Mahrez
A penalty miss, an average team display and failure to beat Villa provided further evidence of a decline to normality for Rihad Mahrez. It has since all but been confirmed that he is off penalties. The immediate fixtures look tough, and his appeal and ownership are starting to wane.
The only thing in his favour right now is his price. For many selling will mean also making changes elsewhere. There is one player in particular that many are planning on removing to allow the double swap.
De Bruyne
With the old pairing of Silva and Aguero coming to the fore, De Bruyne is becoming a more peripheral figure in the City side. Shoved out wide at the weekend he only really came alive in the last thirty minutes, once Palace had capitulated.
He has a terrible record away from home. 3,7,3,3,2,2,2,2 they are his away scores since arriving in the premier league. Quite frankly that is shocking. City have away fixtures in their next two matches, West Ham and Sunderland. What is more those matches are either side of a very important league cup semi final. Given the hectic schedule rotation is not out of the question.
The plan
In last weeks locked and loaded the main reason i gave for saving the free transfer was to be able to monitor Mahrez and De Bruyne. I felt then a decision was imminent. Watching Mahrez miss his penalty my kneejerk reaction was that he had to go, and that De Bruyne should go with him. I was all for bringing in Barkley and Firmino, or some other combination of Everton and LIverpool as they both have great fixtures.
Reasons to wait
Fantasy Football is a game of information, we seldom have the complete picture, this week the near term future is shrouded in mystery. In particular the League cup semi final matches are not played until after the next Gameweek. By the time Gameweek Twenty Four kicks off we will know which teams have qualified, and quite possibly we will have the dates for the Double Gameweeks and blanks. That could be a much better time to have two free transfers. .
Potential replacements for the pair are also rather unclear at the present time. Barkley looks a good option for Mahrez especially as Everton are the most likely team to be involved in a Double Gameweek, and they have some tasty fixtures over the next few weeks. Replacements for De Bruyne are less clear.
DGW
The caveat is that should the DGW be after the blank Gameweek then adding another player now could lead to a problem in that blank week. Indeed the double could be much later in the season. We really have no evidence that the double will be in Gameweek 25. That date has been seized upon by certain sections of the Fantasy community , however it is far from certain.
Firminio is an option, he did look good against Utd and was man of the match. He played as a false nine, however that situation is also rather unclear. Coutinho will also return at some point, so Firminio will have more creative competition. Sanchez is about to come back, and Payet is another option i will soon have to consider, although up against City this week, again this might not be the best time.
Sellers regret
I am always very careful who i remove, and so far have avoided selling any players that scored big the next week. Mahrez and De Bruyne both have the potential to hurt. They possess that fear factor. Both highly owned and dangerous, selling is not a decision to take lightly.
One nagging doubt i have about selling Mahrez this week is that their opponents, Stoke may not be fully focussed. they have a vital semi final only three days after the league match, and being a safe mid table side they are liable to give that priority. Mahrez too will be itching to make amends for that penalty miss and is likely to be fired up for a big game.
De Bruyne in theory should score nothing against West ham, he may even be benched. However there is that knowledge that sooner or later that sequence of away failures will be broken.
Conclusion
I was hoping that writing this rather rambling article would help to clarify my thoughts It hasn’t. Here are the main choices
Do nothing, use the free to change a defender or add a second keeper, and keep two transfers
Be brave , take out two waning players and freshen up the team.
Just take out De Bruyne this week , Money tied up in him is restricting my choices elsewhere
If in doubt do nowt – right now not many players are sticking up their hands and shouting …pick me!
The post Mahrez and De Bruyne appeared first on Transfer Hub.