Friday, May 6, 2011
Unfortunately we've only been fed scraps of information from Spurs & City today, so we're left chopping and changing our teams, having to make final decisions based on rumours, our own hunches and hoping for a little bit of luck when the team-sheets are announced tomorrow/Tuesday.
I'll start with the Spurs scraps, and the news that they'll definitely be without Huddlestone and Assou-Ekotto for the Blackpool game and probably the City game too. Corluka is also unlikely to play after suffering a hamstring strain at Chelsea, so Kaboul is pretty much certain of a start in both games.
All these injuries mean Gareth Bale could well find himself at left-back tomorrow, but he often does his best work running from deep as there's nobody to track him, so that doesn't bother too much when it comes to his fantasy points potential.
There's no news on which striker/s Harry will go with, but I think Crouch could be due a start after spending the Chelsea game on the bench. Whether it's with Van Der Vaart in support or in a 4-4-2 alongside Defoe or Pav I'm not sure, but I'm going to take a punt on three-metre-Peter.
As for City, it's even more of a lottery as we literally have no idea what Mancini has in mind in terms of resting players. We do know that Micah Richards could return to the squad, while Zabaleta & De Jong are likely to be fit after picking up injuries against West Ham, but that's pretty much it.
There's nothing about Dzeko/Balotelli getting a start/rest, but there is mixed news regarding Carlos Tevez. He definitely won't be involved at Everton, but some media report he could be back for Spurs, while others state he's still struggling to make the FA Cup Final. I think it's fairly safe to say he won't start either match in Week 36, but he could get a cameo from the bench on Tuesday.
Where does that leave us? Well, this is my current team:
Friedel, Gallas, Lescott, Bale, Hitzlsperger, Modric, Silva, Van Der Vaart, Suarez, Crouch, Balotelli
As you can see it's possible I won't go with a DG keeper this week. I'm not confident either side will win both games so spending £10m-£12m on Gomes or Hart has me feeling jittery. For now I'm going with Friedel and I've also downgraded Kolarov @ 11 to Lescott which leaves me the funds to grab Bale.
Is Bale worth £17m? Possibly not, but he's a due a big week, will get acres of space against Blackpool and will start both games, whereas Kolarov could always get a rest in one. How I wish I still had him @ 4 - then it wouldn't matter as I could easily have both! Alas, Gallas completes the line-up in defence & I'm hoping for a clean sheet from him vs Blackpool, with anything else a bonus.
My midfield is pretty standard as I'm thinking Hitzlsperger at home to Blackburn over Yaya Toure is probably a sensible move. Saying that I could always bring Kaboul in to a 4-3-3 instead? Or maybe I should just keep Yaya? Anyway; Modric, Silva & VDV are definitely staying as my remaining midfielders, I'm certain of that!
Another thing I'm certain of is Luiz Suarez @ 7, with Crouch my hunch for a goal against Blackpool. He was also man of the match in the 4th place decider against City last season, so you never know, he may get two starts. Balotelli is currently there too, but I could switch him back to Dzeko. It really is a 50-50 call, and one I'm likely to make tomorrow morning, but it will definitely be one of the City strikers in that final slot.
So that's what I'm thinking at the moment. There other games going on too, so here's the important news from the other 18 Premier League teams.
- Daniel Sturridge is being tipped to recover for Bolton's home game against injury-ravaged Sunderland, but nothing has been confirmed by Coyle. If he was certain to start I'd probably find a way to get him in ahead of Dzeko/Balotelli, but I won't risk spending 10.xx on a SGers who might not make it.
- Scott Parker could be back for West Ham, which would give the whole club a huge lift ahead of their huge relegation six-pointer against Blackburn. Noble is out so Hitzlsperger should be on all set pieces, hence why he's currently in my team. Would he get penalties too? Perhaps that honour would go to Robbie Keane.
- West Brom have a chance of another win at Wolves, but there are doubts over Chris Brunt, Steven Reid and Gonzalo Jara, while Paul Scharner is suspended. I imagine a fair bit of the responsibility will fall on Odemwingie again, including penalty duty if Brunt doesn't make it.
- Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri will both be missing for Arsenal's trip to Stoke, while Gael Clichy and Johan Djourou are both doubts. However, former fantasy favourite Thomas Vermaelen has finally recovered from the foot injury that has kept him out all season, and he could even start!
- Craig Gardner is suspended, so David Bentley may return to steal some of Seb Larsson's set pieces
- Finally, the big game at Old Trafford on Sunday should see two teams with fully fit squads to choose from. It's sure to be an absolute cracker, and I think Chelsea could keep the title race going with a win, provided they go 4-3-3 with Drogba leading the line.
That's it for now, but I'll be sure to add any further news to this post as the day/evening goes on.
Please let me know where you are with your team at the moment. Are you as nervous as I am about this horrible DG week?
Cheers,
AM
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