Gameweek 15

Gameweek 15 is here – just two game weeks to go until the World Cup Free Transfer bonanza, it’s a great opportunity to have a little two match flirtation with one or two of those players you’ve often glanced at from afar, and thought they might be fun for a game or two (Man City v Fulham & Brentford anyone?), but not necessarily a steady relationship……

Just remember however if you are ditching a long-term partner, you may well have some value wrapped up in them – if they have had a price rise since you bought them, it will cost you more to get them back again after your GW15 and GW16 fling – you have been warned before you cast your roving eye around!! 

At the top of the Evie Dove League it is all pretty tight, the top three is made up of ‘Hotel Thiago?’ on 846 points, closely followed by Crystal Pellis (843), and Romford Rejects (842). Special mention also to ‘Dan Hoare’ Heros’ with a cracking GW score of 84 points including a fairly miserly 6 bench boost points, enough to power ‘DHH’ into the top five. However, top of the pile for this GW was ‘Spirit of ‘58’ amassing a huge 95 points, without a chip in sight – nice!

Bench boosts also for ‘Hotel Thiago’ (the other one) with 61 points and the oft-mentioned ‘Eze Son-shine’ the only team to cleverly combine two players in their team name. Sadly their bench boost was not quite so clever, with all bar one of the bench boost points coming from Almiron, the man who now routinely scores a worldie every week!

Two of you threw your hat in the ring for the ‘Triple Captain’ prize fund of £125, but for the thirteenth week running Neil Madrid laughed in your face, Arsenal v Forest yielded some great points, not least for substitute Reiss Nelson, but sadly Martinelli’s goal and Jesus’s two assists were not enough to put either ‘Remi Garde’ (65 points) or ‘Woods Edge Wanderers’ (67 points) in pole position.

In other captaincy news, almost 40% of you stuck with Erling Haaland, whilst the rest of you looked elsewhere – Salah and Jesus being top choices, both giving reasonable returns. However hats off to ‘Don’t believe hype’ and ‘R’s Ez Dub’ who went for Newcastle v Villa and capitalised respectively on 38 points for Callum Wilson, and 24 for Almiron. Well done guys………anyone else thinking that with a good January transfer window the Toon could be in for their best shout for the title since those memorable days of Tino Asprilla, Sir Les, and Kevin Keegan ‘loving it’??………

Meanwhile it was a mixed week for our fellow Premier League managers – Jesse Marsch almost certainly saved himself from the sack with victory at Anfield, thanks to Sumerville’s last minute strike (I think all the Don’t leave me this way jokes have already been cracked?), and he celebrated with his own unique shuffle down the touchline (apparently to the sheer embarrassment of Mrs Marsch); Eddie Howe marked his one year anniversary with a thumping win over Aston Villa, for whom Unai Emery experienced the shortest new manager bounce in the history of new manager bounces, seeing last weeks four-nil two finger salute to Steven Gerrard, swiftly reversed! Pride of place however goes to Graham Potter, who returned to his former love, complete with his South Coast entourage, new haircut, and elaborate wing back formation, only to be pebbledashed by the Seagulls, whose post match fish and chips on the beach must have tasted oh so sweet!

Also a fascinating week for those players desperately trying to get on the plane to Qatar – Ivan Toney drew a blank, and picked up a fifth yellow card ruling him out of GW15, one of two last chances to impress Gareth Southgate, meanwhile Callum Wilson was on fire, and Marcus Rashford also impressed. At least Joe Gomez will have plenty of time to get his Christmas shopping done, as he made sure that after 71 games, Virgil Van Djik was finally on the losing side at Anfield……

That’s all for this week guys, as we look forward to a cracking weekends entertainment, super Sunday bringing us Chelsea v Arsenal, Tottenham v Liverpool,  and of course our former Health Minister entering the jungle – no-one is going to have had a more torrid time since the Man Utd defence was destroyed by Brentford earlier this season!! Good luck Matt, good luck…..! 

And of course good luck to you too, may GW15 be a haven of green arrows!

All the best from all of us at the Evie Dove Foundation