FPL GW 33: Derek Fires Up while Palmer Cools Down

Chips were flying across the Baddy League this week with four bench boosts and one triple captain played, all vying for the weekly prize. Derek once again emerges as the victor, pretty much securing all the season’s prizes, and further extending his lead.

We’re heading into a very anticlimactic end to the season with Derek already on 2,000 points. No one else even has 1,900 points yet.

Derek’s Cole Fired Power (GW 122 / 1st, Total 2,030 / 1st) (Bench Boost)

Triple Brighton was great last gameweek and it was great again this gameweek. We thought Spurs were the tasty fixture, but Brighton only drew against them 2-2. It was actually 3-0’ing Chelsea that skyrocketed Brighton’s FPL points. Groß (16) was the best double gameweek midfielder, with Derek being the only visionary to select him.

It is currently 25 April. Chelsea last scored a goal and won a match on 5 March. Chelsea last kept a clean sheet on 18 January, over 3 months ago?! I’m so glad we doubled up on Chelsea offence with Palmer (2) and Joao Pedro (DNP) for 1 blank across 4 potential games.

Keven’s The Assets (GW 116 / 2nd, Total 1,888 / 2nd) (Bench Boost)

My triple Leeds strategy worked out to perfection with 39 points. I was fortunate enough to pick up James Justin at $3.9m for 19 points, the highest scoring defender of the gameweek. Ampadu also clutched up with 12 points and DCL gave a respectable 8 points.

Turns out double Arsenal defence in a single gameweek against Man City was not a smart move, with Raya and Gabriel combining for 1 point. Man City have now caught up to Arsenal on the table, so they’ll be fighting neck and neck until the end of the season.

Sandra’s SZ (GW 114 / 3rd, Total 1,875 / 3rd) (Bench Boost)

Oh Dubravka, our favourite bench boost legend. It was looking grim after the first game against Forest, where Burnley conceded a hat trick to Morgan Gibbs-White, the player of the week with 20 points. MGW even outscored all the double gameweek players, which should be a theoretical 66 players across 6 teams. This is simply theoretical of course, as some players like Palmer do not apply in practice.

Heading into the match against City with 0 points to his name, I didn’t have much hope. 8 saves later, only 1 goal conceced, Dubravka pulls out a 4 point masterclass. It ain’t much, but it’s honest work. We take those.

Duy’s Duzor (GW 88 / 5th, Total 1,828 / 4th)

Ekitike out for the rest of the season, who does differential Duy transfer in? Watkins, a single gameweek player of all choices, bringing good fortunes with 16 points, top scoring the strikers of the week. That was more than Haaland with 13 points, playing two games, one against Burnley.

Duy benched Shaw again, but double gameweeker Joao Pedro was actually a zero gameweeker just for Shaw to sub in for a miraculous 11 points. And which team gave Shaw those bountiful points? Chelsea, of course.

Brian’s The Liabilities (GW 83 / Last, Total 1,796 / 5th) (Bench Boost)

After six gameweeks of blanks, Rayan finally returned 11 points, rewarding Brian for the faith. Even Kroupi Jr. has been on a nice streak lately with 10 points this gameweek.

Brian sacrificed single gameweek players Rogers (8) and Virgil (9) to get the cash for Palmer (2), and while it was a good move in theory, Palmer only deals with cold hard facts.

Kudos to Brian’s commitment for not changing his captain on Semenyo and vice captain on Haaland for the last 5 gameweeks, despite one of those gameweeks being a blank gameweek where Man City didn’t even play.

Dan’s A-Cunha Matata (GW 92 / 4th, Total 1,792 / Last) (Triple Captain)

Dan finally gave up on the Woltemade (1) experiment and brought back Haaland to immediately triple captain him for a wonderful 39 points.

Dan also brought in Tavernier (9) and Hill (5) to source the funds for Haaland and they both proved to be decently good selections.

Esteve (6) did well with the defcons in both matches, and fielding Dubravka (4) over Raya (1) was the right decision that was never in doubt.

Bless up,

Keven

Tracker

Top weekly score: Derek’s Cole Fired Palmer with 122 points in GW 33.

Top weekly bench score: Duy’s Duzor with 43 points in GW 9.