Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 31

Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 31

Welcome to GW31 and if you’ve been hiding in a cave all week then you should be informed that we return to a full set of fixtures this weekend. First up we go to Goodison Saturday lunchtime as Everton host Arsenal. Four 3pm kick offs follow as Chelsea and West Ham do battle at the Bridge, top of the table Leicester visit Palace, Watford entertain Stoke and Norwich travel to West Brom. The evening match sees Swansea demolish Villa. Sunday sees our four remaining fixtures and it’s a big derby day – Newcastle and Sunderland meet at St James’ Park while at the same time Liverpool go to Southampton. Late on and to finish our gameweek we have the Manc derby at the Etihad and Spurs look to keep up with Leicester as they host Bournemouth.
So we’re back to ten pressers. Grrrrr! Let’s go Around the Grounds to see what the bosses have had to say.

Everton vs Arsenal (Sat 19 Mar 12.45)
Our early taster at Goodison sees Everton and Arsenal come into the game in contrasting mindsets. The Toffees are high as a kite after beating Chelsea to reach the semis of the FA Cup, while the Goonies are doing their usual late winter/early spring ritual of throwing everything away after being dumped out of the FA Cup at home by Watford, the Champions League by Barca and they now sit eleven points behind Leicester in the league. None of this is a surprise to most of us bar the Gooner fans of course. With nothing to play for bar the league, or should I say 4th place, Arsenal really need to find some form, but they’re going to a ground where they have failed to win in three visits, although the Toffees have lost their last two home league matches.

Roberto Martinez says that Bryan Oviedo remains a doubt for the Toffees but will re-join training today and is not far away. However Mo Besic and Leighton Baines are both fine and have suffered no reaction following their returns to the first team. Everton will be without suspended pair Gareth Barry and Kevin Mirallas.

Despite the score, Arsene Wenger was pleased with his side’s display at Barca and is looking for his team to play out the domestic campaign with the same passion and desire. They go to Goodison without Mathieu Flamini who picked up a knock in Spain – the yellow card magnet is the only fresh injury for the Gooners. Aaron Ramsey should return after the international break, Jack Wilshere won’t be back after the international break surprise surprise, while Santi Cazorla is “making slow progress” and has suffered a setback.

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Chelsea vs West Ham (Sat 19 Mar 15.00)
The Chelsea run, masterminded by Guus Hiddink has like Arsenal, been stopped, firstly by PSG and then Everton in the FA Cup as Diego Costa finally saw red as a blue in a white shirt. If that makes sense. They entertain Big Slav’s Happy Hammers this weekend who will not be short of confidence this week after last week’s showing at Old Trafford – and let’s be honest, one look at the league suggests it’s better to be a Hammer than a Blue right now. With little to play for now, one does wonder how much motivation some of the Blues will have and if the first half of the season is a good example then maybe the Hammers can record their first victory at the Bridge since 2002.

Hiddink reports that Eden Hazard will be out for between 3-4 weeks with his ongoing hip injury, while Costa is of course suspended. There is good news, sort of, in that Radamel Falcao has trained for the last ten days and should be available after the international break. Believe that when I see it. Hiddink said that some of the younger players will get more chances before the end of the season. Time to invest in Bertrand Traore I wonder? Plays up front, listed as a midfielder in FPL, 5.4mln, two goals in his last three appearances – thank me later.

The Hammers have a largely fit squad for the short trip to the west end – Winston Reid has been given the all clear after coming off at Old Trafford and only James Collins and James Tomkins have been ruled out through injury, though both should be available after this week. Victor Moses is ineligible to play vs his parent club.

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Crystal Palace vs Leicester (Sat 19 Mar 15.00)
Five points clear at the top with just eight matches to go – can they hold on? Will the run in be too much for their squeaky bums? They haven’t been here before, their fans certainly haven’t, the goals and expansive play appears to have dried up and they are relying on 1-0’s. Nervy nervy perhaps. In which case it’s lucky they go to Palace this week who have given up on the league and are concentrating on the FA Cup seemingly. Palace haven’t won in the league since 19th December, that’s three months. Good effort Lord. Now you may think I’m being slightly negative on the Foxes here but young Jamie Vardy hasn’t scored for four matches and maybe Claudio Ranieri is going all Italian on us for the run in – ie nick a goal and keep things tight at the back – three 1-0 victories in four matches suggests this. And if you still don’t believe me, then note that Leicester beat Palace 1-0 in October and last season they also beat Palace 1-0. Still not convinced? Fine, do it your way, but don’t come crying to me when your Vardy and Riyad Maarez points dry up!

The Lord suggests that Selhurst Park has been a banana skin for title chasing teams in the past and hopes that Leicester will experience similar problems this weekend. Pardew expects the same squad as per the FA Cup win at Reading although Mile Jedinak has a sore back and will need to be assessed. Connor Wickham could return in GW33, while James McArthur and Marouane Chamakh also continue to miss out.

Ranieri spent most of his presser saying how much he loves it at Leicester, then ruled himself out of the Italy job, then congratulated and praised the likes of Danny Drinkwater and N’Golo Kante for their international call ups. Andy King is the only doubt, he will be checked closer to kick off.

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Watford vs Stoke (Sat 19 Mar 15.00)
No sooner had Mark Hughes praised his attacking side and welcomed back Ryan Shawcross at the back, Stoke then succumbed to Graziano Pelle. Is this a Stoke side who has given up the season I wonder? Watford meanwhile stroll on, well in the Cup at least, as they went to the Emirates and broke more Gooner hearts. That’s my boys! Cup form vs league form is strange – we only have to look at Palace, Everton as well as Watford for that! The Hornets have won just one in six in the league and failed to score in five of those, so with inconsistency the order of the day, your guess is as good as mine as to what happens here.

Watford’s primary concern this week is Odion Ighalo – the striker suffered a slight muscle problem in the Cup win at Arsenal and although he has trained this week, manager QSF will wait unitl after training today to make a decision on his leading scorer who has played every league match so far this season. QSF also says there are “three or four players who are recovering” but won’t know more until after the final training session of the week.Miguel Britos is a doubt for the game with a calf injury, Tommie Hoban remains ruled out with a groin injury, Joel Ekstrand is unlikely to be fit, but Jurado is ok.

Poor old Ryan Shawcross – spends weeks on the sidelines, makes his comeback and does his back in again!! He’s been ruled out as has Xherdan Shaqiri who picked up a thigh injury early on last week. Defender Erik Pieters is also struggling with a knock and has missed training in the first half of the week, while Marc Wilson and Glen Johnson both continue to miss out. Phil Bardsley is available and Charlie Adam played for the U21s “but is sore at present” so unlikely to play this weekend.

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West Brom vs Norwich (Sat 19 Mar 15.00)
Definitely not one to stay in for, unless you have a Baggie defender of course, in which case good luck with that. Despite their plucky and hard-fought draw with City last week, the Canaries remain well in the drop zone and odds on favourites to join Villa in the Championship next season. Which is a shame as they have our mate Naismith and Init will be broken-hearted. West Brom, if you’re interested, are unbeaten in four and are pretty much safe on 39pts. Actually given the form of the bottom four, they would probably be safe on 30pts.

Tony Pulis was a tad short and grumpy in his presser – no doubt ‘cos he lost his case against Palace and owes them £3.5mln – in fairness I’d be fairly grumpy in that situation. The manager has said that “we have one or two knocks” ahead of the game – presumably he is referring to Jonny Evans, Craig Dawson and Callum McManaman – the club doctor was quoted earlier in the week as saying he expects all three to be fit for the weekend. James Morrison and Chris Brunt remain out. Much may depend on the in-form partnership of a fully fit Saido Berahino and Salomon Rondon which has seen the latter score four goals in the last six games.

Norwich have been hit with the blow that England U21 international Nathan Redmond has been ruled out for “a number of weeks” with ankle ligament damage, though manager Alex Neil says Redmond will play again this season. Ryan Bennett is a doubt for the game, while Alex Tettey remains missing. Everyone else is ok.

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Swansea vs Aston Villa (Sat 19 Mar 17.30)
Swansea are eight points clear of the drop zone and surely are only two wins away from guaranteed survival. The visit of Villa this week means that next week’s first line for the Swans intro has already been written and I’ll give you a sneak preview: “Last week’s win over Villa sees the Swans just one win away from likely survival.” Yep, Villa are that bad, though how they held Spurs down to just two goals last week is beyond me, maybe Spurs were just tired from their midweek jaunt to Dortmund. The Villans have just 16pts from 30 games – they ain’t escaping this one – not even Houdini could get out of this. So, it’s surely just a matter of “how many” it’ll be this week for the Welshies and many will be hoping that Gylfi Sigurdsson continues his great recent form of beating up the shit teams – 72 points for the Icelandic from the last 11 matches has seen him only fail to score or assist vs Watford, Spurs and Southampton.

Our favourite gigolo Francesco Guidolin has had enough “favours” from his Mrs and returns to the dug-out this weekend to see if his players can satisfy him with three points. They will have to do it without the injured Andre Ayew, but to be fair they could probably play the kids this week and get a result. Jefferson Montero has recovered from flu and is available for selection. For Guidolin it may be a case of getting jiggy with Siggy.

Poor old Remi Garde describes Villa’s relegation situation as “an impossible mission that we have to make possible.” This calls for Ethan Hunt, Remi mon ami, not Gaby Agbonlahor. There is some positive news, honest, as Carlos Sanchez is available again. Well, that’s ok then, all will be well. Jack Grealish and Adama Traore should be back after the international break. Garde is expecting a tight, tense battle at Swansea. Maybe for 10mins mate, best of luck.

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Newcastle vs Sunderland (Sun 20 Mar 13.30)
So Rafa’s first home game is the derby. This match is big enough by itself, but add in the relegation scrap that these two are involved in and this turns into a massive match. If either team can nick a win it will do their confidence the world of good, while also ensuring the loser is firmly entrenched in the drop zone. So while the home crowd will be buzzing at their Fat Spanish Waiter, they will also be nervy, worried and not confident for the Toon have lost the last six derbies with Sunderland. Yes, six. On the bounce. They only drew the two before that as well. So fixture form is with the Black Cats who have lost just one of their previous five matches. So it’s Fatty vs Big Sam, sit back and enjoy them kicking lumps out of each other for I’m assuming your fantasy interest in this game is pretty much zero unless you’re desperate/crazy enough to own Wijnaldum.

Benitez is pleased to report that Chancel Mbemba and Steven Taylor have both trained and will be ok for the derby, but Fabricio Coloccini has still not returned to training, though the Waiter will give the captain until tomorrow to see if he can make the game. Papiss Cisse is another who is now training but will need to prove his fitness. Maybe the key here is Andros Townsend. Don’t laugh! In five matches vs Sunderland, he has been on the winning side on each occasion.

Big Sam has virtually a fully fit squad available for the derby, with just Duncan Watmore and Emmanuel Eboue unavailable. Jermain Defoe returned to training today after recovering from a minor calf problem, while Jeremain Lens, Lee Cattermole and Wahbi Khazri are all available again. The manager is wary of Benitez’s influence at Newcastle but is also cheered by his own team’s better form of late but recognises that draws need to be converted into wins.

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Southampton vs Liverpool (Sun 20 Mar 13.30)
With a game in hand over those above them challenging for a top four spot, Liverpool could really do with a win on Sunday as they visit sunny Southampton and all the signs suggest that a victory is well within their grasp. Fresh in both club’s minds is the 6-1 hiding that the Scousers gave the Saints at St. Mary’s in December while Liverpool have also won the last two league meetings there. If this wasn’t bad enough then add to that, that life has been tough for Ronald Koeman’s men of late, though they did bounce back from three straight defeats by winning at Stoke last weekend.

Saints are boosted by the news that Sadio Mane is available after having the red card he picked up at Stoke rescinded while they will also welcome back Victor Wanyama who has missed the last five matches through suspension. In those matches, Southampton have only kept a clean sheet while in the four previous to Wanyama’s suspension they kept four clean sheets. Manager Ronald Koeman says he has no qualms in bringing Wanyama straight back into the squad describing his enforcer as “a key player for us”. Jose Fonte is also available again after suspension. Koeman says that Graziano Pelle has had his confidence restored following his brace at Stoke last weekend and there is good news for his strike partners Jay Rodriguez and Charlie Austin who should both be ready to return in GW32.

Liverpool will be buoyant after qualifying for the Europa Cup semis but will be without the suspended James Milner on Sunday. Jordan Henderson is struggling with all illness which forced his early departure at Old Trafford, while Alberto Moreno has picked up a hamstring injury and is awaiting the results of a scan – Klopp is hopeful that the defender will be ok but Jon Flanagan is available to step in if required. Martin Skrtel made a comeback for the U21s though is unlikely to be thrown in due to a lack of match sharpness, while Daniel Sturridge is continuing to pick up valuable game time.

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Man City vs Man Utd (Sun 20 Mar 16.00)
Ah the Manchester derby – it used to mean very little apart from local pride, then it turned into a Premier League decider and now it has become a 4th place play off match at best. It’s blue vs red, its Manuel Pellegrini vs the Dutch numpty, its Sergio Aguero vs Daly Blind….oh dear. Fixture form is pretty mixed as you would expect in a derby of two successful teams, but City have won the last two at the Etihad but their wheels appear to have fallen off in the league since Pep’s appointment was announced. Just one win in five (and that was vs Villa) means this is a must win game if they still harbour hopes of winning the league. Just a top four spot seems the best that either club can hope for and a loss for United would see even those hopes dramatically disappear.

City captain Vincent Kompany just can’t avoid a calf injury – vs Kyiv he lasted just 5mins before getting injured. Manager Manuel Pellegrini said of him in the presser, “maybe he will be out for one month and maybe he can play again this season.” Thanks, really helpful that. Maybe more helpful is the Belgium coach who expects the defender to miss “between 6-8 weeks.” Fellow centre back Nicolas Otamendi also got injured vs Kyiv and Pellegrini says of him, “we’ll see tomorrow, he is running but it is a risk if he takes another kick in the same leg.” Sounds like a job for Fellaini if Otamendi plays! If of course Otamendi doesn’t make it then its Demichelis and Mangala time, which should at least make a bit more of a game of it. There is some positive news from the City camp as Kevin de Bruyne, Samir Nasri and Fabian Delph will all feature in a behind-closed-doors match during the international break.

Being dumped out of Europe by your biggest rivals is bad enough – to then lose three days later to your nearest neighbours would cap a shocking week for United and LVG. Whether the Dutch genius has it in him to lift his players remains to be seen, though history suggests not. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best is probably the best advice for United fans. Either that or hire a hitman. Fantasy wise, what have we got? Well Antonio Valencia is back and competing with Matteo Darmian and Guillermo Varela for the right back slot. Ander Herrera has picked up a slight groin injury in training and wasn’t risked vs Liverpool, while Wayne Rooney, Luke Shaw, Phil Jones and Ashley Young all remain unavailable.

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Spurs vs Bournemouth (Sun 20 Mar 16.00)
Apparently the league is now a two-horse race between Leicester and Spurs, if you believe the football guru that is Jamie Carragher. Well by the time Spurs kick off on Sunday they could be eight points behind the Foxes and then the pressure will be on Mauricio Pochettino’s men for playing catch up is a tough thing to be doing in the run in – it turns matches into must-win games and just adds to the anxiety. Bournemouth are the visitors to the Lane this week and Eddie Howe’s men are in form – they’ve won their last three matches and are pretty much guaranteed another season in the top flight as they sit on 38pts and still have to play Villa. The reverse fixture down on the south coast saw Spurs triumph 5-1 and kick started Harry Kane’s season – his hat-trick that day may have been gifted by the home defence and keeper but the striker has not looked back since.

Another Thursday Europa defeat for Spurs sees them with just the league to play for, which is more than they usually have to compete for at this time of the year. Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Moussa Dembele and Christian Eriksen were all rested vs Dortmund and will all come back into the side for Sunday while Danny Rose replaced the injured Ben Davies after 13mins and will likely start also. Jan Vertonghen and Clinton N’Jie remain out but both players are hopeful of rejoining main training next week and should be available after the international break

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe says Spurs are the best side his team has faced this season and is looking forward to seeing how much his players have improved since the drubbing earlier in the season. The Cherries will again be without Junior Stanislas, while Harry Arter faces a late fitness test on his Achilles injury.

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Suspension Report for Game-week 31

Those players suspended this week are:

Diego Costa (Chelsea)
Gareth Barry (Everton)
Kevin Mirallas (Everton)
James Milner (Liverpool)

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)
Eric Dier (Spurs)
Erik Pieters (Stoke)
Claudio Yacob (West Brom)

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The DGW Fixture Tracker

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Additional article on DGW Planning!
Every now again we send our best writers off to see the world and for some work experience! This week we did NIN a packed lunch, put his rucksack on his back, pecked him on the cheek and sent him over to FFPundits! He’s back home safe and sound now but whilst he was there he produced a rather splendid Tips article which syncs nicely with our previous Planning one for the DGW’s. We explored the planning, NIN now explores the players themselves. Please take a minute to go and give it a read as it’s brilliant! NIN’s DGW Tips for Fantasy Football Pundits

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Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 31. This article was written by Cookie

Follow @SteveCook9

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