Team Talk Fantasy Football GW16
Welcome to GW16 and let’s face it, if it comes anywhere near to matching the drama of GW15 then we’re in for a fun and unpredictable ride – it started of course with City losing at Stoke, then Villa came close to a win at Southampton, those who benched Mahrez were placed on suicide watch, Chelsea lost at home to Bournemouth and finally Newcastle beat Liverpool. United of course drew 0-0 and Lukaku scored again. Some things went as expected. Everton finished off GW15 on Monday and kick off GW16 as they visit Norwich on Saturday lunchtime. Just four 3pm matches follow – Palace welcome Southampton, City entertain the Monkless Swans, Watford travel up to Sunderland and West Ham take on Stoke. The evening match sees Bournemouth host Man Utd. Sunday sees three matches – first up is Villa vs Arsenal and then later Liverpool play West Brom while Newcastle take the trip to London to face Spurs. We have some Monday night fun again as top of the table Leicester take on relegation candidates Chelsea.
It’s been an exciting week of European action – some good and bad news for our clubs, with injuries really beginning to take their toll on not just the Premier League teams but also our FPL ones! Thus the pressers are all important this week – let’s go Around the Grounds to see what the managers have had to say.
Norwich vs Everton (Sat 12 Dec 12.45)
Everton travel to Norwich on the back of two draws, games which they will feel they should have won, but nevertheless they continue to produce good returns for FPL managers. The Canaries meanwhile will be as desperate for a win as they hover just above the relegation zone having recorded just a solitary win in their last ten matches. However, since being torn apart by the Toon in GW9, Alex Neill’s mean have at least seemed to tighten up at the back somewhat, though they have still only kept one clean sheet all season, which will excite Romelu Lukaku who has scored in his last five league matches. The Canaries are unbeaten in their last three matches at home to the Toffees, but maybe the telling stat for this game is that in their previous two Saturday lunchtime kick-offs this season, Everton went to Southampton in GW2 and won 3-0 and then defeated Chelsea 3-1 in GW5. This will be Norwich’s first early kick off of the season and they’ll need to have had their Weetabix if they are to stop Everton’s love of a lunchtime kick-off.
Neill says that Wes Hoolahan has trained well this week and is available for the weekend, leaving Matt Jarvis as the only absentee. The manager failed to be drawn on speculation linking the Canaries with a January move for Toffees striker and Init’s hero Steven Naismith – maybe Roberto will give the Scot a run out at Carrow Road to further impress his potential suitor? On second thoughts, maybe that’s not a great idea Robbie, don’t ruin their great hopes for the greatest Scottish striker of this generation.
Roberto Martinez says midfielder James McCarthy will have a late fitness test. Leighton Baines came through his cameo vs Palace ok with the manager saying “he is getting very, very close to starting, but we need to manage his workload carefully”. Reading between the lines, it seems like Brendan Galloway will continue to start this weekend with Baines being phased back in and given more match time by the week. Phil Jagielka is ahead of schedule and is expected back in the New Year.
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Crystal Palace vs Southampton (Sat 12 Dec 15.00)
Two defeats and an embarrassing home draw last week vs Villa has seen the Saints drop into the bottom half of the division just as we all thought Ronald Koeman was sorting things out after a sluggish start to the season. A trip to Palace is not what one needs when faced with a mini slump, especially when the Dutchman is greeted by the silver haired grinning Lord. Palace lie sixth following last week’s draw at Goodison, though if there is a crumb of hope for Southampton it’s that Palace’s home form is inconsistent at best. The Saints have a decent record at Selhurst Park, winning their last three there and last time they went to the capital they took home three points from Chelsea. But then everyone does that these days. An interesting stat here which may put off those hoping for a Palace clean sheet – Southampton have led 1-0 in each of their previous seven meetings, irrespective of the final result. Even more impressive than that, the Sainst have won the last seven league matches between the two.
Palace will again be without Bakary Sako, who continues to struggle with a hamstring injury, while Mile Jedinak rolled his ankle in training and will also be missing. Striker Dwight Gayle has suffered a small setback with his injury, but Marouane Chamakh has looked sharper in training. Righto. Sharper than a blunt knife perhaps? The Lord says that keeper Alex McCarthy has recovered from a minor injury and will be on the bench tomorrow. Julian Speroni will then be on the bench next week. Musical chairs at the Palace, but can the Lord orchestrate a win over the Southampton?
The Saints will name an unchanged squad for the weekend after Victor Wanyama recovered from the ankle knock that forced him off vs Villa last week. Not much else to report, apart from Koeman saying a win at Palace would be good for confidence. Very helpful that Ronnie, cheers. Keeper Fraser Forster has finally returned to training and is building up his fitness, with Koeman suggesting he could be ready to make a return early in the New Year.
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Man City vs Swansea (Sat 12 Dec 15.00)
Swansea go to City in a slump. That’s the best word I can think of to be honest with you. Just one win in eleven, one clean sheet in thirteen, one point off the relegation zone, failed to score in four out of their last six matches and worst of all….they’re Welsh. Such a run has led to Garry Monk being sacked, which for the purpose of this article is a mahoosive result as Monk rarely gave much injury news. So see ya Garry, sorry bout the timing, just before Christmas and all that, but you never helped me. City on the other hand come off Tuesday’s 4-2 win over Borussia Monchengladbach, which sees them top their group – their league form however is up and down – an impressive home win over Southampton sandwiched between losses to Liverpool and Stoke. City have won all four Premier League matches vs the Swans at the Etihad, scoring ten goals in the process and really should have too much for the Welshies. Ex-Swan Wilfried Bony has scored in the last three meetings between the clubs, for both clubs and will be hopeful of making it four in a row on Saturday.
Sergio Aguero has again been ruled out for City, with Pellegrini saying, “Kun is not ready for tomorrow. We hope he’ll start working next week and be fit for Arsenal.” Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Fernando and Samir Nasri all remain out, but Martin Demichelis is fit – maybe Pellegrini will pair Demi with Eliaquim Mangala again and give the Swans a bit of a chance. Bacary Sagna was rested in the week but is available for the weekend.
The Swans have appointed Alan Curtis for his third spell as caretaker manager, with a permanent managerial appointment not likely until next week now. Best of luck Alan, a trip to the Etihad is just what you need boyo. Curtis won’t even be able to blame injuries for his takes an almost fully fit squad to Manchester, with just striker Eder a doubt. Jonjo Shelvey may find his way back into the squad after the departed Monk decided not select the bald, ugly, large-headed one for the squad last week, despite him being available after suspension.
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Sunderland vs Watford (Sat 12 Dec 15.00)
Well, wouldn’t you know it, Watford in the top half, ahead of Stoke, ahead of Southampton, ahead of West Brom, ahead of Swansea, and obviously ahead of Chelsea – what a fine season they are having. They go up to the Stadium of Light looking for a third win on the bounce, but will come across a determined, better-organised Sunderland side who have shown signs of life and resilience of late. How the Black Cat defence will cope with Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney remains to be seen – the Hornets deadly strikeforce has scored 14 goals between them thus far and nine of those goals have come in the last six games, since Deeney stumbled across his shooting boots. Indeed, while everyone is banging on about Jamie Vardy and Romelu Lukaku, don’t forget Deeney, who has scored in each of his last four. What to make of Sunderland? Well, they went down 3-1 at Arsenal last weekend, but battled well and had won their previous two before that. While this one won’t likely be the first game shown on Match of the Day, a win for Sunderland will likely lift them out of the drop zone, while another win for the Hornets would see them rise further in the league, potentially on the brink of a Europa League place.
Big Sam is pleased to report that Jermain Defoe returned to training on Thursday and should be ok for the weekend – this is especially good news as Steven Fletcher has picked up a foot injury in training and is a doubt. Wes Brown is also available again, but is likely to only make the bench – not only because Sunderland’s three first choice centre backs are fit, but also because Brown is basically crap. Lee Cattermole and Seb Larsson both remain out.
Watford will be again without Valon Behrami this weekend, while Sebastian Prodl is also unlikely to feature, despite returning to training. Joel Ekstrand and Tommie Hoban continue to miss out but both could be available in a month or so.
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West Ham vs Stoke (Sat 12 Dec 15.00)
Stoke travel down to the East End on the back of last week’s impressive victory over City, confidence is riding high and the return of Ryan Shawcross has brought a confidence and solodity to the defence. The Hammers meanwhile had the chances to win at Old Trafford last weekend, but still came away with a well deserved point, but too many draws of late have coincided with some key players being injured which has stunted what was becoming an impressive run. The Potters have been becoming a bogey team to the Hammers over the past few seasons, with Stoke losing just one out of the last seven meetings between the two. West Ham haven’t won any of their last five league matches, which will be a concern for manager Slaven Bilic, but with both these teams showing consistent inconsistency, this match could go either way.
More injury woe for the Hammers after Winston Reid suffered a hamstring injury in training and will likely be missing for a couple of months. Reid joins Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia, Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini as well as Victor Moses who also picked up a hamstring injury, this time at United last week. Bilic knows his squad have their work cut out with so many prominent names missing, but is calling on his squad to prove they can cope – they’ll need to improve their home form which has shown just two wins in their last eight at the Boleyn.
Mark Hughes says he hopes last week’s win over City is the springboard to some consistency as they go to West Ham with a spring in their step and very few injuries, unlike their opponents. Peter Odemwingie, Peter Crouch and Shay Given all continue to miss out, but that is unlikely to worry anyone apart from themselves. Man of the moment Marco Arnautovic has scored in both of his Premier League appearances vs the Hammers, while it’s also worth noting that Stoke haven’t conceded a goal while Ryan Shawcross has been on the pitch this season.
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Bournemouth vs Man Utd (Sat 12 Dec 17.30)
Oh wow vs oh dear. Last week’s win at Chelsea caught everyone by surprise, well almost everyone. Bournemouth chief Eddie Howe spoke before the game about decent performances of late and increased confidence within the camp. Not many of us took him serioulsy of course – not least Chelsea. Or those wallies who bought Eden Hazard or Diego Costa. United meanwhile crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday, a disappointment that brought more angst from the fans towards LVG, the philosophy, Wayne Rooney, David Moyes, the Glazers, Santa, basically anyone or anything they could of think of. Whether LVG can lift his troops before the weekend only remains to be seen, but without doubt Howe will not have to say much to his Cherries – they’ll be on a high and will believe it’s a great time to be playing the Reds. These two have never met in the league, just in the Cups over the years – it’s not a location that United enjoy going to as they have won just one out of four matches at Dean Court, with most people’s favourite recollection being in 1984 when a Bournemouth side managed by Harry Redknapp humbled the great Man Utd 2-0 to knock them out of the FA Cup. A repeat scoreline this weekend isn’t quite as unlikely as what we may have thought a week ago.
Howe knows that last week’s win will be meaningless if they cannot push on from that and he is concerned with their home form which has seen just one win in their last seven on their own turf. The injury news that has plagued them for much of the season is showing signs of easing – Artur Boruc is ok but has to constantly manage his body, know that feeling. Fellow keeper Adam Federici is available again as is midfielder Marc Pugh and defender Sylvain Distin, Lee Tomlin and Tommy Elphick are both back in light training and Christian Atsu could be back in a month or so. Howe talked up the influence of attacking midfielder Joshua King, describing him as “a key component of the team”.
So LVG has to lift United pdq if they are to avoid a Champions League hangover and push on as they concentrate on the league to save their season. They will have to do so with a patched up defence after Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian picked up knocks vs Wolfsburg on Tuesday, to go with the injuries to Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw, Phil Jones and Antonio Valencia – Rojo has undergone surgery on his shoulder and will likely be missing for around 2 months. LVG believes both Smalling and Darmian will return around Christmas as will Ander Herrera. This leaves the defence in a bit of a pickle with the only fit defenders being Daley Blind, a bunch of kids including Paddy McNair and Guillermo Varela plus Ashley Young who can stand in at full back. Wayne Rooney remains missing with an ankle injury and just to compound matters, Bastian Schweinsteiger has picked up a three match ban for tickling Winston Reid last week, so it’s good news for United as Morgan Schneiderlin has been passed fit after recovering from a hip injury.
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Aston Villa vs Arsenal (Sat 13 Dec 13.30)
Remi Garde lists Arsene Wenger as one of his most important mentors, but they’ll be no sympathy from Le Professuer to his young protege this weekend. Villa are in dire straits, harpooned to the bottom of the league and already seven points away from safety – things ain’t looking good for Garde or his Villans with relegation looking a certainty. The Goonies defied thier much maligned injury list to see off Sunderland last weekend with Aaron Ramsey impressing and they benefitted from the Manchester clubs indifference to climb back up to second. Villa battled away at Southampton and looked for a long while that they may actually nick a win, but alas it was not to be and they had to settle for a point. Not a bad result on the surface, but surprise wins for Newcastle and Bournemouth took the wind out of their sails. Villa haven’t beaten Arsenal at home since 1998 and have lost the last four meetings between the two, conceding fourteen goals in the process. It’ll take an inspirational performance from Villa to stop the sequence, but time is beginning to run out and the turn around needs to begin asap if they are to avoid Championship football next season.
Garde says that both he and the squad believe they can win games and escape relegation and they have Jack Grealish to call upon again after the naughty boy served his detention. Micah Richards and Jordan Amavi remain out, but Ciaran Clark returns from suspension and Rudy Gestede and Leandro Bacuna have started training again.
Buoyed from their win in Greece and qualification to the next round of the CL, the Goonies will go to Villa with confidence. How fresh they are depends on whether Wenger has allowed their creative party organiser Jack Wilshere anywhere near the playing squad. Olivier Giroud was of course Wednesday’s hero, he’s been a popular transfer in for FPL managers since the midweek win – but is he The One That You Want? The Beauty School Dropout is not a bad choice as he has scored five goals in his last seven league games in addition to his CL form. Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey have made successful returns to the first team and at the moment are compensating for the loss of Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez. Talking of Alexis, Wenger says the Chilean’s injury is only “short term” and he will likely be the first to return from the Arsenal treatment room with a return possible over the Christmas period. The Gooners amazingly picked up no fresh injuries in Greece, so it’s “as you were” with the usual contingent of crocks.
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Liverpool vs West Brom (Sat 13 Dec 16.00)
Ah. It was going so well. Impressive and deserved league wins at Chelsea and City and the Capital One Cup rout of Southampton brought a new excitement and Klopptimism – a trip to Newcastle would surely be a walk in the park. Sadly, it was not to be, the Toon took the win, with Klopp describing his team’s performance as “shit”. Excuse my French, or German, or whatever. To be fair, Klopp’s English is great, unfortunately for him his cunning linguistic skills will likely be wasted on Merseyside, where they prefer the Carragher scouse squeak. Or the Gerrard slip. Anyway it’s the Wall of Pulis that visits Anfield this weekend and before last weekend’s shock at Newcastle, Liverpool were looking much better away from home than at their spiritual mecca. Klopp’s men had struggled past Swansea, lost to Palace and held by Southampton, so they clearly struggle to break down a stubborn outfit. Which of course is the kind of definition that makes Pulis and his lovers go all muchy and moist. Liverpool have won the last two meetings between the two at Anfield however but will need all their creative qualities to knock down that wall.
Liverpool battled to a scoreless draw in Sion on Thursday, which was pretty unexciting but did provide some positive news for Klopp as both Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho returned from injury – Henderson started and played 77mins, while Coutinho came off the bench for the final half hour- both players reported no issues and will be in the squad for the weekend. Alberto Moreno was rested for the trip, while Martin Skrtel and ChristIan Benteke were unused substitutes. Jordan Ibe will need to be assessed as he has been suffering with an illness, but Klopp said after the game there were no injuries from the trip to Switzerland.
Liverpool arrived back late from Switzerland this afternoon and hence there has been no presser – if Klopp says something later in the day, we will update the article and make you all aware.
Pulis was slightly more helpful this week. Thanks Tone. See how this works now? You’re nice to me, I’m nice to you, it’s not tricky. Sir Tony says that Stephane Sessegnon will miss the trip to Anfield with a hamstring strain but the Baggies welcome back Claudio Yacob from suspension. Ben Foster remains missing with Pulis reluctant to set a date for his return, but stand in keeper Boaz Myhill is quoted as saying that Foster is not even in light training and has no idea when he will get back.
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Spurs vs Newcastle (Sat 13 Dec 16.00)
Spurs welcome Newcastle to the Lane looking for their first win in three and hoping to put some pressure on the top four. Two recent draws has stopped the momentum that was growing but they will be confident of a win on Sunday vs the Toon who remain in the bottom three, despite last week’s win over Liverpool. Spurs have won the previous two meetings between the pair, however they have lost the last two at home to Newcastle. Confidence is a wonderful thing in football and Steve McClaren will undoubtedly be hoping that his team can build on last week and string a run of results together – though they may have ridden their luck vs the Pool, a win is still a win and I am really waffling now. So onto the team news.
Mauricio Pochettino says it will be hard to leave Erik Lamela out of Sunday’s side after the Argentine’s hat-trick in Spurs 4-1 Europa League victory over Monaco. Eric Dier will be ok after the midfielder was substituted as a precaution just before half-time on Thursday after picking up a knock on his foot. Spurs had the luxury of resting most of their first team with just Dier, Toby Alderweireld and Hugo Lloris of the usual league first team starting the game. Nabil Bentaleb and Nacer Chadli made their comebacks coming off the bench to give Pochettino selection headaches with an almost fully fit squad for the first time this season.
McClaren will have the same squad available as last weekend and will look to build on that performance. Keeper Rob Elliot has vowed to play through the pain barrier as he manages a persistent thigh injury. Chieck Tiote and Rolando Aarons are close to a return, but defenders Mike Williamson and Jamaal Lascelles remain out.
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Leicester vs Chelsea (Mon 14 Dec 20.00)
Brilliant – another Monday night football special as league leaders Leicester host Chelsea, for whom not much is going right this season. So bizarre has this season been that the high-flying Foxes go into the game as underdogs with Claudio Ranieri looking to put one over his old club. Leicester’s success this season has of course been well highlighted – built around the creation of Riyad Mahrez and the scoring of Jamie Vardy, they have scored in every league game and last week’s 3-0 win at Swansea shows they have no intention of stopping. For Chelsea it’s been an annus horribilis – they have just 15pts from 15 games and while they have looked slightly more secure at the back of late they have also failed to score in three of their last four games. Of course, fixture form favours Chelsea – they have won the last eight matches vs the Foxes, but this is not the Chelsea of old and traditional stats go out of the window. Just like Chelsea’s season at this rate. Wednesday’s defeat of Porto did bring some seasonal cheer to Jose and his elves and he’ll be hopeful that is the springboard to a recovery in the league. Starting on Monday. At the leaders. Anyone up for it?
Ranieri reports no new injuries for the visit of Chelsea and he has a lovely bottle of wine ready for Mourinho. Good thinking that Claudio as we all know how much Jose loves a whine. Ritchie de Laet and Matty James are the only absentees.
Mourinho says he still believes a top four finish for the Champions is possible. The Blues go into Monday’s match with just Radamel Falcao unavailable – Ramires and John Terry made successful comebacks in the week, while it’s likely that Cesc Fabregas will again miss out with Jose admitting the Spaniard is having some problems this season. The Special One was more bullish on Diego Costa and Eden Hazard by saying, “the way Costa and Hazard played vs Porto, it is inevitable they will start to score goals again.”
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Suspension Report GW16
Suspended this week –
Bastien Schweinsteiger (Man Utd)
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:
Daniel Gosling (Bournemouth)
Matt Ritchie (Bournemouth)
Diego Costa (Chelsea)
Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace)
James McCarthy (Everton)
Robert Huth (Leicester)
Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool)
Vurnon Anita (Newcastle)
Cheik Tiote (Newcastle)
Sebastian Bassong (Norwich)
Oriol Romeu (Southampton)
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Jan Vertonghen (Spurs)
Kyle Walker (Spurs)
Charlie Adam (Stoke)
Glenn Whelan (Stoke)
Ashley Williams (Swansea)
Etienne Capoue (Watford)
Matthew Connolly (Watford)
Allan-Romeo Nyom (Watford)
Craig Gardner (West Brom)
James McClean (West Brom)
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Have a great game-week everyone and score well.
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Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 16. This article was written by Cookie
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Rumours that KDB is suffering from Fatigue sprouting up on twitter :/