Golden Boot Game Web Log

INTRODUCTION

This Week, as well as the usual stuff, we have the Semi-Finals of the Golden Boot Cup to review. I think we’ll skip any pleasantries and just get on with it.

REVIEW OF WEEK #29

Fourteen different strikers provided some points for the Golden Boot Game in Week #29. Having Haaland back amongst the goals helped 25 teams while the recently more reliable Salah scored for 21 teams. Watkins was the only other scoring striker to appear in the majority of teams but his double meant an overall points contribution midway between Haaland and Salah. Of the other eleven contributions, only Saka’s had more than a handful of takers. De Bruyne’s double was among five contributions that benefitted a single team, though easily eclipsing their contributions. For the second Week in a row every team had at least two scorers.

Only one team topped thirty points in Week #29, Forest Forever getting all five goals from their top four strikers in a 33 point total. Merrall’s Marauders had goals from four of their top five picks in a 29 point total. Three teams scored 28 points. Annoyed Grandpa’s Eight and We Are THE REDS had identical records with five goals each while The Molineux Marauders matched their score with four goals, all from their top three strikers.

The top two stayed the same again although seventy percent of teams changed position. Magic Eight Balls are slowly stretching their lead over Upforthecup which now stands at six points. Back in third place, fdringo are now sixteen points behind second spot and just a point ahead of Team Of The Weak. The race for fifth place is still closer than the top four with Sofy three points ahead of M1 in sixth place while Bury Wanderer are two points further back in seventh and four points ahead of eighth placed Weakenders.

THE TOTAL GOALS GAME

In the penultimate Week of this season’s Total Goals Game the top score was five goals with nine teams reaching that mark. Last Week’s leaders, Bury Wanderer, were not among the nine which allowed second placed PJ Auxerre, who were, the opportunity to close the gap at the top. As a result, this pair go into the final Week of the contest as joint leaders on 27 goals. There is an argument which says that M1 have been the most consistent team so far and their four goals in Week #29 keeps them in the running just two behind the joint leaders. One goal further back are Lancashire Rover in fourth place after posting five more goals this Week. These four teams are the only ones within three goals of the lead, so it is very likely that the prize winners will come from this group. Teams further down the standings will need some exceptional scoring in the last Week of the contest to turn things around. Their task is made all the harder because the top two have a distinct advantage if it goes to a tie-break.

In this season’s Total Goals Game we have had two reasonably normal Weeks to start and end the contest with a low scoring Week followed by a high scoring Week in the middle. For Bury Wanderer their exceptional scoring in those exceptional middle Weeks has made up for their less than stellar performance in the more normal Weeks. This should give the other teams involved confidence for the final Week. The good thing is that goals from all your strikers count equally, so you don’t need to risk putting Jackson or Hojland (or whichever striker you think will suddenly come good) among your top selections to benefit from their four goal haul which will blow the current standings wide open.

THE GOLDEN BOOT CUP – SEMI-FINALS REVIEW

It is the time of the season when the Golden Boot Cup becomes an irrelevant aside for all but two of our players as we reach the Cup Final stage. The two players still involved are in the enviable position of knowing they have won a prize, although they don’t yet know which prize they have won.

The most surprising of the two finalists are, of course, Alabangers who, despite occupying a position in the lower-half of the overall standings, overcame their top-five opponents Sofy by four points. Their two-goal scorer, De Bruyne, outscored Sofy’s choice, Watkins, by ten points to six to make the difference. The Semi-Final between league leaders Magic Eight Balls and seventh placed Weakenders was a disappointing affair with lower than average scoring. All twelve of Weakenders’s points came from Haaland and Salah who provided thirteen for Magic Eight Balls. The league leaders also added four Havertz points to confirm their victory.

So, the double is still on for Magic Eight Balls, though Alabangers have beaten more than one top-five side in their run to the final. We will probably find out the winners in Week #32 which starts on Saturday 27th April but if a replay is needed, we will have to wait until Week #33 to find out which team wins which prize.

COMING UP IN WEEK #30

Week #30 has the usual ten Premier League fixtures scheduled with each of the twenty clubs playing one match. The Week starts with a Saturday lunchtime kick-off when Newcastle host Spurs. This means the Week #30 selection deadline for the Golden Boot Game is at 11:00 am on Saturday 13th April.

There are six matches being played on Saturday, with three more scheduled for Sunday afternoon. This leaves one match, between Chelsea and Everton, to be played on Monday evening. We will update our website shortly after the final whistle at Stamford Bridge.

We should be able to announce the winners of the Total Goals Game on Sunday evening on our own website and on our Facebook page. Our next weblog will be published late on Wednesday 17th April. It will have a review of how the Total Goals Game was won along with all the usual news from the Golden Boot Game. We will also be previewing our final ever Hot Spot Game, the traditional season finale the Final Final Five Game.