Manchester City's 3-0 victory over Brentford in Gameweek 36 was a double-edged sword for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers. While those who triple-captioned Erling Haaland or owned City defenders benefited, others, like Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki, were left frustrated. Haaland's effective ownership at most rank tiers meant that even those who didn't triple-caption him lost ground when he scored. This raises a deeper question: how do we balance the risk and reward of triple-captioning in FPL?
Semenyo's performance was a mixed bag, with his one official 'chance created' being for Haaland in the first half. However, he played a significant part in City's second goal, which was finished off with a scruffy backheel from their number nine. The question remains: why didn't Semenyo get an assist? For two reasons, actually. Firstly, Opta recorded Haaland as having two bites at the cherry, the first one saved. Secondly, even if Haaland had finished at the first attempt, Omar Marmoush would have got the assist; it turns out that the Egyptian inadvertently touched Semenyo's deflected cross en route to the Norwegian.
Cherki, the most-bought player of the Gameweek, didn't even make the hour mark. The Frenchman and Tijjani Reijnders, a surprise starter in the middle of the park, both came off after 59 minutes. The reason? Pep Guardiola wanted more natural goalscorers in the box. Brentford had largely been successful at frustrating City, with the score 0-0 at the time of Cherki's departure. On came Phil Foden and Marmoush, who had an impact. Foden burst into the box on a couple of occasions and drew smart stops out of Caiomhin Kelleher, while Marmoush rounded off the scoring in injury time.
Jeremy Doku, meanwhile, took top honours with a goal and an assist. He's playing with such confidence at the moment, and now has five attacking returns in as many starts since returning from injury. Doku's performance was a stark contrast to Haaland's, who was forced to settle for two bonus points. What makes this particularly fascinating is the contrast between Doku's confidence and Haaland's frustration. It raises a deeper question: how do we balance the risk and reward of investing in players like Doku and Haaland in FPL?
In my opinion, the key to success in FPL is to find the right balance between risk and reward. While Haaland's frustration may be a result of his high ownership, Doku's confidence and attacking returns suggest that he is a player worth investing in. However, it's important to remember that FPL is a game of chance, and there is no guarantee of success, no matter how confident a player may be. From my perspective, the key is to do your research, manage your risks, and make informed decisions based on the data and your own analysis.
