Do you want to know what happened in this competition? You’re in the right place!
As the season began, it seemed like we were in for another epic fight between Premier League giants Liverpool and Manchester City and… it did not disappoint.
Gameweek 1 started with a handful of goals, with the biggest highlight going to Arsenal’s Pépé hat-trick and MVP award on his simulation début.
The second round came with another hat-trick scorer and MVP, Manchester City forward Agüero, who helped the citizens to have a perfect start, two wins in two games.
In GW6, we had a Chelsea vs. Tottenham that didn’t disappoint, a match that produced 8 goals and needs to be remembered.
Gameweek 10 had an Arsenal’s win at Stamford Bridge, settling the derby in their favour and moving up the standings, while Wolves held City to a draw at the Molineux, allowing for a Liverpool approach in the leaderboard.
After 10 rounds of competition, Manchester City sat at the top with 25 points, managing to keep everyone at a distance since the beginning. Liverpool had been on the rise since the GW7 and was 2nd with 24 points at the time. The podium was closed by Arsenal (22 points), with 4 wins in their last 4 outings. At that time, Salah was leading the race for MVP of the season with 74 points. The Liverpool superstar did not disappoint fantasy owners and was making things easy for the Reds, especially away from home.
Five rounds later, Manchester City still led the way with 38 points but could already feel Liverpool breathing down their necks, just a single point behind. The fight for the Champions League spots couldn’t be tighter with Spurs (30), Arsenal (29), Man United (29), Leicester (29), Chelsea (27), Everton (26) and Wolves (26) just within a single game difference. On the other side of the table, Newcastle (7) and Brighton (7) appeared to be in a difficult place and falling behind the rest of the competition.
Gameweek 17 had City drawing away and falling down from the top spot of the league. Liverpool on the other hand, brushed Man United aside at Anfield, moving into first place.
When we arrived at the halfway point of the season, Liverpool was the leader with 50 points with City just a single point behind. Tottenham sat in third position on the table, with 43 points, but enough ahead of Chelsea, 4th with 39 points and with only one defeat in the last 5.
With 25 rounds of England Sim Fantasy played, the leaderboard was getting stretched. Liverpool was still the leader, with 63 points, 5 ahead of City, a team that appeared to be holding on to the title fight game after game! Manchester United’s third position, with 50 points, showed how the Red Devils had improved. Arsenal was right behind in 4th (48 pts), due to 4 wins and only 1 draw in the previous games, and was tied with Tottenham, with the Spurs on the opposite direction with only 1 win in the same period. Still in striking distance were Chelsea (45) and Leicester (44), and the fight for the other 2 Champions League spots was catching fire at that time!
In GW27, the Foxes iced the Emirates Stadium with a surprising win, Brighton had their third win in a row, West Ham tasted victory again after 5 winless games and Rashford scored a brace away from home, not enough to prevent United’s draw.
But nothing compared to GW29 where we had Liverpool vs Manchester City, what probably could have been the title game, ending in a draw.
After 30 rounds of competition, the season was coming to a close, with only 8 England Sim Fantasy gameweeks left. With 76 points, Liverpool kept the lead, closely followed by Manchester City, only 5 points behind. Leicester took 3rd (59pts) after an outstanding 4 wins and 1 draw in the last 5 games. On the bottom end, Brighton (26 pts) had a good run to finished one place and two points above the relegation zone. Crystal Palace (24pts), Aston Villa (24pts) and Newcastle (21 pts) had work to do in order to avoid “simulated” relegation.
Gameweek 34 had one of the biggest results of the season, with Wolverhampton’s amazing victory versus Liverpool. The reigning European Champions had been undefeated in its first 33 league games and, with Man City beating Brighton, the gap narrowed at the top of the Premier League table.
GW35 saw Liverpool lose points again, drawing with Leicester. The Foxes helped City close out the gap even more. With 86 points, the Reds kept the lead but had squandered 5 points in the last 2 rounds and City was only 2 points behind, with better goal difference. The title was really on the balance for Klopp’s team. Just behind them, Leicester was 3rd (68 pts) battling United (67pts) and Tottenham (64 pts) for the last spot on the podium. On the other end of the table, Villa (25pts) seemed destined for relegation but not condemned yet. Brighton was trying to make a comeback (29 pts) and Crystal Palace (31 pts), Norwich (31 pts) and Newcastle (31 pts) were all hanging in by a thread. Mo Salah was in the lead of the race for the MVP of the season, with 215 points so far. He’s had a run in the last 5 games, taking back the lead from his Liverpool team-mate Mané. The Egyptian winger had a total of 21 goals and 15 assists in 30 games so far. Dominant!
Gameweek 37 it was an unforgettable one for Liverpool. The Reds beat Everton to win Premier League after Manchester City draw to United at Old Trafford.
Klopp’s team took this opportunity to secure the well-deserved Premier League title. Aston Villa and Brighton were already relegated so the climax of the last round were at Stamford Bridge where Norwich was relegated as defeat to Chelsea. It was a very interesting battle at the bottom of the table with 4 clubs fighting for survival. Finally, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Newcastle had a celebration while Norwich still weeps.
MVP
Mo Salah finished England Sim Fantasy as the MVP, with 247 points! The Liverpool superstar won the Premier League title and had a total of 24 goals and 18 assists in 33 games. Brilliant!!!
DREAM TEAM
The Dream Team of the Season includes players from 7 different clubs and is shaped in a 3–4–3 system. Title contenders, Liverpool and City dominate with 3 players each. Leicester put up 2 and Tottenham, Wolves and Arsenal take one spot each to complete this selective 11. The best one!
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England SIM Fantasy: Season Recap was originally published in The Call-Up on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
