Third 1/4 -- The Third Group of Six 7. 8. 9. 10. Parraraiders - [24 points; gw15] 11. Aviators - [23 points; gw14] 12. Ryan's Reds - [19 points; gw13] It's a hectic week, so perhaps a little shorter than normal. After 5 danger zone visits this season, including the last two GWs, Parraraiders exits with this week's low score of 24. Parraraiders fielded a full 11, and only had one player score 0 and two players score 1, and the rest were 2s and 3s. However, it was a long gap to the dangerzone and would have required points from multiple sources to avoid this week's elimination. Dangerzone consisted of Lokomotiv Lewisham (40), Kicking & Screaming (42), and Game of Ohhhs (45). With the elimination at 24 points, not much danger this week. It was the 5th DZ visit for K&S (matching Parraraiders' previous mark for most visits this season), while it was 3rd visits for Game of Ohhhs and Lokomotiv.. The weekly average score was 43.5. With 9 teams left, there are four teams from VSR, three teams from Small, and two teams from Sand.
Third 1/4 -- The Third Group of Six 7. 8. 9. Kicking & Screaming - [40 points; gw16] 10. Parraraiders - [24 points; gw15] 11. Aviators - [23 points; gw14] 12. Ryan's Reds - [19 points; gw13] We knew a GW like this might be coming, but it is scary times to see an elimination with a score at 40. And, while the 40 was a solid score, Kicking & Screaming manager D Bartels may have some questions to answer with a lineup that only fielded 9 and with no transfers for several weeks. Rather than a standard made up quote, I'm just going to borrow this one from the K&S movie: "You either win, go on to greatness, or you lose, and probably face a series of cataclysmic events for the rest of your lives." There were also so many Ditka quotes..... Feel free to add your favorites below if you liked this flick. Dangerzone consisted of Journeymané (42), Game of Ohhhs (45), and The Rising Son (46). It's a fourth visit for Game of Ohhhs and the Rising Son, and the 2nd visit for Journeymané. With only 6 points separating the eliminated team and the entire DZ, it was one of the closest contests that we've had in a while. The weekly average score was a healthy 52.3. We are now down to 8 teams: blechs_dawgs, ColdDogSoup, Journeymané, Lokomotiv Lewisham, Morning Glory, Tangers FC, Game of Ohhhs, and The Rising Son.
Last day of a unique gameweek, which with the latest news looks like it will end with one game postponement for each day of the GW. Each of the remaining 8 teams had planned to have at least one player in today's LEI/TOT game, and 4 of the 8 had two players involved. I believe that everyone had already used all of their auto-subs (IF they had any who were playing in the first place), so this latest game scratch is perhaps extra painful, especially for those who thought they had a surplus of players coming on the last day. I've done my best to add in the auto-sub players and points, and there is still a lot of players to play, but the immediate focus of the elimination battle is: ColdDogSoup - 10+Christensen+Rudiger+Matip+Konate+Doucoure Tangers --------- 10+Allison+Robertson+Salah(c)+Hudson-Odoi+Wilson CDS (Son & Davies) and Tangers (Moura & Davies) were among the 4 teams to lose two players today. Tough news when you're looking to dig out of hole. For the good news, even with those scratches, CDS and Tangers have the most players still to go, which will make for an interesting battle between them as well as holding a possibility of catching the next group of teams. Assuming that only one of Matip and Konate play for CDS, Tangers has a solid Liverpool double DEF pairing and looks set to benefit from a Liverpool clean sheet, while CDS doubles on the Chelsea DEF and could get a nice bump if Chelsea can get back to its clean sheet ways (after seemingly being a foregone conclusion earlier in the season, it's been 4 games in a row with at least one conceded). Obviously, Salah(c) has been dependable all year and could end the contest early in Tangers' favor. In a nutshell, CDS needs Newcastle to score and Salah to blank. Short of that game being added to the list of postponements, I'm not sure if there is enough wizardry to pull this one off, but that's why they play the games. Should CDS and Tangers both put up big points, here is the next group of teams: Game of Ohhhs - 24+Salah(c) The Rising Son - 28+Allison+Castagne+Konate+Jota(c) Morning Glory --- 30+Christensen+Lukaku There are lots of possible permutation, but if CDS scores big (and Salah blanks), Game of Ohhhs could end up in an interesting battle with Tangers, as that 14 point lead over Tangers could easily get eaten up by a Liverpool clean sheet and this could become an interesting head-to-head given the extra players that Tangers has. The other three teams (dawgs, Journeymane, and Lokomotiv are already in the 40s and would seem secure for this GW as they all still have a few players left as well).
Interesting. Lineups are in. Christensen not starting today for ColdDogSoup but Matip and Konate are the Liverpool central pairing, so CDS balance out Tangers' Liverpool defensive duo and will start four. Meanwhile, Wilson won't start for Tangers and Hudson-Odoi isn't on the roster today, so Tangers is rolling with three from Liverpool (including a captain). To elaborate -- and it's still possible that Christensen or Wilson come on and that the canceling Liverpool assets end up with differences from goals, assists, cards, and/or bonus points, but it is currently shaping up as Rudiger vs Salah(c)...... Good luck to you both.
Third 1/4 -- The Third Group of Six 7. 8. Cold Dog Soup FC - [18 points; gw17] 9. Kicking & Screaming - [40 points; gw16] 10. Parraraiders - [24 points; gw15] 11. Aviators - [23 points; gw14] 12. Ryan's Reds - [19 points; gw13] Three games postponed sent everyone scrambling to their benches and ledt most with less than 11 when all was said and done. Lobo had a shot going into the last day, but it was always going to be tough with Ronaldo and Son randomly yanked from the squad. Lobo: "we don't know yet what happened but we are getting a lot of anonymous leads and we are following up on each of them. No Kane. No CR7. And Bernardo might well have not played! One theory that certainly makes sense with these games being shut down is that Tarv is trying to stop this season now in order to get a do over. I cant figure how how he did it but until he provides a solid alibi, we will be referring to this as the Tarv-virus. Meanwhile, Blech is making up random rules ... 7 games is okay. But 5 games isnt. What? We were missing key personnel and shouldn't have been forced to play this week." Dangerzone consisted of Morning Glory (30), Tangers (31), and Game of Ohhhs (40). As mentioned in the DECup thread, as we are under 6 games, we will take gw18 off. Hopefully we will have a full schedule in a week.
We are currently down to 7 games. Eliminator Cups will proceed this GW as long as there are at least 6 games played. Still 2 days to go. Scary times for many teams with the LIV game canceled; of the 7 teams still alive, 3 have Salah, 2 have Mane, and 1 with Jota. Also a couple each of Robertson and Allison owners in there, but interestingly no TAA owners still in the fight from my quick glance. FYI, Morning Glory looks to be the only team of the 7 without a LIV asset. As a Salah owner, I'll confess that I have no longer have any idea what it's like to make captaincy decisions. This is very strange to take that decision off autopilot. Of course, with the Africa championship coming in the next few weeks there has always been a tricky task looming in the final BECup weeks for the Salah & Mane owners. If the BE-Cup proceeds, good luck to all this GW. Stay safe. And enjoy your holidays!
3 games canceled left everyone scrambling to field 11 this gw. With 1 game to play, here is how it looks.... The Rising Son -- 24 + Fred + Ronaldo(c) Journeyman ------ 32 + Wilson And, two more potentially still at risk... Blechs_dawgs --- 32 + Dalot + Telles + Rashford(c) Morning Glory --- 28 + Maguire + Bruno(c) + Greenwood Game of Ohhhs, Tangers, and Lokomotiv appear safe with scores near or above 50 and still have players to play.
Third 1/4 -- The Third Group of Six 7. The Rising Son - [27 points; GW19] 8. Cold Dog Soup FC - [18 points; gw17] 9. Kicking & Screaming - [40 points; gw16] 10. Parraraiders - [24 points; gw15] 11. Aviators - [23 points; gw14] 12. Ryan's Reds - [19 points; gw13] Second 1/4 -- The Next Six 13. Keysersoze Wanderers - [33 points; gw12] 14. Kopite Jrs - [24 points; gw11] 15. Sasha Juniors - [23 points; gw10] 16. Bigger Boat - [22 points; gw9] 17. FC St. Pauli - [29 points; GW8] 18. Top Shelf - [18 points; GW7] First 1/4 -- The First Six 19. FC Epikoinis - [25 points - GW6] 20. Real Newark - [25 points - GW5] 21. Glorydaze - [30 points - GW4] 22. Stormin' Gunners - [22 points; GW3] 23. ChrisSuttonsSlippers - [31 points; GW2] 24.Soccer Steve - [27 points; GW1] It was scary times in the Journeymane camp as Wilson scored a 2nd goal Newcastle goal in the first half only to have it ruled (correctly) offside and then to have Wilson leave the game injured just before halftime. But, the MUN assets held by The Rising Son (and by others) never fired. The Rising Son ended with 27 points, with Fred being subbed early and captain Ronaldo picking up a "frustration" yellow card. And, with that, we see the exit of last year's BE-Cup champion (known then as Virgil Reality), and we close the book on the third group of 6, with only 6 teams remaining. TSR representatives would not speak with the press group after the game, but issued a brief statement: "This was a tough week to go out. And, we suspected that it would be a week like this that finally caught up with us. If you go back to last year, this has been a very, very long run without an elimination, and we're proud of what we accomplished." The dangerzone consisted of Morning Glory (32), Journeymane (33),and blechs_dawgs (40). It was visit #5 for Morning Glory, the third visit for Journeymane, and finally visit #1 for the dawgs. Even with the canceled games, the weekly average score for the league came in at a healthy 44.6. The final 6 (in alphabetical order) are blechs_dawgs, Game of Ohhhs, Journeymane, Lokomotiv Lewisham, Morning Glory, and Tangers FC. For those counting by division, that's 3 from VSR, 2 from Small, and 1 from Sand.
GW20 is underway, with currently 8 games on the schedule (and 3 already played earlier). Between the 4 teams not playing, suspensions, and injuries, I believe that there is only one Rocks team still in the eliminator who may end up with 11 playing players. If you got 10, you've done well.... Scanning the rosters of the 6 Rocks teams still alive and looking at who may have contributed to them getting this far, --Salah, ESR, and Dalot are on 3 teams (one from each division), and --Lloris, Mane, Robertson, Telles, Maguire, Moura, Ramsey, and Watkins are on 2 teams. If you are holding someone not on this list, that player is yours and yours alone, which depending on whether you have ground to make up or a lead to cover may or may not be a good thing.... For this week, the three Salah owners (dawgs, Tangers, and Game of Ohhhs) gave him the armband, while the other captaincy selections were Mane (Journeymane), Mahrez (Lokomotiv), and Bernardo* (Morning Glory). Bernardo is actually vice captain, and will come on for the suspended Bruno. Note: Of the 5 teams with either Salah or Mane, Lokomotiv is the one who elected not to go with a Liverpool captain. As noted before, all of these teams will have a big hole to fill with AFCON looming in the final BE-Cup weeks ahead. Morning Glory is the one team in the final 6 that does not own Salah or Mane, having taken Bruno as its first round pick. There were no lineup surprises for LIV/LEI, and Morning Glory is the only team who won't have a player participating in that game. Good luck all!
It's low scores all around so far in GW20, but still plenty of players to come (even with the EVE-NEW game now canceled).... TEAM ------------ PTS ++ (Wednesday Players) ----------------------- ++ Thursday Players blechs_dawgs ---- 6 ++ ( Zinchenko + Azpilicueta + Maupay ) ---- ++ Telles + Dalot + Rashford Morning Glory ----- 7 ++ ( Christensen + Bernardo(VC) + Lukaku ) ++ Maguire + Greenwood Game of Ohhhs -- 9 ++ ( Cucurella + Hudson-Odoi ) ---------------- ++ Maguire + Dalot Journeymane ----- 9 ++ ( Dias + Alonso + Foden + Mbeumo(inj?) ) ++ Wood Loko-Lewisham -- 16 ++ ( Mahrez(c) + Sterling(vc) + Ziyech ) ---- ++ Telles Tangers ------------ 21 ++ ( Lamptey + Hudson-Odoi ) --------------- ++ Dalot Actual teams control in the event that I've made any errors, but this is an overview, showing Tuesday points, followed by Wednesday players and then followed by Thursday players. dawgs and Morning Glory have the current lowest scores, but have the most players left with 6 for the dawgs and the equivalent of 6 for Morning Glory with 5 including a captain. If Mbeumo (showing as 25% chance) doesn't play, then Game of Ohhhs and Journeymane both have 4 players to play. Two fewer players than dawgs and Morning Glory essentially eliminates the current 2-3 point lead if the additional players play. It is currently a toss between the lowest 4. And, while anything can happen, it looks like Lokomotiv and Tangers are in decent shape with points in the bank. In addition, Lokomotiv still has big captaincy options to come, and Tangers in particular looks to be in a very good spot as it will be difficult for Game of Ohhhs to get past Tangers with both having Hudson-Odoi and Dalot. Assuming that their BHA defenders Cucurella/Lamptey cancel each other out, Tangers only loses this lead if Maguire scores 12 or more (and, even then, would still have to get passed by all of the other teams). Of course, while this presents all players with games remaining, there is always a risk of rotation with 3 games this week. There were a few who rested today, and probably a few more from the list above who don't start on Wednesday or Thursday, and who gets minutes could be as important as who gets points! The good news to take from this is that there are several teams in trouble and looking at very low scores, but since only one will be eliminated, you can still survive even with a sub-par week.
I believe is now realistically down to just two teams: It's low scores all around so far in GW20, but still plenty of players to come (even with the EVE-NEW game now canceled).... blechs_dawgs ----------- 10 + Telles + Dalot + Rashford Lokomotiv Lewisham -- 16 + Telles Not sure which way to take one's fantasy agony is worse. It was an early whammy for Lokomotiv, who had 3 players waiting to play today, including a captain and a vice-captain, only to see none of their names on the lineup cards. No substitution appearances either left Lokomotiv on 16 points at the end of the day, just where it started the day. For my dawgs, the agony came in injury time, with the Wellbeck goal courtesy of the Cucurella assist wiping out the Azpilicueta clean sheet, as well as wiping out the 2 bonus points that Azpilicueta looked set to pick up. Those 6 points would make all the difference in what is now a duel with Lokomotiv, and the 6 points that Cucurella got in that moment (3 for the assist plus jumping from 0 to 3 bonus points) took Game of Ohhhs from what would have been a risky spot with 13 points plus two MUN defenders to what appears to be a safe spot with 19 points plus two MUN defenders. All of the other teams appear now to be safe. Will Dalot & Rashford play or is this a rotation special? Can Dalot + Rashford get 6 points? Handicapping this one is tough. By the way, if necessary, it will go to the final tie-breaker, unused points on the bench, which will favor the dawgs.
Final 1/4 -- The Final Six 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. blechs_dawgs - [11 points; gw20] It only takes one off week to send a team packing. After a near perfect run in the BE-Cup, with a first dangerzone visit coming just this past weekend in GW19, the dawgs set a new record for lowest elimination score of the season with 11 points. Such a low score is not easy. The dawgs ended up with only 6 players getting minutes -- 3s from Fabianski and Maddison, 2s from Azpilicueta and Maupay, 1 for a late appearance from Dalot, and 0 from captain Salah. Including injuries and suspensions and canceled games, there were only going to be 9 players at the most, but rotation caught up with Zinchenko, Telles, and Rashford. blech stopped for an interview: "I assume that puts to rest the claims that I rigged the competition. Missed PK. Not our day. Multiple guys don't play. Not okay. Not much more to say. Put the NYE champagne away. Certainly no hip, hip, hooray." The final 6 scoring: blechs_dawgs ---- 11 Lokomotiv --------- 16 Game of Ohhhs -- 22 Morning Glory ---- 26 Journeymane ---- 30 Tangers FC ------- 38 The Rocks average score came in at 33.2, the lowest of the season by a substantial margin. We are down to 5 left. Good luck to all navigating the canceled games, with things getting trickier still with the Africa Cup pulling people away while at the same time we begin to see canceled games rescheduled.
Taking a look-in (there are still three games to play, but not many players from those games in action for the teams battling to avoid elimination), here is where we are for GW21: Morning Glory -- 29 + 3 autosub = 32 w/ no players left Tangers --------- 27 + 2 autosub = 29 + Soucek(C) It's straightforward. Morning Glory needs Soucek to score 1 or less, while Tangers needs Soucek to score 2 or more. So, far this season, Soucek has played every game, and scored 2 or more in every game exception one, when he played 90 minutes but picked up a yellow card in GW11. Soucek has one other yellow card this season, but offset that point deduction with a clean sheet on that other occasion. Good luck to you both. Game of Ohhhs, Lokomotiv, and Journeymane are safe with scores over 40 once autosubs are processed.
Final 1/4 -- The Final Six 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Tangers FC - [29 points; gw21] 6. blechs_dawgs - [11 points; gw20] Another instance of high-flying team (previously 3rd, now 4th in the standings) suddenly crashing out on an off week. Tangers FC (29) had only been in the dangerzone twice (a 35 in gw2 and a 31 in gw17) and had the high score of the remaining BE-Cup teams last week! But past points don't carry forward and an unusual no-show in game 2 of the double gameweek for captain Soucek (who hadn't previously missed a game all season) ended up being the difference, as Morning Glory (32) breathes a sigh of relief. While Soucek didn't play, he did tweet that it was great to watch the winning performance.... Unfortunately, no fantasy points for that. Adding to Tangers' pain, I'm guessing that Salah has been the captain every week previously, and had Salah been given the armband rather than Soucek being favored because of the extra game, the 5 points would have boosted Tangers into the next round. Tangers was unamused: "We'd like to thank Blech for pointing out before the pre-game that Soucek had played every game this season. Do you think the coach hears that and changes the plan? Do you think the player hears that? We have a long list of superstitions here at Tangers FC, and at the top of the list is that you don't talk about what you need, you just go out and get it. But Blech doesn't respect our rules, creates this negative energy, and probably isn't the superstitious type. I'd bet that he takes a black cat and forces it to step on a crack right underneath a ladder." The final 5 scoring: Tangers FC ------- 29 Morning Glory ---- 32 Game of Ohhhs -- 50 Lokomotiv --------- 57 Journeymane ---- 77 The Rocks average score came in at 44.0. And then there were 4.
Final 1/4 -- The Final Six 1. 2. 3. 4. Journeymane - [17 points; gw22] 5. Tangers FC - [29 points; gw21] 6. blechs_dawgs - [11 points; gw20] Unfortunately, no drama or intrigue in the BE-Cup, as Journeymane (17), the last remaining ream from Small Rocks, exits the competition. The final 4 scoring: Journeymane ---- 17 Game of Ohhhs -- 33 Lokomotiv --------- 44 Morning Glory ---- 111 Morning Glory gets props for the spectacular FPL use of the Triple Captain, with Bruno racking up 69 points (23*3) to singlehandedly beat the totals of each of the other teams, and with Morning Glory's total beating the other 3 teams combined! It doesn't beat last year's top 3 high scores, but I believe the 111 is the high score of the season for 2021-22. Of course, while it was a spectacular use of the Triple Captain for FPL purposes, it was a waste of the Triple Captain for BE-Cup purposes since it wasn't needed. Will Morning Glory regret not having it in either of the last two weeks. Also, we are not two eliminations in a row where the eliminated teams (Tangers, Journeymane) had the highest BE-Cup score in the week prior to elimination. Meanwhile, Game of Ohhhs will not try to stay alive and prevent a final showdown between two VSR teams. No dangerzone this week as we're now down to 4 and everyone would be in it. The dangerzone tally for the season of the remaining teams: Morning Glory (7), Game of Ohhhs (6), and Lokomotiv (5). The exiting Journeymane was only at 3, and is another example of a high-flying team getting caught in an unusual slip. Also, for our final 3, they are having good seasons, but not spectacular and are currently in 8th (Game of Ohhhs), 10th (Lokomotiv), and 12th (Morning Glory). As noted many times before, it's not necessary to be the best. Just don't finish last. Of course, that gets tougher as the numbers dwindle. Good luck to the final 3 in GW23. The all rocks average points, boosted by Morning Glory, landed at 52.6, the 4th highest total of the season.
It's final 3 time, with one game to play (BUR v WAT). Morning Glory ------------ 32 + Cathcart (or 5 via autosub) + King(C) Lokomotiv Lewisham -- 38 + Kucka Game of Ohhhs --------- 45 Add to the mix that Watford has changed managers mid-GW, and it's hard to predict anything in this battle at the bottom of the table. A random benching for Cathcart in the first game now has Morning Glory hopes that he sits again in order to bring on auto-sub points, while much will depend on captain King. Meanwhile, Lokomotiv goes into the finale relying on vice-captain Juraj Kucka, who is coming off a disappointing -1 performance in game 1, netting an own goal with only 1 minute of playing time! Game of Ohhhs has a slight lead but no players remaining, so will be left to watch the scoreboard.
Final 1/4 -- The Final Six 1. 2. 3. Morning Glory - [40 points; gw23] 4. Journeymane - [17 points; gw22] 5. Tangers FC - [29 points; gw21] 6. blechs_dawgs - [11 points; gw20] Final scores for the final 3 in gw23: Morning Glory ----- 40 Lokomotiv ---------- 41 Game of Ohhhs -- 45 A very tight ending, with Morning Glory coming up just short. There are probably a few other difference-makers, but King's yellow card in the GW's last game stands out as a critical incident. King was Morning Glory's captain, and dropped from 8 points to 6 points, in the 1-point duel. Maupay was Morning Glory's only goalscorer as everyone else failed to get a goal or assist, with Cathcart and Cash picking up clean sheets. Cash joined King with a significant -1 for a yellow card. Meanwhile, the respect for the WHU attack proved costly, as Morning Glory left Maguire's clean sheet on the bench. Meamwhile, Lokomotiv only fielded 9 players, but got a critical 11 points from Ziyech (with 3 bonus points), also getting 2 points from each of Ramsdale and Edouard. The 7-0 difference this week in bonus points between Lokomotiv and Morning Glory ended up being just enough to get Lokomotiv into the final. I believe the 40 points ties the highest score to be eliminated this season, with Kicking & Screaming posting a 40 in gw16. This sets up a final showdown between Game of Ohhhs and Lokomotiv Lewisham. Lokomotiv will welcome Mane back while Game of Ohhhs will welcome Salah back, and both squads will be watching the pre-game news to see if either will be rested enough to play following today's AfCon Final. Good luck to both teams.
The BE-Cup Final has kicked off. The squads (with players on teams playing today noted with an "*") line up as follows: Game of Ohhhs Lloris (SOU) Digne(V)(LEE) / Dalot (bur)* / Emerson R (SOU) / Cresswell (WAT) Salah(C)(LEI) / Lucas M (SOU) / Ramsey (LEE) / SmithRowe (wol) Weghorst (MUN)* / Broja (tot) Subs - Sa (ARS) -- Gelhardt (avl) Injury/flag notes: Broja is an orange flag and Salah is a yellow flag Lokomotiv Lewisham Ramsdale (wol) Burn (EVE)* / Reguilon (SOU) / Emerson R (SOU) / Coady (ARS) / Livramento (tot) Mahrez (BRE) / Sterling(C) (BRE) Pukki (CRY) / Edouard(V)(nor) / Watkins (LEE) Subs - Gunn(CRY) -- Mane(LEI) / Kucka(whu)* Injury/flag notes: Burn is a yellow flag, and did not start today, and Mane is on the bench with a red flag. First edge seemingly to Game of Ohhhs, with Salah having a yellow flag and hoping to play while Mane carries a red flag, but that edge could flip back to Lokomotiv if Salah (now captained) ends up with his minutes limited or playing 90 but not having the same bounce in his step that we've seen for most of the season. Lokomotiv counters with a high risk / high reward captain selection in Sterling. Game of Ohhhs also has some interesting pairings, with Broja attacking against his defensive duo of Lloris and Emerson, and Weghorst squares off against Dalot. With Lokomotiv also doubled up on the Spurs defense with Reguilon and Emerson, Game of Ohhhs has hedged its bet but will be hoping Broja shakes off the orange flag and scores. For today, all three of Game of Ohhhs players have started their game. For Lokomotiv, Burn and his yellow flag is on the bench, while Kucka is playing from the bench.
Tuesday Live Score Update (including manual autosubs) - Game of Ohhhs = 15 points (from 3 players) + 8 players (including captain) to play Lokomotiv Lewisham = 2 points (from 1 player) + 10 players (including captain) to play Detailed scoring........ Game of Ohhhs Lloris (SOU)** Digne(V)(LEE)** / Dalot (2) / Emerson R (SOU)** / Cresswell (8) Salah(C)(LEI) / Lucas M (SOU)** / Ramsey (LEE)** / SmithRowe (wol) Weghorst (5) / Broja (tot)** AutoSub -- Subs - Sa (ARS) -- Gelhardt (avl)** Lokomotiv Lewisham Ramsdale (wol) Burn (-) / Reguilon (SOU)** / Emerson R (SOU)** / Coady (ARS) / Livramento (tot)** Mahrez (BRE)** / Sterling(C) (BRE)** Pukki (CRY)** / Edouard(V)(nor)** / Watkins (LEE)** AutoSub -- Kucka(2) Subs - Gunn(CRY)** -- Mane(LEI) Note: Kucka autosubs for Burn, unless Mane's red flag is a hoax and Mane plays... Players on teams playing on Wednesday are noted with "**". After Wednesday, each team will only have 2 players left, although it will include the captain still to play for GoO.
Wednesday lineup announcements are out. Broja comes through for Game of Ohhhs despite the orange flag, while Lokomotiv sees Edouard begin the game on the Crystal Palace bench and Livramento absent again from the Southampton 18. Everyone else will start. Having already used an autosub, Lokomotiv may be scrambling for numbers. Here are the players in action today in the BE-Cup final..... GoOs will have Lloris, Emerson, Lucas M and Broja in the TOT-SOU game and Digne and Ramsey in the AVL-LEE game. LL will have Reguilon and Emerson in the TOT-SOU game, Mahrez and Sterling(C) in the MCI-BRE game, Pukki in the CRY-NOR game (with Edouard on the CRY bench), and Watkins in the AVL-LEE game.
Wednesday Live Score Update (including manual autosubs) - Game of Ohhhs = 45 points (from 9 players) + 2 players (including captain) to play [Salah(c)+SmithRowe] Lokomotiv Lewisham = 44 points (from 8 players (including captain)) + 3 players to play [Ramsdale+Coady+Mane] Detailed scoring........ Game of Ohhhs @Romil Patel Lloris (3) Digne(V)(1) / Dalot (2) / Emerson R (1) / Cresswell (8) Salah(C)(LEI) / Lucas M (5) / Ramsey (14) / SmithRowe (wol) Weghorst (5) / Broja (6) AutoSub -- Subs - Sa (ARS) -- Gelhardt (-)** Lokomotiv Lewisham @Tpadams Ramsdale (wol) Burn (-) / Reguilon (1) / Emerson R (1) / Coady (ARS) / Livramento (-) Mahrez (10) / Sterling(C) (9*2) Pukki (9) / Edouard(V)(1) / Watkins (2) AutoSub -- Kucka(2) Subs - Gunn(3)** -- Mane(LEI) Note: Kucka autosubs for Burn, and Mane autosubs for Livramento if he plays I don't know that we can ask for much more than a BE-Cup Final that heads to the final day as a toss up. Lokomotiv strikes on Wednesday with Sterling, Mahrez, and Pukki, while Game of Ohhhs responds with Ramsey and Broja. Lokomotiv gets a slightly larger bump from the bonus points to close the gap, and it is basically all knotted up at this point. And, with the doubling of captaincy and consideration of autosub, the teams, at least on paper, head to the final day with an equal number of players. Fittingly for a Final, for whoever loses, it will be the highest score to be eliminated all season. Notably, Mane's red flag was recently changed to a yellow flag. However, I've yet to see anything suggesting that Mane may play, or is even back, so who knows how likely it is that Mane will or will not get minutes, and while Salah is back and surely of a mind to get back on the field and play, it is unknown how the number of minutes that he has played in recent weeks and his travel obligations will limit his playing time. In the end, each team has a star on a yellow flag. Might this come down to a showdown of the yellow flags on Salah and Mane and if and how they each play? Salah(C) + SmithRowe + 1 vs Ramsdale + Coady + Mane
Thanks. It's been a great final. Now to see how this last day plays out. Lineups out in a few hours....
And, lineups are posted - Ramsdale, and Coady start, with Salah and Smith Rowe on the bench while Mane does not make the roster. So, it's: Salah(C) + SmithRowe + 1 vs Ramsdale + Coady There are no more autosubs left that I haven't already added in above, but if Salah doesn't play, Game of Ooohs gets an additional 1 point from Vice Captain Digne. I suppose edge to Lokomotiv at the moment, as Lokomotiv has players starting today and will jump into the lead when the games begin, but we know Salah can do damage even coming off the bench. A lot of potential scenarios. One interesting one -- if Salah and ESR come on for 1 point each and Ramsdale and Coady get the basic 2 points just for playing, it looks like it ends in a tie. Game of Oooohs would have the edge in that scenario with fewer captain points. PS - If I had to guess, the yellow flag for Mane was changed post-deadline to try to avoid confusion for those making decisions for this weekend?!?! Maybe?!?!