GameDay Squad Football: Round 24 Preview
- Zonald Baison
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
I considered retirement this week and potentially handing over the reins to The ‘very’ Mighty Hoss moving forward, after his astronomical performance last round, however, instead I’ve decided to find the players for us all to take revenge and beat him this round.
Wolves v Bournemouth:
Bournemouth are coming off a whirlwind final minute win over Liverpool, which saw a total of five goals scored. They meet an improving Wolves, who held City to two goals at the Etihad. Normally we’d consider this a walk in the park for Bournemouth, however they haven’t won away from home in the last nine attempts. They’ve also conceded at least two goals in all bar one of those games. Does this open up Wolves attackers as a point of difference? Or potentially an overlapping fullback In Hugo Bueno who’s no stranger to GDS points stacking. Either way, Bournemouth defenders seem to be an avoid for this.
Recommended Players:
● H Bueno
● Evanilson
● E Kroupi
● M Mane
● J Sa
● A Scott
Leeds v Arsenal:
The absolute best part about this game is Arteta’s inability to play mind games with GDS coaches because we get access to the lineups. Arsenal should be out for blood, as they come off a somewhat shock loss to the inform Man Utd. Similarly, Leeds were held to a low scoring draw against Everton and may have similar scoring troubles here. Earlier in the season Arsenal put five past Leeds and we could see a similar result here. This means the majority of Arsenal players will be on the menu for this, particularly with the assurance of who starts.
Recommended Players:
● B Saka
● J Timber
● Gabriel
● D Rice
● M Odegaard
● P Hincapie
● G Jesus
Brighton v Everton:
As expected Brighton continued their struggles away from home with a loss to Fulham, however their contrasting home form (one home loss in the league this season) sets them up nicely to meet an underpowered Everton, who are still missing some of their creative sparks. Although the return from the bench of Dewsbury-Hall and Ndiaye from the start is promising. Brighton haven’t been heavy goal scorers at home, despite results there, which could mean we’re in for a low scoring affair here. Defenders from both sides as well as their keepers are likely the ones to target here.
Recommended Players:
● J Tarkowski
● M Keane
● J Pickford
● B Verbruggen
● J P van Hecke
● P Groß
● J Garner
Chelsea v West Ham:
West Ham’s recent resurgence in an attempt to avoid relegation is likely to be starved off here as they meet a red hot Chelsea team who’ve put a lot of goals past them in recent meetings. A number of Chelsea players could be good plays here; Joao Pedro was the most prominent in their last meeting with a goal and two assists and he could repeat the dose here.
Recommended Players:
● J Pedro
● R Sanchez
● T Chalobah
● M Cucurella
● E Fernandez
● P Neto
● Estevao
● R James
● C Palmer
● M Fernandes
Liverpool v Newcastle:
Liverpool’s late losing goal was upstaged by Newcastle as they, surprisingly, rolled over at home to an impressive Villa side. Newcastle struggled with Guimaraes in the engine room, however they’re likely to have him back for this, in a fixture they’ve struggled with outside of last season's EFL Cup final. Not only have they struggled against Liverpool at Anfield, but in general their away struggles have continued even with returns of key players in Hall and Wissa. There’s likely to be goals both ways in this one, which could mean we see a similar result to that of Liverpool v Bournemouth.
Recommended Players:
● N Pope
● F Wirtz
● D Szoboszlai
● B Guimaraes
● H Ekitike
Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace:
One of the more intriguing games this round, as Palace have Munoz and Sarr reintegrated back into their lineup. Palace are coming off a run of three straight away losses in the league, while Forest haven’t won at home in the past three. Historically, this game has not only been close, but a low scoring affair, with no more than two goals scored the past five meetings. In that time there have been three 1-1 draws. This game seems relatively safe to back defenders and/or goalkeepers for either team, in particular the stat accumulators in Munoz and Williams.
Recommended Players:
● N Williams
● D Munoz
● I Sarr
● D Henderson
● C Richards
● M Lacroix
● T Mitchell
● M Sels
Man Utd v Fulham:
As stated last week, United look unbelievable under Carrick and that continued as they’ve now managed to knock off the top two teams in the league. This is likely to continue as they welcome Fulham to Old Trafford. Patrick Dorgu and Bruno Fernandes seemed to be the pick of the bunch, Fernandes was already undroppable and Dorgu had himself in that conversation before an injury this week. The injury does mean Cunha likely comes back into the lineup, allowing for the selection of all or some of Cunha, Fernandes, Diallo and Mbeumo.
Recommended Players:
● M Cunha
● B Fernandes
● B Mbeumo
● A Diallo
Aston Villa v Brentford:
Aston Villa recapturing their form against Newcastle sets this game up as a very targetable one. While Villa played themselves into form Brentford did the opposite in a somewhat strange result at home. They’ve struggled away all season and Villa Park is likely to be one of the toughest trips they face this season. There’s been plenty of goals in this fixture historically with the last four games at Villa Park averaging five goals between the teams. Unsurprisingly, Watkins and Rogers have been the main contributors to those goals, with a sprinkle of Matty Cash in there. Keep an eye on the severity of Watkins injury suffered in the Europa League this week.
Recommended Players:
● M Cash
● O Watkins
● M Rogers
● E Martinez
Tottenham v Man City:
Manchester City run into their bogey team when they face Spurs this round, having lost three of their past five matchups against them. City have performed a touch better away to Spurs, winning three of the past five matchups there, however they average a single goal per game in that span. While this may scream, “fade Haaland” it’s worth noting the big Norwegian does have four goals and an assist in his seven meetings against Spurs. While not world breaking, there’s still potential he gets in the scoresheet. The defenders seem to be the more preferred options here as there’s been one clean sheet in five of the last six meetings.
Recommended Players:
● C Romero
● A Khusanov
● G Vicario
● G Donnarumma
● R Cherki
● E Haaland
● A Semenyo
Sunderland v Burnley:
An unexpected loss to West Ham have put question marks on the, usually, safe Sunderland defenders as popular option Trai Hume threw a number of coaches weeks into disarray. It further evidenced Sunderland being a worse away team than at home, and does mean they shouldn’t be discounted for this (except Trai Hume… don’t consider Trai Hume). We say it every week, but Burnley are renowned for allowing stat accumulation, which means Le Fee could benefit here.
Recommended Players:
● R Roefs
● D Ballard
● O Fernandez
● N Mulere
● E Le Fee
● B Brobbey
● M Dubravka
Goalkeepers:
● Martinez ⭐️
● Donnarumma
● Sanchez
● Henderson
● Pickford
Uniques: Dubravka and Sa
Defenders:
● Gabriel ⭐️
● Ballard
● Timber
● van Hecke
● Tarkowski
● Mulere
● Williams
● Chalobah
● Cash
● Munoz
Uniques: H Bueno and Maatsen
Midfielders:
● B Fernandes ⭐️
● E Anderson
● Szoboszlai
● Cherki
● Rice
● Mbeumo
● Szoboszlai
● Guimaraes
● E Fernandez
● Le Fee
Uniques: Mitoma and Odegaard
Forwards:
● Haaland ⭐️
● Iwobi
● Saka
● J Pedro
● Rogers
● Sarr
● Estevao
● Brobbey
● Cunha
● Semenyo
Uniques: G Jesus and Mane
…And that’s a wrap! Best of luck with round twenty four.
If you haven't already, make sure you watch the Official GameDay Squad Football Live Show for the round where we dive into the round even further!
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