Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 3

Team Talk Fantasy Football GW3

Some are flying high, some are struggling to find the meaning of life after two strange gameweeks – however with 36 weeks left in the season, it’s not time to panic – it’s those with a clear head, strong plans and just a touch of luck that will escape from the abyss unscathed! One good gameweek gets you right back up the rankings. Many have wildcarded, others have attempted to hit their way out of trouble, the lucky ones are well set and selected Kompany, Mahrez, Yaya and errrr Kone from the off. Gamweweek 3 starts Saturday lunchtime, no Friday evening fun this week, though it is United that kick us off again as they welcome the Toon to Old Trafford. We then enjoy five 3pm matches as Lord Pardew hosts the Gilet Genius, the Foxes chase the Cockerels around Leicester, Stoke go to carrot-crunching Norwich, the Swans are set to swoop on the unsuspecting Black Cats and it’s ex-‘Arry reunited as Bournemouth go to West Ham. Saturday night is party night as there are no matches and then onto the Sabbath as Pulis’ Baggies attempt to further destabilise Chelsea, Kun will feel like a kid in a sweet shop as he terrorises the Toffees and the Saints and Watford do battle. Our gameweek ends on Monday night and we have the pleasure again of watching Liverpool as they travel to Arsenal.
The managers have spoken, let’s go Around the Grounds to see the latest team news to help you climb those rankings.

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Man Utd vs Newcastle (Sat 22 August 12.45)

Manchester United come into this game top of the table courtesy of consecutive 1-0 victories over Spurs and Aston Villa. While neither win has been convincing, it does seem as if United has finally cured its defensive woes. Newcastle has managed to beat United just twice in the last 13 years, but both victories have occurred in the last three seasons. Clean sheets are popular in this fixture: seven of the last 11 between these teams has resulted in a clean sheet for one or both teams. Thinking of ditching Roo? Think again: he’s scored 11 career goals against Newcastle.

United will attempt to make it three wins out of three with the same squad as per last week – Phil Jones remains unavailable, Marcos Rojo is still lacking match fitness and Marouane Fellaini serves the final game of his suspension. LVG said that Bastian Schweinsteiger is close to a first start and could indeed be in the first XI vs the Toon, while Sergio Romero will continue in goal with the manager maintaining his stance of assessing David de Gea after the transfer window had closed – if he is still at the club.

Shades of last season as injury and suspension threatens to derail the Toon march to, errrrm, relegation avoidance. Midfielder Moussa Sissoko is a big doubt for the lunchtime jaunt to Old Trafford after he came off at half time in the loss at Swansea last weekend – however, the injury is not as bad as first feared and Sissoko has done a bit of running this week and wants to be involved on Saturday, if at all possible. Remy Cabella has sailed off to Marseille, Daryl Janmaat is suspended, Siem de Jong has rejoined training but is struggling for match fitness and Paul Dummett has only just returned to light training. There is some good news as new signing Florian Thauvin is eager to make his debut at Old Trafford – boss Steve McClaren is full of high praise for the creative midfielder but warns fans not to expect too much too soon.

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Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa (Sat 22 August 15.00)

*Clean Sheet Klaxon* The last five league meetings between these two have produced a clean sheet: three Palace clean sheets, one for Villa and a 0-0 draw. Palace will certainly fancy their chance to continue this trend against a Villa team still trying to adjust to an influx of new players. There’s no doubting this team is different since Alan Pardew took control, and the arrival of Yohan Cabaye has proved to be the spark this team needed. No reason to expect anything but a Palace victory in this one. Or is there? No, there isn’t. But maybe… Nope. But what about… No, stop it. OK, sorry. That’s more like it. Cheers.

Lord Pardew says that keeper Julian Speroni is making progress and “isn’t too far away” – Alex McCarthy will continue between the sticks. Marouane Chamakh came through a reserve game unscathed on Monday and will play another this Monday coming – he is expected to be available for first team action after the international break. The manager also revealed that new signing Bakary Sako is ready for action this weekend.

Tim Sherwood says that Carles Gil and Jack Grealish both came through an U21 match on Monday and may come into contention as he looks for a more attacking performance after admitting his side lacked much threat in the loss to United last week. Defenders Jores Okore and Jose Angel Crespo both remain sidelined, while new signing Adama Traore isn’t yet ready for Premier League action, though the manager is confident the youngster will be a great player for the Villans in the future.

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Leicester vs Spurs (Sat 22 August 15.00)

Going back to last season Leicester have won nine of their last 11 league games, scoring at least two goals eight of those games and outscoring the opposition 25-10. Not to be labeled a one-trick pony, the Leicester defense has collected five clean sheets during that period. The high-flying Foxes welcome a struggling Spurs team to King Power Stadium. A loss to United and a 2-2 draw to the Orc Army will have Mauricio Pochewotsit under pressure to collect his first win of the season. Harry Kane has scored just once in the last 630 minutes that Spurs have played.

The sly but cunning Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri reports no new injuries with just midfielder Matty James unavailable for selection. Defender Christian Fuchs picked up a small knock in training on Thursday but the boss said he’d be fine for the weekend, while reserve keeper Mark Schwarzer has recovered from splinters to return to his spot on the bench.

Spurs have no new injured players but Andros Townsend, who has been plagued with injuries has now picked up a small ankle injury and is ruled out of the trip to Leicester. Sadly, Roberto Soldado has left Spurs to return to Spain, but his contribution to the Premier League and this article will live long in the memory.

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Norwich vs Stoke (Sat 22 August 15.00)

If Stoke fans were capable of human emotion they would be feeling good after starting the season with a narrow defeat to Liverpool and a 2-2 draw against Spurs. The mouth-breathers travel to Carrow Road with their normal goals in mind: stomp, elbow, maim and (maybe) score. If you are looking for goals, look somewhere else: the last six fixtures have produced just eight goals. If you’re inclined to make the occasional wager, consider this: the home team has produced a 1-0 victory in four of the last six meetings between the clubs.

Alex Neil reports no new injuries but says that the Canaries will continue to be without defender Martin Olsson, who is making good progress with his shoulder injury, but this weekend comes too soon for him. Midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu is expected to be missing for around 4-5 weeks with a broken metatarsal, while striker Kyle Lafferty should return to training next week.

Stoke boss Mark Hughes has some selection headaches ahead of the weekend – both Stephen Ireland and Joselu impressed after coming off the bench in the comeback at Spurs, while Bojan Krkic also comes into contention. And then, of course, there is record signing Xherdan Shaqiri, who has served his ban and benefited from an extra week’s training. Jon Walters has suffered with illness this week and missed training early in the week. The only definite absentees are Ryan Shawcross and Peter Odemwingie.

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Sunderland vs Swansea (Sat 22 August 15.00)

Dick Advocaat. Is he a legal advocate for the adult entertainment business? Perhaps he’s a disagreeable member of the Thundercats? A Premier League manager he is not. The man heralded for saving Sunderland from relegation last season has only delayed the inevitable. Sunderland are so bad right now we aren’t going to bother with the history between these two clubs. Bafetimbi Gomis is proving himself a more than capable replacement for Chickenfried Bony, Siggy continues to be Siggy and Andre Ayew has breathed new life into the Swans’ attack. Swansea are playing great; Sunderland are not. End of story.

Advocaat held a crisis meeting with his team last Sunday following their horror show at home to Norwich. Defensive changes were expected and sure enough Younes Kaboul has been ruled out through “injury” – how convenient. John O’Shea will replace Kaboul. On a lighter note, Jordi Gomez is nearing a return to action and will play for the U21s this weekend and on Wednesday to step up his recovery.

Swans midfielder Ki Sung-yeung has returned to training this week, although manager Gary Monk will leave it until Friday evening to make a decision on whether he will feature at the weekend. The Welshies have no new injuries as they attempt to heap more misery upon the Black Cats.

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West Ham vs Bournemouth (Sat 22 August 15.00)

West Ham have NEVER lost to Bournemouth. OK, so they’ve only played five times and those were all before y2k. The clubs last met on 13 October 1999 in Round 3 of the Worthington Cup. On that day Harry Twitchknapp led the Hammers to a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Marc Keller and a certain New York City FC midfielder known for his pie-eating prowess. Other notables on that Hammers squad were Shaka Hislop, Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole. Faroe Islands legend Claus Jorgensen featured for Bournemouth.

Slaven Bilic has confirmed that Darren Randolph will deputise in goal in the absence of the suspended Adrian, who lost his appeal to last weekend’s red card vs Leicester. Adrian will be missing for three matches. Striker Mauro Zarate has suffered a hamstring injury and will miss out, joining fellow frontmen Andy Carroll and Ener Valencia on the missing list, while young Reece Oxford is a doubt after picking up an injury in training.

Bournemouth travel to east London looking for their first win in the top flight and will do so with the same squad that travelled to Liverpool, meaning Harry Arter is the only player unavailable.

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West Brom vs Chelsea (Sun 23 August 13.30)

From 1984 to 2011 West Brom were winless in 21 matches against Chelsea, losing 19 times while managing just two draws. That was then, this is now: across the last eight matches there is no distinguishing these teams. Each has won three times and there have been two draws. West Brom have scored 10 goals to Chelsea’s nine. Each team has kept two clean sheets. Every victory during this period has gone to the home team. Fun fact: Eden Hazard will be the only person on the pitch on Sunday that has scored more than one goal in this fixture. Will Chelsea win or will we have another “fake result”?

A flu bug has disrupted training at West Brom this week, but Tony Pulis is hopeful it won’t cause too many selection issues for Sunday. He also said that Saido Berahino is in the right frame of mind to play vs Chelsea, despite huge speculation linking him to a move to Spurs. Fellow striker Salomon Rondon is almost ready for a start, while Serge Gnabry is now match fit. The Baggies are close to signing Spurs defender Federico Fazio, who Pulis describes as a very good defender. Ok Tone.

Mourinho says his players are hurt, but calm and determined and have trained better than ever this week as they seek to jump start their season at the Hawthorns on Sunday. The Special One confirmed that the returning Thibaut Courtois will return to the starting XI following his suspension last week. Oscar and Victor Moses are injured and will miss out, although Jose said he wasn’t yet sure if new signings Pedro and Abdul Rhaman are ready for action. Expect Pedro to at least be involved at some stage.

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Everton vs Man City (Sun 23 August 16.00)

Manchester City have won their last eight league matches, outscoring the opposition 24-4 during that streak. Sergio Aguero has contributed eight of those goals despite playing in just six of the eight matches. City are undefeated in their last four against Everton, taking maximum points three times. Everton will be looking to carry forward momentum from their convincing 3-0 win over Southampton but they face a daunting task: City haven’t surrendered a goal in 296 minutes. Tim Howard may be back for Everton but all signs here point to a City victory.

The Toffees have no new injury problems and welcome back a 100% fit Kevin Mirallas, while Gerard Deulofeu is available for selection. Longer term absentees Darron Gibson, Tony Hibbert, Aiden McGeady and Steven Pienaar are all making good progress, while Leighton Baines has “entered the rehab programme”.

City will likely name an unchanged team to the one that destroyed Chelsea last weekend.Manuel Pellegrini reports no new injuries – new signing Nicolas Otamendi won’t start at Goodison though the manager saying it’s impossible to dislodge Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala at the moment, while Bacary Sagna will continue at right back as Pablo Zabaleta faces a month out with a ligament problem. Of course, many fantasy eyes will be on whether Gael Clichy can grab a start ahead of Alexsandar Kolarov, but with the manager seemingly happy with the way things have started, it would be a surprise if Clichy starts. Fabian Delph has returned to training.

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Watford vs Southampton (Sun 23 August 16.00)

It has been 15 years since these two last faced off in the Premier League and more than three years since they played one another in any competition. Watford has taken a point from each of its first two matches this year and will be looking to add to that tally. Sadly, it looks like perpetually selling its best players may finally have caught up to the Saints. A disappointing opening day draw to Newcastle, followed by a 3-0 loss to Everton, suggests there may not be enough talent left at this club to compete for a top-6 position in the league.

New signing Alessandro Diamanti could make his Watford debut if he receives international clearance in time. Defender Miguel Britos and keeper Giedrius Arlauskis are both available after serving bans, while Nathan Ake is expected to make the bench after arriving on loan from Chelsea in the week. All this means manager Quique Flores will have an almost fully fit squad from which to choose, apart from long term absentee Joel Ekstrand.

Ronald Koeman may look to ring the changes after their disappointing start. Steven Caulker recovered from a sinus infection to play in the Saints’ Europa match on Thursday and could partner Jose Fonte at the expense of Maya Yoshida. Dusan Tadic and Cedric Soares were both given the night off on Thursday and should return at Watford, while Fraser Forster, Ryan Bertrand, Florin Gardos and Jordy Clasie all remain out. Koeman has laughed off speculation linking Sadio Mane and Victor Wanyama with moves to United and Spurs, respectively.

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Arsenal vs Liverpool (Mon 24 August 20.00)

Last week featured an early-season test between title contenders Manchester City and Chelsea. This week we get to see Arsenal and Liverpool face off. For Arsenal it has been a disappointing start to the season: a loss to West Ham and an unconvincing victory over Palace courtesy of an own goal. The good news is that Mesut Ozil is playing his best football since joining the Gunners and Alexis Sanchez should be returning to the team. The possibility of finally seeing an Arsenal midfield of Sanchez – Ozil – Walcott will have Gooners salivating. Liverpool have cast aside the demons from their loss to Stoke last season and have started the season strong. A pair of 1-0 victories will see their back line brimming with confidence coming into this one, as will Christian Benteke too after scoring his first for the Reds last week. History favours the Arsenal: Liverpool have beaten Arsenal just twice in league play since the 2007/2008 season kicked off.

The Gooners will likely have an unchanged squad as per last week’s win at Palace – Jack Wilshire, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky all remain unavailable. Alexis Sanchez will have benefitted from another week’s training and Wenger is targeting another convincing display against a Liverpool side which has taken maximum points so far.

Liverpool travel down to Arsenal with captain Jordan Henderson a major doubt after limping out of Monday evening’s win over Bournemouth. Scans have shown no lasting damage on his foot injury, but Henderson has missed training all week and will likely by replaced in midfield by Emre Can if he doesn’t make the game. Brendan Rodgers is likely to name an unchanged defence which has yet to concede this season. Daniel Sturridge is due to return to training next week and has targeted a return to playing action when Liverpool travel to Old Trafford in GW5, while Joe Allen and Jon Flanagan remain longer term absentees.

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Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 3. This article was written by LawDogg and Cookie

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