Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 20

Team Talk Fantasy Football GW20

Happy New Year everyone – how’s the hangover?!! Hope you had a good night, whether you were out celebrating or stayed in with no interest in New Year’s Eve or alternatively you were hunched over your FPL side wondering who to bench, buy, sell and captain this week! We’re now halfway through the season and it’s time to regroup, decide how to push your team up the rankings and of course there is your 2nd wildcard available to play! GW20 is spread over Saturday and Sunday but before we go through the games be reminded that the deadline is at 11.45am UK time this Saturday. Our gameweek begins down in the East End as West Ham tackle Klopp’s Liverpool in the lunchtime kick off. We then have six 3pm matches as Arsenal welcome Newcastle, Leicester host Bournemouth, Swansea take the trip to Old Trafford, Norwich battle Southampton, Sunderland take on Aston Villa and West Brom attempt to stop the Stoke juggernaut at the Hawthorns. The evening games sees Man City go to Watford. Sunday lunchtime sees a London derby between Palace and Chelsea at Selhurst Park before Tottenham’s visit to Everton brings the curtain down on our gameweek.
Rotation and supposed “player fatigue” are high on our list of concerns this week, so let’s go Around the Grounds to see what the managers have had to say.

West Ham vs Liverpool (Sat 2 Jan 12.45)

Hammers chief Slaven Bilic is delighted to tell us that Dimitri Payet has trained superbly and barring any late setbacks in training, will be involved in the game. I assume that to mean off the bench, given the midfielder has not featured since GW12, a run of games that had seen West Ham go without a win before the midweek victory over Southampton. Winston Reid and Victor Moses are also both fit, though Bilic hinted they may be more likely to feature in next weekend’s FA Cup tie. Nikica Jelavic has also returned to training, leaving the manager optimistic that a fully fit squad can reproduce the performances and victories that were so evident at the start of the campaign. Diafra Sakho is expected to be back early-to-mid February, while Aaron Cresswell should be ok for the visit of Liverpool.

Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson will need to be assessed after limping off at Sunderland. In more surprising news, Jurgen Klopp revealed that there is a chance Daniel Sturridge could make a return at Upton Park, but Divock Origi and James Milner have already been ruled out, while Joe Allen is ill. Defender Joe Flanagan is making good progress but is not quite ready to return and maybe one to watch out for is young winger Ryan Kent who is being recalled from his loan spell at Coventry with Klopp planning to him throw straight into the squad at West Ham, according to reports.

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Arsenal vs Newcastle (Sat 2 Jan 15.00)

Arsene Wenger reports no new injuries “only fatigue”, but does say, “certainly we will rotate again.” That is likely to see recalls for Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny. Mathieu Flamini is also available again after missing the Bournemouth game with an ankle injury, while Alexis Sanchez could be back for the FA Cup tie vs Sunderland next week. Mikel Arteta is training again but lacks match fitness, while Tomas Rosicky is three weeks away from a return to training.

Newcastle have taken just a point from their last three matches which has seen them slip back into the relegation zone, leaving manager Steve McClaren frustrated as he believes they have played well and deserved more. It’ll be a tough trip to the Emirates and they may have to go without Rob Elliot again due to his ongoing illness. With Tim Krul ruled out for the season, Karl Darlow will again step in if Elliot doesn’t make it. It’s of course been a sad week at the club and also for football in general after the passing of ex-Toon keeper Pavel Srnicek. Macca reports that Rolando Aarons and Manu Riviere have returned to training but Vurnon Anita is a major doubt. Steven Taylor, Massadio Haidara, Mike Williamson, Papiss Cisse and Gabriel Obertan all remain out. RIP Pavel.

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Leicester vs Bournemouth (Sat 2 Jan 15.00)

Just one point from two games, no goals scored, yet Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri continues to smile and celebrate what has been a fantastic calendar year for the club. They will look to get their title march, or more realistically, Champions League qualification back on track with three points over Bournemouth. The boss says that Jamie Vardy is now 100% after his virus and Danny Drinkwater came through the draw with City unscathed – there are no new injuries, but Jeffrey Schlupp remains out.

Eddie Howe also reports no new injuries for the trip to the East Midlands, while Junior Stanislas, Joshua King and Lee Tomlin have all trained this week and are available. Tommy Elphick, Tyrone Mings, Max Gradel, Christian Atsu and Callum Wilson all remain sidelined.

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Man Utd vs Swansea (Sat 2 Jan 15.00)

LVG said errrrrm pretty much f all in his presser, certainly no team news as he continues his war with the press. Louis dear, word of advice pal – we all know that you think you know best, but not many have beaten the press over the years, old boy. What we do know is that Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia, Marcos Rojo and Anders Lingard continue to miss out. The All-knowing One may decide to name an unchanged team to the one that performed better vs Chelsea in midweek.

The Swans go to Old Trafford in search of their third successive win over the Reds and how they could do with it as they start the gameweek just a place above the drop zone. Caretaker manager Alan Curtis says that Wayne Routledge is likely to return to the squad. Federico Fernandez is the major concern as he is suffering with an ankle injury – the defender will have a late fitness test with Curtis hopeful he will play. Eder and Franck Tabanou remain unavailable.

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Norwich vs Southampton (Sat 2 Jan 15.00)

Norwich boss Alex Neil reports no new injuries to the team that beat Villa. Only Andre Wisdom and Matt Jarvis remain doubts, though both are close to a comeback but may not be risked this weekend. Norwich have only lost one out of six Premier League encounters with the Saints at Carrow Road and Neil is very happy with their tally of 20pts at halfway and is looking to replicate that in the second half of the season to guarantee safety.

Southampton will again be without greaseball Graziano Pelle and Cedric Soares for the game at Norwich, while midfielder Oriol Romeu is serving his suspension after picking up his 5th yellow card of the season in the defeat to West Ham in midweek. There are no new injuries as the Saints look to bounce back, leaving Fraser Forster, Florin Gardos and Jay Rodriguez as the only other absentees. Forster will step up his recovery by playing for the U21s next week.

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Sunderland vs Aston Villa (Sat 2 Jan 15.00)

Big Sam is hopeful that John O’Shea and Steven Fletcher will be fit to return to the line up after both missed the narrow defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday. However, Sebastian Coates is a doubt after limping off with a knock, which should mean another opportunity for Wes Brown to entertain us. Younes Kaboul, Adam Matthews and Seb Larsson continue to miss out.

Villa defender Jores Okore could return for the trip to Sunderland after he returned to training on Wednesday following a knee injury. However Gabby Agbonlahor and Carlos Sanchez are both unlikely to make the trip, Agbonlahor is still struggling with a back injury while Sanchez is likely to be out for another week with a hamstring injury. The Villans are further depleted by the suspensions of Jordan Ayew and Ashley Westwood for a game against their nearest relegation rivals – defeat at the Stadium of Light would see Villa further set adrift at the bottom with only a huge and unlikely miracle their saviour.

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West Brom vs Stoke (Sat 2 Jan 15.00)

Tony Pulis says he will leave it until as late as possible to decide if defender Jonas Olsson and striker Victor Anichebe will be fit for the weekend. Definitely sitting it out are the suspended James McClean and Solomon Rondon, while keeper Ben Foster is due to step up his return to the first team by playing in some U21 matches over the next couple of weeks. The ongoing fractious relationship between Pulis and wantaway striker Saido Berahino enters a slightly friendlier phase with the boss saying, “Berahino has trained well, he’s been in on time and done everything everyone else has done.” Sounds like a complete buffoon – good luck Spurs.

Stoke have no new injuries for the weekend, but manager Mark Hughes is expecting a different game to what they faced in defeating Man Utd and Everton which he says, “may affect my selection.” He also said, “continuity is important but I am wary the lads have started both games” – rotation time?? Hughes praised the recent performances of Xherdan Shaqiri and Marko Arnautovic, before adding that Arnautovic has been playing with a tight hamstring fora couple of weeks and was nearly left out of the Everton match. With Stoke facing Liverpool in the Capital One Cup semi-final 1st leg on Tuesday, some are speculating that Arnie could be one that Hughes is thinking of not starting at West Brom. Marc Muniesa and Stephen Ireland are medically fit but may need a couple of reserve games to get up to speed before they return to the starting XI.

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Watford vs Man City (Sat 2 Jan 17.30)

Watford entertain City without defender Nathan Ake who is suspended following his red card vs Tottenham last week. The Hornets have no new injuries and continue to be without Joel Ekstrand and Tommy Hoban, while Odion Ighalo will attempt to do something Jamie Vardy couldn’t – namely score against Managala and Otamedni. If he does, he’ll have scored in seven straight league games.

For Sergio Aguero owners there is good and bad news as Manuel Pellegrini says he plans to give the striker another 65ish minutes at Watford, so that at least guarantees him another start. City will again be without Gael Clichy, Vincent Kompany and Samir Nasri but the better news is that Fabian Delph and Fernando trained on Thursday and could come into consideration.

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Crystal Palace vs Chelsea (Sun 3 Jan 13.30)

Palace will be missing Yohan Cabaye due to suspension but The Lord is pleased to be able to recall Damien Delaney for the derby – the defender was rested for the Swansea match. Aside from Delaney and Cabaye, it’s “as we were” with no new injuries and Bakary Sako, Connor Wickham, Dwight Gayle and Yannick Bolasie still sidelined. The Lord ended the presser by standing up, wishing everyone a Happy New Year and going round shaking everyone’s hand. Guess my invite got lost in the post.

After two tough draws vs Watford and Man Utd, Guus Hiddink is looking for his team to go on a run of victories, but knows they face a tricky trip to Palace. The Blues will at least be able to welcome back Diego Costa from suspension, while Cesc Fabregas should also be available as he has recovered from his illnes. However Radamel Falcao remains out, while Gary Cahill and Loic Remy are doubts.

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Everton vs Spurs (Sun 3 Jan 16.00)

Everton have been hit with a double midfield worry for the visit of Spurs. James McCarthy was forced off after 25mins of the Stoke match and has been ruled out this week, while Tom Cleverley is a doubt with an Achilles injury. Wingers Aaron Lennon and Kevin Mirallas were rested against the Potters and both come back into the reckoning, while Phil Jagielka is likely to be back in action in the next week to ten days.

Spurs will be without Mousa Dembele with an ankle injury, but aside from the midfielder there are no new injuries as they seek to consolidate their top four place. Alex Pritchard and Clinton N’Jie remain out injured.

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Suspension Report GW20

Suspended this week:

Jordan Ayew, Ashley Westwood (Aston Villa)
Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace)
Oriol Romeu (Southampton)
Nathan Ake (Watford)
James McClean, Solomon Rondon (West Brom)

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Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 20. This article was written by Cookie

Follow @SteveCook9

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