34. Man vs Machine Learning Gameweek 29 - Blank Gameweek is here

Gameweek 28 was a low scoring week in general. My team made the most of it with defensive returns to get yet another green arrow but it was a disappointing week for the Machine. With just 10 weeks to go, the scores currently read 1894 vs 1671 in Man vs Machine Learning. 

It has been quite difficult to plan for the Blank and Double gameweeks with the Machine as it looks only 4 gameweeks in advance and sometimes these fixtures aren't available yet either. Adding the chips into play, transfer planning becomes tricky as sometimes we will need to look less than 4 weeks in advance (if we are playing the wildcard in 2 weeks, for example). This has harmed the Machine in the long run, apart from captaincy picks.

 

The Machine's Team

• Gameweek 28
• Triple Man City defence returned after a long time. However, the Machine did not own John Stones, who scored the first goal in the game
• Apart from this, Watkins was the only player to return this week for the Machine
• The rest of the team blanked to result in an underwhelming 48 points
• However, the Machine got a green arrow to go from 984k to 981k

• Gameweek 29
• The suggested transfers to make are Cancelo (because he is not nailed anymore) and Kilman out to get Tierney and Dunk in
• This will mean the Machine has 10 players for the blank with a hit. 
• However, the Machine still has the wildcard and bench boost left so it will be tricky to maximise the results from it
• The transfers have not been made yet as I am waiting for the manager press conferences
• Harry Kane will be the captain and Raphinha will be the vice-captain

Expected number of returns for GW 29-32 per position according to the Machine

My Team

• Gameweek 28
• A low scoring week, with the captain blanking but not many managers had good weeks so it was an above average score
• Cancelo assisting Stones' goal was a major moment of the week, with those two alone getting 26 points
• Dunk (who was the transfer in this week) scored early on in the game to get a double digit return
• The rest of the team was underwhelming, with Watkins' assist being the only return
• However, this was enough to finish the gameweek on the highest overall rank of the season so far
• Green arrow from 10.8k to 7.1k

• Gameweek 29
• No transfer has been made yet but I have 2 free transfers. I will wait for any last minute news before finalising them.
• As of now, the plan is to get a midfielder in for Salah and either a midfielder or defender for one of the City players
• The players in consideration are: Aubameyang and Tierney from Arsenal, Bale from Spurs, Cresswell and Lingard from West Ham, Trossard and Veltman from Brighton
• This should leave me with 11 players for the blank gameweek. However, Son could miss out due to injury so I might be down to 10
• Captaincy will almost certainly be on Kane

Follow me on Twitter if you want to keep track of these teams and see the final teams before deadline

33. Man vs Machine Learning Gameweek 28 - Red Arrow for Everyone

Double Gameweek 28 was clearly a disappointment for both teams. With just 11 weeks to go, the scores currently read 1834 vs 1623 in Man vs Machine Learning. 

In the last 2 weeks, I took a look at some contributing factors to the big difference in points between the two teams. The Machine was let down by yet another captaincy failure. This time it was not just the captaincy though, it was the fact that the captain played only 60 odd minutes in a double gameweek. Triple City defence has harmed the team in multiple ways. Firstly, Pep has rotated the defenders. Secondly, this meant that Gundogan and KdB could not be in the team throughout this run. Finally, City have been conceding the odd goal of late.

The Machine's Team

• Gameweek 27
• Cresswell, Kane and Bruno scored big this week. 
• The move to get Kane in for DCL really paid off with Kane getting 19 points
• However, these were the only returns of the week with Captain Cancelo playing only 60 odd minutes. It's time to stop considering him as someone who is likely to start a game
• The rest of the team blanked, with triple City defence returning a grand total of 8 points across 6 games, including captaincy
• This led to another red arrow from 900k to 984k

• Gameweek 28
• The suggested transfer is to get Veltman in for Ben Mee and the move has already been made
• GW 29 should be manageable with a variety of options even though getting 11 players may prove hard
• However, with a wildcard and bench boost left, we can wildcard out of the 29 team in the weeks after the blank
• Lookman makes the starting lineup again ahead of Cresswell, which is a questionable decision as far as a human is concerned
• Bruno gets the armband with Kane getting vice-captaincy

Expected number of returns for GW 28-31 per position according to the Machine

My Team

• Gameweek 27
• Not a disaster of a gameweek but underwhelming again given the fact that City had a double gameweek
• Stones and Cancelo only played one game and with KdB returning this meant a red arrow
• Kane, Bruno and Gundogan carried the team with contributions from Martinez and Son
• Red arrow from 9.7k to 10.8k and I slip just out of the top 10k

• Gameweek 28
• No transfer has been made yet but I have 2 free transfers
• As of now, the plan is to get a Brighton defender for Ben Mee - Veltman or Dunk being the main options
• This should leave me with 2 free transfers going into GW 29 to get 11 players for the blank week
• The captaincy is on Bruno right now but the decision isn't final by any means - Salah, Kane, Bruno and Gundogan could all end up with it by the time deadline comes around depending on team news

Follow me on Twitter if you want to keep track of these teams and see the final teams before deadline

32. Man vs Machine Learning Gameweek 27 - 200 Point Gap between Teams

Double Gameweek 27 was a disappointment for both teams. While the triple captain chip was underwhelming for me, the Machine had a disaster of a gameweek - falling well over 200k ranks. With just 12 weeks to go, the scores currently read 1764 vs 1563 in Man vs Machine Learning. 

Last week, I took a look at some contributing factors to the big difference in points between the two teams. Another interesting analysis to do at the end of the season would be to see the decisions that led to the biggest red and green arrows, as those are the ones that end up affecting the team by a lot in a very short period of time.

The Machine's Team

• Gameweek 26
• Dias' goal was the only return in defence across 8 games
• The midfield blanked completely across 7 games, including captain Bruno
• The attack blanked in 4 out of the 5 games, with Watkins' assist the only return
• In total, 20 out of 22 players (including captain Bruno) blanked
• Naturally this led to a massive red arrow from 663k to 900k

• Gameweek 27
• The suggested transfer (with 4.5 in the bank) is either Bowen to Son or Calvert-Lewin to Kane
• Since Bowen has a game in GW 29, the move DCL to Kane has been made
• Lookman, Mee, Bowen and Kilman is the order in which the Machine has ranked the bottom four players of the team this gameweek
• Lookman makes the starting lineup and the rest are on the bench
• Cancelo is captain and Dias is vice-captain and the Machine is stuck on triple City defence still

Expected number of returns for GW 27-30 per position according to the Machine

My Team

• Gameweek 26
• Not a disaster of a gameweek but underwhelming given the points potential of a double gameweek
• Triple captain Kane at least got a goal in the first game. But he could have easily had another goal in each game
• Son, Watkins, Stones, Gundogan and Martinez returned again but the rest of the team blanked
• Green arrow from 9.8k to 9.7k to continue staying just inside the top 10k

• Gameweek 27
• As of now, I plan to save the transfer barring any last minute injury news
• Captaincy shall go to Gundogan again, although I'm wary of a De Bruyne haul
• The next 3 transfers can go towards getting a complete 11 in BGW 29 but this week I won't be making any moves as of now
• Starting Forster over Martinez in the hope he plays the Sheffield game but I may change that before the deadline based on any team news

Follow me on Twitter if you want to keep track of these teams and see the final teams before deadline