Fantasy Premier League - Myself vs. Auto-Pick Gameweek #1
My attempt to prove the system wrong all season long
It barely feels like the dust has settled from last season and yet we already find ourselves one gameweek down into the next one. You may have seen the (mostly rotting) fruits of my Fantasy Premier League past in my previous post, but in case you missed it, I like the Fantasy Premier League game. In some ways it has become more appealing than the very league that drives its data (save for Manchester United fans who also had Onana in their team, quite the double stealing of points), because of its fierce competitive nature, and that word that despite it being used by Richard Keys as a defence for being sexually inappropriate we all still use it - banter.
I have to admit, such badinage is the only aspect of working in a thriving office that I have ever missed, but was detrimental to my working efforts as a result. With my old work league now defunct because the only guy willing to run it had finally had enough, those days are gone. So apart from my usual mini leagues between friends, I thought I’d try a little experiment. What if I were pit my usual (not so) brilliant FPL insight against that of a team the FPL site itself picks, thus creating my own competition? Devilishly delightful, Kevin.
Just to be clear on the rules for the auto-pick team - No players were changed following the pressing of the auto-pick button, nor were the resulting players from the bench changed, unless FPL changes them automatically due to non-appearance.
Gameweek #1 Team Results - Liquid Football
Overall, a decent start. The majority of the current FPL leaders used their Bench Boost chip, which in my research I read absolutely nowhere, and is absolute genius. Nevertheless, if Haaland was going to play, he was always going to score. There was a last minute app-crashing round of Pep roulette for many to contend with, myself included, with Rico Lewis inserted with less than six minutes left of the first deadline. The only real gamble was newly-signed Newcastle full back Livramento, who didn’t appear, and so the well-beaten Kabore of Luton Town came in for a point automatically. But what about my opponent?
Gameweek #1 Team Results - Nothing Toulouse
Quite a different line-up then, but on paper its pretty strong. Pep’s defensive changes and the potentially outgoing Cancelo meant a double duck in defence, with new Spurs recruit James Maddison coming from the bench to save further blushes. As all three city defenders were not involved, thirteen pointer Alexander Isak could not be used, cementing a lower than average gameweek score.
And with that, gameweek 1 is done, with me coming on top this week 73-52. Ongoing results are being tracked in both classic and head-to-head league formats. The current standings for both will be shared from the next gameweek, which isn’t far away. TTFN!