Aston Villa 0-3 Man Utd
Man Utd were dealt a huge blow midweek with the news that Robin van Persie would be side-lined for about a month with a thigh injury. Aston Villa were without the influential Fabien Delph who was serving a one game suspension and the Villains were hoping to end their abysmal home run against Utd, their last league win against Utd was 18 years ago. Sadly for Villa after just 18 minutes of play they found themselves two nil down thanks to Danny Welbeck. The first came after Adnan Januzaj had hit the post and Welbeck was first on hand to slot home, the second came three minutes later following great work from Antonio Valencia down the right who produced a pinpoint cross into the path of Welbeck to convert. Man Utd keep up the pressure in the first half and both Welbeck and Wayne Rooney came close to increasing the lead. Villa on the other hand failed to test David de Gea. The second half was a feisty affair, de Gea and Gabriel Agbonlahor had a handbags moment shortly after the re-start which resulted in both being booked. Agbonlahor will therefore miss Villas next fixture away at Stoke. Utd kept up the pressure and were rewarded on 52 minutes when Tom Cleverley (yes that is correct!) finished off a Wayne Rooney assist to make it three nil. Mathew Lowton was the next name in the referee’s book when he caught Januzaj and shortly afterwards Utd supporters rose in unison to welcome the return of Darren Fletcher following serious illness. Rooney was unfortunate when he found himself clean through only for the referee to bring play back following more handbags by Welbeck and Nathan Baker. The remainder of the match just petered out with no more clear cut chances, Villas Ciaran Clark was booked and Christian Benteke was missing in action again and is clearly short of confidence. Man Utd will take some positives from this result, three crucial points, a comfortable win and signs that when they attack down the flanks the Red Devils can be a handful, Villa though will be very concerned with their poor run of form.
Bonus points: Welbeck (3) Cleverley (2) Jones & Valencia (1)
Norwich 1-1 Swansea
This intriguing encounter at Carrow Road saw Swansea without the industrious Chico Flores who was suspended and the home side were without their influential midfield pair of Robert Snodgrass and Anthony Pilkington due to injury. Fantasy managers were hoping this game would be as action-packed as the previous six meetings which have produced 25 goals and the signs at first were promising when Nathan Dyer put Swansea ahead on 12 minutes following a great passage of play from Ashley Williams. Michu should have doubled the lead but took a wild stab and saw his effort sail over the bar. The turning point in the first half came shortly after Dyer was stretchered off the field with a nasty ankle injury, when deep into stoppage time Johan Elmander found Gary Hooper and the former Celtic Forward unleashed a 25 yard volley that gave Michel Vorm no chance. The second half was a messy affair, Swansea were frustrated by The Canaries and picked up silly yellow cards, Angel Rangel, Michel Vorm and Jose Canas were all booked by the referee. Hooper was denied late on following great work by Leroy Fer and Michael Turner headed against the bar. Norwich will be disappointed not to have taken all three points, they were denied by the woodwork and outstanding goalkeeping by Vorm.
Bonus points: Hooper (3) Dyer & Williams (2)
Tottenham 0-5 Liverpool
Sundays stand out game was the visit of Liverpool to White Hart Lane who had their captain Steven Gerrard missing due to injury. Spurs had enjoyed a small run of form but have won only one of their last five home league matches. The first 45 minutes showed a side to Liverpool that has been lacking away from Anfield. They were relentless at times against Spurs, Phillipe Coutinho had a great chance after just 2 minutes following good work from Liverpool’s Stand in Captain Luis Suarez but the Brazilian scuffed his shot. Liverpools passing was played at a high tempo and was slick and they broke through the Spurs defence on 18 minutes when, following a period of extended pressure, Michael Dawson lost possession to Jordan Henderson and his pass found Suarez who obliged with a brilliantly well placed finish. Liverpool now had the bit between their teeth and Coutinho saw an effort hit the crossbar and Spurs were then forced into an early substitution when Sandro retired injured. To compound his departure more sustained pressure from Liverpool saw Henderson calmly volleying into the goal for Liverpool’s second after an effort by Suarez had been saved. Just before the break Simon Mignolet was fortunate when an effort by Roberto Soldado was disallowed following a shoulder barge. The second half performance by Liverpool showcased their potential, and the result was devastating to Spurs. Goals from Jon Flanagan, Raheem Sterling and Suarez were no more than Liverpool deserved and Spurs’ job was made all the harder when Paulinho was red carded in the 63rd minute for a foul on Suarez. The standout performance has to go to Suarez, 2 goals and three assists says it all, the home fans had long gone as the sound of You’ll Never Walk Alone reverberated around White Hart Lane. The result moves The Reds up to 2nd place, just 2 points off top spot. Sensational!
Bonus points: Suarez (3) Henderson (2) Flanagan (1)
This article was written by Eddy
gone up 1,140,842 places today!!
Hey Folks, first post here. Looking forward to interacting with all of you… Wondering what you think of my team, any feedback’s appreciated! Thanks in advance.
Marshall (Harper)
Coleman Dawson Gabbidon (Fonte Rosenior)
Hazard Ramsey Silva Walcott (Kasami)
Suarez Rooney Lukaku
Welcome loving the midfield looks really good forwards are good overall its a good team
Cheers! I took a 4 pt hit to get silva and Wally in since I couldn’t afford any fluctuations and Brady was to drop tonight. Ill be focusing on def in the upcoming weeks as I like the look of my MF and FWD lines.
hi!! looks solid, strong up top, maybe defence needs strengthening? dawson is suspended, so maybe look to bring in a more expensive def. zabeleta is bagging me lots of assists, turner (cardiff) is getting a few points and is good value at 4.1 mil. he would work well with gabbidon, and rosenior isnt getting much gametime. how much you got in bank??
Correct me if I’m wrong but wouldn’t Dawson serve his suspension in a midweek carling cup tie?
Correct Erlanger
Cheers Cookie! Good to see you and the rest of the FFC crew are here! Any feedback re: team?
Cheers Erlanger. Feedback re what team? Like a site team?
On his team, you noob! What do you think started this thread.
Haha Mito’s on point minus the noob part!
Lol sorry, didn’t read the whole thing just the Dawson question. Really good team, Erlanger – as you’ve been advised, have a look at the defence….Rosenior & Dawson are concerns.
I have a slightly weird suggestion to replace Dawson….Johnny Evans?
Not weird at all considering I’m a utd fan! Thanks for the suggestion I’ll keep that in mind come next week.
Erlanger, good team. Thats very similar to the mid/forward line I want. Hazardeden makes some good points about defence 😉
Thanks gents! Yeah I intend to reinforce my Def next week. Not much cash to play with but I like turner so prob gonna bring him in barring any unforeseen circumstances. As much as I like zab I can’t afford him, just dropped ivanovic to fund this weeks moves.
help needed please :)- got 2 FT’s and 0 in the bank.
Mignolet. Given
Zabeleta, terry, coleman, turner, gabbidon
hazard, yaya, ravel, ramsey, lallana
aguero, suarez, lukaku
aguero out to jay Rodriguez in gives me 6 mill to play with silly transfer or not
am4 – I have just recommended him in a one-off an article we are publishing over Christmas! Not a bad shout in my opinion especially if the upside is that you can then vastly strengthen your Mids or whatever.
Any help please?
Pantilimon Gazzanaga
Terry Coleman Flanagan Clyne Mert
Oscar YYT Ramsey Walcott Januzaj
Suarez Lukaku Aguero
bought aguero at 11.0 so would it be worth keeping through an injury spell as otherwise would have to do some reshufling to fit him back in?
nah keep kun. looks solid, id save the ft
Some reports suggest he could be out for 6 weeks. But we won’t know for sure until they do the scan
yeah, its a waiting game. remember you have a whole week for transfers!!!
Ended on 83 points this weekend. Not bad, but my rival captained Suarez and is now only 4 points behind me.
How to deal with Aguero? He will probably miss 3 GWs.
Negrado?
I was thinking of bringing in Silva to maintain City cover somehow. How about Remy? Very solid 2 fixtures coming up.
I’ve got Silva. I had Rooney Suarez and Aguero. So I think I’ll bring in Negrado. Think City will be fine without Aguero.
I like that move, Smithy.
Cookie
Bit gutted that the big 3 hasn’t really worked for me as Rooney was suspended and now Aguero injured. You think Negrado is a better choice than Lukaku?
Me thinks no ! Smithy…
Only time will tell, though…
I do mate, but many don’t think so, which is fair enough! Except they’re wrong, of course. But what can you do?!!
Ok, time to go zzzzzzzzzzz…..
Laters, all…
Night HL