Will you make any changes to your Fantasy Football XI before the weekend?
Friday 8 November 2019 15:03, UK
Former Fantasy Football champion Dan Cox brings us his latest diary, documenting the highs and lows of his Fantasy Football season...
I started Gameweek 13 in 1193rd place after three underwhelming weeks. I was hoping for a change of fortune and to re-enter the top 1000.
Saturday did not get off to the best of starts - Aaron Wan-Bissaka achieved tier one tackle bonus points but again there was no clean sheet for Manchester United, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth.
At 2pm there was disappointing news from the Emirates. Nicolas Pepe was on the bench and my patience with the Ivory Coast forward reached boiling point.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored against Wolves to end a run of three league games without a goal. I did toy with the idea of transferring out the Arsenal forward but I will now keep hold of him for a few more weeks at least. He provides a decent captaincy option on a few days, but Pepe had played his last game for me.
At the Etihad, Southampton scored early on to wipe out Ederson's clean sheet. I was not expecting the Saints to pose Manchester City any threat after their 9-0 defeat to Leicester, so it was disappointing to see them score after 13 minutes.
There were no returns from my captain Raheem Sterling, with his yellow card leaving him on one point. I was hoping he would have hit double figures - Kevin de Bruyne could only manage tier one passing bonus points too. I should look on the bright side because I was fearing the worst when I saw that Sergio Aguero was starting. I should be thankful the Argentine only managed one goal.
I certainly captained the wrong player and should have opted for Sadio Mane. With a goal, an assist, man-of-the-match award and tier two shot bonus, it was an eventful afternoon for the Senegalese international. He even earned a yellow card and managed to finish with 15 points. In the same game, John McGinn also picked up seven points from an assist and tier one tackle bonus points.
Onto the evening kick-off of Watford vs Chelsea - Fikayo Tomori was in action for my side. He easily attained tier two tackles and was robbed of a clean sheet in my opinion by an incorrect VAR decision to give Watford a penalty, which Gerard Deulofeu scored.
Sunday was my day of action. I do not usually make a number of moves on one day but I felt there was a good opportunity and saw a couple of players as issues in my team. Pepe made way for one of favourite players - James Maddison. I should have opted for him earlier as he is at the heart of everything for Leicester.
Frederic Guilbert has done well for his price, but by downgrading Pepe it has allowed me to upgrade. I did just that and brought in Ben Chilwell, another great player with great returns so far. He is the fourth highest point-scoring defender and has scored more points than Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and is only four points behind Andrew Robertson.
I also took out Mane for Jamie Vardy. This seems like a chaotic decision to remove Mane in his current form - he is the second highest forward with 89 points. I do have a plan.
Fortunately for me, Jamie Vardy scored to repay the faith, although I did take the armband off Caglar Soyuncu who not only scored, but kept a clean sheet and took home the man-of-the-match award. He was one pass and one tackle off earning both passing and tackle bonus points too - it would have been a monstrous day for him. He scored 16 points and for those who selected him as captain, 32 was just rewards. Being in 79.8 per cent of the top 1000, if you don't own him I would seriously consider bringing him in.
I ended the week on 94 points, seeing a rise from 1193rd to 831st with 911 points, albeit at the cost of three transfers. I have put my faith firmly in Brendan Rodgers and Leicester with no less than four Leicester players in my side, so I will be cheering them on now.
XI: Ederson, Wan-Bissaka, Tomori, Soyuncu, Guilbert; De Bruyne, McGinn, Pepe; Mane, Aubameyang, Sterling
Overall position: 831st
Gameweek 12 points: 94
Overall points: 911
XI: Ederson, Wan-Bissaka, Tomori, Soyuncu, Chilwell; De Bruyne, McGinn, Maddison; Vardy, Aubameyang, Sterling
Saturday: Jamie Vardy
Vardy is leading the race for the Premier League Golden Boot with 10 goals already for the season. He has propelled himself up to third in the charts and has 87 Fantasy Football points. Vardy comes up against a shaky and vulnerable Arsenal defence on Saturday Night Football, where he could easily extend his points tally.
Sunday: Raheem Sterling
I'm backing Sterling in the main event this weekend. Real Madrid are showing interest, such is the standard of performances from the England international. With 67 Fantasy Football points this term, Sterling could be the man to fire Manchester City to victory on Renault Super Sunday, bringing in the points in the process.
