Suarez and Sturridge have hogged the limelight, but Liverpool’s inspirational leader has been doing his bit to spur their title charge and is racking up plenty of Fantasy Football points while he’s at it.
Gameweek 31 Review
We don’t think we’d be stretching it to say that Gameweek 31 lived up to expectations and then some and, to be quite frank about it, if you didn’t easily exceed 100 points then you’re doing something wrong.
As might have been expected, it was the big names that came through with flying colours and none more so than Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure, whose four goals over two games, along with five bonus points and two clean sheets, led to an individual haul of 31 points.
That score was six points better than the man who we imagine captained 99.9 per cent of teams this week, Luis Suarez, who posted a score of 25 points after three goals, two assists and five bonus points, while his strike partner Daniel Sturridge did pretty well with 18 points, the same total as Everton’s Romelu Lukaku and Spurs midfielder Christian Eriksen.
Thanks to two goals in successive games, Lukaku’s team-mate Ross Barkley returned a handy 20 points, as did much-maligned Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis, one point more than Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel after his brace of goals against Cardiff.
Two goals and an assist in the same game for Jordan Mutch led to 16 points for the Cardiff midfielder, a score also posted by Hull’s Liam Rosenior, with Joe Hart making up the Dream Team after two clean sheets and 13 points in the space of a few days.
J-League
There were serious totals posted all around at the top of the J-League this week and though Barry Curran’s Gambitbeer remain well clear at the top, there’s barely room to breathe amongst the chasing pack so tightly packed together are the teams from second to fifth place.
Adrian Marnane’s Michu at De Gea Bar are providing the biggest threat to Barry’s lead after a whopping 166 points, a score that elevated them above Des Finegan’s The_K_Krew, who are locked in third place with Michael Roche’s Hyperloopin’ Away.
The individual score of the week amongst the elite went to Andrew Byrne’s My Lovely Horses with 173 points, which was good enough for a jump to fourth place, with Paul McInaw’s Poppycock Wednesday hanging in there in fifth place one point further back.
J-League Top 5:
- Gambitbeer – Barry Curran: 2,124 points
- Michu at De Gea Bar – Adrian Marnane: 2,078 points
- The_K_Krew – Des Finegan, Hyperloopin’ Away – Michael Roche: 2,074 points
- My Lovely Horses – Andrew Byrne: 2,072 points
- Poppycock Wednesday – Paul McInaw: 2,071 points
Stevie G making it look easy
There are few players in the Premier League who have performed with the consistent excellence that Steven Gerrard has for well over a decade, but there was a concern in recent years that his best days may have been behind him.
Injuries were beginning to catch up on the Liverpool legend and there were even times this season when it was suggested that he wasn’t cut out for the midfield holding role Brendan Rodgers had assigned to him.
But, while the focus has deservedly been on the SAS partnership in front of him, Gerrard has enjoyed one of his best seasons in years and though he doesn’t play as high up the pitch as he used to, his stats are of a level befitting the box-to-box midfielder he was in his pomp.
For a start, Gerrard always plays. Despite turning 34 in May, he has missed only four games and has failed to play for more than hour in only three more. That’s your two points in the bank right there.
In terms of a more valuable contribution, Stevie G has scored 11 goals (only Yaya Toure and Eden Hazard have more from midfield) and has been responsible for 10 assists (joint top of the midfield category with David Silva and Eden Hazard).
As you’d expect from someone as influential as Gerrard, he picks up his fair share of bonus points (22 in total) and he has become increasingly prominent the longer the season has gone on and the more Liverpool have looked like potential title winners.
Eight of his eleven goals have come since the turn of the year and in the last 11 games he has averaged seven points a game, a score not to be sniffed at, especially at such a crucial stage of the season.
Nervous Liverpool fans might still be reluctant to dream of glory but Gerrard is certainly doing his level best to help them achieve it and most importantly as far as this column is concerned, he’s picking up an awful lot of crucial Fantasy Football points while he’s at it.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: David Silva (£9.4 million). United mightn’t have been up to much on Tuesday night but Silva ran them ragged at Old Trafford and providing he recovers from a knock, he could have a big part to play in another big game at the Emirates this weekend.
Mid-Range: Romelu Lukaku (£8.6 million). Since returning as a substitute against West Ham, Lukaku has three goals, an assist, five bonus points and 27 points in total in his last four games. The man is bang in form ahead of the trip to Fulham on Sunday.
Bargain Basement: Jordan Mutch (£4.6 million). His two goals against Liverpool took him to six for the season and thanks to that brace and three assists, he’s picked up 27 points in the last three games.
Irish Pick: Seamus Coleman (£6.8 million). Not much need for change in this category with Everton mounting a strong challenge for a Champions League spot and Coleman picking up nine points against Newcastle last time out.
Captain’s Pick: Luis Suarez (£13.2 million). There’s not a chance we’re taking the captaincy off him when he’s in this form, not on your life.
