I'm sat here writing this intro paragraph at 1940 on Tuesday evening. The GW25 deadline passed 10 minutes ago. The game is currently updating, and I'm currently doing the same. It's fair to say that the FPL community on Twitter had a 45 minute meltdown. I'm just happy we don't get sight of the team sheets early every week. The Aston Villa and Hull City lineups barely caused a ripple. QPR and Sunderland confirmed what we already knew (Austin out injured). Liverpool and Spurs raised some eyebrows with the confirmation Sterling was missing. This news broke earlier in the afternoon so wasn't a complete surprise. Then the Arsenal team sheet came in. Sanchez back in which was a relief to many. But no Giroud! Or Ramsey and Welbeck, but nobody seemed to be too bothered by that! No, it was the benching of the French striker - and popular captain choice - that sent Twitter into chaos. I think I was asked about every single permutation, from keeping him as captain to taking a -12 hit to dump him and bring in Sanchez, and everything inbetween.

So I sit here, silently praying (as a non-owner) that Sanchez does nothing. Join me now as I update this article as the evening progresses...

ARS v LEI

Possibly the one thing nobody considered in the madness before the deadline, was Leicester actually providing some opposition for Arsenal. Well, they started much the better side with the Gunners defence finding Mahrez particularly hard to handle. Even following Leicester's inevitable relegation, I think this guy will be listed as an FPL player still next season. It wasn't to last though, Laurent Koscielny opened the scoring, ably assisted by Mesut Özil. Arsenal doubled their lead with Özil turning provider after his shot came back off Schwarzer for Walcott to fire home. In the second half, Leicester pulled an unlikely goal back, with Andrej Kramaric opening his Foxes account. No assist was awarded. In the dying minutes Leicester pressed for the equaliser, but it wasn't to be. Bonus points were awarded as follows:

• Özil - 3pts
  
• Koscielny - 2pts
  
• Kramaric - 1pt

HUL v AVL

Hull started brightly as the home team, in a fixture that held little interest for most. Steve Bruce decided to introduce a new strike pairing, with Dame N'Doye joining Nikica Jelavic up front. It only took just over 20 minutes for the two to combine, with Jelavic grabbing the opener. Manager Paul Lambert brought Christian Benteke off the bench, but it was Hull who doubled their lead in the 74th minute. This time it was N'Doye with the goal, whose initial shot came back to him (hence no assist). Hull were good value for the win, Aston Villa look to be in real trouble now.

• N'Doye - 3pts
  
• Jelavic - 2pts
  
• McGregor & McShane - 1pt
  

SUN v QPR

Sunderland defenders and keeper Pantilimon are popular picks at the moment after Gus Poyet has worked to tighten them up. With away day trips not really being QPR's thing this season, this was surely just a formality on the way to clean sheet points? Not exactly. Leroy Fer hadn't read the script when he headed Matt Phillips' cross into the back of the net. Phillips second assist came on the stroke of half time as Bobby Zamora doubled Rangers lead. In a slightly bizarre substitution, Phillips was replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips (remember him?) in the second half in a tactical move. It seems amazing after this performance how QPR went so long without an away win. Maybe Redknapp falling on his sword has had the desired effect?

• Fer - 3pts
  
• Isla & Phillips - 2pts

LIV v TOT

No Sterling, but Sturridge returned to the starting XI in a fixture that Liverpool have dominated over recent times. Things began true to form, with Hugo Lloris making a rare error by failing to stop Lazar Markovic's shot. Sturridge was eventually awarded the assist. With man of the moment Harry Kane on the field though, it was almost inevitable that Liverpool would concede - and they did. Eric Lamela teeing up the soon-to-be England striker for the equaliser. In the second half, Daniel Sturridge made the most of a challenge from Danny Rose who conceded the penalty. Steven Gerrard despatched it past Lloris for his first goal since his brace against Leicester on New Years Day. Spurs equalised again after an Eriksen free kick came off Mignolet to Harry Kane who put it across for Mousa Dembélé to score. In a somewhat surreal turn of events, Adam Lallana provided a low cross for Mario Balotelli to score not only his first Premier League goal for Liverpool, but also the winner in this fascinating contest.

• Kane - 3pts
  
• Dembélé - 2pts
  
• Lamela & Markovic - 1pt

And breath! A fascinating night draws to a close, with the predicted Arsenal demolition of Leicester failing to materialise. QPR winning away from home looked to be the biggest shock of the night, until Mario Balotelli popped up with the winner for Liverpool. Hull despatched Villa with relative ease which only served to prove how poor Lambert's team are right now.
With the second half of GW25 to come, I hope you'll join me tomorrow evening.