Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 26

Welcome to GW26 and things are beginning to heat up in with a blank gameweek is on the horizon while the excitement and planning for double gameweeks is just around the corner. But for now we have a normal 2-day gameweek which is kicked off at the Stadium of Light as relegation threatened Sunderland host the Europa challenging Man Utd. Five 3pm matches follow as Bournemouth welcome Stoke, Watford go to Palace, Everton take on West Brom, the Hammers travel to Norwich and Southampton trek to Swansea. The evening kick off sees Chelsea on tv again with Newcastle the visitors to the Bridge. Saturday’s matches are just the warm up though as we truly have a Super Sunday with the the leaders Leicester visiting 3rd placed Arsenal and 2nd placed Spurs going to 4th placed Man City. Sandwiched between the two matches is Liverpool’s trip to battling Villa.
So, it’s a massive week at the top, no more so for Leicester – another away win vs a close rival will lead many of us to truly believe that the impossible is maybe now possible! Let’s see what the managers have said as we go Around the Grounds.

Sunderland vs Man Utd (Sat 13 Feb 12.45)
A battling draw at Anfield last week will again have lifted the spirits but to be honest its victories that the Black Cats require if they are to avoid the drop and at the very least put some pressure on those just above them. United are in town this week and they too drew last week and may consider themselves unlucky not to have come away with more than just a point from Chelsea. So with both sides desperate for a win it’s all to play for with both teams more than capable of winning on their day. Sunderland have only conceded no more than a single goal in each of their last seven home matches so they have tightened up to an extent but will be put to the test by a more confident United outfit.

Adam Johnson has been sacked by Sunderland and so will not play this weekend or maybe ever again. Good. The Black Cats have also been hit with injury blows to Duncan Watmore who has damaged ankle ligaments and Jeremain Lens who has a suspected hernia, while Younes Kaboul will again miss out with an ankle injury and Billy Jones is a doubt, though according to one Sunderland fan site, this is worse news for United than Sunderland. Fabio Borini has recovered from illness and will make the squad but Big Sam didn’t mention Jermain Defoe who appeared to tweak his hamstring late on at Anfield, so we assume he is ok. Emmanuel Eboue (remember him?) is training at the club’s academy and may be offered a contract if he proves his fitness. Seb Larsson has returned to training this week but this weekend comes too soon for him.

Not much new positive news from the United camp as LVG reports that Phil Jones, Adnan Januzaj and Guillermo Varela were all injured playing for the U21s in the week – none of the injuries are serious but will keep the players out for a short time. Regarding Bastian Schweinsteiger, well it’s quite strange really so I’ll give you LVG’s quote: “I cannot say Schweinsteiger is returning in two weeks. I have given him a holiday”. Strange. Marcos Rojo and Antonio Valencia are “coming back and I hope to have them back as soon as possible.” Basically, meaningless quotes all round as LVG continues his fight with the press.

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Bournemouth vs Stoke (Sat 13 Feb 15.00)
Home defeats for both teams last week were not really the biggest of surprises given Bourenmouth were hosting the Gooners while Stoke’s 3-0 reverse to Everton was the third successive loss to that scoreline proving how valuable Ryan Shawcross is to the Potters. A win for the Cherries would take them to within two points of their opponents and would be a huge step to securing safety while Mark Hughes will be desperate for his team to regain the form that was so evident just a few weeks ago. Stoke won a tight game 2-1 between the two at the Britannia in September, though Bournemouth are unbeaten in the last five meetings at home, winning the last two.

Eddie Howe reports no new injuries but is expecting a tough encounter from Stoke and their “dangerous individuals”. Tommy Elphcik is making great progress but the manager needs to make sure he is 100% before a return, while Max Gradel has resumed light training but still “has a long way to go”. Tyrone Mings and Callum Wilson remain out.

Captain and key defender Ryan Shawcross has been ruled out of the trip to the seaside. The Stoke defender has been missing since 30mins into the game at Leicester which the Potter’s went on to lose 3-0 having been tied goalless at the time of his departure. Two 3-0 defeats have followed so it is a big blow for Mark Hughes and his team. Geoff Cameron is also ruled out but both are expected to return for Villa’s visit in GW27. Jon Walters has returned to training but is still not 100% though Hughes is hoping he will be closer to full health by the weekend, but Marc Wilson and Charlie Adam remain out.

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Crystal Palace vs Watford (Sat 13 Feb 15.00)
Never has a point been celebrated so much as when Scott Dann scored the equaliser at Swansea last week to stop the run of five successive losses for Palace. Poor old Watford are going through a similar slump having won just one game of their last eight and failing to score in four of their last five matches, including last week’s 1-0 defeat at Spurs. The Hornets have at least retained their defensive prowess and have only conceded three goals in their last four matches and with Palace struggling up front, QSF will be hopeful that Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney can rediscover their touch in front of goal to put more pressure on the Lord.

The Lord is a tad chirpier this week as he has Connor Wickham available again after suspension and Dwight Gayle has trained this week and should be ok for the weekend. Bakary Sako and Yannick Bolasie have both started running but are not yet training with the first team – both however could return for next weekend’s FA Cup tie. Jason Puncheon and James McArthur remain out, but Joe Ledley has returned to training.

QSF says that he will probably not start Nordin Amrabat this weekend as he would rather “conserve him” for next week’s FA Cup tie vs Leeds. The manager did hint that rotation may come into play by declaring that Troy Deeney, Odion Ighalo and Valon Behrami had not trained before last week’s loss at Spurs because they were not 100% and he is wary that the matches are now coming thick and fast, especially with the club’s continued participation in the cup. Miguel Britos will be assessed after suffering a dead leg vs Spurs.

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Everton vs West Brom (Sat 13 Feb 15.00)
Booed off after their home loss to Swansea, things looked bleak for Everton and Roberto Martinez but the Toffees have bounced back with 3-0 victories over Newcastle and Stoke and will be confident of a similar result against struggling West Brom. The Baggies are winless in five matches and Tony Pulis described their loss at Newcastle as their worst performance under him – undoubtedly he was annoyed and will have had harsh words with his players during the week. Whether this is enough to turn the tide remains to be seen but with Everton back to their free scoring best and amazingly keeping two clean sheets in a row it would be a surprise if the Baggies and Pulis were left looking over their shoulders come Saturday evening. There is hope for Pulis as the last two times the teams have met at Goodison neither side has scored, while a Romlelu Lukaku brace inspired the Toffees to win at the Hawthorns earlier in the season.

Roberto Martinez says John Stones and Tim Howard have begun light training but may not feature vs the Baggies, but new signing, striker Ouma Niasse trained on Thursday and could feature from the bench at the weekend. Mo Besic is again ruled out, while the manager explained Leighton Baines recent absence by saying that the defender picked up a knock and missed the Cup game vs Carlisle and Bryan Oviedo came in and “did really, really well and kept his place. Competition for places is very strong.”

Pulis says that Jonny Evans, Liam Dawson and Chris Brunt will all need to be assessed, but not good news of Gareth McAuley who is likely to be missing for a couple of weeks. The ongoing saga of Saido Berahino’s fitness continues with Pulis saying, “Saido is nowhere near as fit or sharp as we want him, it’s going to take a bit of time”. Lay off those pies Saido and you’ll get your dream move in the summer pal. To Doncaster. James Morrison and Callum McManaman are still sidelined.

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Norwich vs West Ham (Sat 13 Feb 15.00)
Five defeats on the bounce has seen the Canaries drop into the drop zone and fearing for their top flight future. It’s ok to feel some romantic sympathy to a team that loses a 4-5 thriller to Liverpool, but when the same team then gets done by Aston Villa then questions have to be asked. Those five defeats has seen Norwich concede sixteen goals and these sort of shambolic performances is a clear indicator of a team in crisis and heading for relegation. Just as well then that it’s the Happy Hammers in town this week as West Ham have failed to win any of their last 17 league matches at Carrow Road. Having said that, it’s a different West Ham this season, generally solid, creative and full of passion and belief installed into them by Big Slav. The meeting at Upton Park ended in an attractive 2-2 draw and it seems pretty nailed on that there will be goals again.

There were frank exchanges in the Canary camp this week as the squad and staff sat down and agreed on a way forward. Presumably that way is down by the looks of things. Andre Wisdom is still struggling with a knee injury and Alex Tettey is suspended but Graham Dorrans is ok after recovering from illness. That’ll be ok then. Manager Alex Neil says his team “needs to get back to basics and back to what we do well” – which translated means “we’ll be playing Ipswich again soon.”

The midweek Cup win over Liverpool has left the Hammers camp in good heart, and confident, but it also came at a cost with injuries to defenders Winston Reid, Joey O’Brien and James Tomkins. Reid and O’Brien both have hamstring injuries while Tomkins has been ruled out for five weeks, leaving Sam Byram as the only fit right back. Bear in mind however that Byram is one yellow card away from a 2-match suspension. Cheiikhou Kouyate suffered concussion vs Liverpool and won’t feature this weekend, but Alex Song is back. Bilic says there are other knocks (one is Enner Valencia) but they should all be fine. Andy Carroll featured in the Cup which is good news for the Hammers, while Manuel Lanzini will resume training on Sunday and Diafra Sakho should do likewise next week.

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Swansea vs Southampton (Sat 13 Feb 15.00)
The Saints go marching on, another clean sheet and Ronald Koeman’s men are looking stronger and stronger, just a shame for them they look pretty toothless up front. Then again one goal is always enough if you don’t let any in so maybe I’m being a tad harsh. One would envisage that this weekend may end up as a similar outcome and goals may be at a premium as the Swans tend to not excite much either. The Welshies have never beaten the Saints at home in the Premier League and have scored just twice in six meetings – I think we can all see where this one is going.

The Swans have no fresh injuries, in fact they have no injuries at all. Must be the air. Ki-Sung Yueng is available after missing last weekend’s draw with Crystal Palace with concussion.

Koeman is pleased to be able to report that defender Matt Targett and midfielder Steven Davis have both recovered from injury and are available for the trip to Wales. The manager is disappointed however to lose Victor Wanyama for five matches through suspension following the enforcer’s third red card of the season last weekend. Jay Rodriguez could be back in full training in a fortnight, while Koeman has been talking up Maya Yoshida by saying his “versatility and professionalism make him an important part of the squad”. For those trying to gain some understanding into Koeman’s thinking re tactics and selection, the Dutchie offered some insight by saying, “I prefer to play three at the back when facing a team with two strikers.”

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Chelsea vs Newcastle (Sat 13 Feb 17.30)
The Toon have a pretty good record at Chelsea. At home. Sadly for them, they’re away this time as they visit the Bridge, where they have lost the last three matches to an aggregate of 8-0. Then again, Steve McClaren’s men hauled themselves out of the releagtion zone last week as they beat West Brom by a single goal in a game that left the manager gleaming with delight. It’s all relative I suppose. The Blues meanwhile were massively lucky to nick a draw at home to United and joking aside they are still struggling in front of goal even if they have tightened up somewhat at the back. They are, however, still unbeaten under Guus Hiddink and they are showing the fight and desire that was so lacking under Jose. Despite having little to play for now, the Chelsea boys will be aware that they may be playing for their futures with a new manager due in the summer. Therefore expect a routine if unspectacular win for Hiddink’s adopted crew.

The Blues have been rocked with the news that Diego Costa broke his nose in training yesterday. Guus Hiddink says, “I think he will be available. I hope. I’m not sure, but I think he might be available”. Haha it’s like having Jose back!! Hiddink says the striker will have a mask fitted today and then he hopes he can do some light training this afternoon and join the team at the hotel this evening. With Loic Remy facing a late check and with having played so little, Radamel Falcao on the AWOL list and Pato still unavailable it’s likely that Costa will play, but bear in mind Chelsea play PSG on Tuesday evening. Kurt Zouma has been ruled out for six months.

Macca says Jack Colback and Emmanuel Riviere have trained all week so should be available, while Daryl Janmaat has recovered from a dead leg and is ok to play. The manager is hopeful that with an 18-day break between GW26 and 27 that three or four others could return for the trip to Stoke. That 18 day break will involve a training camp at La Manga… oh dear… cue the headlines. Macca says his team must go to Chelsea with “no fear and have a go. We need to start picking up points away from home.”

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Arsenal vs Leicester (Sun 14 Feb 12.00)
Ah the one we’ve all been looking forward to. How we laughed and rejoiced and celebrated last week when the Foxes went to the Etihad and embarrassed City. And how we hope for a similar performance this weekend as they travel to the Emirates. I have a fear that those Goonies are going to piss on Leicester’s march to glory, but we can only hope that Mahrez and Vardy turn in another heroic away day performance. The Goonies are one of the few to get the better of the Foxes this season when they went to Leicester in September and won 5-2 with Alexis Sanchez bagging a hatty. Arsenal have also won the last eight league meetings between the two at home, but Claudio Ranieri will try and inspire a huge effort from his lads as this is the last fixture the Foxes face this season vs any of the current top four and therefore offers them a huge chance to take points off what could be their nearest challenger come May.

Arsenal expect to have a similar squad available as per the one that won at Bournemouth last weekend. Danny Welbeck has played for the U21s and came through ok, but is not likely to be risked this weekend and could feature in the Cup next week. Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere are both running, which means they are weeks rather than months away, according to Arsene Wenger. Tomas Rosicky remains a long term absentee. Wenger ends by saying, “We have to nullify their pace and counter-attacking potential.”

Ranieri entered the presser and shook everyone’s hand. Dear God, how I want this man to win the league. I met him once, down here when he was manager of Monaco – he was all by himself, just gazing out to sea, looking a bit sad, a bit lost. We nodded an exchange and I felt a bit sad for him. I wonder if he remembers. My mate Claudio is of course on the verge of leading the most un-fancied team ever to the top prize in English football and I think it’s fair to see that Gooner, Spurs and City fans aside, “we’re all willing you on mate.” Ranieri maintains there is no pressure on his players and that Sunday’s game is not decisive in the title race – he does expect an action-packed game at the Emirates as he recalled the meeting in Spetember, “they scored five, we scored two and hit the post twice. It will be open on Sunday”. There is little team news – Jeffrey Schlupp should return in GW28, Matty James is in light training and Daniel Amartey is unlikely to be involved.

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Aston Villa vs Liverpool (Sun 14 Feb 14.05)
Despite their win over Norwich last weekend, things continue to look gloomy for bottom-club Villa who are eight points off safety with just thirteen matches left to play. They do however get to play Liverpool this week, so anything is possible. This is a Liverpool who have thrashed Chelsea and City on the road, thrown away a two goal lead at home to Sunderland and celebrated a home draw with West Brom. So expect the unexpected, basically. A Champions League spot is now pretty much gone for the scousers but Jurgen Klopp will not allow them to sit back and see the season out – he’ll want them to battle for a Europa place. For Villa, what can we say? Too little too late means relegation is odds on but with Remi Garde promising that they won’t give up, they’ll battle and fight and we’ll see how that goes for them.

Villa will again be without the injured Jordan Amavi, Adama Traore and Libor Kozak in addition to the suspended Jordan Ayew. Rudy Gestede has a slight chance of making the squad, but will have to pass a late fitness test and it is thought unlikely he’ll be risked. Carlos Sanchez will also be assessed, but Jack Grealish is ruled out after injuring his ankle in training. Defender Alan Hutton has returned to training and is in contention for Sunday.

Klopp was delighted to see Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho and Divock Origi all feature at West Ham, though he says that Coutinho is still not 100% while Sturridge’s minutes will continue to be managed. Joe Allen has been ruled out for “a while” with a hamstring injury and though Dejan Lovren is not quite back he may be ready for GW27. Steven Caulker has returned to training as has Martin Skrtel but the latter will need time to build up his sharpness.

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Man City vs Spurs (Sun 14 Feb 16.15)
And so our gameweek grand finale and it’s 2nd vs 4th up at the Etihad. After last week’s horror show at home to Leicester, Manuel Pellegrini knows that City cannot afford to drop more points to a rival again and indeed a win may well be necessary if they are to make a challenge for the title. Spurs have gone from strength to strength and have now won four matches in a row but have lost their last five matches up at City. They do however have fond memories of winning 4-1 at the Lane in September with, yep you’ve guessed it, Harry Kane amongst the scorers. Talking of fond memories, this is a fixture that Kun loves as he has scored seven goals in the last three meetings between the two at the Etihad and with six goals in his last four matches this season who would bet against the Argentinian extending that run?

At last there is some good news for City as David Silva and Vincent Kompany have been passed fit to play. Regarding Kompany, Pellegrini said his captain has trained for three weeks with no problems, played 45mins in a friendly vs the U21s and “I think he is ready to play”. That’s big news for City just as everyone was writing them off without him. There is some bad news however as Bacary Sagna and Fabian Delph have picked up injuries – Sagna will be out for at least a week, while Delph will likely miss 6-7 weeks with an achilles injury. Kevin De Bruyne, Wilfried Bony, Eliaquim Mangala, Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas all remain missing.

No new injuries for Spurs as they travel up to the Etihad. Just Jan Vertonghen and Clinton N’Jie are missing. Dele Alli will regain a starting spot as Spurs look to put more distance between themselves and City. Kevin Wimmer will again deputise for Vertonghen.

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Suspension Report for Game-week 26

Those players suspended this week are:

Jordan Ayew (Aston Villa)
Alex Tettey (Norwich)
Victor Wanyama (Southampton)

Players who earn 10 yellow cards by the second Sunday in April will receive a 2-match ban.

Those players one booking away:

Jack Colback (Newcastle)
Claudio Yacob (West Brom)
Sam Byram (West Ham)

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Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 26. This article was written by Cookie

Follow @SteveCook9

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