FPL Gameweeks 14-16
When Christmas time rolls through the fixtures pour in, which meant on this occasion 3 GW’s within the space of 7 days! The football fanatic certainly wasn’t complaining as it was packed full of goals, upsets, and near misses. In what represents my last post of the year, and the first edition of a ‘bundled’ GW review, I have much to be thankful for. Whilst my position in the league leaves much to be desired, the turbulent ride has been thrilling to say the least. Hosting this league has kept me engaged with FPL, as usually by this time of the season if I’m not still in the running to win my interest dissipates. For all the stats, substitutions and matchups it is ultimately a game to build some sense of community for those who love the simple sport of football. I hope it has been worth your while thus far, but I’ll be switching things slightly in 2024. As opposed to weekly posts, I’ll revert to a monthly summary so that I can spend more time posting other types of content. In particular, I want to dedicate a large proportion of that to exploring what a simple (or simplified) life looks like and why it’s a burden of mine. To some extent it may raise questions of whether it is necessary, desirable, or even attainable. The FPL reviews will look different, but hopefully its potency will not diminish.
Now regarding the last three GW’s (14,15 & 16) quite a lot has happened. The makeup of the PL table has changed quite significantly with Liverpool now top the league on 37 points, closely followed by Arsenal, Aston Villa (kudos to them), and Manchester City. Barring Everton (due to their 10 points deduction) few teams can feel hard done by with their league position as after 16 games their points tallies are reflective of their overall performances. Manchester United may feel fortunate to be 6th placed and only 6 points off the top four given their largely unconvincing performances and negative goal difference. Their ‘goals scored’ this season is bettered by all but 5 teams showing their profligacy in front of goal. From the game’s perspective, within the tsl league the top and bottom has remained largely similar since the season began, with the expected jostling occurring in between. By the turn of the year teams may have a greater sense of who their true rivals are, as some will realise the possibility of winning the title, a Nando’s, (and perhaps more 👀) is now unattainable.
For the last time in 2023, to the high level statistics. The average points scored in the league this week was 55, 32 & 43, which were broadly in line with the average across all FPL players at 54, 35 & 40. The fixture differentials were highly volatile as it went from 12 points in GW14, halved to 6 points in GW15, and back up again to 20 last week. GW16 represented the largest differential thus far as although the average scores were not extraordinarily high, those who failed failed miserably and often faced their polar opposite.
Notable mentions:
Imperious to Ridiculous: Across the 3 GW’s only 3 teams won all of their fixtures: CK, TA TA TA & ApexAms. On the flip side, myself (Caleb XI), World Class XI, and Deep in Thought FC lost all 3 games, with World Class XI posting the worst goal difference at -56! Not surprisingly CK was a level above the rest as he posted a +69 goal difference across these fixtures.
Top scorer: Logically you could expect those who have won every fixture to top the charts but that is not necessarily the case. On this occasion CK did do so with a total of 169 points, closely followed by ApexAms & A Shaw Thing who both scored 166 points.
Ascent/Descent: Week to week the position changes may be heightened however over the course of time they usually even out. For this period Caleb XI & DanDamn419 dropped the furthest down the table (7 positions) whilst on the flip side blue bandits rose 7 places. Her showing was more impressive given her goal difference was -24, thus proving that the result does have more bearing than the raw score.
Looking forward to the remaining fixtures in 2023, some have much more favourable fixtures than others, with my calculations showing the following:
ETHstateofmindS2 faces the toughest matchups in GW’s 17-20 as the average league position of his opponents is 6th. His fixtures against CK (3rd), Rassclart Addz (4th), and Undisputed (6th) will be tricky so this month could see his change position significantly. Rassclart Addz is next on the list for the most difficult opponents averaging 8th place as he also faces CK and Undisputed.
Conversely, Kwamz FC mathematically has the easiest fixtures with the average league position of his opponents being 30th. If he fails to capitalise on these favourable matchups it’s safe to say his season would be over. There is a big drop off to the next player with the friendliest fixture list as Benniehanas’s opponents average a league position of 25th.
The year has not been easy for most, but the consolation is that we have made it through. We’ve found solace in the simple things, those activities which take our mind away from the stresses of life. FPL has been one of them, and I trust that in 2024 there will be much more for us to savour together.
Until next time,
To a simpler life;