Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 32

Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 32

FPL is back!! The dreaded international break is over, it’s time to stop the planning, soul searching, screwing up drafts of potential wildcard team and get back to winning some points and climbing those rankings again! Our gameweek kicks off Saturday lunchtime as Chelsea visit the nearly relegated Villa for what many hope will be a profitable start to GW32. Six 3pm matches follow as title chasing Arsenal welcome Watford, Champions League chasing Man City go to Bournemouth, relegation fighting Norwich and Newcastle meet at Carrow Road, nothing chasing Stoke host nothing chasing Swansea, battle hardened Sunderland entertain West Brom and winless wonders Crystal Palace take the short trip to top four wannabe West Ham. The early evening match sees 2nd place Spurs go to mid-table Liverpool. Our gameweek is concluded on Sunday as top dogs Leicester host Southampton before the Kings of Manchester do battle with Cup chasing Everton.
Much to catch up with after the internationals, so let’s go Around the Grounds to see which players of ours are now crocked.

Aston Villa vs Chelsea (Sat 2 Apr 12.45)
If there’s one team that has made Chelsea look half decent this season, it’s Villa. Six defeats in a row has destroyed any hope that the clarets will survive the drop and it really is only a matter of time. Given the nature of how this season has gone, they’ll probably go and win this one now. The international break has seen a changing of the Garde at Villa with the French manager leaving the club (by “mutual consent” but only after his lawyers negotiated his leaving package) after just five dismal months in charge. Shame cos he seemed like a decent Monsieur but there you go, I’m sure he’ll be happier in the vineyards of Burgundy rather than struggling to motivate a useless set of impotent and Championship doomed losers. The Blues meanwhile are ambling towards their summer holidays and in some cases, their new club. Guus Hiddink has already stated that some of the promising youngsters will be given a chance to prove their ability between now and the end of the season, so team news could be interesting. Ok, not that interesting. The Blues have won seven of the last eight vs Villa and have won their last two matches on the road, although two draws at home to Stoke and West Ham have showed the Blues to be more than a little vulnerable.

Eric Black has some fun and games to deal with – Gaby Agbonlahor has been dropped from the squad pending an internal investigation after the striker hit the front pages this week, with pictures showing the “striker” allegedly smoking on shisha pipes in Dubai. Micah Richards will be in the squad, despite a similar trip to Dubai which resulted in the defender having a barney with a fan on social media. Villa’s caretaker manager has been handed an immediate boost with the news that Jack Grealish and Adama Traore have recovered from injury and have returned to training with Black saying he will need to make late checks on them to see if they are ready to feature vs Chelsea.

Hiddink continues to confuse and show little regard to FPL managers, by saying he will experiment with the Chelsea line up over the final eight matches of the season. Diego Costa is suspended, while Eden Hazard remains unavailable. Willian, Oscar and Bertrand Traore only arrived back into London Friday morning and will need to be assessed Saturday morning. Pato will be in the squad for the match. Costa has been handed an extra one-match ban for admitting a charge of misconduct in the Cup defeat at Everton and will also miss next week’s trip to Swansea.

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Arsenal vs Watford (Sat 2 Apr 15.00)
This fine Arsenal side plays host to Watford this week in a repeat of the Cup quarter final just a fortnight ago that saw the Hornets triumph and left the Gooners with just the league and respectability to play for. Ok, just the league. I jest of course, Arsenal are a wonderful football club with a lovely, if somewhat quiet stadium. You see, I have to be nice to them this week, because some of their fans fought back against me on social media last weekend. Poor loves. And very unstable they seemed also, which I guess is forgivable when their nearest rivals have now proved better than them and their own fourth-placed Cup is at risk. So be nice I will. Hmmm. Onto the team news…….

Many of you have been enquiring about Petr Cech, so here’s the latest from Arsene: “It is too early to say if he will be available. He might be a bit short to be competitive.” Cech rejoined the main group this morning (Friday) with Wenger saying he will decide after training if his keeper can play. There you go. Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini will both miss out this weekend but have every chance of playing in GW33, while Wenger has denied a report that England saviour Jack Wilshere could play for the U21’s next week. Santi Cazorla is 3-4 weeks away from a competitive return but is at least running outside.

QSF will analyse how his international returnees are before deciding on selection for the trip to the Emirates. Sebastian Prodl and Valon Behrami are both doubts due to illness, but Joel Ekstrand trained with the main group over the international break. Tommie Hoban remains out but Troy Deeney and Heurelho Gomes should both be refreshed – they both went to Dubai for a short holiday, lucky buggers. Unless of course they were partying with Agbonlahor. The manager said he and his coaching staff have spent the Premier League break analysing why his team have dipped below their first half of the season performance but believes his team is not far away from getting back on track.

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Bournemouth vs Man City (Sat 2 Apr 15.00)
City have somehow turned a battle for the league into a desperate fight for a Champions League place courtesy of just one win in their last six matches….and even that was against little ol’ Villa. With West Ham and neighbours United right on their heels, City need to start winning again soon, otherwise dear Old Pep best get used to Thursday night pleasures rather than the Tuesday and Wednesday road trips he’s accustomed to. Bournemouth are pretty much safe now as was highlighted in their “bucket and spade” display at Spurs last week, but manager Eddie Howe will want them to refocus and try to avenge the 5-1 loss at the Etihad earlier in the season. However those heady days of free scoring seem far away for City who have scored just six goals in their last ten away games in the league and have failed to score in three of their last four matches, home and away.

Howe was unusually coy when asked if his internationals had returned ok. “No comment” was his reply. Hmmm, he’s getting the hang of this game is young Eddie, but don’t make me dislike you my friend. Those who weren’t on international duty were taken to Dubai for a training camp – I think I’m in the wrong job. Seems like everyone was in Dubai and poor old Agbonlahor is taking the fall. Makes sense I spose, he contributes nothing. Anyway, back to Bournemouth and Howe said his players are still confident despite the drab display at Spurs and that they have learnt much from the defeat at the Etihad in October. Josh King is expected to shrug off a calf injury, but Harry Arter is a doubt due to his Achilles injury. Tyrone Mings, Callum Wilson and Junior Stanislas remain out.

Welcome news for City as Kevin de Bruyne and Samir Nasri are both available to start again and will be in the squad at Bournemouth. Just as well as Manuel Pellegrini says that Yaya Toure remains out with a heel injury, while Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph are also sidelined. Martin Demichelis will be part of the squad despite facing an FA charge of improper conduct. Capital One Cup hero Willy Caballero will play in goal.

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Norwich vs Newcastle (Sat 2 Apr 15.00)
A massive match at the bottom of the league which could go a long way to determining if either team will stay up. A Norwich win would see them go six points clear of the Toon and leave Rafa Benitez staring relegation in the face. An away win however could give the Waiter and his fellow kitchen staff a huge impetus going into the last seven weeks of the season and could be the first nail in the Canary coffin. Norwich will need no reminding that they were humbled 6-2 by the Toon in October and will clearly be intent on revenge, not that either side looks like scoring six goals again for the rest of the season – however a 1-0 win would be taken by either side. Talking about goals being at a premium – it’s worth noting that the last two matches between the two at Carrow Road have both finished 0-0. Snooze time me thinks.

Chief Canary Alex Neil reports no fresh injuries and all his internationals return unscathed. Nathan Redmond and Alex Tettey remain out. Neil is encouraged by the better form of late, especially at the back and describes the match vs Newcastle as a “must win”. Ryan Bennett and Steven Naismith are fit though so all is well.

With Rob Elliot joining Tim Krul in the treatment room, Benitez has confirmed that Karl Darlow will start vs Norwich, saying “he has a lot of confidence and has played a lot of games in the Championship.” The poor lad will be playing a few more if results don’t improve soon. Daryl Janmaat has been passed fit for Saturday and Chieck Tiote will be included in the squad, but Fabricio Coloccini has again been ruled out with Rafa saying he could return next week. The Toon have a problem at left back with Jack Colback suspended and Massadio Haidara injured, so someone will need to play out of position.

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Stoke vs Swansea (Sat 2 Apr 15.00)
36 points has been predicted to be enough points to escape relegation this season, which if true, means the Swans are safe for another season. They will however be keen to progress just a little bit further to guarantee no late last minute squeaky bum moments before they hit the beach. Which is where the Stoke crowd will be soon – watch out Tenerife! The good thing about the Stoke players hitting the sun will be the daily pictures of Abi Clancy (Crouch) in a skimpy bikini. Sadly, gone are the days of me being able to select the pictures for this article. Stoke are unbeaten in four Premier League games at home to Swansea, winning three of them, while they also came away from the Liberty with three points in October.

Stoke have defensive problems for the weekend, so Mark Hughes must be glad they’re only playing Swansea – though a fixture vs Villa or Man Utd may have been preferable. Jack Butland has been ruled out for the season, meaning Shay Given or Jakob Haugaard will deputise between the sticks. Hughes won’t reveal which one will play (jeez mate, no-one cares that much pal), but it’s worth noting (on the off chance you do care) that Haugaard has played the Cup games this season and Given has only just returned from a long term injury. Ryan Shawcross, Glen Johnson and Marc Wilson are already ruled out in defence, while Geoff Cameron is likely to join them after he picked up an injury while playing for the US. Erik Pieters is inline for a return after overcoming a calf injury, while Marc Muniesa and Phil Bardeley are also available. Further forward Jon Walters has undergone surgery on his knee and could miss the rest of the season, while Xherdan Shaqiri is a doubt, Glenn Whelan won’t be available and Mame Diouf only arrived back from international duty late on Thursday night.

Our favourite Premier League manager, Francesco Guidolin must love these international breaks – no players to care for, leaving him to take care of matters in the bedroom. Don Juan wants at least another 4 points from his team but knows they will need to continue their recent form if they are to win at Stoke. Andrew Ayew continues to miss out for the Swans but all the internationals have returned fine, with long-haul travellers Jefferson Montero and Modou Barrow returning to training on Friday.

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Sunderland vs West Brom (Sat 2 Apr 15.00)
Crunch time now for the Black Cats as they embark on their annual great escape. Their problem seems to be that they have turned into the draw kings having gained a point in each of their last three matches. This is fine of course as long as the odd win is thrown into the mix, but they have won just one of their last nine matches. The Baggies continue to mystify – three wins and a draw in four matches saw them reach 39 points, guaranteed safety if our predictor is to be believed before they lost at home to Norwich. To Norwich!! I wonder if the Baggies have any Clancy-esque type Wags cos it looks like we may be seeing them sooner rather than later. A match up between Big Sam and Tony the Tiger doesn’t provoke many feelings of excitement but may offer us a clue as to whether Jermain Defoe is a realistic option for some late season bargain bucket shopping – the little midget has scored two and assisted once in his last three matches.

Good news for the Black Cats as Lamine Kone and Wahbi Khazri have both been passed fit despite pulling out of the internationals, while Younes Kaboul has returned to full training. Billy Jones is a slight doubt to face his old club, though Big Sam is hopeful he can play. Duncan Watmore remains sidelined. Oh, one last thing. Don’t count on Emmanuel Eboue for your wildcard. Just two weeks after being given a contract by the club, he’s been sacked after being banned from football for a year by FIFA for not paying his agent. Word is he could be reinstated at the club if he pays up in the next two weeks. You couldn’t make this up. Well, on second thoughts, given the year Sunderland have had, you probably could.

Pulis has money on his mind: “Every place in the league is more money.” Seems like poor ol’ Tone is struggling to raise the cash to pay his £3.5mln back to Palace – silly boy probably went out and bought a new house and car and had a new kitchen and swimming pool put in for the mrs. Sorry, I digress. Pulis is wary about the weekend trip to Sunderland, I would be too pal, never been there and have no ambition to change that. On a footballing note, he knows the Black Cats will be fighting for their lives. The Baggies will be without Chris Brunt, Callum McManaman and James Morrison, while Stephane Sessegnon had not yet returned from international duty at the time of the presser, which was 9am Friday morning if you really care.

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West Ham vs Crystal Palace (Sat 2 Apr 15.00)
The Lord steps back into his old hunting ground with his team in a spot of bother. The GW31 loss at home to Leicester was their 13th league game on the bounce without a win and whilst they have 33 points on the board, their failure to garner a victory puts them in perilous danger of relegation for the Mighty One and his Eagles. They go to a West Ham who are very much in the hunt for a Champions League spot, are still the FA Cup and are unbeaten in their last five, winning three of those and were unlucky not to make that a fourth win at Chelsea last time out. They also have memories of Pardew in charge at the club – this is the Pardew that famously benched Javier Mascherano in favour of Hayden Mullins and led the Hammers to their worst run in 70 years, losing eight matches on the bounce. So a home win looks likely and would also be very popular, and if the teams below Palace start to pick up points we could be having a whole load of fun in this article from now until the end of the season. Interestingly, the last three league meetings between these two have all ended up as 3-1 victories for the away side, though that looks unlikely this weekend with Palace having won just one of their last six London derbies this season.

Slaven Bilic was in good heart as he previewed the visit of Palace and welcomes back James Tomkins who has missed the last five matches due to a calf injury. James Collins and Sam Byram both continue to miss out, while Victor Moses was a late arrival back from international duty. Bilic was delighted to see Dimitri Payet take his club form into the two internationals for France.

The Lord reckons that his side has tightened up defensively of late but will need to be at their best to frustrate Payet, who Pardew describes as the “best outfield player in the league this season, outside of the Leicester boys.” Emmanuel Adebayor has a knock and will be assessed late, though scans this morning resulted in the player saying, “Everything looks fine, there are no problems.” Yohan Cabaye and Mile Jedinak are big doubts for the game, but here is better news as Connor Wickham was able to train on Thursday with the manager hopeful he may feature on Saturday. James McArthur and Marouane Chamakh remain out – little wonder they’re not scoring goals!

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Liverpool vs Spurs (Sat 2 Apr 17.30)
2nd place Spurs get the chance to make up some ground on the high flying Foxes before they play on Sunday. The likes of Harry Kane, Danny Rose, Eric Dier and Dele Alli will of course be on a high after leading the national team to victory over Germany, in Germany. Get in boys! They come up against a Liverpool side full of excitement and inconsistency, illustrated perfectly in GW31 when they led 2-0 at Southampton only to lose the match. The scousers do however have a decent record vs Spurs, having not lost to them in six meetings, winning five of those including the last three at Anfield. Spurs have kept clean sheets in their last two but will have their work cut out keeping the Liverpool attackers at bay, while Kane and Alli will just be hoping that Martin Skrtel gets another run out on Saturday evening.

Jurgen Klopp says that Firmino is close to being available and a late decision will be made on him tomorrow, although the manager is keen not to put too much pressure on him. Divock Origi and Alberto Moreno are both ready to return, but Christian Benteke and Lucas remain unavailable. Philippe Coutinho returned safe and sound from South America and has trained fine since his return.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino says Erik Lamela “and a couple of others” will need to be assessed after arriving back late from international duty, but the chief is confident Toby Alderweireld will be fit after the defender returned to training on Tuesday and has “no issues”. Jan Vertonghen is very close to a return but probably not this week, while Clinton N’Jie is making good progress but not ready yet. Who?!

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Leicester vs Southampton (Sun 3 Apr 13.30)
They’re still top, their defence has tightened up and while the gung-ho attitude of earlier in the season may have been abandoned for a more resolute and workmanlike tactic, the Foxes go into the weekend with a 5 point cushion at the top. Three 1-0 victories on the spin leave Claudio Ranieri and his little gang of fighters on the verge of the greatest story in Premier League history, well, certainly since Gerrard slipped and Demba Ba did the rest. Nope, still can’t let that one go. The Saints won’t be allowed by Ronald Koeman to drift into the summer sun and last week’s win over Liverpool showed that perfectly. But can they breach a back line that has lept four clean sheets in five?
The teams drew 2-2 in October with Jamie Vardy scoring both goals, while the Foxes won the corresponding fixture last season 2-0 with Riyad Mahrez scoring both goals – the two have history vs the Saints and it’s history we are looking for again. C’mon boys!

Smiling Claudio says that Kasper Schmeichel has trained normally after his injury scare with Denmark and is ok for the match. “Everybody is fit and in good condition. A little tired, but that’s normal.” You can’t not love this bloke. Ranieri says that all he and his team is focusing on is winning their next game and not worrying what Spurs or anyone below them is doing. Listen to this for a quote from the man: “We make mistakes because we play at 100mph. Mistakes aren’t important, it’s important how many goals. That’s the philosophy.” If you happen to be anywhere near Leicester and can get a ticket for the game, pop along and you’ll get a free beer and doughnut courtesy of the Chairman splashing out for his birthday. Tremendous. Loads of curry houses near the ground too – anyone up for it?

Shane Long is a doubt for the Saints trip to Leicester after picking up a knee injury while with Ireland. Ryan Bertrand has recovered from the knock that forced his withdrawal from the England squad, while Victor Wanyama could regain a starting spot after impressing as a substitute against Liverpool. Charlie Austin has been passed fit.

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Man Utd vs Everton (Sun 3 Apr 16.00)
The end of our game-week means the LVG show. The Loon gets a chance to win back some more United fans as they look to follow on from last week’s derby win with a home fixture vs the Toffees. This is the same Everton that failed to turn up last week at home to Arsenal, leading many to assume that their players have eyes only for the Cup, although if rumours are to be believed, Big Romelu may be eyeing up a move to Old Trafford. But only if the Loon has gone we should assume. Big Rom has yet to score for Everton vs United but he did bang in a hatty against them for West Brom a few seasons ago, so early wildcarders be warned. United won 3-0 at Everton earlier in the season and also won at Old Trafford last season – another win would keep the pressure up on City and may just give the Loon a break from the press for the moment. Maybe.

Little change on the injury front at Old Trafford apart from Bastian Schweinsteiger, who could miss the remainder of the season with what LVG says is “more or less the same injury as Rooney” – ie ugliness and hair loss. With Ander Herrera struggling to overcome a groin injury, Michael Carrick will likely partner Morgan Schneiderlin in midfield unless LVG decides to play the Mop versus his midfield hero and ex-team mate Tom Cleverley. Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney remain out. Rooney is described by the Dutch loon as “doing great” and will probably play a few games for the U21s before he returns. Strange, I always thought Wazza preferred the over 50s.

Everton welcome back Kevin Mirallas from suspension, but will again be without the banned Gareth Barry who was clearly missed vs Arsenal. John Stones and Bryan Oviedo have both been passed fit, which gives Roberto Martinez plenty of choice at the back – and plenty of confusion for FPL managers looking to invest in a Toffee defender! There are no fresh injuries from the internationals.

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Suspension Report for Game-week 32

Those players suspended this week are:

Diego Costa (Chelsea)
Gareth Barry (Everton)
Jack Colback (Newcastle)

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

Those players one booking away:

Emre Can (Liverpool)
Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle)
Eric Dier (Spurs)
Erik Pieters (Stoke)
Claudio Yacob (West Brom)

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Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 32. This article was written by Cookie

Follow @SteveCook9

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