Where else to begin than Friday night’s Halloween Horror Show at St Mary’s?
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s surname means ‘small rabbit hut’ in English, and the Saints manager must have wanted something similarly small to burrow his head into after their Premier League record-equalling defeat.
They join Ipswich’s 1994/5 ‘vintage’ as the holders of the dubious honour of losing by a nine goal margin.
Little wonder then that Southampton now have seven of the top 10 lowest scores in our Fantasy League individual rankings.
Conversely, the top of the rankings offer a window to the form sides of the month.
Jamie Vardy – after his hat-trick in the demolition – sits first with 12 points, with his partner in crime Ayoze Perez not far behind on 11.
Reflecting a run that has seen them win their last seven matches in all competitions, Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso and Christian Pulisic – who himself got a treble on Saturday in his first start since August – are also right up there with 9 and 11 points respectively.
It was another game without a win for Watford, but oddly enough their defenders can be pretty pleased with their recent work.
Two clean sheets in their last three league games sees Daryl Janmaat in the top six of the monthly player rankings, and it shows that if you mine hard enough, there are good buys to be found even at the very foot of the table.
Quite how the season will pan out for Arsenal even the most knowledgeable fan couldn’t say at the moment.
The week-to-week highs and lows are like nowhere else. One week Bukayo Saka and Joe Willock point the way to a bright future, the next Granit Xhaka and David Luiz remind everyone of the maddening, inconsistent nature of the squad.
It may be worth considering Gunners’ players after Christmas when form and a first XI may have arrived.
It’s not any easier to predict the fortunes of Spurs or Everton. Both suffered devastating defeats on the weekend, and with some difficult games ahead, will both managers still be in their jobs next year?
And if not what implications will that have on your Fantasy League squads?
Such is the guessing-game beauty of the beautiful game!
