There were eleven games in this gameweek, Leeds v Southampton at Elland Road was the extra game on Tuesday night. Going into the final third of the season, there are now only eight teams playing in both competitions, keeping a beady eye on two opponents and two trophies. Only the managers with the most grit, determination and savvy can manage to navigate both challenges with success.
From Sixteen to Eight…
All Star Gunners (18) 33 – 41 Gloopy Yarbles (4)
Gloopy Yarbles made two changes before the game – Ola Aina replaced the injured Erik Pieters and Curtis Jones came in for Scott McTominay.
Bruno Fernandes was, once again, the king-maker in a Cup tie that could otherwise have been quite close. His nine points took nine-man Gloopy Yarbles into their second consecutive Quarter-Finals and All Star Gunners bow out with a club-best Third Round appearance. The Yarbles face League One rivals BattleVAR in the next round; in their last meeting Gloopy Yarbles ran out victors, winning 61-30.
All Star Gunners:
Min: 1,012 G: 0 A: 0 YC: 0 RC: 0
Gloopy Yarbles:
Goal: Fernandes (75’p)
Min: 690 G: 1 A: 3 YC: 3 RC: 0
BattleVAR Galactico (24) 42 – 39 The El Dude Brothers (13)
Bros made three changes to their squad ahead of the tie. Dier, Bertrand & Redmond were signed and Coufal, Walker-Peters & Bowen were released.
On the scoresheet, BattleVAR won the tie 4-1, but fantasy football is much more than that of course. The reality was that it was a much tighter game than those numbers would suggest. Had Bat Gal not scored three goals to supplement Richarlison’s shared celebration, then they would have been waving goodbye early again. As it was though, two very early goals in each half meant that the ten-men of League One saw off the thirteen of League Two and BattleVAR journey on to their second QF appearance in three attempts. They face Gloopy Yarbles next who, although four places above them in League One, lost to BattleVAR earlier this season, 33-28.
BattleVAR Galáctico:
Goals: Sterling (2′), Richarlison (3′), Lingard (47′), Traore (48′)
Min: 893 G: 4 A: 0 YC: 1 RC: 0
The El Dude Brothers:
Goal: Richarlison (3′)
Min: 1,025 G: 1 A: 1 YC: 1 RC: 0
Bigger than Brolin (8) 52 – 35 Sporting Wicker Park (19)
Big Brol signed Leeds defensive duo Struijk and Ayling to replace Pieters and Dawson with their double gameweek. Sporting Wicker Park also signed Struijk and also dropped Pieters. Nathan Redmond and Ricardo Pereira joined Wicker before kick off; Pogba and Justin were shown the door.
The game finished a 1-1 draw on paper, but a convincing eighteen-point win for the Premier League side. Five clean sheets and a mighty 35FPts from a Leeds-heavy defence was ample to put BtB into their second QF in three tourneys and SWP are left to focus on Championship survival.
Bigger than Brolin:
Goal: Raphinha (84′)
Min: 1,268 G: 1 A: 0 YC: 2 RC: 0
Sporting Wicker Park:
Goal: Lookman (61′)
Min: 1,050 G: 1 A: 0 YC: 2 RC: 0
Jaysokker (16) 41 – 46 SB Town Baggers (5)
Jaysokker made no squad changes during the break while SB Town brought in Fulham goalscorers Maja and Aina before heir relegation game against Sheffield United. Mason Greenwood and Gabriel were sacrified.
This was another fixture that finished 1-1, a game that was decided by more than just goals, and another fixture in which Fernandes scored, assisted and won his team the match. While it should be noted that Harvey Barnes went a point better than Bruno, SB Town’s defence did the job with four clean sheets and will get the chance to do it again in two weeks against the Premier League’s top cats Smash & Grab.
Jaysokker:
Goal: Barnes (23′)
Min: 975 G: 1 A: 2 YC: 1 RC: 0
SB Town Baggers:
Goal: Fernandes (75’p)
Min: 784 G: 1 A: 2 YC: 1 RC: 0
Route 57 FC (2) 52 – 37 Mighty fine feeling (7)
Route 57’s manager Darren Measor signed Alioski and Minamino hoping that both will play 180 minutes this gameweek. City’s Rodrigo and Villa’s Ezri Konza also came in to the Oxfordshire side. Mff signed Stuart Armstrong, who had played both games against Wolves last week and scored in their FA Cup win.
Route 57 exacted their revenge over a goal-shy Mff who had knocked them out of the Cup previously. Mff, who had scored three or more goals in their previous five games in Cup & League, saw the return of KdB & Gundogan to replace the United pair of Pogba & Cavani who were left out on Sunday, but were only good enough for a clean sheet point apiece to compliment Ederson’s. Their 37FPts was, however, enough for an eighth-consecutive League win and they extend their grip on second place in the Premier League, but it was the team second in the Championship that won the Cup tie. With 17 points in the final game of the weekend they break new ground by reaching their first BFFA Cup Quarter-Finals.
Route 57 FC:
Goals: Minamino (33′), Dallas (78′)
Min: 1,259 G: 2 A: 0 YC: 1 RC: 0
Mighty fine feeling:
Min: 899 G: 0 A: 2 YC: 4 RC: 0
Smash & Grab (3) 53 – 41 stilluvQPR (14)
Smash & Grab hired Karl Darlow to fill in for the unfortunate McCarthy and drafted in Leeds defender Liam Cooper off the waiver wire to double up his match time over Nelson Semedo. The current Cup Champions picked up Olivier Giroud in preference to Joshua King who is still waiting for a Premier League start since returning to the top flight on Transfer Deadline Day.
The top-of-the-pyramid side had a bittersweet gameweek – scoring three goals, hitting over 50FPts, but lost their League match by three to a resurgent Vanishing Spray. They won’t mind so much that Mff won, given that they still have a nine-point cushion at the top of the stack, their main objective this week would have been to get past the current holders, stilluvQPR, and into the final eight. They did that, seemingly, by simply averaging one point per player better than their opponents. It may have been the two extra players that they were able to field, it may have been QPR’s inability to collect any clean sheets. All we know is that both teams scored three goals apiece, but it is the Premier League side that progresses.
Smash & Grab:
Goals: Maddison (19′), Rashford (30′), Bamford (47′)
Min: 1,231 G: 3 A: 1 YC: 0 RC: 0
stilluvQPR:
Goals: Lingard (47′), Mount (54’p), Sigurdsson (83’p)
Min: 1,018 G: 3 A: 1 YC: 0 RC: 0
Vanishing Spray FC (22) 56 – 30 Sorry not so sorry (23)
Vanishing Spray FC (22) (7th, Prem) vs. Sorry not so sorry (23) (5th, Lge 2)
There was only one transfer made before this fixture. Ola Aina, who scored midweek away at Burnley, was signed in time to replace the injured James Justin in the Vanishing Spray ranks.
A high-scoring Spray have now won seven games in a row in both competitions and have booked themselves an additional game in two weeks too. To supplement a big win over top-of-the-league S&G, they also used their four-goal haul to see off League Two’s SNSS and move on to their second QF in successive campaigns. Newcomers SNSS weren’t able to put up much of a fight this weekend with no player other than their two goalscorers registering more than three FPts. They held onto fifth place in L2, but the teams above them all won so a fight for promotion will be a little tougher going into the final third of the season.
Vanishing Spray FC:
Goals: Richarlison (3′), Lingard (47′), Mount (54’p), Fernandes (75’p)
Min: 913 G: 4 A: 2 YC: 1 RC: 0
Sorry not so sorry:
Goals: Maddison (19′), Saint-Maximum (36′)
Min: 828 G: 2 A: 0 YC: 1 RC: 0
Webuiltthis City (11) 59 – 46 Wijnaldum Leviosa (6)
Webuiltthis City (11) (1st, Lge 1) vs. Wijnaldum Leviosa (6) (4th, Lge 1)
The away side Wijnaldum Leviosa added a couple of Leeds players to strengthen their side against their League rivals. Web City, chose to side with Leeds’ gameweek opponents Bertrand, Redmond & Minamino to fill the spaces left behind by the outgoing Coufal, Albrighton & Lookman.
It was a game of two halves, albeit two different Leeds performances, in this game. They kicked off the gameweek on Friday with a 1-0 loss to Wolves at Molyneux. Five players started the game, four for Wij Lev, one for Web City. All five players scored just two points and put the away team at a disadvantage. The second day went well for City with Redmond & Minamino combining to put Saints ahead at Chelsea. Unfortunately, the Blues equalised and denied McCarthy & Bertrand a long-awaited clean sheet.
Sunday was a high-scoring day for both teams. Harvey Barnes and Vardy collected 15FPts for City; later Ederson, Dias and Antonio scored six each for Leviosa. The final game of the week set up a potential comeback for the well-backed Leeds side and a 3-0 win bolsetered their chances, but Web City matched their efforts with an extra player on the pitch and take one more step towards their first Cup Final.
Webuiltthis City:
Goals: Barnes (23′), Minamino (33′), Dallas (78′)
Min: 1,331 G: 3 A: 3 YC: 1 RC: 0
Wijnaldum Leviosa:
Goals: Antonio (5′), Raphinha (84′)
Min: 1,250 G: 2 A: 0 YC: 3 RC: 0
The Quarter-Finals
The next round kicks off Saturday 6th March with Burnley hosting Arsenal. It will be another 11-game gameweek, with Man City v Southampton completing the round on Wedesday 10th.
The QFs will also feature Man United v Man City, which finished 0-0 in the previous fixture in December, Spurs v Palace, who played out a 1-1 draw that same weekend and Liverpool v Fulham which ended the same way too.
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