Team Talk Fantasy Football Gameweek 13

Team Talk Fantasy Football GW13

It’s been a helluva week – Monday Night Football, Champions League action, Europa League distractions, added to ongoing injury worries for a number of our players has meant the week has been full of planning, waiting and praying for no more injuries! That my friends was the past, this is the present as we look to the future. It’s a gameweek where much is focused on Saturday’s action, with eight fixtures spread throughout the day, before we sit down to a more relaxed but equally as important two fixtures to conclude the week on Sunday afternoon.
We kick off Saturday lunchtime at the Hawthorns as West Brom entertain the Gooners, with both sides looking to bounce back from GW12 defeats. Then onto the six 3pm matches as Aston Villa travel to Burnley, Liverpool host Stoke, Man Utd welcome Hull to Old Trafford, QPR take on Leicester, Crystal Palace battle the South Circular and the M4 before challenging Swansea, while West Ham and Newcastle lock horns down in east London. The evening kick off takes us to the Stadium of Light (or Fright if you’re a Black Cat) as Chelsea go to Sunderland.
And then onto Sunday and lunchtime sees the game of the week as second placed Southampton play third placed Man City down at St Mary’s before our gameweek is concluded by our Europa League twins as Everton travel to Tottenham.
As usual, there is loads to catch up on, so without further ado, let’s go Around the Grounds and see what the managers have had to say this week.

West Brom vs Arsenal (Sat 29 Nov 12.45)
Time for the Gooners to bounce back from two successive league defeats and it’s a fixture that has been kind to them over the years – they haven’t lost at the Hawthorns since 2005 and have won six out of the last seven meetings with West Brom. The Baggies showed last week at Chelsea that they can be resilient, but they’ll need to improve on a run which has seen them win just once at home this season. Arsenal have been so reliant on Alexis Sanchez of late, but will be concerned of reports he is exhausted after having too much sex whilst on international duty. What goes on when these guys go away? I guess it explains Raheem Sterling’s sudden tiredness after a summer in South America. There is also chat that Alexis was texting Miss Chile whilst in Disney with his current first lady – personally I would advise you to ignore this Mickey Mouse story – the Little Mermaid lives in a Fantasia and was probably just trying to get Aladdin. Say what you like, but I reckon Alexis and Olivier Giroud have a proper night out.
West Brom striker Saido Berahino is fit to start despite missing training on Tuesday with a tight hamstring, while manager Alan Irvine hopes James Morrison will be ok after suffering with illness this week. Claudio Yacob is suspended following his red card at Chelsea, Jonas Olsson has been ruled out until the New Year after having surgery on his Achilles, but better news of Sebastian Pocognoli, who is available again after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Arsene Wenger says keeper Wojciech Szczesny is a doubt after picking up a knock vs United and missing training this week – with no.2 David Ospina also out, Damian Martinez will deputise if Szczesny doesn’t make it. Danny Welbeck will need a fitness test as he is still struggling with a swollen knee which meant he missed the match vs Dortmund, while Jack Wilshire has renewed his season ticket on the treatment table after undergoing ankle surgery. Mikel Arteta and Yaya Sanogo picked up injuries in midweek and are both ruled out as is Theo Walcott, who hasn’t recovered from the groin problem he picked up while with England. The good news is that Laurent Koscielny is fit to start, if Wenger needs him. I think you do Arsene. Full back Mathieu Debuchy should be ready to return in a couple of weeks, while Mesut Ozil remains out.

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Burnley vs Aston Villa (Sat 29 Nov 15.00)
It’s two wins in a row now for Burnley and if they can make it a third by beating Villa then they’ll more than likely climb out of the relegation zone, a thought that was extremely unlikely a few weeks ago. The more pertinent question may be, which Villa will turn up? The one that ran Southampton close on Monday night and made the Saints look fairly ordinary, or the one that has taken just one point in four games on their travels? Well, time will tell, of course, but if Sean Dyche’s men can claim a hat-trick of wins, it will be their first win over Villa in the league since 1973.
Villa have no new injuries for the weekend, but also have no-one fit to return, meaning that defenders Ron Vlaar, Philippe Senderos and Nathan Baker continue to miss out. Midfielder Fabian Delph and striker Libor Kozak are longer term absentees, while Christian Benteke serves the last game of his suspension and Darren Bent has joined Brighton on loan. No jokes please.
Defender Michael Duff is Burnley’s biggest doubt for the game, with manager Sean Dyche describing him as “touch and go” – the injury is not thought to be serious and Duff will be given as long as possible to prove his fitness. Midfielders Scott Arfield and Nathaniel Chalobah return to the squad, while Matty Taylor and Sam Vokes remain out.

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Liverpool vs Stoke (Sat 29 Nov 15.00)
Two of the most out-of-form sides meet at Anfield on Saturday and if you think Liverpool’s defending is woeful (and we do), then take a look at Stoke – just two clean sheets all season, though one of those was at City. It’s a funny ol’ game, as Greavsie used to say. So, it’s very much a case of who will be less bad on Saturday and while Liverpool were bullied and lethargic at Palace last week, one would think they’ll want to bounce back, especially in front of their own fans. Their failure to win at Ludogorets on Wednesday has put further pressure on Brendan Rodgers, with ex-keeper Bruce Grobelaar suggesting the manager has just three games to save his job – Grob was also scathing about keeper Simon Mignolet, who he describes as “worse than Dracula” in dealing with crosses. So many jokes, but I best keep to the game, don’t want those Liverpool fans getting as sensitive as the Gooners now do we? The good news for Liverpool is that Stoke have failed to win any of their last 29 games at Anfield – frankly if that sequence is broken this weekend, Rodgers may find himself under real pressure. Two men to look out for here are Rickie Lambert and Jon Walters – Lambert has scored in three of his four league matches vs Stoke while Walters has scored four goals in his last six games vs Liverpool.
Stoke have been hit by a virus in the camp this week and I don’t think it’s just a natural reluctance to spending their Saturday afternoon in Liverpool – those particularly struggling are keeper Asmir Begovic and defenders Geoff Cameron and Phil Bardsley. There is better news of Marc Wilson who has returned to training this week, with Mark Hughes hoping he will be ok for the game, while Robert Huth is making good progress and is nearing a return to the squad. Erik Peters is ok, but Victor Moses has been ruled out for at least eight weeks with a thigh injury and has returned to Chelsea for treatment, while Peter Odemwingie remains a longer term absentee. Midfielder Oussama Assaidi is ineligible to face his parent club.
Rodgers says he will have the same squad available as per midweek. Daniel Sturridge is obviously still missing for Liverpool, but the good news for them is that anti-striker Mario Balotelli is also missing with a groin strain, meaning Lambert will keep his place and will hope to carry on his recent decent form of two goals in two games. Raheem Sterling has recovered from illness. John Flanagan and Mamadou Sakho continue to miss out. Regarding his under pressure keeper, Rodgers says, “Simon is strong and you have to be able to cope with the spotlight whether it’s good or bad”. It’s bad Brendan, fyi. And then, even better he said of Glen Johnson, “He can play comfortably at both right back and left back”. Clearly, in “Rodgers-speak” “comfortably” translates to “bloody horrendously”.

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Man Utd vs Hull (Sat 29 Nov 15.00)
Steve Bruce returns to Old Trafford with his Hull team in somewhat disarray. Three losses on the bounce, two of those at home has left them sitting perilously just a place above the drop zone. Great stats as they prepare for a trip to United, who are going for a third straight win and will be buoyed after their victory at Arsenal last weekend. Despite their inconsistency this season, United at home have been pretty good, well let me rephrase that – the results have been pretty good – four wins and a draw out of five shows they are still tough to break down on their own patch. Hull haven’t beaten United in the league at Old Trafford since 1934 and the last time Wayne Rooney faced up to them at home he scored four times. A repeat of the same would see United further cement a Champions League place, but see ex-United captain Bruce leave a concerned man.
Abel Hernandez will miss the trip to Old Trafford and also Wednesday’s match at Everton as he is in Uruguay for the birth of his child. Those Hull hospitals must be dreadful. Gaston Ramirez is suspended after being sent off last week vs Spurs, but Maohammed Diame is fit after recovering from a knee injury. Robert Snodgrass remains out.
The good news for United is that Marcos Rojo and Radamel Falcao could both make the squad for Saturday, but the bad news is that LVG has confirmed that defender Luke Shaw has got an ankle ligament injury and will be out for a few weeks. Daley Blind, Rafael, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones remain unavailable, while Jonny Evans began his comeback in the week playing 45mins for the U21s and Ander Herrera played in the same match.

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QPR vs Leicester (Sat 29 Nov 15.00)
A proper basement battle at Loftus Road as bottom club Rangers host the club likely to be bottom soon, Leicester. In all seriousness, ‘Arry’s men have shown some fight of late, however that fight has only resulted in one win in nine matches, meaning the fight needs to turn into victories sometime soon if they are to survive. Probably good news then that the Foxes are in town as they have lost five out of six on the road and haven’t even found the net in their last five matches….and one of those games was against Wes Brown’s Sunderland! The Foxes did the double over Rangers last season, winning both games 1-0.
Rangers’ midfielder Sandro has been ruled out until after Christmas after injuring his knee ligaments, while maverick or maybe more pertinently, lazy maverick Adel Taarabt is still not fit or training, according to a frustrated ‘Arry. Bad news for Leicester as their main goal threat and own goal expert, Rangers defender Richard Dunne, is suspended after accumulating five yellow cards, while Rio Ferdinand will be assessed after not playing for a while but should return. Alejandro Faurlin continues his rehab, but Eduardo Vargas returns to the squad after missing the defeat to Newcastle due to his mrs giving birth.
Foxes boss Nigel Pearson has few injury worries, it’s just quality that is the problem. Defender Matthew Upson played 45mins for the U21s in the week and should be in contention soon, while the only absentees are Dean Hammond and Zoumana Bakayogo.

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Swansea vs Crystal Palace (Sat 29 Nov 15.00)
Good old Swansea, everyone loves Swansea, apart from Cardiff, of course. Nice football, 45% of us love Siggy, small club showing they can survive in the Premier League. I say love, we have obviously taken Jonjo Shelvey out of the equation. No one likes him, not even his mum. Lovely Swansea welcome Crystal Palace this week and while Garry Monk’s men will be strong favourites, it’s Palace who go into the game on the back of a victory after their humbling of Liverpool last weekend. But away from fortress Selhurst Park, Palace are not the same beast and recent form in this fixture shows Swansea winning four and drawing two of their last six meetings, with Palace scoring just once in that sequence. Wilfried Bony is the man here – he is the top scorer in the Premier League this calendar year and has scored five in his last six league matches.
Monk says he has a fully fit squad to choose from, with the exception of defender Frederico Fernandez, who is ruled out, so Kyle Bartley is expected to buddy up with Ashley Williams at the back again.
Palace have a relatively fit squad to choose from, with defenders Adrian Mariappa and Damien Delaney the only absentees. Delaney’s injury is not as bad as first feared and he is expected back within a fortnight.

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West Ham vs Newcastle (Sat 29 Nov 15.00)
It will be reunion central at the Boleyn on Saturday as managers Big Sam and Alan Pardew as well as Hammers Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll face their former clubs. Don’t be surprised to see a tight, hard-fought game between the teams in fifth and sixth place as Newcastle are on a run of five straight league wins, while the Hammers only dropped out of the top four due to last week’s loss at Goodison, where they always lose anyway. Newcastle have got a decent record at West Ham where they have won two and drawn one of the last three clashes, but with both Nolan and Carroll looking for their first goals of the season, the Toon run of victories will come under a severe test.
Big Sam is hopeful of welcoming back Stewart Downing and Cheick Kouyate after both returned to training this week, while Mark Noble may also make the squad after making good progress from a knock he picked up in the defeat at Everton. However, Diafra Sakho, Alex Song and Enner Valencia are struggling, but will be given every opportunity to make the game, though in all honesty they look unlikely to make it at this stage. Winston Reid is suspended after collecting five yellow cards.
The big doubt for the Toon this weekend is keeper Tim Krul who has picked up an ankle in training, unconfirmed reports suggest the Dutchie could miss as much as 3-4 weeks, Rob Elliot is on standby to replace him between the sticks. Pardew is pleased to reveal that Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Chieck Tiote and Emmanuel Riviere all returned to training this week and could make the squad, while promising young midfielder Rolando Aarons should be available next week. Still missing are Gabriel Obertan, Siem de Jong, Mehdi Abeid, Davide Santon, Jonas Gutierrez and Ryan Taylor – the good news on Taylor is that the injury is not as bad as initially feared and he should be back in 3-4 weeks.

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Sunderland vs Chelsea (Sat 29 Nov 17.30)
Much will be written before this game of Sunderland’s victory at Chelsea last season, which was Jose’s first ever league loss at the Bridge – however, probably the more reliable stat going into this game is that the Black Cats haven’t beaten the Blues at home since 2000, with Chelsea winning 17 of the last 20 meetings. We all know how good Sunderland aren’t. And they have Wes Brown vs Diego Costa. With the Blues flying high at the top, threatening to go through the season unbeaten, it would be a major shock if they lost this one – they have won 17 of the last 19 vs Sunderland and impressively they have scored 19 goals in their last six league visits to the Stadium of Fright. While you’re all thinking about Diego Costa or Eden Hazard or maybe even Oscar, don’t ignore Cesc Fabregas, who has scored more goals vs Sunderland than anyone else in the Premier League and has netted in three of his four league matches at Sunderland. Finally and I must end with this…there has been three own goals in the last three league matches between these two…..step up Wesley, this is your moment son!
The injuries are easing for the Black Cats with Sebastian Coates “pushing and challenging” for a start according to manager Gus Poyet – “but what about Wes Brown?” I hear you cry. Poor old Wes. He’ll be injured soon, don’t worry. Ricky Alavarez has returned to training , while defender Billy Jones and Emanuele Giaccherini are nearing a return and could be available next week.
Chelsea have no injury worries for the weekend, meaning midweek fears over Diego Costa proved unfounded. If you needed any more encouragement over Fabregas then The Special One also endorsed him in his presser, when he said, “If Fabregas says he is playing the best football of his career that means something. You can see it in his body language.”

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Southampton vs Man City (Sun 30 Nov 13.30)
A huge game down at St Mary’s where we will likely learn more about both side’s title aspirations – or at least their ability to attempt to hang onto Chelsea’s coattails at the top. Here begins a run of games for the Saints which see them play Arsenal and United after this one and then Everton, Chelsea, United and Arsenal again over the Christmas period. As for City, their form is sporadic, but they’re still third without really firing and haven’t won either of their last two away games. They will, of course, be buoyed by the slightly fortuitous midweek victory over Bayern, courtesy of Sergio Aguero’s hat-trick and the Saints defence, which didn’t look as secure as normal at Villa (yes, Villa!!), will need to be at their very best if they are to stop Kun, who has scored twelve league goals already this season.
City chief Manuel Pellegrini says he has no new injuries, but David Silva, Edin Dzeko and Aleksandar Kolarov are still missing for the game. Dzeko could return next week, while Yaya Toure returns to the side after missing the Bayern match through suspension.
Ronald Koeman says that midfielder Steven Davis remains doubtful for the game, but will train with the squad on Saturday to give him every opportunity. James Ward-Prowse and Sam Gallagher are 2-3 weeks away from being fully fit, while J-Rod remains out, poor chap.

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Spurs vs Everton (Sun 30 Nov 16.00)
Everton travel down to North London looking to extend their unbeaten run of five games which has seen them rise gradually up the league – but still they are only level with Spurs who are on a 4-game run of 2-1s – lost, won, lost, won. So, Everton 2-1 then – need I type more? Well, hold your horses as White Hart Lane hasn’t been the happiest hunting ground for the Toffees in recent seasons – they haven’t won any of their last six at Spurs. Both sides won their Europa matches on Thursday and will go into the game in good heart.
Right – the news you’ve all been waiting for. Roberto Martinez is hopeful that Leighton Baines will be fit to make the squad on Sunday. He, along with Gareth Barry, Stephen Pienaar and Steven Naismith will need late assessments and will be given every chance but my perception of Martinez’s comments suggests he is very relaxed and happy and fully expects the left back to be ready. James McCarthy will also need assessing after he injured his hamstring again on Thursday night, while Darron Gibson, Bryan Oviedo, John Stones and Antolin Alcaraz are progressing well, but are not available yet.
Spurs midfielder Nacer Chadli has returned to training and has declared himself 100% fit, great news for all you worried Chadli owners. Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane and Eric Dier were all benched for Thursday’s evening’s Europa clash meaning all will start vs Everton. Full backs Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton continue to miss out, Walker through injury and Naughton through suspension, meaning Dier will continue at right back. Danny Rose, Andros Townsend, Younes Kaboul are doubts for the weekend, while it is thought that Emmanuel Adebayor will again miss out. Nabil Bentaleb has recovered from injury and will likely make the squad.

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Suspension Report

Players suspended for GW13

Christian Benteke (Aston Villa)
Gaston Ramirez (Hull)
Richard Dunne (QPR)
Kyle Naughton (Spurs)
Claudio Yacob (West Brom)
Winston Reid (West Ham)

Those players on 4 yellow cards and one booking away from suspension:

Andreas Weimann (Aston Villa)
Diego Costa (Chelsea)
Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea)
Gareth Barry (Everton)
Steven Naismith (Everton)
Tom Huddlestone (Hull)
Jake Livermore (Hull)
Liam Moore (Leicester)
Martin Skrtel (Liverpool)
Jack Colback (Newcastle)
Daryl Janmaat (Newcastle)
Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle)
Graziano Pelle (Southampton)
Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton)
Mame Diouf (Stoke)
Neil Taylor (Swansea)
Ashley Williams (Swansea)

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To end with, please don’t forget that Gameweek 14 starts on Tuesday evening and concludes on Wednesday. We will produce for you a Fixtures article to be published on Sunday and then a midweek Team Talk which will be published on Tuesday morning. To help with your transfer decisions, the fixtures for midweek GW14 are as follows:

Tuesday 2 Dec
19.45
Burnley vs Newcastle
Leicester vs Liverpool
Man Utd vs Stoke
Swansea vs QPR

20.00
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
West Brom vs West Ham

Wednesday 3 Dec
19.45
Arsenal vs Southampton
Chelsea vs Spurs
Everton vs Hull
Sunderland vs Man City

The deadline to transfer and select your teams is 19.30 on Tuesday 2 Dec, which will give you sufficient time to see the team line-ups pre-deadline!

Best of luck, plan well and score big!

Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football GW13. This article was written by Cookie

Follow @SteveCook9

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WooFBet
After the success of last weeks FF247 tournament we are delighted to announce we are teaming up with WooFBet again ahead of Gameweek 13. The tournament will again be free to enter and have another €150 prize-pool to be split between the highest finishers. Jamie from WooFBet will be along later in the comments to explain a bit more and will be asking how our members would like the competition structured going forward with regard to splitting the prize fund etc. Please extend him the usual FF247 welcome!

Thank you to those that entered last week, we are sure you found it a fun and simple experience and we are glad to say 17 of you were able to win some real money from it! Particular congratulations to Tommy Tilt, who out of 94 entrants, went and won the whole thing with a prize of €37.50.

Over on the WooFBet website they also have a bunch of other free and paid entry tournaments to enter. Running from Gameweek 14 to Gameweek 19 is a ‘Decembers Best Manager’ tournament, which is also free to enter and has a whopping €500 up for grabs.

To enter, visit woofbet.com and sign up (no card details required). Navigate to the Tournament section and click participate on the ‘Decembers Best Manager – €500 FREEROLL’.

Isn’t it time your fantasy manager job finally paid off!

Follow @WooFBet