Team Talk Gameweek 28 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League

Let’s get this show on the road. All the debate about how many players we can field for GW29 and how many double game-weekers we can muster for GW31 can be temporarily put on hold as we enjoy the action of GW28 and count all those lovely points as they roll in. We are, of course, two games light this week as Man City and Sunderland fight it out for the Capital One Cup, meaning West Brom get to hold more internal meetings as to ascertain the best way forward, while Man Utd hold more meetings as to how they can get rid of Moyes without losing too much face. Damn it, I wasn’t going to mention the hopeless ginger numpty this week, but I just can’t get him out of my head…..as Kylie once said.

GW28 is very tidy, so great news for the OCD’ers out there – four Saturday 3pm kick-offs as Everton entertain West Ham, Newcastle visit Hull, Arsenal venture up to their least favourite place, Stoke – and a juicy London derby as Chelsea walkover, sorry, walk over to play Fulham. We have an early evening encounter down at St Marys as goal crazy/defence shaky Liverpool go to Southampton. Sunday sees none of these tiered kick-offs – all three games kick off at 16.30, allowing us to enjoy a lovely roast lamb lunch and then sit back as Villa host Norwich, Crystal Palace travel to Swansea and Tottenham welcome Cardiff. So that’s that – all neat and tidy and by Sunday evening we can all get back to worrying about GW29 and 31 again! Let’s get around the grounds and catch up on the latest team news.

Everton vs West Ham (Sat 1 March 15.00)

Everton welcome the Happy Hammers to Goodison in the middle of a small wobble – three defeats in four matches has seen the Toffees slip down to seventh, even below Man Utd. Those three defeats have come away from home though – their form at home is much better, three wins on the bounce and a great record against West Ham, which sees them unbeaten in their last twelve meetings. That record could come under pressure with the Hammers on a roll, four wins in a row has seen them rocket from the relegation zone to mid-table.

The good news for Roberto Martinez is that striker Romelu Lukaku is back, fit and available for the weekend. Antolin Alcaraz is also available, though the boss did suggest he needs to be managed properly and has to be careful, meaning John Stones may get another start because the bad news is Phil Jagielka is out for a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury. Longer term absentees Brian Oviedo, Darron Gibson, Arouna Kone all remain out. Lacina Traore may have had one of the shortest careers in English football histiry as his hamstring injury seems to be worse than feared and he may have to return home with the memory of that back-heel against Swansea to comfort him.

Hammers striker Andy Carroll is back in the squad following his suspension, but Big Sam says Carlton Cole’s performance vs Southampton last weekend gives him a tough decision on who will start. It won’t be that tough, expect Carroll to start. New signing Marco Borriello remains doubtful with a calf injury, while Ricardo Vaz Te has returned to training. Defender Guy Demel suffered with tonsillitis earlier in the week, but returned to training on Thursday and Big Sam hopes he’ll be ok. Joey O’Brien is still sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Fulham vs Chelsea (Sat 1 March 15.00)

Picture the scene: take the Mrs for a spot of shopping down the King’s Road, coffee in the winter sun, meet up with the lads (and lasses) at the White Horse for a few pints and a burger, then trottle off to the ground and watch your dearly beloved beat your local neighbours. Life is good. Well, life used to be good for Fulham fans but sadly those days are a distant memory right now and Chelsea will be approaching this derby with confidence. Fulham haven’t won against the Blues since 2006 and as they languish at the bottom of the table, Chelsea sit on top and it’s tough to see any other result than another win for Mourinho’s men. But you never know…..

Fulham manager Felix Magath has confirmed that defender Fernando Amorebieta hasn’t trained this week due to a muscle injury and won’t feature vs Chelsea – the same goes for striker Kostas Mitroglou, who the new boss has decided is not fit enough, while ex-Blue Damien Duff and Matthew Briggs also miss out. Darren Bent returns to the squad.

The Special One spent most of his press conference bemoaning the hectic schedule. Having travelled through the night to return from Turkey in midweek it is expected he will freshen up the starting XI, with Oscar and Samuel Eto’o expecting to start the derby. Many FPL managers will be hoping he doesn’t choose to play Ashley Cole also as that would mean the bench for Cesar Azpilicueta. David Luiz is believed to be still struggling with a muscle injury and is unlikely to feature.

Hull City vs Newcastle (Sat 1 March 15.00)

Newcastle travel down to Hull seeking their first ever win over the Tigers in the Premier League – and while before Christmas we were talking about how tough a side Hull are to beat at home, well since crushing Fulham they have lost two and drawn once. And Newcastle well, let’s not talk about their form – at one point their sequence of results were starting to look like an international dialling code. And then….BOOOOM – both go and win last week – Hull smacked four past Cardiff and Newcastle nicked a last-gasp winner at home to Villa. Which unfortunately meant we had to sit through another expert interview from Alan “I’m so long of myself” Pardew.

Newcastle continue to be without midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa and defender Davide Santon, who both have knocks, but midfielder Sylvain Marveaux is available again and will be hoping for a decent amount of game time after what has been an injury hit season for him.

Steve Bruce has no new injury worries for the visit of Newcastle. Alex Bruce, Tom Huddlestone and Liam Rosenior are all expected to return to the squad, while strikers Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long both come back in after being cup-tied against Brighton. Paul McShane and Robbie Brady are longer term absentees.

Stoke City vs Arsenal (Sat 1 March 15.00)

Let’s face it Arsenal and Stoke hate each other – and let’s be honest, we love spicy little numbers like this. Just a shame Tony Pulis isn’t about to stir things up! Then again, Mark Hughes and Arsene Wenger hardly get on, so happy days. The Gooners have won just once in their last seven visits to the Britannia and never enjoy the trip there, while The Potters have already beaten United and Chelsea at home this season and will be confident of adding the Arsenal scalp to that list. I predict the only certainties here are that Charlie Adam and Jack Wilshire will be booked and Hughes and Wenger’s reconciliation will be no nearer come the end of the game.

Mesut Ozil has recovered from his “dead leg”/bruised ego and will return to the squad as will defender Thomas Vermaelen, who has missed the last nine league matches with a calf injury. However, left backs Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs are both doubts for the game, so Vermaelen could slot straight into their position if required. Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott remain on the treatment table.

Stoke have a few issues coming into the game –striker Peter Odemwingie has a problem with his calf and will need a fitness test to make the game, while Jonathan Walters has been ill all week, though Sparky hopes to have him available, but will need to check on him closer to the game. Oussama Assaidi and Robert Huth are both making good progress but are unlikely to feature this weekend. Peter Crouch has scored four goals in his last six appearances at the Britannia and will be hoping to add to that number against the Gooners.

Southampton vs Liverpool (Sat 1 March 17.30)

Liverpool head down to the South Coast looking for their fourth successive league win and hope to put more pressure on the three teams above them. With Sturridge and Suarez, well Sturridge mainly, looking unstoppable, it’s likely to be a case of how tight they can keep it at the back, rather than if they can penetrate the Saints defence. Two clean sheets in eleven is not title-winning form, even Liverpool old-boy Kevin Keegan had to accept that in the end. With Rickie Lambert and J-Rod up front and Adam Lallana calling the shots from midfield, this is far from an automatic away win – and the record shows that Southampton have won four of the last five matches between these two at St Marys and also won at Anfield in September.

Brendan Rodgers is delighted to say that Lucas and Mamadou Sakho have both returned to training, although Saturday’s game is likely to come too soon for them. Despite widespread criticism of Daniel Agger after the defensive horror show vs Swansea, the manager confirms his support for the defender and says he will play vs Southampton. Jose Enrique has returned from America to continue his rehabilitation.

Southampton have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the game. Defender Jos Hooiveld and midfielder Victor Wanyama remain the only doubts and will need to be assessed before the match, while Luke Shaw will be hoping to celebrate his England call-up with an impressive showing against the league’s best attacking unit, on current form. However, looking at the way the Saints defended against Carlton Cole last week, you would imagine Shaw and his fellow defenders have hardly slept a wink this week at the thought of Sturridge & Suarez coming at them.

Aston Villa vs Norwich (Sun 2 March 16.30)

A massive game at Villa Park as the winner will go through the 30pt mark and have an eye on the elusive 40pt safety barrier, while the loser will be plunged deep back into the relegation mix. Villa have taken just a single point out of a possible twelve, a run that will have manager Paul Lambert worried as we enter the final stretch of the season, while last week’s vital victory for the Canaries over Spurs has lifted some of the gloom surrounding manager Chris Hughton. Villa certainly have the better of the fixture historically, with Norwich’s only win at Villa Park coming in 1992 – a repeat of that result will be bring a huge sense of relief to Hughton, while Lambert’s doom and gloom will continue.

Hughton has revealed that Leroy Fer injured his hamstring in training this week and will be missing along with Jonas Gutierrez. Defender Ryan Bennett has recovered from injury and will be in the squad, but the other Bennett, midfielder Elliott remains out as does Michael Turner.

Villa’s Ashley Westwood, who was playing well vs Newcastle before suffering a dead leg is fit and will be an important tonic for Lambert, while more good news as on-loan defender Ryan Bertrand is also back to full fitness and will play. Charles N’Zogbia and Libor Kozak remain missing for the longer term but defender Jores Okore has begun his recovery and has started light fitness training.

Swansea vs Crystal Palace (Sun 2 March 16.30)

We’ll only find out on Sunday what effect Thursday night’s disappointing defeat and journey to Napoli took out of the Swans. And they certainly won’t have things their own way against a well-drilled Palace side that don’t give much away and will be fresh from a week’s rest. Even Palace’s new signing Tom Ince is quoted as saying, “Swansea won’t be able to handle what we can do” – just as chippy as your old man then eh Tom? Some people you know you’re just not going to like. The only time these two have met in the Premier League was in September when the Swans triumphed 2-0 at Selhurst Park with Michu (remember him? Did great last season, has now disappeared) scoring – and in fact Swansea have won the last four meetings between the two in all competitions – just to shove it in Ince Jnr’s face, let’s hope they make it five out of five.

Nathan Dyer is expected to be fit for the visit of Palace, despite picking up a heel injury in Napoli. Defender Ben Davies successfully came through 90mins in Italy while Alex Pozuelo came off the bench and will be pushing for a start. Leon Britton was rested in midweek as a precaution and could also feature, but Jonjo Shelvey remains out along with Michu, wherever he is.

Tony Pulis has again been talking up striker Glenn Murray, suggesting his goals will guarantee Premier League survival for the Eagles, although he didn’t say if Murray would start the match. Palace have no new injuries, but Jerome Thomas continues to struggle with a back injury and is unlikely to be risked.

Tottenham vs Cardiff City (Sun 2 March 16.30)

Cardiff travel to Spurs in a state of disarray – just one win in eleven, hammered at home last week by Hull, yes Hull, only Fulham below them in the league, their captain out for the season and fresh reports that owner Vincent “The Butcher” Tan is already considering the firing squad for poor old Ole. Well, the good thing for them is that Spurs have generally been pretty crap following a Europa League night, though they will undoubtedly be on a high following their Thursday night comeback victory over Dnipro. The other stat the Welshies will be clinging on to is that Spurs only striker, (we don’t include Roberto Soldado as a striker), Emmanuel Adebayor has a terrible scoring record at the Lane in the league – just one goal this season and notable blanks vs other strugglers West Brom, Stoke and Crystal Palace.

Solskjaer welcomes back Craig Bellamy from suspension and Jordan Mutch from injury, giving the boss a timely boost ahead of the game. Unfortunately, Gary Medel remains on the treatment table, while skipper Mark Hudson is out for the season. Defender Steven Caulker will be looking to prove his old employers were wrong to allow him to leave the club.

Spurs bid farewell to Jermain Defoe, who leaves one footballing power-house to join another in FC Toronto, which leaves Tim Sherwood with just Adbayor and Soldado to choose from – Adebayor it is then. Sandro has returned to action, while it is thought Kyle Walker may also return at the weekend. Danny Rose faces a late fitness test while Gylfi Sigurdsson remains unavailable but is closing in on a return. Paulinho and Aaron Lennon were benched on Thursday evening, so it is believed they will start the game, while it remains to be seen whether Christian Eriksen starts two games in three days…..bet he doesn’t, but I’ve been wrong before.

Best of luck for GW28.

Thanks for reading Team Talk Gameweek 28, this article was written by Cookie.