B R A I N S C A N #GW12 -->

My off the cuff thoughts and observations from #FPL GW12 and implications for #GW13 and beyond. Once again I watched far too many matches this weekend and I'll try and include something for almost every team. Hope you enjoy - lets get to it!

Leeds looked tired just as the games start coming thick and fast, which is a slight concern as a Bamford owner (still great value tho). Over their last 6 the aggregate score is an ugly 13-5 against. Not what you want, as they say. West Ham continue to look well drilled, full of..

.. confidence and they've got quality too in Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Fab, Coufal, Haller/Antonio and now Benrahma. I think Leeds might (continue to) struggle from here while I don't see West Ham dropping off too much. Nice fixtures over the next 8 crucial to Leeds' season.

Onwards!

Wolves Villa wasn't a thrilla. 2 evenly matched teams with Villa on the front foot for plenty of the game and Wolves trying to figure out how to score without Jimenez. I still like the look of Pod, Neto and now even Fabio Silva at the prices but no urgency given tough fixtures.

Wolves defs now tricky given the shift to a back 4, meaning rotation for most (except probably Coady).

Villa still look good and I'm v happy with Martinez and Jack. Not sure I want more than 2 from any team given covid risk and an unpredictable season. Hope JG takes next pen!

Some quick hits... WBA are bad and Newcastle not much better. Wilson still a good asset as the fulcrum at a good price. Keep an eye on the likes of Almiron & Joelinton for further signs of life.

The Manchester derby was incredibly disappointing which was an ok result for Utd..

.. and Ole. City didn't create a great deal which is a bit of a worry but they're back to great fixtures now and they'll dish out some paddlings. KDB must-have for me (playing ~ #10, shooting a lot, pens, assists), still think Sterling will get going again soon. He always does..

.. just as the haters start getting excited. Why doesn't Foden start in the Prem? Because Pep hates us, we've just got to accept that. He'll start and haul when we don't expect it, maybe tomorrow. Stones incredible value if he keeps the shirt, Jesus too deep, not shooting enough.

Bruno was a fairly tight offside away from a pen and possible double digits, think I'll just keep him all season now. Expect Rashford to go on a nice run soon as fixtures improve again. Anyone know where 19/20 Tony Martial went?

Super impressive game from Everton with key..

.. players missing again Chelsea who'd been rolling. Siggy rolling back the years a bit and Allan, Doucoure and the defence all played with great intensity. Carlo is such a gem. DCL still ticking in tough fix but he's around price vs value equilibrium here I think. Chelsea will..

.. bounce back, the defence is excellent, Kante looks back to his best and Frank just needs to stop changing the frontline around so much. Poor Timo will have a great spell at some point but at times was practically stuck at RB and LB!

Southampton cruising - 1000 curses on my..

.. name for starting with 3x Soton (McC, KWP, Che) then binning them all too quickly. Ings & Adams works so well, they look solid enough at the back, so impressive from Ralph Hazelnut (let's pretend that was auto correct as I can't spell it).

I've moaned enough elsewhere about..

.. Wilder's reticence to play Brewster having apparently pushed hard for the club record signing. I get that he's largely unproven but McBurnie, McGoldrick and Burke have proven to be incapable of scoring goals. Sorry to say they look dead & buried already. Don't want any of em.

Palace Spurs was fun and quite bizarre in a way, as Guaita gifted Kane his goal only to play out of mind the rest of the game, making 4 or 5 stunning saves. Meanwhile Palace bossed most of the game, with Eze looking fantastic (again). Not so much in this game but that's helping..

.. unleash Zaha as it's harder for teams to double him. Zaha looks a great asset despite mixed fixtures given the OOP, talisman and pen taker trifecta. PVA putting up good stats since his return, as he so often does. Spurs not quite as good as the hype and Palace actually decent.

Weirdly I felt like I got punished for selling Son, despite a net gain on my -4, because the Kane-Son combo return was such a rank killer. I don't think their returns will dry up too much but I think they're normalising, and Spurs' (5.77) and Son's (0.84) xG no bueno last 6 games

Fulham came out of the blocks like a team possessed at the Cottage (fans! huzzah!) and it took a long time for Liverpool to get a grip on the game. Lookman, Anguissa and Cavaleiro were excellent and Fulham look like a mid table side lately. They suddenly have some good players!

Robbo getting 2 pointers from WHU, ShU, bha & ful quietly killing me lately but he'll come good, as will Trent. Good defensive fixtures coming should offset the lack of VVD now that Alisson is back. Not Mo's best game or Mane's best 2 months but they're too good to be quiet long.

Jota is a big loss especially in the busiest part of the season, but Ox will help a bit if he can stay fit, and Curtis Jones already looks the part most of the time. Still the best team in the league so abandon Liverpool assets at your peril.

When (not so ) lively Lamptey was..

.. unexpectedly ruled out (I went from Jota -> Lamptey -> Brewster 1 pointer, cheers lads) that put the nail in my GW coffin so I didn't watch the last 2 games but by all accounts Arsenal remain bad and Leicester are good. Vardy & Justin hauls turned a grey arrow into a chunky..

.. red one when I thought we were about finished with GW12. Must - stop - checking - live - rank - throughout - gameweek!

Obviously Jamie and his parties are good but he's just not for me in FPL (always rated him IRL) so these runs always kill me. C'est la vie. Maddow is..

.. probably a trap, might disappear for 2 months now, but will Justin ever actually lose his place? I'll believe it when I see it at this point. Another guy I started with that I should've just held until the wheels fell off, or didn't as it turned out.

I'll finish off with my..

.. current team and a watchlist of some of the most appealing other assets (off the top of my head so you can tell me who I missed!).

GKs - McC, Mendy.. but just sticking with Martinez anyway so

Defs - Stones, James, Coufal, Taylor, Diaz, Trent, any Soton def, Dier, PVA

Mids - Soucek, Sterling, Lookman, Rashford, Son, Neto/Podence, Mahrez, Foden eventually!

Fwds - Kane, Ings, Adams, Wilson, Fabio Silva

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Hope this was useful - retweets would be lovely if you'd be so kind!

Don't forget the Tuesday deadline!!