GW 36: Minus 12, who gives a f*ck?

With Gameweek 35 consigned to the history books, we immediately turn our attentions to Blank Gameweek 36, and with time quickly drawing this season to a close, and my rank ever decreasing, I've decided to take some drastic measures to try and save face.

Just 6 gameweeks ago, I was steadily climbing the rankings, and got to 325k, poised to make a move and with my sights set firmly on the top 100k.... and then I hit my wildcard button.

What a mistake that was.

I went bold with the triple Chelsea defence, they let 5 in against West Brom, I chose Vardy over Iheanacho (this also meant I couldnt afford Salah). I went with James Maddison, who scored a disappointing 11 points in 6 game weeks. I then compounded my misery by bringing in Ricardo Pereira who went from 7 straight starts, to not featuring at all.

And then last week, I took a hit and Sold Callum Wilson, and his lovely 13 points, and Son (7 points), although their replacements (Mo Salah and Dominic Calvert Lewin) scored 24, to even out the points hit and their scores, but it summed up my recent fortunes transferring out two impressive performances, both of which had fixtures in the blank gameweek this week.

I even managed to bag myself over 100 points this week, but still got a red arrow.

My moves also only left me with 7 players (8 technically but Jason Steele is never going to feature) for this weekend, and so major surgery was required on my squad.

I've gone for 4 transfers to get 11 players out, taking a 12 point hit in the process.

Out go the disappointing Maddison and Pereira, along with Antonio Rudiger and Luke Shaw due to their blanks, and the players I wanted to bring in.

In come returning squad members, Raphinha and Trent Alexander Arnold, along with arguably the FPL player of the season Stuart Dallas and bargain Liverpool defender Nat Phillips.

In targeting Leeds and Liverpool assets, I now have triple ups in the two t.eams with the best remaining set of fixtures (according to the Fantasy Football Scout Fixture Ticker), as well as allowing me to have players I'm excited to watch.

Raphinha is a player I've enjoyed owning all season, and only dropped out of my team due to injury, he returned to fitness last week with an assist, and whilst there are a few comments which suggest he may not play the full 90 minutes, he's an exciting player in a team which i think will continue to attack and look to end the season on a high note.

With Leeds taking on Burnley, Southampton and West Brom to end the season, I've also brought in Dallas (shockingly, this is the first time I've owned him this season). He was on my radar at the start of the season, but I went with team-mate Luke Ayling instead, and it was a poor choice. With 8 goals and 2 assists (generally from midfield), Dallas has made a mockery both of his classification as a defender, and his original £4.5m price tag.

His form continues to improve too, When comparing his per appearance stats for the last 6 gameweeks, vs the overall season. The last 6 compare favourably in terms of goals, goals conceded (lets not forget, he is a defender), xG, xGI and touches in the final third, meaning he could still be on to continue the form which has seen him score 34 points in those last 6 gameweeks.

The only team to rank higher than Leeds in terms of the more favourable fixtures are Liverpool, as they continue their assult on what looked like an unlikely top 4 challenge earlier in the season.

In Alexander-Arnold we get the most attacking defender in the league, and someone who is a genuine captaincy option. With 58 points (and only one score of less than 7) since GW 28, only Kelechi Iheanacho has outscored him in that time frame.

Alogside Alexander-Arnold, I've gone for a cheap double up option into a defence which faces West Brom, Burnley and Crystal Palace, with budget option Nat Phillips (disclaimer: I had already made this transfer before he was unlucky not to get two assists last night). At just £4.1m I haven't brought in Phillips expecting a huge return, but he has a fixture this week, Liverpool have something other than pride to play for, and i like the fixtures until the end of the season, and at £4.1m I couldn't resist.

In terms of this GW and captaincy options, There were three players that easily could've had the armband aside from who I've gone with.

Harry Kane showed glimpses of his top form last wek in his appearance vs Leeds, with only VAR causing him to blank. Against a Wolves side who have conceded 7 in their last three, it'd be a brave man to bet against Kane adding to his tally this week.

Similarly, Dominic Calvert-Lewin takes on a very poor Sheffield United side, who let Christian Benteke dominate them in the air last week. In Calvert-Lewin is allowed the same joy, I expect him to get some big points.

Another player I'm expecting a big haul from is Mo Salah. With West Brom's relegation now confirmed, and Liverpool still having hope for the 4th spot, it's a real chance for them to flex their muscles. West Brom's defence is especially leaky at the Hawthornes, so I'm expecting Salah to pile on the misery.

But in the end, I've gone with Trent Alexander-Arnold. That run of scores I mentioned earlier, plus the potential for attacking returns, along side a possible clean-sheet mean it's a fun gamble to go for. And that's all I've got left to play for at the minute!