FPL Gameweek 1
This was a very good start to the league, with many closely contested fixtures. As I know many of you have not played in a head-to-head league before, so please see a brief outline of the rules below:
The match result is based on the gameweek score of each team minus any transfer points spent preparing for the gameweek.
3 points are awarded for a win and 1 point for a draw, which teams are then ranked on.
In the event of a tie between teams, the team who has most game points will be positioned higher.
In terms of high-level statistics, the average points scored in the league was 70, which is higher than the average across all FPL players at 64 (I.e. the standard is very high!). The fixtures were by no means easily won, as the average fixture differential was 6 points, with 10/18 games being decided by 6 or less points and 1 game being decided by a single point (commiserations to ApexAms- it wasn’t meant to be). Benniehanas should feel most aggrieved as his score of 79 would have landed him a win against most opponents however the bold Haaland triple captain decision of Chrissyleboss XI got him over the line. Shoutout to our top scorer (Rassclart Addz) for the week with 87 points, buoyed by a complete performance across his team.
Whilst the choice of captain is always a crucial decision, this was not the key determinant in the outcome of the fixtures as there were a few players who could’ve been chosen as opposed to a one-size-fits-all approach (namely Isak, Haaland and Saka). In future weeks this may not be the case assuming one player’s performance is significantly higher than the others (e.g. Haaland scores 4 and the next highest individual goal/assist tally is 1), so look out for lopsided matchups going forward. Even though it’s only been 1 week, it’s safe to say not captaining Haaland may be a dangerous decision as a goal from him seems like a foregone conclusion.
Looking forward to next week, we already have a top four clash on the cards as Chrissyleboss XI takes on Kwamz FC in what could be the tie of the week. If this week was an indication of the next, expect a large proportion of the matchups to be decided by very few points, assuming that managers haven’t buckled under the pressure and made a host of changes to their team. Captain choice may prove crucial and managers will have to decide whether they expect this to be a high scoring week or one with many cagey fixtures.
Until next time,
To a simpler life;