Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 13

Team Talk Fantasy Football GW13

Welcome to GW13 – it’s been a long time coming and so much has happened since the end of GW12. International injuries to some of our players, the recovery and imminent comeback of others – and in the meantime under fire managers, namely Jose Mourinho and Garry Monk remain employed for now with both of those clubs facing very winnable fixtures this week which could lift their gloom. Our game-week begins at Watford with Man United the lunchtime visitors. Six 3pm matches follow as Chelsea welcome Norwich, Everton host Villa, high-flying Leicester travel to Newcastle, Southampton and Stoke do battle, Bournemouth go to Swansea and West Brom tackle Arsenal. Saturday evening sees Liverpool travelling to City. Sunday sees just the one match as Spurs host the Hammers in a London derby before our game-week ends on Monday night as Palace host Sunderland.

In remembrance of the terrorist attacks in Paris last Friday and in a show of solidarity with the people of France, La Marseillaise will be played before each Premier League match this weekend.

With a whole host of internationals having been played out and many players having faced long trips to a variety of exotic locations across the globe, there is a huge amount to catch up on. As such, let’s waste no further time and see what lies and half-truths the managers have had to say.

Watford vs Man Utd (Sat 21 Nov 12.45)
By 3pm Saturday, fourth-placed United will leapfrog City, Arsenal and Leicester to top the table if they can achieve a win at Watford, a venue where they have won their last four matches, scoring nine goals in the process. Well, we know for sure that United won’t go goal-crazy – it’s not part of the philosophy, don’t you know. They are however tight at the back and have kept four clean sheets in a row in the league. The Hornets are a funny swarm, but can certainly keep things tight on their day and have already had the better of West Ham and Swansea at home and fair play to them, they sit halfway in the table and can be very pleased with their opening dozen game-weeks this season. United’s true form looks well set by their previous early kick offs, which have resulted in a 1-0 win and a scoreless draw so expect a tight game, with probably little action, but loads of possession for the Reds. LVG will be well pleased.

Watford leading scorer Odion Ighalo was only due to arrive back on Friday from international duty, but is a certain starter, assuming he is fit. The Hornets are confident, or maybe optimistic, that Cameroon will not ask FIFA to prevent Allan Nyom from playing despite him leaving the national team squad for no apparent reason! Jose Manuel Jurado is likely to give manager QSF a timely boost by returning to the squad but is likely to have to be content with a place on the bench. Defender Sebastian Prodl picked up an injury while on international duty and could be missing for 3 weeks – with Tommie Hoban still a fortnight away from a return and Joel Ekstrand a long term absentee, Essaid Belkalem is left as the only senior centre half to provide back up to Craig Cathcart and Miguel Brotos.

United have an injury crisis for the trip to Watford. Wayne Rooney is ill and Anthony Martial, Michael Carrick, Marouane Fellaini and Antonio Valencia are all injured and won’t feature. Luke Shaw and Paddy McNair are longer term absentees. James Wilson is available to play up front but cannot play 90mins due to a lack of match fitness, so Memphis Depay is the likely striker if Wilson cannot start. Matteo Darmian returns from suspension and should come straight back into the team with Valencia out for the long term. There was no mention of Marcos Rojo who has returned from South America – presumably he will be assessed but the lack of mention is presumably a good sign that he is fine. Chris Smalling has recovered from the knock he sustained while playing vs Spain.

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Chelsea vs Norwich (Sat 21 Nov 15.00)
Home to Norwich really should be the start of a revival for Jose and his men. Then again we thought the same when they hosted Palace in GW4 and went to Newcastle in GW7 and that didn’t go to plan, so while fixtures certainly favour the Blues, form definitely doesn’t and Mourinho has seen most of his squad jet off on international duty, giving him minimal time to work on improving their morale and motivation. Norwich come to the capital on the back of a home win over Swansea and have also performed well at Anfield and Upton Park where they gained credible draws. However, their six-goal mauling at Newcastle, of all places, highlights that they can be taken to the cleaners if the home side can find some form. Their last road trip saw the Canaries shore up at the back when losing 2-1 at City, with manager Alex Neil setting up tighter and deeper at the back. A repeat here could frustrate Chelsea as the game goes on and increase the tension on the terraces, the nervousness on the pitch. the tetchiness in the dugout and the sheer fear for their jobs in the doctors’ surgery.

Mourinho has reported that Eden Hazard trained normally on Thursday and has recovered from the illness that would of kept him out of Belgium’s match vs Spain if it had been played. Keeper Thibaut Courtois has resumed training and will be available at some stage in December, while Radamel Falcao will be back “soon”, but not tomorrow. There was no mention of Kurt Zouma so we presume he is ok. On the rumours of a January clear out, Mourinho said he will not ask his board for any changes to his squad. He also said that it is time for him and the players to repay the trust shown to them by the owner, the board and the supporters and he is very confident of still achieving a top-4 spot. “Tomorrow, Chelsea will play very well and get a good result” – we have been warned.

Norwich boss Alex Neill is looking forward to the trip to Chelsea and says his team can get a result if they play to their best potential. Ok Alex. He confirmed that Nathan Redmond is fine and has recovered from a minor thigh injury and trained well this week. The internationals will all be assessed today, which will give Neill more of an idea about who is ready for the weekend and who is not. Victor Mulumbu picked up a knock whilst playing for Congo and is one of those who need to be checked. If you cared. Which, in all probability, most of you don’t.

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Everton vs Aston Villa (Sat 21 Nov 15.00)
A goal glut awaits. Captain Lukaku will surely deliver. Last time at Goodison, Everton smacked six past Sunderland and this week will be similar. Or so hopes many an FPL manager this week! Villa, bottom of the league, already five points adrift of safety will be told by new boss Remi Garde that it’s all about points now if they are at least to avoid the dreaded bottom spot at Christmas – a situation in which traditionally teams rarely recover for them. And there is hope – last time out they somehow held City to a goalless draw and one could well argue that if they kept City at bay then surely they can keep anyone out. Well, in theory, that’s a fair comment, but as we know logic doesn’t always go hand in hand with our FPL experiences and the odds are that the Toffees will find the back of the net here. Goodison isn’t a happy hunting ground for Villa, who have failed to win any of their last seven there – another loss would see them up that creek with a paddle gone – but any sort of result may, just may, give them and their new manager the belief that they can row to shore and save their season and top flight status.

Good news for those FPL managers who have recently brought in the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Gerard Deulofeu as Roberto Martinez says all his internationals have returned safe and injury free and the squad has no new injuries. A decision on whether Leighton Baines will be involved vs Villa will be taken after training today, with Martinez being quoted earlier in the week saying the left back will not be rushed back and that it is more important he is fit for the whole of the second half of the season. Tony Hibbert, Bryan Oviedo and Phil Jagielka all remain out, while Tyias Browning and Brendon Galloway are doubts for this weekend. The big news is that our old mucka Young Tom Cleverley is fully fit to face his old team, as is Mo Besic who played 45mins for Bosnia.

Villa are expected to be without Gabby Agbonlahor who has a calf strain, while fellow striker Rudy Gestede faces a late fitness test after returning from international duty with a knee injury. Jordan Amavi has been ruled out for the season with a knee injury, so Kieran Richardson is likely to fill in on the left, while Jores Okore is still building up his match fitness. Carlos Sanchez and Brad Guzan were late returners from their international involvements and will need assessing and Ashley Westwood is fit again after a head injury sustained at Spurs.

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Newcastle vs Leicester (Sat 21 Nov 15.00)
Third-placed Leicester travel up to Geordieland looking for their fourth win in a row and preserve their unbeaten away record this season. It’s been a campaign so far that has affected many if not all the serious FPL managers who have loaded up on the likes of Jamie Vardy and /or Riyad Mahrez – and they haven’t been disappointed with the two Foxes being the two top points scorers thus far. It’s been such a success story that manager Claudio Ranieri even felt generous enough to bench Mahrez on occasions just for the fun of it – after all the Algerian has notched six double-digit returns already, while young / old  Vardy has already scored 12 league goals and this week will be looking to score for the tenth successive match. The Toon meanwhile are witnessing some sort of mini revival – which in their case means they’ve only lost one of their last four. These things are all relative. Last week’s win at Bournemouth lifted the Toon out of the relegation zone, but let’s be honest a third successive clean sheet is unlikely this weekend with Vardy and Mahrez in town. Newcastle have won the last five meetings between the two at St James’ Park, but that was when the Magpies were kind of average and the Foxes were cannon fodder. Times have changed somewhat since then.

Steve McClaren reports no new injuries for the weekend, with all his internationals returning fit. He did say that Moussa Sissoko was heavily shaken up by the events in Paris, but is ready to play. Keeper Rob Elliot has been passed fit to play. Tim Krul, Steven Taylor, Jack Colback, Gabriel Obertan and Rolando Aarons all remain out.

Jamie Vardy trained “pain-free” on Thursday and Claudio Ranieri hopes that he will be available for Saturday. The manager will act on the advice of his medical staff regarding the striker, but won’t risk him if he is not 100% fit. Leonardo Ulloa is “ready to play”, while the Tinkerman implied that Shinji Okazaki and Andrej Kramaric could miss out due to their long travels over the international break. Wes Morgan was late back from international duty and will need assessing.

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Southampton vs Stoke (Sat 21 Nov 15.00)
Saints welcome Stoke to the south coast looking to continue their decent form which has seen them unbeaten in their last six matches and has lifted them into the chasing pack of the top four, albeit a position that they will likely hold for the season. Stoke are different gravy in terms of consistency – last time out they beat Chelsea, which came a fortnight after they were beaten at home by Watford. They have however kept four clean sheets in five, helped by the return of Ryan Shawcross at the heart of the defence. Goals have been an issue for the Potters though – they have scored just three in their last five matches, meaning this could result in a stalemate on the level of a Watford / Man Utd fixture. The Saints are unbeaten at home vs the Potters since 1980 and Sadio Mane was the only fantasy beneficiary last season, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory.

Ronald Koeman says all his internationals are back – Sadio Mane arrived Thursday morning. Virgil van Dijk has responded well to treatment and returned to training on Wednesday and is ok for the weekend, while Koeman says he is surprised, but pleased that Shane Long played for the Republic of Ireland as he had barely trained over the last six weeks. There is tiredness in the camp, but no new injuries – Fraser Forster and Jay Rodriguez remain sidelined.

Stoke’s internationals returned safely, although Geoff Cameron and Mame Biram Diouf arrived back late, but are fine. Those that have been checked are all ok. Lovely. Marc Muniesa continues to miss out with a thigh injury, but Erik Pieters is ok to play despite breaking his nose.

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Swansea vs Bournemouth (Sat 21 Nov 15.00)
Much to play for in South Wales with both teams suffering a horrid run of form that has seen Bournemouth drop into the drop zone and Swansea drop nervously towards it. Four losses in a row for the Cherries has highlighted the lack of depth in a squad plagued with long term injuries to key players, but while Eddie Howe will receive a huge amount of sympathy and also admiration for continuing to try and play nice attractive football, the relegation devil is not as compassionate and this could be a long hard winter for Bournemouth. Swansea meanwhile have no such excuses – no major injuries, just a team which has lost all form and confidence and Bafetimbi Gomis up front looking about as threatening as Bambi with a water pistol. Not sure where the water pistol part came from – just Bambi would have done. Just one win in eight since beating United has led to speculation of a falling out between Garry Monk and the Chairman and a failure to win on Saturday will only intensify the pressure on the manager.

Garry Monk says that Saturday’s match is not “make or break” for him and says rumours of dressing room discontent have been spread by people outside the club with an agenda. Gylfi Sigurdsson has also this week said that he hasn’t fallen out with Monk. Ok. On the injury front, well, there are none. All the internationals have returned fit and well and Andre Ayew has shrugged off a minor knee injury.

Eddie Howe maintains his team will not change their ideals or way of playing, but admits that they all need to work harder and improve. Glenn Murray could be recalled up front with goals becoming a scarcity for the Cherries, while midfielder Marc Pugh is available after shrugging off a knock. Tommy Elphick, Tyrone Mings, Max Gradel and Callum Wilson all remain out.

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West Brom vs Arsenal (Sat 21 Nov 15.00)
Arsenal go to the Midlands looking to enter an attractive looking run of fixtures with a win which they hope will propel them above City to the summit. And there is no real evidence on show to suggest they won’t succeed, despite their run of five successive win being halted by the 1-1 draw in the North London derby in GW12. Their recent record vs West Brom is unsurprisingly impressive – nine wins and a draw in the last ten meetings, just one defeat in 16 – their last defeat at the Hawthorns was in 2005. The Baggies have lost their last two and have only won once at home all season – with that being a 1-0 victory over Sunderland in GW9. Five goals conceded in the last two has poured scorn over the so-called “Pulis enforced wall of defence”. West Brom’s best hope will be that many of their number weren’t involved in the recent international duty and should be better rested than their Goonie counterparts, but in all reality we are clutching at straws and form suggests Arsenal should march on with a win.

This week’s helpful presser from Tony Pulis – “Everyone’s fit, everyone’s raring to go and everyone’s looking forward to the game”. There we go. No need for my musings – he’s told you everything you need to know. Good ol’ Tone. Oh – Gareth McAuley is suspended though, while we presume the “everyone is fit” line doesn’t apply to Ben Foster, otherwise Boaz Myhill owners will be in for a nasty old shock.

Wenger says that full back Hector Bellerin has recovered from injury and is available for the weekend, but Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott are not yet ready to return, with Walcott expected to be back in a fortnight or so. The manager says he will need to check on Laurent Koscielny’s state of mind as he believes he has been badly affected by the terrorist attacks in Paris – if Koscielny is believed to be not 100% focused, he will not play. A fast, physical game is expected at West Brom, which won’t worry Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky as our three wise monkeys continue to sit around twiddling their thumbs. There was no mention of Alexis Sanchez, so presumably the Chilean will need to be assessed on his return from South America – though with Walcott, Ramsey and Ox still out Wenger may decide he has no choice but to play Alexis this week.

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Man City vs Liverpool (Sat 21 Nov 17.30)
On paper this is the match of the weekend. Free scoring, top of the table City entertain Klopp’s inspired Liverpool. Although my mate Jurgen was undone last time out by the Lord and his troop at Anfield. These are hard times for me. Love Klopp, hate Liverpool. Hate Pardew, don’t mind Palace. Obviously City can do one. So I’m in a bit of a no-win situation here, maybe a dull 0-0 would be best with Aleksandar Kolarov coming on in the 89th minute. Naturally, this won’t end 0-0, the Liverpool defence isn’t good enough, while you wouldn’t be surprised to see Philippe Coutinho continue his good run of form by tapping one through the hands of Joe “Calamity” Hart. Liverpool won their last away match, very impressively defeating Chelsea 3-1 and are unbeaten on the road since they were trounced by United in GW5. City are of course pretty good at home, scoring 13 goals in defeating Norwich, Bournemouth and Newcastle, though they couldn’t break down Villa away from home last game-week. Liverpool haven’t won in the league at City in their last five trips to the Etihad and they’ll need to replicate their performance at Chelsea and then some if they are to come away with a point or three.

Well, well, well, Sergio Aguero is fit, according to Manuel Pellegrini. Cue the mayhem, cut the hits, cue the RMTs beginning with, “How can I get Aguero in?”! Right, everyone happy now? Wilfried Bony is not fit though, what a turd purchase he was. Vincent Kompany is also ruled out, while David Silva is a big doubt with the manager saying, “It would be a big risk to play him as he is still suffering pain in his ankle.” Samir Nasri has been ruled out till around February with a hamstring injury. Pablo Zabaleta was pictured training yesterday but wasn’t mentioned at the presser. Raheem Sterling can expect a hostile reception from the 3,000 Liverpool fans who are likely to outnumber the City support. Apparently the scousers are upset with Sterling for arranging for City to pay them £49mln odd quid in the summer – funny old lot. They’re only happy if they’re nicking, they don’t like it on a plate.

Klopp confirms that Daniel Sturridge has trained with the main group but is still not 100% – the manager has however been impressed with what he has seen on the training ground and a late decision will be made on whether to include him on Saturday. Jordon Ibe and James Milner have both been passed fit, while Jordan Henderson could return to light training next week. Defender Mamadou Sakho is confirmed out until after Christmas, while Danny Ings, Joe Gomez and Joe Flanagan all continue to remain out. Jurgen is excited about the game, saying he has never lost vs City. In two attempts. In Europe for Borussia Dortmund. Jurgen mein lieber, Borussia Cookie could beat City in Europe kamerad.

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Spurs vs West Ham (Sun 22 Nov 16.00)
These two hate each other, which always adds some great spice for the spectators and should lead to some Sunday fun. Just make sure you’re not hanging around White Hart Lane after the game as it may not be the nicest place to be. Then again, hanging about Tottenham at any time isn’t great. Both clubs are locked together on 21 points and hold optimistic, some may say laughable, ambitions of a Champions League place. Well it’s always good to have dreams I suppose. But they do tend to fade and die. Reminds me of a song that. Spurs are in decent form, unbeaten since their opening day defeat at United and arguably having the better of the North London derby last time out. The Hammers beat Chelsea in GW10 then lost to Watford the week after and remain as enigmatic as ever. Which West Ham turns up is anyone’s guess, though they have got the better of Spurs at the Lane of late, winning two and drawing the other of the last three

Mauricio Pochettino says that Nabil Bentaleb got a bad tackle on international duty and is not 100%, while Nacer Chadli is still out, but should be back soon. All the other internationals are fine, with Delle Alli and Eric Dier particularly impressing for England. Heung-Min Son returns to the squad, Mousa Dembele has been passed fit and Andros Townsend could be recalled to the squad but Erik Lamela is suspended.

It’s a mixture of news from Slaven Bilic this week. Obviously the Dimitri Payet injury has already been well highlighted, with Bilic admitting they will miss their “best and most important player”. With Payet out for three months, the Hammers have also been hit by the news that Enner Valencia will be missing for around four weeks with an ankle injury. The better news is that Diafro Sakho is available again as is Alex Song, who played 60mins in a friendly during the international break. Cheikhou Kouyate is due back from Africa today and is not injured, while a late decision will be taken on defender Angelo Ogbonna who has returned to training this week. James Collins misses the game through suspension. Despite the absence of Payet and Valencia, expect Bilic to get a strong and fighting performance from his team as he understands what the derby means to the club and more importantly the fans.

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Crystal Palace vs Sunderland (Mon 23 Nov 20.00)
All Hail The Lord, All Hail The Lord, they sang in the Pardew house ever since Palace’s win at Liverpool in GW12. The man can do no wrong – he’s seen off Klopp, humbled Mourinho, stopped LVG. Self-appointed manager of the season already, capable of anything, the Lord of the Lord’s, bringer of World peace and fighting climate change. He’ll be seen discovering human life on Mars next. With any luck. This week for His Royal Highness is a visit from the subordinates from Sunderland and will likely end with the Lord proclaiming a right royal rogering for Big Sam and his low life nobodies. The Black Cats are only held up by Villa and only ever seem to win when they play Newcastle. They did scrape a draw at Villa, but aside from that they’ve lost every other away game, including a proper spanking at Everton in GW11. Hope springs eternal. But hope is all they have – the hope that Palace somehow continue their recent record of no wins in their last two at Selhurst Park. It could however be carnage on Monday evening down in South London – last time these two met, Yannick Bolasie scored a hat trick in a 4-1 victory for the Eagles up at Sunderland in April. Connor Wickham scored the consolation goal for the Black Cats and then joined Palace – can he now score for the winning side in this fixture or will it be Bolasie’s night again? Strap in, buy an Eagle and join the happy throng….”All Hail The Lord”.

The Lord is pleased to reveal that the aforementioned Wickham is fit to return to the squad and can also count on fellow “striker” Marouane Chamakh – both will be involved on Monday. Sadly Dwight Gayle is ruled out, while Bakary Sako has picked up a knock and may not train tomorrow, though Pardew hasn’t completely ruled him out and with the game being on Monday, he’ll be given every chance. Everyone else is fit from the win at Liverpool.

Big Sam says that Lee Cattermole trained today and he expects to have virtually a fully fit squad to choose from on Monday. Double strength shin pads the size of cricket pads have since been ordered by the Palace midfield. Not sure if having a fully fit squad of useless numpties is good or bad but at least John O’Shea has recovered. Sam then said his squad has a lot of experience and needs to go out and express itself. He then went on to say, “As soon as you don’t concede a goal you don’t lose a game.” Wow. Cheers Sam. Also mate, never pat a burning dog. I have to stop, this is all too much for me……

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Suspension Report

Those players who are suspended for GW13 are as follows:

Erik Lamela (Spurs)
Gareth McAuley (West Brom)
James Collins (West Ham)

It’s worth being aware that any player who receives five yellow cards before 31st December will receive an automatic one match ban. Those players currently sitting on four yellows are:

Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa)
Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace)
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
James McCarthy (Everton)
Lucas Leiva (Liverpool)
Eliaquim Mangala (Man City)
Cheik Tiote (Newcastle)
Graziano Pelle (Southampton)
Oriol Romeu (Southampton)
Bamidele Alli (Spurs)
Glenn Whelan (Stoke)
Billy Jones (Sunderland)
Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea)
Ashley Williams (Swansea)
Allan-Romeo Nyom (Watford)
Chris Brunt (West Brom)
Claudio Yacob (West Brom)
Mark Noble (West Ham)

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Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 13. This article was written by Cookie

Follow @SteveCook9

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