane, Son or Bale; West Ham’s Michail Antonio also has a home fixture against leaky Leeds, and Danny Ings has two games for Southampton – one at Sheffield United and the other at Manchester City.
It is Gundogan or Kane for me and, having foolishly chosen Fernandes ahead of Gundogan in gameweek 24, the Manchester City man is in the lead at the moment for me.
We need to make those decisions by 11:00 GMT on Saturday before Burnley v Arsenal, which kicks off at 12:30. Good luck!
