GW23 Preview: Why Pay Mau?

I have a cunning plan. A plan as cunning as a fox who has just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University.  It might not work of course.

DGW is just around the corner and any sane person wants 3 Liverpool players.  I have Mane and TAA, so there is room for one of Robertson, Salah or Firmino.  In the bank I have enough spare change to get Robertson or Firmino – I’m a baller, it’s clear to see, and I make no apologies for it.  Salah is almost there but I’ll need to make some adjustments to accommodate him.  After much deliberation I believe Salah to be the front runner, but in order to get him in I needed to strike fast.  Up steps Neil Maupay, whose value is increasing day by day. A replacement for Jimenez which leaves me within 0.1m of being able to swap Martial for Salah in advance of DGW24 and not needing additional transfers.  His fixtures are good, and if he scores he’ll definitely go up in value.

In previous years, I’ve taken -4 hits like the Daily Mail blames minorities – regularly and without a second thought. But this year I have a position to uphold. I can’t take unnecessary deductions. 4 points could be the difference between being Prime Minister of Greece or not – I’m trying not to go on about it but it’s quite a big deal.

In order for it to work out, Martial needs to go up in value, and/or Salah needs to go down.  Neither is hugely likely.  But maybe something will happen this week which changes everything anyway.  I have options.

After the disappointment of last week, I would in previous years have made some rash decisions but again, I need to not panic.  The dream team last week could very well score 25 points this week.  Aguero and Mahrez could be rested, Richarlison and Rashford are both injured, Deeney has had flashes in the past which haven’t materialised into consistency so not about to jump on his sizeable shoulders and expect him to carry me to the Παλαιά Ανάκτορα.

Two conundrums remain:

1. Which GK do we go with? Foster is in form, and they’re at home.  But Spurs could easily sort themselves out and score 2 or 3, even without Kane.  Schmeichel is away, but he’s away against one of the least in-form teams in the league.  Verdict: Schmeichel
2. Who to captain?  KDB, Mane, TAA, Ings, Vardy and Cantwell (?!) have all been considered during the week.  KDB at home to Palace? Bloodbath.  Or not, maybe he’ll be rested and come on for 20 mins. It would be just like Pep to do that to us all.  Mane will play, and Liverpool will probably want to absolutely destroy Utd. Mane hasn’t scored for a couple of weeks, and they’re at home.  But it’s Utd. The only team to take a point off Liverpool since records began, I think?  The opportunity costs are very high this week with regards to captain.  Verdict: Mane

The only other change is Cantwell coming off the bench to replace Martial. Locked in. May your arrows be green.