GIF Sundsvall v Hammarby IF 29.10.17

A big game for the home side who prior to kick off sat 3^rd from bottom (in the relegation play off position). Jönköpings sit level on points with a +2 goal difference on them. There’s a sense that this is must win for the home side.

Sundsvall have a decent home record against today’s opponents, having not lost to them in their last 6 meetings. They started the game as you’d expect, quick, pushing up, creating chances. Wilson missed a chance he should have scored, but the resulting corner was put in by Gracia, 1-0 to the home side, easy, right? Hammarby were barely in the game until the last ten of the first half, they were clinical though, Svendsen headed in a cross to grab an equaliser before the half was over.

It only went downhill in the second half for the home side. Despite coming out quickly again, they looked vulnerable whenever they were made to defend. Svendsen took a run at the defence, wasn’t closed down and managed to beat the keeper for his second of the game. All you could hear from here on were the away fans and with good reason. Paulsen legged it up the pitch and his gamble paid off as the ball fell to him and he struck for 3-1. Sævarsson fizzed the ball across the box but it was intercepted by the keeper before it could reach Smárason. Not to worry for the midfielder though as Svendsen put it on a plate for him in stoppage for him to give Hammarby a flattering and well deserved 4-1 win away from home. Sundsvall will now have to beat Göteborg and hope Jönköping lose their final game to avoid the play-offs.

GIF Sundsvall 1 - 4 Hammarby IF

IFK Norrköping vs Malmö FF - 16/10/17

Taking my first steps into Swedish League football. Every time I have watched a Swedish side before it has been against one of the big guns in the Champions League, with the Swedes always being the underdogs. Today was different, I watched a match between IFK Norrköping and Malmö FF. Here was the table before the match:

With three games to go after this match, Malmö fans knew a win today would see their team seal the league title (and in place Champions League qualification for next season). The runner up and the third placed team qualify for the Europa League along with the winner of the Svenska Cupen (their domestic cup). Norrköping knew a win today would take them to 46 points and give them a real chance of qualifying for Europe.

It really was a match of two halves. In the first, it seemed as though Norrköping were winning all the first and second balls, they were latching onto everything. They were quicker, hungrier and much more direct in their offensive play. Malmö on the other hand, when they had the ball were playing at a snails pace. Norrköping were using their wingers well, and broke the deadlock and potentially Malmö’s party, with David Moberg Karlsson (or DMK). He was given the ball near the half way line and made a lovely run and shot from outside the box. The goal keeper probably should have done better, but the home side were in dreamland. For the most part they dominated the first half, though in injury time, Malmö midfielder Lewicki appeared to be pushed to the ground, but no penalty was given.

When I said it was a game of two halves, I meant it. Malmö were incredible in the second half, they were immediately on the front foot and it only took until the 48^th minute for them to equalise. It was a lovely team goal, with a nice through ball from Christiansen to Strandberg who finished it off neatly. Lewicki nearly scored a cracker, before Nielson headed in a corner to put his team 2-1 ahead. If the travelling Malmö fans weren’t ecstatic enough by now, after seeing Christiansen cut in and score a goal the superstars could be proud of, they were now! They impatiently waited for the final whistle, as soon as it came they were off. Malmö fans in their droves stormed the pitch to congratulate their team, who had successfully won a 20^th league title! The most successful Swedish club side in Allsvenskan history!

My man of the match has to be that Danish fella, Christiansen, he set up the first goal, took the corner that led to the second and scored a beauty. 10/10.

Don't forget about the dead balls

How important are dead balls to FPL?

A record 3.8 million players signed up for FPL as the season kicked off, a Game Week 1 record (now over 4 million players). As football fans, we surely want our team to dominant possession tika taka style and score a bakers dozen, as we've seen from the first 2 fixtures of the season, goals will flow but it'll be at both ends of the pitch. We want to look at the dead balls here, the penalties, free kicks and corners, why? Well, look at Pulis. West Brom are the only team I'd prefer to have a defender than a striker for, we only need to look at yesterdays game. A Brunt (5.5m) corner, a Hegazi (4.5m) header, 8 and 15 points respectively. Keep your eye on who's taking corners and who (specifically towering centre backs) is getting on the end of the those crosses.

Penalties

Sometimes a goal scorer isn't a goal scorer. Milner isn't known for his goal scoring attributes, but he scored 7 goals for Liverpool in the League last season, all from the penalty spot, now listed as a defender, his goals are worth 6 points rather than 5. 

Selected players who netted more than 3 pens last season were, Sigurdsson: 3 - 8.5m TSB: 7.7%, Deeney: 3 - 6.5m TSB: 1.0%, Aguero: 4 - 11.5m TSB: 11.2%, Defoe: 5 - 8.0m TSB: 5.6%, Kane: 5 - 12.5m TSB: 37.9%, Milner: 7 - 6.5m TSB: 7.4%

*TSB – teams selected by.

Looking at the newly promoted sides, in the Championship last season Ritchie scored 5 pens for Newcastle and for Brighton, Hemed (6) and Murray (4) buried a few. Huddersfield scored fewer penalties but Lowe and Mooy were both on target.

Clean Sheets

Clean sheets are hard to predict in the Prem (13 goals in the first 2 games of this season, phew!) so which goalkeepers are your best choice? You want those that make saves to get bonus points but it's also worth noting who can save a penalty (keepers get +5 points for a penalty save).

Last season, Forster topped the chart with three saves, but 16 keepers saved at least one penalty last season, among them: Heaton, Mignolet, Fabianski. I recall the season before last, Huerelo Gomes saving two penalties in one game, plus a clean sheet so 16 points before BPS, having him that one game would have meant the difference between finishing 2nd and finishing 1st in my league. 

Let us also not forget about free kicks, that Coutinho goal against Palace, the De Bruyne under the wall kick against Bournemouth or that Sigurdsson goal at Old Trafford. It is difficult to know which player/s from each team to side with, but one thing we know is there are a handful of fouls leading to a number of set pieces. Below is a list of possible dead ball takers.

Club	Penalty Takers	Direct Free-kicks	Corners / Non-Directs
Arsenal	Alexis / Lacazette / Giroud / Özil / Welbeck	Alexis / Cazorla / Özil / Walcott	Özil / Cazorla / Xhaka / Alexis / Chamberlain / Walcott
Bournemouth	Wilson / Defoe / King / Stanislas / Afobe / Arter	Arter / Fraser	Stanislas / Daniels / Fraser / Arter / Pugh / Gradel
Brighton	Murray / Hemed	Knockaert / Stephens / Gross (the b) / Skalak / March	Knockaert / Stephens / Gross / Skalak / March / Dunk / Bruno / Kayal / Murphy
Burnley	Vokes / Barnes / Walters	Brady / Arfield / Hendrick	Brady / Arfield / Defour / Gudmondsson
Chelsea	Hazard / Fabregas / Willian / Costa	Alonso / Luiz / Willian / Fabregas	Willian / Fabregas / Pedro / Hazard
Crystal Palace	Milivojevic / Benteke / Cabaye / Wickham	Milivojevic / Puncheon / Cabaye / van Aanholt	Puncheon / Cabaye / van Aanholt
Everton	Baines / Rooney / Barkley / Mirallas	Barkley / Rooney / Mirallas / Baines	Mirallas / Rooney, Baines / Barkley
Huddersfield	Löwe / Mooy	Mooy / Ince /Wells / Löwe	Löwe, Mooy / Ince / Hefele
Leicester City	Mahrez / Slimani / Vardy / Ulloa	Mahrez / Fuchs / Drinkwater / Albrighton / Gray	Albrighton / Fuchs / Mahrez / Drinkwater / James / Gray
Liverpool	Firmino / Milner / Henderson / Sturridge / Coutinho	Henderson / Milner / Coutinho / Sturridge	Milner / Henderson / Coutinho / Firmino
Man City	Aguero / Jesus / Toure / De Bruyne	De Bruyne / Silva / Toure	De Bruyne / Silva / Sterling
Man Utd	Lukaku / Pogba / Mata / Martial	Mata / Lindelöf / Lukaku	Blind / Mata / Herrera / Young
Newcastle	Ritchie / Gayle / Mitrovic	Ritchie / Shelvey / Gayle / Atsu	Ritchie / Shelvey
Southampton	Austin / Gabbiadini / Tadic / Bertrand / Ward-Prowse / Davis	Tadic, Ward- Prowse / Redmond / Van Dijk	Ward-Prowse / Tadic / Davis / Bertrand
Stoke City	Adam / Bojan / Shaqiri	Adam / Shaqiri / Arnautovic	Allen / Shaqiri / Adam / Affelay
Swansea City	Sigurdsson / Abraham	Sigurdsson / Carroll	Sigurdsson / Carroll / Routledge
Tottenham Hotspur	Kane / Janssen / Alli / Lamela	Eriksen / Lamela / Kane	Eriksen / Lamela / Son
Watford	Deeney / Gray	Holebas	Watson / Capoue / Holebas
West Brom	Chadli / Morrison	Brunt / Rondon / Morrison	Phillips / Brunt / McClean / Morrison
West Ham	Noble / Lanzini / Carroll / Arnautovic	Noble / Arnautovic / Lanzini / Snodgrass / Cresswell	Lanzini / Noble / Arnautovic / Snodgrass / Cresswell

Who was your secret weapon last season? Sigurdsson was mine. Got my eye on Xhaka following his 2 assists.