UKFF FPLs 2022-23

[Fog Dude]

First of all, no Fantasy League round-up yet because there's still one match to go in Gameweek 17 (which I'm hoping can salvage things for me). Hope everybody's had a good last few days anyway.

===

The results went into the opening post on Tuesday night and the table was updated straight afterwards. For the first time in a few rounds, MVP RULZ extends his lead and once again leads by 9 points. Nicko's still last, but worst performer Rory sinks to just one point above him, to Vegeta's benefit. Top scorer Stinky closes in on the duo at the summit and moves further clear of TildeGuy. He was the sole participant to make it into double figures and the only one to get more than one exact score.

No D2D this time, so the only bonuses were from the 'wildcard' fixture, which was randomly selected once all the games were done as match #9, the meeting at Meadow Lane. Nobody quite guessed the exact scoreline of 4-1, but everyone correctly bet on a home win, meaning the whole field gets an additional point like they're audience members on Oprah or something. Normally I'd say that makes the gimmick pointless, but in a Christmas round I just think it was extra nice. 

We were luckier with the weather than in the previous couple of weeks, so there are 9 other matches to whizz through. Both score draws in the second tier generally proved fruitful, whilst two more at Plough Lane and Plainmoor were generally good for one-pointers, alongside away victories for Argyle, Newcastle Utd and Brighton. A stalemate in Exeter and a heavy reverse on the road for Donny in the battle of the (non-G*s) Rovers, on the other hand, caught most people out.

A new set of 10, including the last first-choice D2D of the season, will appear in the original post sharpish. Although Saturday seems to be the main day for the EPL this weekend, our card will feature just New Year's Day and Bank Holiday Monday games, so for the second week running you've got more time than usual in which to make your picks. 

[I Bent My Wookie]

Haven't won in 6 games, just got beat at home and drastically outplayed by the team we face on New Year's Day.

If there is ever a time for a D2D to work it'll be this week. Will get my results up later so people have enough time to bet against Hereford.

[TildeGuy~!]

Week 22 fixtures 

Premier League

Nottingham Forest 0-2 Chelsea (16:30)
Brentford 1-2 Liverpool (Monday 17:30)

League One
Peterborough United 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers

League Two
Grimsby Town 1-2 Stockport County 

National League North
Kidderminster Harriers 2-1 Hereford w/ShyDad
Scarborough Athletic 1-2 Darlington (Monday 13:00)

Scottish Premiership
Rangers 1-2 Celtic (Monday 12:30)
Heart of Midlothian 2-1 Hibernian (Monday)

Ligue Un
Nantes 2-1 Auxerre (14:00)
Lens 0-2 Paris St Germain (19:45)

[I Bent My Wookie]

Week 22 fixtures 

Premier League

Nottingham Forest 0-4 Chelsea (16:30)
Brentford 1-3 Liverpool (Monday 17:30)

League One
Peterborough United 1-2 Wycombe Wanderers

League Two
Grimsby Town 1-2 Stockport County 

National League North
Kidderminster Harriers 0-1 Hereford w/ShyDad
Scarborough Athletic 1-3 Darlington (Monday 13:00)

Scottish Premiership
Rangers 1-5 Celtic (Monday 12:30)
Heart of Midlothian 2-1 Hibernian (Monday)

Ligue Un
Nantes 1-1 Auxerre (14:00)
Lens 0-2 Paris St Germain (19:45)

 

Is it three years in a row I've had the over Christmas D2D or just 2 now?

Edited December 28, 2022 by Shy Dad

[Vegeta]

Premier League

Nottingham Forest 0-2 Chelsea (16:30)
Brentford 0-3 Liverpool (Monday 17:30)

League One
Peterborough United 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers

League Two
Grimsby Town 1-2 Stockport County 

National League North
Kidderminster Harriers 2-1 Hereford w/ShyDad
Scarborough Athletic 0-2 Darlington (Monday 13:00)

Scottish Premiership
Rangers 0-2 Celtic (Monday 12:30)
Heart of Midlothian 2-1 Hibernian (Monday)

Ligue Un
Nantes 2-0 Auxerre (14:00)
Lens 0-3  Paris St Germain (19:45)

NB All games take place on Sunday (New Year's Day) and kick off at 15:00 unless stated. Start times are listed in GMT

[Fatty Facesitter]

Decent return to FPL - Haaland's double took me up to 91 and shot me up most of my mini-leagues. Reece James going down injured was a blow - had he remained on the pitch for a few more minutes he'd have still earned clean sheet points despite his injury. I had a disappointing blank from KDB and City also opted to rest Cancelo. Other calls though were firmly rewarded, switching to Kepa in goal, going with a front three of Kane, Haaland and Mitrovic with everyone returning. Almiron and Trippier continue to do the business for the Toon as well. I'm going to roll the transfer for next week before I replace Reece James - just so I've got a bit of additional freedom to do some further squad tinkering elsewhere. 

Predictions
Premier League

Nottingham Forest 0-4 Chelsea (16:30)
Brentford 2-2 Liverpool (Monday 17:30)

League One
Peterborough United 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers

League Two
Grimsby Town 1-0 Stockport County 

National League North
Kidderminster Harriers 2-2 Hereford w/ShyDad
Scarborough Athletic 2-2 Darlington (Monday 13:00)

Scottish Premiership
Rangers 1-3 Celtic (Monday 12:30)
Heart of Midlothian 2-3 Hibernian (Monday)

Ligue Un
Nantes 2-0 Auxerre (14:00)
Lens 0-4  Paris St Germain (19:45)

[Fog Dude]

On 12/28/2022 at 11:25 AM, Shy Dad said:

Is it three years in a row I've had the over Christmas D2D or just 2 now?

First of all, thanks for picking early. It's why I tag people in the initial post but it doesn't always get a swift response.

Your memory is playing tricks on you though, I'm afraid. Not going to dig up the last 2 seasons' threads, but according to the records on my spreadsheets your D2Ds fell in August and early December last year, and in December and February the season before. There's never a D2D in the Boxing Day round, and having one as part of the New Year card is a bit of a rarity too.

Premier League

Nottingham Forest 1-2 Chelsea 
Brentford 2-2 Liverpool 

League One
Peterborough United 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers

League Two
Grimsby Town 3-2 Stockport County 

National League North
Kidderminster Harriers 3-0 Hereford United w/Shy
Scarborough "Athletic" 1-1 Darlington 

Scottish Premiership
Rangers 2-3 Celtic 
Hearts 3-1 Hibernian 

Ligue 1
Nantes 0-0 Auxerre 
Lens 0-2 Paris Saint Germain

===

On the Fantasy front, Tuesday's game did indeed take me from just below average to just above. Haaland's brace earned him 13 which doubled up to 26 for me, but Mitrović on 15 would've been an even better choice of captain – so he will be this weekend. The only other bad selection decision was leaving Martinelli on the bench, whose score of 8 put him above no fewer than seven of the outfielders I started with, including even Kane. The big exception was new signing Ødegaard who made it into double figures.

A total of 80 points for the round and now at 912 in total. Just outside the top 3 million overall, slightly inside the top 4 million for the week. Up in one private league, but down in two, including a UKFF one. No change in the rest. 

For the imminent next gameweek, Lloris and Andreas come into the first XI in place of Leno and Thiago Silva respectively. The latter loses the vice-captaincy to Gündogan.

[I Bent My Wookie]

I did actually dig up old threads and I think I was due Hereford in December in 20 but COVID hit Vs Darlington. Last year is definitely my brain playing tricks though as I thought it was our double header Christmas special I got.

February 21 was Walsall Cheltenham though. Definitely know that one as it was a rare me missing the 3pm kick off but the game being postponed.

[Stinky Dad]

Premier League

Nottingham Forest 0 v 3 Chelsea (16:30)
Brentford 1 v 2 Liverpool (Monday 17:30)

League One
Peterborough United 1 v 1 Wycombe Wanderers

League Two
Grimsby Town 1 v 1 Stockport County 

National League North
Kidderminster Harriers 1 v 0 Hereford w/ShyDad
Scarborough Athletic 1 v 1 Darlington (Monday 13:00)

Scottish Premiership
Rangers 2 v 2 Celtic (Monday 12:30)
Heart of Midlothian 1 v 1 Hibernian (Monday)

Ligue Un
Nantes 1 v 1 Auxerre (14:00)
Lens 0 v 3 Paris St Germain (19:45)

[MVP RULZ]

Week 22 fixtures 

Premier League

Nottingham Forest 1-2 Chelsea (16:30)
Brentford 1-1 Liverpool (Monday 17:30)

League One
Peterborough United 2-2 Wycombe Wanderers

League Two
Grimsby Town 1-2 Stockport County 

National League North
Kidderminster Harriers 2-1 Hereford w/ShyDad
Scarborough Athletic 2-0 Darlington (Monday 13:00)

Scottish Premiership
Rangers 2-2 Celtic (Monday 12:30)
Heart of Midlothian 2-1 Hibernian (Monday)

Ligue Un
Nantes 3-1 Auxerre (14:00)
Lens 1-1 Paris St Germain (19:45)

[RoryFice]

Week 22 fixtures 

Premier League

Nottingham Forest 1-2 Chelsea (16:30)
Brentford 1-1 Liverpool (Monday 17:30)

League One
Peterborough United 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers

League Two
Grimsby Town 1-1 Stockport County 

National League North
Kidderminster Harriers 0-0 Hereford w/ShyDad
Scarborough Athletic 1-1 Darlington (Monday 13:00)

Scottish Premiership
Rangers 2-2 Celtic (Monday 12:30)
Heart of Midlothian 2-2 Hibernian (Monday)

Ligue Un
Nantes 1-0 Auxerre (14:00)
Lens 0-2 Paris St Germain (19:45)

[seph]

Premier League

Nottingham Forest 0-2 Chelsea (16:30)
Brentford 1-2 Liverpool (Monday 17:30)

League One
Peterborough United 0-1 Wycombe Wanderers

League Two
Grimsby Town 0-2 Stockport County 

National League North
Kidderminster Harriers 1-1 Hereford w/ShyDad
Scarborough Athletic 1-2 Darlington (Monday 13:00)

Scottish Premiership
Rangers 3-2 Celtic (Monday 12:30)
Heart of Midlothian 2-0 Hibernian (Monday)

Ligue Un
Nantes 1-1 Auxerre (14:00)
Lens 0-3 Paris St Germain (19:45)

[Fog Dude]

Had a bit of a 'mare in the Fantasy League last time. Left Martinelli on the bench again and he got double figures for the second time in a row. At least his value's going up, I guess, but there are no awards for having a squad worth over £100m at the end of the season. Picked the wrong keeper too. Only 3 outfielders managed more than the basic 2 points – most got fewer. Worst of all, I captained Mitrović and even though Fulham won, his penalty miss means he scored nothing, which of course doubles up to... zero.

That added up to 33 points overall, well below average, easily inside the bottom 2 million players for the week, and down in all but one of my private leagues. No change in the other one, so I can only presume nobody else in that is taking it seriously. They might have even forgotten all about it during the World Cup and never come back.

Based on the last two performances, I can't be certain that Ben Davies is actually a professional footballer so I've shipped him out for Struijk from Leeds. I've found a place for Martinelli in the starting line-up at last, but it leaves a surprisingly strong-looking bench of Kane, Gündogan and an out-of-form Cancelo. In contrast, Andreas has been decently lately and he's got a double round, so he gets the armband, with Jorginho from across West London getting the nod for vice-captain ahead of the derby a week on Thursday. 

Haven't got any Brentford or Liverpool players in my squad at the moment, so we can safely ignore the fact that I've got nought for the round so far.

===

For the Predictions League, not put the results in the opening post or figured out the table yet. Will go do that now and then write the wrap-up tomorrow night as usual.

[I Bent My Wookie]

I absolutely despise being a Hereford fan at times.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Shy Dad

[Fog Dude]

As alluded to above by Shy Dad, the Bulls got a decent point at Aggborough on Sunday but that still wasn't enough for him to win his D2D bet. Nobody else went for an away win so all other participants who actually got their picks in claim a pair of bonuses each. And, as you'd expect, that left him as the worst New Year's performer and moving down a place in the table.

Below him, just a point now separates Vegeta from Nicko. Rory narrowly leapfrogs out of the bottom 3 as the only person into double figures and with more than one correct scoreline this time out. At the summit, seph cuts the lead of MVP RULZ by one point back down to 8.

The 'wildcard' fixture randomly selected after all the games were finished was Nantes v Auxerre, and even though most people got the result right there, Rory managed to nab all the bonus points for himself by being the only player to get the exact score correct. A reminder that there'll be no wildcard game next week as it's classed as a 'bumper' round with enough going on already.

Elsewhere, not a lot of high scoring going on. Victories for Grimsby, Darlo and Hearts generally proved fruitful for one-pointers, and a score draw in the Old Firm derby wasn't too bad either. Reverses for Posh, Liverpool and PSG, on the other hand, caught almost everyone out, as did Chelsea being deservedly held at Forest. 

Right, that'll do. No additional gimmicks like D2D, FPL Cup or wildcards next weekend, but there are more matches on the card than usual. Look out for that at the top of the thread in just a tick.