Gameweek 9 - FPL

Middlesbrough vs West Brom

Some good players in the Middlesbrough side including Draxler and Nainggolan. Throughout the pitch I can see more quality there - with Bender and Alves the weaknesses for me. West Brom do have some under-rated players but Boateng, Strootman and possibly Areola are the only players I could see getting into the Middlesbrough team which makes my decision.

Middlesbrough - Bender, Alves probably the weaknesses in strong side.
West Brom - Hard to pinpoint specific weaknesses, I'd probably sell Carrasco and Boateng if you can get a couple of top quality players.

Middlesbrough 3-1 West Brom
Sanchez x2 ------- Coman
Aubemayang


Stoke vs Hull City

An interesting formation from Stoke and I do think that it would work, it's very smart tactically against the 3-4-3 of Hull. Looking at the sides, the triple Gs are where I'd look to improve, as well as the full backs. In this game the full backs matter less due to the formations. Hull need to upgrade Mascherano, and definitely not play him at CM. I do like that they've put Dybala upfront. This was by far the hardest game to predict for me, and I hope after predictions it does end in a draw,

Stoke - Upgrades required at CM.
Hull - Mascherano for me is the biggie that needs upgrading.

Stoke 2-2 Hull
Reus x2 ----- Marchisio
------------- Dybala


Sunderland vs Crystal Palace

Vidal and Modric are a fantastic combo in the middle for Sunderland but I do think their side needs some improves, Barzagli and Adler stick out for me. Sanchez, Cazorla and Rashford would be the next upgrades for Palace in my view. A difficult game to pick a winner so I won't, although it's tempted to give a Ronaldo x2 win.

Sunderland - Barzagli, Adler the obvious places to improve.
Crystal Palace - Rashford's decent but not at the level required, same with Sanchez at CB.

Sunderland 1-1 Crystal Palace
Modric -------- Ronaldo


Watford vs Bournemouth
Watford even without Pogba have a monster side. Centre back is a concern but going forward they look fantastic, Iniesta-Kante in the middle of the park would work really well IMO. The Bournemouth side has a couple of weaknesses like Carrick and Firmino struggles. Although Bournemouth are very strong defensively, for me, I have no option but to give the win to Watford.

Watford - Get Pogba back in the side, upgrade the defense.
Bournemouth - Firmino upfront I'm not sold on.

Watford 1-2 Bournemouth
Alli ------- Bertrand
Costa

Stoke City v Hull City

Injuries seem to have really taken its toll on Stoke and a lack of a replacement for Suarez ultimately blunts what is usually a vibrant attack. I’d probably consider cashing in on the Uruguayan hitman to strengthen elsewhere as they offered very little against what is now a very strong Hull side. A compact midfield saw the ball often bogged down in the middle with the lack of wingers in the Hull side meaning that they were unable to exploit the space out wide. Whereas a strong Hull backline offered very few chances to the home side. A single Bernadeschi strike seeing the visitors take the points.

Stoke City 0 - 1 Hull City
Bernadeschi


Sunderland v Crystal Palace

Another game where injuries played a key part in the final outcome. Zlatan was a big miss up front for the visitors, particular against a centre back pairing where I feel he would have a lot of joy. Rashford just didn’t offer the same end product despite causing Barzagli a lot of difficulties with his pace. It was a similar story at the other end of the pitch whereby Sunderland couldn’t really take advantage of a somewhat makeshift Palace cb pair. A world class striker would have ultimately been the difference to either side in this tie. For Sunderland I’d probably look to improve on the cb’s and bring in a top forward to finish off the numerous chances that would be created by Modric. For Palace my main focus would be to improve on D.Sanchez who I’m not quite sure is ready for this league yet and maybe look to bring in a top keeper. With Zlatan back you feel Palace will be a different animal however Sunderland just had that little extra overall quality to edge it.

Sunderland 1 - 0 Crystal Palace
Pedro


Swansea v Burnley

The compact formations of both teams ensure this was another tight affair. I would probably have looked to trade at least one of my injured defenders if I was Swansea as a pairing of Kramer and Linderlof isn’t really up to scratch against some of the top forwards in the business. I like the look of the home sides attack however they were up against arguably the strongest backline in the league and were ultimately unable to break them down. For Burnley a new GK and RW would be my main priorities however that extra quality in attack saw them points in this one

Swansea 0 - 1 Burnley
Aguero


Watford v Bournemouth

Undoubtedly game of the day however as is so often the case it transpired to be a low scoring fair as the sides largely cancelled each other out. The injury gods were once again smiling down on Bournemouth as they came up against a contender missing some key players. The midfield battle was pretty even with Kante and Wanyama the star men, stifling the oppositions attack. Pogba was sorely missed as I feel he would have had far too much for Carrick which may well have swung the game in his sides favour. Bournemouth on the other hand have done well to counter injuries and are arguably now even stronger as a result. Their physical centre halves did a superb job of marshalling Costa whilst at the other end Sandro did extremely well in limiting Messi’s impact, the Argentine having a surprisingly quiet afternoon. With a game so tight it came down to the finest of margins and it was the in-form Douglas Costa that proved the match winner, the Brazilian proving too hot to handle for the deputising De Sciglio leaving the Watford manager cursing his luck at the loss of Carvajal.

Watford 0 - 1 Bournemouth
Douglas Costa

Sorry just to clarify - it should be Watford 2-1 Bournemouth rather than the other way round. Should be obvious from goalscorers/feedback but just Incase.

Boro vs WBA

I'm getting sick of saying how good this 'boro side is so I won't. But i just think to man boro have comfortably the stronger side with more match winners, Albion aren't far away just think they're lacking some firepower

Boro 2-1 Albion
PEA, Sanchez
Werner

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Sunderland vs Palace

one could argue a case for Sunderland having the strongest midfield trio in the league - sides coming together nicely but areas to improve on for me would be GK maybe FB and I'm not sure on Jesus - haven;t seen enough of him but I do like the little I have seen.
Palace are a work in progress and if Rashford does develop they'll have a nice attack - but maybe bring in someone else in the meantime?

Sunderland 2-1 Palace
Robben, Jesus
Ronaldo

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Swansea vs Burnley

Swansea: Don't like the formation far too narrow, Kramer will get tonked there and Meyer is far too deep...no width at all which just invited pressure on - there has to be a better way of utilising the strength in your squad? maybe sell some of the depth and bring in a better attacking mid?

Burnley - love the defence, don't like the Dm's, KDB and Mertens are top quality and Kun Aguero is the best striker in the prem - straight forward away win for me as there's only 2 Swansea players that'd get near the Burnley side (Ter-Stegen and Kane)

Swansea 0-2 Burnley
KDB and Aguero

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Watford vs B'mouth

this games up first on MOTD...ya'll know watford are my favourite team but I think B'mouth have enough to ask some real questions both sides are packed with game changers so its down to individual battles for me

Messi v Sandro, Costa v De Sciglio, Silva vs Bertrand, Sane vs Bellerin are too close to call, I think B'mouth's midfield just shades Watfords but there's not a lot in it...but ive edged towards the home team as I think Diego Costa is the most likely of the 2 strikers to pull the trigger

Watford 1-0 B'Mouth
Costa (Bernardo)

Comment Deleted by Site Moderator

Middlesbrough 0 v 0 West Brom

Boro have a strong side, although, as I said last week, it is a tad top heavy. WBA are getting better, and get a deserved draw from me this week, however.
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Stoke City 0 v 0 Hull City

Stoke tried to be clever with their formation, and, whilst it was always going to frustrate a disjointed Hull team, they also lacked firepower up front. Was always going to be a no score draw imo.
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Sunderland 0 v 1 Crystal Palace

Sunderland have a strong side, but I am a fan of the attack for Palace. They could have done with a more physical presence leading the line, but Rashford was complimented well by Silva, who knocked some great balls over the top for him to run on to.

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Watford 0 - 0 Bournemouth

Another game where teams struggled to get the better of each other. Both could do with investing in certain areas, with Watford looking weak down the right, and Bournemouth could do with a better LB and could definitely do better than Carrick.

STO vs HULL

Good formation to prevent Hull from the home side, not enough attack power and you need to play with a recognised striker in order to win games. Full backs even though are good, stand out from the rest of the side. A lack of width let Hull down in this game against Stoke's full backs and just didn't have enough up front.

Score: 0-0

SUN vs CP

2 good sides. Sunderland have a good mix of experience and youth within the team which I like and suits the team well and a very strong midfield. I'd look to improve on Jesus as I'm not totally convinced on him just yet and maybe a long term improvement on Barzagli. Palace are reliant on Ronaldo and Silva more than anyone and I'm not convinced by Valencia at RB, decent side though.

Score: 1-1

SWA vs BUR

Really like the away side more here. They have an excellent team through really, maybe look to improve on Castro, even though he's a good player just stands out a bit as a weakness. For Swansea, O. Dembele has to be played in a wide area for me, he's much more effective there. Long term look to replace Alonso and definitely some more experience at CB.

Score: 0-2

WAT vs BOU

Both teams with extreme quality in their team. Watford have an excellent spine and are strong throughout the side. I'd look to improve on De Sciglio and hope the wide players produce the potential they have been showing over the last couple of seasons. Bournemouth have another top side, would look to replace Carrick and Lahm long term though if possible and improve on Lopez in goal.

Score: 2-1

Boro 2 - 1 West Brom
Auba, Sanchez ; Coman

The home side deserved a win here, and look like the strongest side in the league as they were just too good for West Brom all over the pitch. West Brom have a strong defence but don't look strong enough at cm. For the home side there's not a lot you can say, a stronger dm than Bender and if I was going for perfection I'd say more of a playmaker type than Draxler in am.

Stoke 1 - 1 Hull City
Mane ; Marcelo

Hull closer to the win here for me, but I didn't think there was enough in it as quality wise I couldn't split the sides. Stoke with more quality going forward and Hull look stronger at the back. Personally I'd have put Reus central with Coutinho left though.

Sunderland 2-2 Crystal Palace
Robben (2) ; Ronaldo (2)

I'm a big fan of the Sunderland cm trio, and think they would get the better of all the midfields in the league. The home side are slightly stronger overall but with the quality of Ronaldo in their side CP get a draw. CP missed Ibra and I'm not convinced Sanchez was the right answer at cb. A top quality striker would transform the Sunderland side for me, although given time Jesus could easily be that guy.

Swansea 1 - 2 Burnley
Kane ; Aguero, KDB

The away side were just too good here for Swansea. Two narrow sides by the looks of the setups, I think the away side could've won by more if they hadn't been so narrow. A strong away side Guedes and Castro could be improved upon. For the home side, Kramer at cb was never going to work. A good bit more could've been done to improve the Swansea side this week using the squad they have, with a lot of decent players but not enough quality after some bad luck with injuries.

Middlesbrough 2-1 West Brom
Radja, Hazard; YFC

Boro - not massively keen on alonso as a traditional full back really

West Brom - think its a decent starting point, no weaknesses per se, just not enough stardust through the side for me


Sunderland 1-1 Crystal Palace
Robben; Ronaldo

Sunderland - adler not even good enough to be a stop gap for me, and not really liking that cm mix, feel rabiot could be sacrificed for a more attacking player

Palace - dont think sanchez is the solution to your cb problem personally



Swansea City 0-1 Burnley
Aguero

Swansea - the defensive shuffle hurt you there, just think there was more quality in the opposition side for me

Burnley - Heaton for me is the only big weakness


Watford 1-1 Bournemouth
Costa; Messi

cant see much wrong with either side, just de scig as the weakest guy in the watford side, and lopez in the bournemouth side

Middlesbrough v West Brom

Hard to separate two strong sides with their best players out wide, similar midfield and similar defences, the big difference was upfront and in a close game Aubameyang was the difference.

Middlesbrough 1-0 West Brom
Aubameyang

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Stoke v Hull

I like the ingenuity of Stoke's system but I just don't feel they create enough problems for Hull, the two wide Forwards really playing into the hands of the Hull back three. Hull are looking the real deal, very in form front two earning the win.

Stoke 1-2 Hull
Mane; Dzeko, Dybala

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Swansea v Burnley

I wish there were tactics to explain Swansea's side, I feel it was the wrong system and against a very solid Burnley side with genuine quality in key areas they fell short. Mertens seemed to be left free too often. Burnley edge it today.

Swansea 1-2 Burnley
Kane; De Bruyne, Mertens

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Watford v Bournemouth

A great match up and hard to separate these sides. Messi versus Sandro a very interesting battle. I feel the game was won in the midfield trios, not a fan of Carrick anymore, Kante, Iniesta and Alli coming out over Wanyama and Carrick although I love Thiago, I just think Carrick was unable to help him enough with Kante all over him.

Watford 3-2 Bournemouth
Diego Costa, Alli, Iniesta; Messi, Douglas Costa