Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 5

Team Talk Fantasy Football GW5

The season has just started rolling, some teams are finding good form and the transfer window has just closed… and then… BAM! An international break to ruin it all.Well thank goodness that is behind us. The first international break always seems like the longest, doesn’t it?

How did you manage the time? Did your Fantasy MLS team keep you occupied? Did your fantasy Tippeligaen team keep you warm on those cold nights? Or maybe you passed the time preparing for your Fantasy NFL draft? Many of us found shelter in the warm confines of Potty’s Bookies who, against all odds, found a way to make the international friendlies interesting.

It was during this time off that we thought we might have a different go at Team Talk this week. Fixture history and trends will still be the norm for the match write-ups, but to spice things up we will occasionally take a break from that and bring you a bit of football history. This week, for the home teams, we will look at the men who scored the first goal in their team’s history. Just something a little different for a change and we hope you enjoy your history lesson!

GW5 is just around the corner and as ever all the managers have held their press conferences so let’s go Around the Grounds for the latest team news.

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Everton vs Chelsea (Sat 12 Sept 12.45)

On 8 September 1888, Everton played its first match in the inaugural season of the Football League. George Fleming scored twice for The Blues, leading them to a 2-1 home victory over Accrington. These goals are considered to be the first goals scored in the history of the club. Fleming’s stay was short-lived: he featured just five times for the club and, while he never scored again after opening day, George Fleming will be remembered for scoring the first and second goals in team history.

Toffees boss Roberto Martinez hasn’t given up hope of Bryan Oviedo being fit for the weekend early game. The winger will be given every chance to recover from his knee injury but will need a very late assessment to see if he can play. New signing Aaron Lennon is ready and will play some part, while defender Brendan Galloway is fit. Keeper Tim Howard and new defender Ramiro Funes Mori are to be assessed after arriving back late from international duty, while Tom Cleverley has been ruled out for 6-8 weeks and Leighton Baines, Steven Pienaar , Tony Hibbert and Darron Gibson remain sidelined.

Jose Mourinho confirms Thibaut Courtois suffered an injury to his right knee in training that will require surgery – at the time of the presser Mourinho said “the best keeper in the world” will be out for “quite a long time”, but a more accurate timescale should be given later today after surgery. Asmir Begovic will of course deputise in goal. Chelsea will look to bounce back from the defeat at home to Palace and will do so with no other injuries from the internationals, although Oscar will continue to miss out but should be back for GW6.

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Arsenal vs Stoke (Sat 12 Sept 15.00)

Woolwich Arsenal played its first league game on 4 September 1893 against Newcastle United, a 2-2 draw. A 23-year-old centre forward named Walter Shaw scored just eight minutes into the match and forever cemented his place in Arsenal history. Shaw netted 10 more goals across 16 league matches and added another goal in the four FA Cup matches he played that year. In the 1894/95 season he featured twice in the league and once in the FA Cup, failing to score. Club records who he reported for the beginning of the 1895/96 season but left the club shortly thereafter. In total, Shaw scored 11 goals in 19 league matches and one goal in three FA Cup matches. While history is silent on what Walter Shaw did after leaving Arsenal, he will be remembered by Gooners for scoring Arsenal’s first-ever league goal.

Arsenal welcome their bitter rivals Stoke with Arsene Wenger reporting no new injuries from the internationals. He is also expecting to have to make some decisions in defence with Laurent Koscielny now 100% fit and Per Mertesacker returning to training, with the manager saying he will monitor his progress right up until the game. Aside from the defenders, it’s snooooze time as Jack Wilshere has had a setback in his recovery with no return date known, Danny Welbeck will be out until Christmas after undergoing knee surgery and Tomas Rosicky is still missing, not in action.

The Potters have a few worries as they go to the Emirates. Striker Mame Diouf is a doubt for the game after missing training with a hamstring injury, Marko Arnautovic is struggling with an ankle injury and Glen Johnson has a small groin problem. Charlie Adam and Ibrahim Afellay are both suspended, but Jon Walters will be involved as he failed to get a move from the club in the transfer window. Peter Odemwingie will continue to feature for the U21s as he is short of fitness, while Ryan Shawcross is a longer term absentee.

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Crystal Palace vs Man City (Sat 12 Sept 15.00)

On 2 September 1905, Crystal Palace made their debut in Division Two of the Southern Football League. Despite leading 3-0 after just 30 minutes, Palace could not hold off a second-half rally by Southampton Reserves and ultimately lost their first match 4-3. Richard James Hollis “Dickie” Roberts is credited with scoring Palace’s first goal that day. He turned professional in April 1899 with West Bromwich Albion and spent time with Newcastle United and Middlesbrough before joining Crystal Palace in August 1905 for the sum of £100. Roberts would go on to feature 73 more times for Palace, across three seasons, scoring a total of 25 goals.

Palace defender Joel Ward has picked up an injury in training and will be missing for around 3-4 weeks, a big blow for the Eagles. There is better news of midfielders Yohan Cabaye and Mile Jedinak – Cabaye limped out of France’s friendly with Portugal last week, while Jedinka has been suffering from a hamstring injury, but manager Alan Pardew said both have trained this week and have a chance of making the game. Julian Speroni is available again, so Alex McCarthy owners will be praying he retains his spot between the sticks. Striker Patrick Bamford is up for selection after being ineligible for the win at Chelsea, while Pardew says Dwight Gayle should get more game time with Glenn Murray moving to Bournemouth. Marouane Chamakh remains unavailable.

Manchester City have been hit by the news that playmaker David Silva has been ruled out of the trip to Palace with an ankle injury picked up while playing for Spain. Manuel Pellegrini hopes to have him back for the Champions League match vs Juventus next week. A debut for Kevin de Bruyne maybe? As expected, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy and Fabian Delph continue to miss out but Bacary Sagna is 100% fit after recovering from a knock picked up on international duty. The manager impied that Nicolas Otamendi won’t start by saying, “he is ready to play, but he hasn’t worked with us much – it’s not easy for a defender to play so soon.” Wilfried Bony has returned to training, but the weekend comes too soon for Fernando.

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Norwich vs Bournemouth (Sat 12 Sept 15.00)

Norwich debuted in the Southern League during the 1905/06 season and there are practically no records from matches they played that year. All we know is that David Ross led the club with 21 goals that season. While little is known about Ross, club records indicate he played a total of three seasons with the Canaries and lead them with 26 goals in the 1906/07 season.

Norwich manager Alex Neill says it’s a big positive that Martin Olsson and Kyle Lafferty have both got good game time under their belts as he looks to include them in his matchday squad. The message is less clear on striker Dieumerci Mbokani as the boss said he “is short of match fitness, but will be in the squad”. Ok. Strange. Not fit, but he may play. Youssouf Mulumbu is still injured, Martin Whittaker is suspended and Gary Hooper is a doubt after tweaking his ankle in training.

Cherries boss Eddie Howe says defender Charlie Daniels is touch and go as he is undergoing treatment for a hamstring injury, while Tyrone Mings and Max Gradel are long term absentees. There is good news though as Irish international Harry Arter has returned to training and should be back playing within a month, while new signing Glenn Murray is set to debut in front of his new fans.

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Watford vs Swansea (Sat 12 Sept 15.00)

Watford, then known as West Herts, made their first appearance in league history during the 1896/97 Southern League season. On 19 September 1896 West Herts defeated Wycombe Wanderers 5-0 in front of approximately 400 people. William Saunders is credited with scoring twice that day, including the club’s first league goal. He would play a total of 24 times that season and score 13 goals. His Watford career spanned four seasons (1896-1900) and saw him score 19 league goals in 33 games and one FA Cup goal in two appearances.

Watford striker Victor Ibarbo is unlikely to be eligible to play this weekend due to a problem with his visa, while fellow new striker Mamadou Obbi Oulare is also a doubt due to lack of match fitness.

The Swans look to follow up their impressive win over United by becoming the first team to score and win at Watford. They will go with a fully fit squad after manager Garry Monk reported that winger Jefferson Montero has recovered from the thigh injury that kept him out of the United game and all the internationals returned safely.

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West Brom vs Southampton (Sat 12 Sept 15.00)

A founding member of the Football League, West Bromwich Albion played their first league game against Stoke on September 8, 1888. Joseph “Joe” James Wilson, a 27-year-old “outside left,” scored in the last five minutes of the match, helping West Brom to a 2-0 victory. From 1887-1890, Wilson made 40 league appearances for the Baggies and scored eight goals. He was much more prolific when it counted, scoring 12 goals in 13 career FA Cup games. After retiring from football in 1892, Wilson served 16 years as a referee and linesman at various levels of football.

Saido Berahino is back in contention to play after “clear-the-air” talks with Baggies boss Tony Pulis, while Salomon Rondon will be assessed after the Venezuelan striker arrived back late from international duty. Ben Foster remains out, so new recruit Anders Lindegaard will be providing the competition for Boaz Myhill between the sticks.

Ronald Koeman will make late checks on midfielder Sadio Mane and defender Cuco Martina as both returned very late from international action and were only able to train on Friday. The manager says he has spoken to Victor Wanyama, who was rumoured to be trying to engineer a move away from Southampton, and said the midfielder is “mentally and physically” ready to play now and could start, while new signing, defender Virgil van Dijk is also in contention to face the Baggies. Ryan Bertrand could resume normal training on Monday, so the end may be nigh for Matt Targett soon while Fraser Forster and Jordy Clasie are still missing.

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Man Utd vs Liverpool (Sat 12 Sept 17.30)

Newton Heath (now known as “Manchester United”) debuted in the Football League in the 1892/93 season. Robert “Bob” Donaldson scored the team’s first goal in an eventual 4-3 loss to Blackburn Rovers on September 3, 1892. Donaldson would lead the team in goals the only two seasons they played in Division One during his time at the club: the 1892/93 season (16 goals) and 1893/94 (10). Donaldson remained with the club following their relegation and played a total of 130 games for Newton Heath/Manchester United, scoring 55 goals. In 16 FA Cup matches for the club he scored 10 goals.

Still the biggest game in English football, the fierce rivalry will be renewed on Saturday evening at Old Trafford. After a day’s drinking it could be carnage outside the ground, but on the pitch expect a cagy, tense affair between two sides who have looked generally solid at the back (before the last gameweek at least!!) but toothless going forward. United have won five of the last seven Premier League meetings with the scousers, with Juan Mata the fixture form player, scoring three goals vs Liverpool last season, while Wayne Rooney will be looking to reproduce his international stardom to club level after going ten league games now without scoring.

All friends again at Old Trafford as David de Gea signs a four year contract, gets his new wages back dated for a year and everyone is happy. LVG continues to baffle by saying, “you shall see on Sunday if de Gea plays – you never know. We have to judge him in training.” Presumably keeping a clean sheet for Spain has yet to convince the mad Dutchie. Michael Carrick has shrugged off his injury and is fit to play, Phil Jones is still missing but recovering and only Andreas Pereira returned from the internationals with an injury.

Liverpool will continue to be without Daniel Sturridge, despite his return to full training – Brendan Rodgers says there is “no timeline” to the striker’s return to action – even I can’t criticise Brenda for that. Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson will be assessed over the next 24hrs, but definitely missing out will be the suspended Philippe Coutinho. Jon Flanagan and Joe Allen remain out.

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Sunderland vs Spurs (Sun 13 Sept 13.30)

The 1890/91 season saw Sunderland join the First Division of the Football League. The club’s first match, played on 13 September, 1890, saw the Black Cats lose at home to Burnley 3-2. John Spence is credited with scoring both goals for Sunderland that day, but little else is known about the Scotsman. He played just five games for Sunderland, scoring three times, and vanished from the history books after leaving the club.

Sunderland will again be without Adam Johnson and Adam Matthews for the clash with Spurs, while Jordi Gomez, despite appearing for the U21s, isn’t quite ready. DeAndre Yedlin is ineligible to face his parent club and Steven Fletcher has been ruled out after picking up a knock in training.

Spurs look to kick start their season with the simple looking trip to bottom club Sunderland. They will continue to be without Christian Eriksen, who is described by Mauricio Pochettino as “close but not yet fit.” Mousa Dembele is a doubt with an ankle injury and striker Clinton N’Jie is also close to being available. Heung-Mion Son will be in the squad and is in good form after scoring a hat-trick for South Korea.

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Leicester vs Aston Villa (Sun 13 Sept 16.00)

Leicester Fosse played its first Football League match in Division Two on 1 September 1894. Scottish forward Willie McArthur scored Leicester’s first goal in what ended up being a 4-3 loss to home-side Grimsby Town. McArthur would play 55 league matches for Fosse over two seasons, scoring 25 goals while adding 9 goals in 10 FA Cups matches. He would leave the team at the end of the 1895/96 season. He is listed as a member of Brighton United F.C. from 1898 to 1900, but history is silent as to what became of him afterwards.

Leicester go into the weekend sitting pretty in third place, confident and having lost just one of their last nine home games vs Villa. Claudio Ranieri reports no injuries from his returning internationals (good news for Riyad Mahrez owners) and says he was impressed with midfielder Gokhan Inler’s performance vs England and could give him his debut. Nathan Dyer is not quite ready, while Matty James has returned to light training but is not likely to feature for 2-3 months.

Villa make the shortish trip from West Midlands to East with a few niggles in the camp. And that’s before we even think about Tim Sherwood. Midfielders Idrissa Gueye, Jack Grealish and Adama Traore are all major doubts for the game – Gueye picked up a hamstring injury whilst on international duty, Grealish is still struggling with an ankle injury sustained a fortnight ago, while Traore is suffering with an ankle injury. Gabby Agbonlahor has however recovered from sickness but Jores Okore, Gary Gardner and Jose Angel Rincon all remain out.

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West Ham vs Newcastle (Mon 14 Sept 20.00)

Thames Ironworks FC (now known as “West Ham United” and featuring players who were actual employees of Thames Ironworks) joined the Second Division of the Southern League in the summer of 1898 and played its first match on 10 September 1898, a 3-0 thrashing of Shepherd’s Bush in front of approximately 1,500 people. An English centre forward known simply as “Adams” in the history books scored the first goal, the only goal he would score in five career appearances with the club. The other two goals scored that say are credited to “Atkinson”, an English centre forward who played just two games for the club that season.

It’s gone from famine to feast for the Hammers options up front. New signing Nikica Jelavic and Andy Carroll played in a behind-closed-doors friendly this week to build up match fitness, with Slaven Bilic saying they both looked sharp – Carroll will probably make the bench on Monday night. Fellow forward Mauro Zarate is touch and go for the game as he has been suffering from a hamstring injury, but the Monday kick off gives him a chance. Victor Moses played with Carroll and Jelavic in the friendly with Bilic excitedly talking up the influence he will have on the team as well as young Michail Antonio. Dimitri Payet who has recovered from a minor knock, while midfielder Alex Song is targeting a return to action before the end of October. Enner Valencia is out until November, Joey O’Brien is still missing and Adrian serves the final game of his suspension.

Toon boss Steve McClaren says his team needs to play better football, create more chances and score more goals if they want to see positive results. Genius. Striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is suspended and Emmanuel Riviere remains out with a knee injury, aside from those two the wally with the brolly has no injury worries.

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Suspension Report
Those players suspended this week are:

Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle)
Steven Whittaker (Norwich)
Ibrahim Afellay (Stoke)
Charlie Adam (Stoke)
Miguel Britos (Watford)
Adrian (West Ham)

Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Game-week 5. This article was written by LawDogg and Cookie

Follow @PlaneGooner

Follow @SteveCook9

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