31. Man vs Machine Learning Gameweek 26 - Triple Captain with a top 10k Rank

In Gameweek 25, both teams got identical scores of 73. With just 13 weeks to go, the scores currently read 1678 vs 1507 in Man vs Machine Learning. 

Looking a bit deeper into both teams' performance so far, Man has got 408 points via captaincy and Machine has got 310 (including the triple captain). Thus, the captaincy choice alone has cost the Machine a 100 point gap. In hindsight, there was very little attention paid to the captaincy model and the same predictor was used. 

The Machine has lost just 62 points from the bench and gained 33 points off it. Man on the other hand, lost a whopping 142 points off the bench but at the same time gained 85 points off it. Thus, points gained from bench is a 50 point gap. So the strong bench that Man has put out has helped him overall even though it meant he lost a lot more points on the bench.

Machine Team Analysis 

Man Team Analysis

The Machine's Team

• Gameweek 25
• Man City continue to get the clean sheet points
• Salah, Watkins and Cresswell were the only ones to blank
• Leeds players did well despite missing a lot of chances
• Green arrow from 688k to 663k

• Gameweek 26
• The suggested transfer is Grealish to Lookman and it has been made
• The Machine will not be able to play a bench boost this week as it would take a lot of hits
• It has 4.5 in the bank and chose Lookman over Son, so the bench can be built and played on a single week with decent fixtures

Expected number of returns for GW 26-29 per position according to the Machine

My Team

• Gameweek 25
• A lot of blanks in the team but a big score from Dallas in the end making it a decent week
• Captain Bamford did the bare minimum to take the score to 73
• Red arrow from 8k to 9.8k

• Gameweek 26
• With 2 free transfers, the choice was between Kane and Calvert-Lewin
• With no free hit available and Grealish's injury, the idea was to prefer BGW 29 players when in doubt
• Raphinha, Kane and Watkins come in for Antonio, Ings and Grealish for a -4
• The triple captaincy is currently on Kane and Raphinha goes on the bench
• BGW 29 should be easy to navigate now with 8 players already in this squad

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30. Man vs Machine Learning Gameweek 25 - Into the Top 10k

Gameweek 24 saw me extend my lead over the Machine by as much as 25 points and enter the top 10k for the first time this season. DGW planning continues to complicate as the final fixtures aren't even out yet.

Manchester City and Southampton could have up to as many as 6 matches in the next 4 gameweeks. 

With 14 weeks to go, the scores currently read 1605 vs 1434 in Man vs Machine Learning

The Machine's Team

• Gameweek 24
• Triple Man City became double in both games due to Pep Roulette. Lack of Gundogan hurt for the first time in a major way
• Cancelo got 8 points for a decent captaincy return
• Ben Mee missed the second game too
• Salah and Bruno scored goals to get a total of 75 points
• Red arrow from 627k to 688k

• Gameweek 25
• The suggested transfer is Stephens to Raphinha and it has been made
• Bowen and Grealish drop to the bench with Cresswell and Mee preferred over them
• Bamford is the captain of the team with two fixtures to play this week

Expected number of returns for GW 25-28 per position according to the Machine

My Team

• Gameweek 24
• Gundogan captain and City defence made it a high scoring week
• Martinez, Ings, Salah and Bruno helped the score reach three digits
• Most of the double gameweekers missed the second game though 
• Green arrow from 12k to 8k

• Gameweek 25
• With the fixtures not finalised, I'm not making a transfer and will save it 
• There is some doubt on City defence and Gundogan for rotation but I'm hoping that Mee at home to West Brom is a good enough backup
• Captaincy is on Bamford

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29. Man vs Machine Learning Gameweek 24 - Fixture Uncertainty Headache

Gameweek 23 was a great week for me as I extended the lead over the Machine by another 20 points and also reached the highest overall rank of the season so far. The planning for GW 24 was not straightforward at all though, with injuries, fixture uncertainties and the need for complicated spreadsheets (complex code in case of the Machine) to make a transfer plan

Manchester City could have up to as many as 7 matches in the next 4 gameweeks. 

Burnley, Southampton, Fulham and Everton can have 6 games.

Leeds, Wolves, West Brom, Sheffield, Villa, Spurs, Palace, United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Leicester are expected to have 5 games.

This meant I had to run different models for the various players belonging to the respective teams above.

The Machine's Team

• Gameweek 23
• Triple Man City defence flopped for the first time but it meant a Salah goal at least
• Bruno got a wonder goal to get captaincy returns
• Calvert Lewin, Bamford and Watkins all scored to get the score to 65 points
• Small red arrow from 600k to 627k

• Gameweek 24
• Calvert Lewin is injured but he is being benched 
• The suggested transfer is Mitchell to Ben Mee and the move has been made
• Cancelo is the chosen captain, given the upcoming double gameweek and it will be interesting to see how he does and if he plays both games

Expected number of returns for GW 24-27 per position according to the Machine

My Team

• Gameweek 23
• Antonio and Mee had come in last week and Antonio blanked on debut
• Captain Son, Gundogan, Dallas and Martinez got sizable returns to boost the score
• Coufal, Salah and Bamford ticked along too and ensured a good score of 86 points
• Green arrow from 22k to 12k

• Gameweek 24
• With Calvert Lewin's injury, my plan to save a transfer is now no longer valid
• The options were to:
•  save transfer, bench DCL and play Son over him. Get Kane in next week and play him instead
• get Richarlison for DCL and bench Son. Play Ben Mee over Richarlison next week before getting Kane in for the DGW
• get Ings for DCL and bench Son. Play Ings over Ben Mee in DGW 25 and decide whether to get Kane or stick with Ings for 26 onwards later
• Without having to plan transfers too far ahead, I decided to go ahead and get Danny Ings, who scored against the same opposition yesterday and has a decent double coming up
• Captaincy is on Gundogan

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28. Man vs Machine Learning Gameweek 23 - Busy Schedule Continues with DGW News

Gameweek 22 ends with both teams getting very similar scores but with contrasting captain fortunes. A 69 vs 73 gameweek meant that the current scores are 1419 vs 1294. Man is still in the top 25k while the Machine is just outside the top half a million. With 3 new double gameweek fixtures being announced, there is scope to plan for the extra fixtures.    

The Machine's Team

• Gameweek 22
• Triple Man City defence got a clean sheet yet again
• The captaincy finally paid off big as Bruno got 34 points all by himself
• Bamford, Watkins and Grealish got some returns to take the score to 73
• Red arrow from 600k to 605k

• Gameweek 23
• Wood to Calvert Lewin is the move that has been made
• Bamford is chosen as the vice captain
• Bruno is the chosen captain, with a home game vs Everton
• Triple City defence vs Liverpool will be an interesting watch

Expected number of returns for GW 23-26 per position according to the Machine

My Team

• Gameweek 22
• The transfer was saved last week
• Most players returned but captain Salah blanked
• Robbo lost his clean sheet in the same game 
• The rest of the players all contributed with at least one return
• Red arrow from 16k to 22k

• Gameweek 23
• With the news of the Double Gameweeks out, the likely moves that I'll be making are Ben Mee and Antonio in for Robertson and Che Adams
• The captaincy is on Son as of now, but that could change closer to deadline
• Stones, Calvert Lewin and Mee would have to be benched - hopefully they don't do too much damage

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27. Man vs Machine Learning Gameweek 22 - Steady Climb by Both Teams

Gameweek 21 had Pep roulette striking once again, Chilwell and Mane didn't show up, popular bandwagons failed and transfer trends unsurprisingly were the opposite of actual results. After 21 weeks, man vs machine is now at 1350 vs 1221. While the lead for man is quite high and it is my highest overall rank of not just the season - but of all time, the machine is also doing well, reaching its second highest overall rank of the season and the best overall rank since GW 10.

The Machine's Team

• Gameweek 21
• Triple Man City defence became double Man City defence and with Mitchell, Stones and Chilwell not playing, the machine's team was a player short this week
• Once again, the captaincy pick was the weak link as Bruno Fernandes blanked and Salah got 15 points
• Bamford also got 15 points and this meant that for a second consecutive week the Machine scored 63 points
• Green arrow from 683k to 600k

• Gameweek 22
• Bowen to Sterling would have been the move if triple City was not already a part of the team
• With Chilwell becoming a rotation risk, the transfer that has been made is Chilwell to Cresswell
• Bruno is the chosen captain, with a favourable home game vs Southampton
• Mitchell lost his spot over the weekend, but it remains to be seen if he was dropped or rotated

Expected number of returns for GW 22-25 per position according to the Machine

My Team

• Gameweek 21
• A last minute hit to get Gundogan in for Soucek did not pay off, with both Gundogan and Calvert Lewin blanking
• Dallas came on with his goal - with both City defenders benched
• A deep bench proved useful but Coufal got just the 1 point
• Captaincy was a success this week and with Salah, Bamford and Martinez hitting double figures, the total score reached a respectable 81 (-4)
• Green arrow from 30k to 16k

• Gameweek 22
• Unless there is some last minute injury news, the transfer is most likely going to be saved
• Bamford looked like he just had a dead leg, so he's most likely starting too
• Salah is the captain - he should start with Mane most likely still out. But I'll keep an eye out for rotation news
• Dallas and Coufal are on the bench - but the order could change

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