Team Talk Fantasy Football Gameweek 26

Team Talk Fantasy Football GW26

WAKE UP, WAKE UP!! Pack your bags, load up the car, the holiday is over and it’s back to school time, sorry. It’s back to FPLville for us all after a long and deserved break.
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve spoken, but it’s lovely to be back. Many thanks to Lawdogg for picking up the reins these last few weeks and frankly doing a mighty fine job. So what have I missed? Constant Gooner love, more references to the Lord of the Rings than Katie Price’s autobiography, the departures of ‘Arry and Paul Lambert, the mysterious disappearance of Andre Wisdom, Chris Baird and Sebastien Pocognoli and Nigel Pearson’s new tactic of “If you can’t beat them, strangle them”. So bear with me as I catch up and bring you this week’s preview. I’m a bit rusty.
With a busy weekend of FA Cup action behind us and a hectic week of European action for Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Everton over, I hope you’ve all been prudent and saved your transfers! Nah? Thought not! GW26 sees the reverse fixtures to the opening day of the season, with many teams looking for revenge.
Our gameweek begins at 3pm Saturday, giving us plenty of time to gain those essential brownie points on Saturday morning. There are six games mid afternoon as Tim Sherwood takes charge of Villa for the first time as they host Stoke. In London, Chelsea entertain Burnley, while Arsenal cross the river for the short trip to Crystal Palace. QPR travel out of their comfort zone of the capital to go to Hull, Sunderland take on West Brom and LVG ventures into Wales as Utd meet Swansea. Our early evening game sees us at the Emptihad with Newcastle the visitors.
And then onto Sunday as our three Europa League contenders all feature. First up is another London derby and one full of hatred. Yep, Spurs are playing! West Ham are the visitors and it could get ugly. Everton then follow as they host Leicester and our gameweek finishes down on the South coast as Liverpool travel to Southampton.
Loads to get through, let’s waste no further time and get Around the Grounds to see the latest news.

Aston Villa vs Stoke (Sat 21 Feb 15.00)
Gilet sales are expected to go through the roof in Birmingham following Tim Sherwood’s appointment as Paul Lambert’s heir, but while we all mock, there will be nobody warmer (see what I did there?) than Sherwood himself if he can keep Villa in the top flight. Of course, the manager will not be short of self-belief, having attended the Pardew School of arrogance, but if he can get Villa scoring then surely Villa will be ok. It’s a nice, gentle start for Sherwood as Stoke are in town – Stoke who were humbled by Blackburn in the Cup last week. Having disposed of Leicester, and scoring twice in the process, Villa may just approach this one with confidence. They certainly need to for their League form makes tremendous reading – for Birmingham and West Brom fans. Five losses in a row, no win since GW15 and just two goals in ten matches. Good luck Tim!

Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor and midfielder Carles Gill have returned to training and are fully fit, but defenders Nathan Baker and Philippe Senderos won’t feature. Libor Kozak remains unavailable, but is making slow but steady progress and could feature before the end of the season.

Ryan Shawcross continues to miss out for Stoke, but there is better news of Marc Wilson, Jon Walters and Stephen Ireland, who all returned to training on Thursday and, assuming no reactions, will all likely make the squad. Erik Pieters is also close to a return, if he doesn’t play this week, he will be available for GW27. Peter Crouch should be ok after having a pain-killing injection this week but Geoff Cameron misses out through suspension, while Marc Muniesa, Peter Odemwingie and Bojan Krkic are all ruled out.

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Chelsea vs Burnley (Sat 21 Feb 15.00)
Poor old Burnley, they are most people’s favourite promoted team this season and were looking good for so long, keeping things tight(ish) at the back, scoring goals and even George Boyd making goalscoring appearances from many a manager’s bench. But just one league win in nine has seen them drop into the bottom three and their top scorer is reportedly keen on teaming up with Moyesie in Spain. They have now started a run of fixtures that has seen them lose (unluckily) at Old Trafford, visit the Bridge this week and then face Liverpool, City and Southampton over the next month. Chelsea of course have been imperious at home, dropping points in just the draw with City and it’ll be a brave man or a fool who bets against anything but a home win here, despite the Blues unimaginative display in gaining a point in Paris on Tuesday.

Chelsea have no new injuries for the game and The Special One dismissed reports that five of his squad could not train and are injured. Diego Costa is of course welcomed back from suspension and only Jon Obi Mikel remains unavailable and is likely to be missing for a further 2/3 weeks.

Burnley defender Stephen Ward has returned to full fitness and will go straight back into the squad for the first time since GW14 – in fact manager Sean Dyche says “Ward will go into the squad, at least”, suggesting he may even get a start. Elsewhere, Dean Marney has had an operation on his cruciate ligament injury and will be missing for months, while Matty Taylor is making good progress, but is still missing.

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Crystal Palace vs Arsenal (Sat 21 Feb 15.00)
“The Pardew Effect” they called it. Well old “Big Bollocks” himself couldn’t even muster a home win over Liverpool last week as Palace successfully erased memories of last season’s comeback vs Suarez, Gerrard and co. It’s the Gooners who arrive this week and while Palace have certainly tightened up since the Great One’s arrival, keeping out Giroud, Alexis, Theo, Cazorla and Ozil may be a job too big, even for our Silver Superhero. As we have mentioned, Arsenal’s attacking riches is the envy of all, with the possible exception of Chelsea and goals seem a certainty. You have to go back to 1979 for Palace’s last win at home vs Arsenal and a win for Wenger’s men would take them back into the top 4, if only temporarily, until Southampton play on Sunday.

James McArthur is touch and go as to whether he can start or not, while Mile Jedinak faces a late fitness test. Yannick Bolasie has returned to training and should be ok but Jonny Williams has suffered a setback in his recovery and Yaya Sanogo is ineligible (and injured) to play vs his parent club. Defender Pape Souare is likely to make his league debut for the Eagles, while Shola Ameobi could also be available for the first time after stepping up his training this week.

The soap opera that is the Arsenal injury list continues this week with news that defender Hector Bellerin is a doubt for the match with an ankle injury, while Mathieu Flamini has a tight hamstring – both will need to pass late fitness tests if they are to feature. Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Debuchy all remain sidelined, but Jack Wilshire will come into contention and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain returned to training on Thursday but will not be quite ready for this weekend. Bear in mind that Arsenal face Monaco in the Champions League on Wednesday.

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Hull vs QPR (Sat 21 Feb 15.00)
It may not be the one game we all look forward to on Match of the Day, but for Hull and Rangers, this weekend could prove to be season defining with both clubs perched perilously just above the drop zone. The fact that neither of them are in the drop zone may be a bigger surprise, given their form, but a win for either here, may just be enough to spark the desired momentum to put a run together that will see them safe. Four points from two games is a minor miracle for Hull, though I should emphasise that three of those points were against Villa. Their draw at City was probably a better performance and two homes games vs Rangers and then Sunderland will be the focus of Steve Bruce’s planning as their next three home fixtures after that are against Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. So not out of the woods yet. Rangers then, what can we say? They couldn’t buy a win away from home, and believe me Tony Fernandes and ‘Arry tried, until they went to Sunderland and dominated on the way to a 2-0 victory, denting a load of manager’s dreams of a clean sheet or two. So Chris Ramsey is the man until the end of the season and he’ll believe that if they can win at Sunderland, they can repeat the feat at Hull. We shall see.

Steve Bruce still has to do without James Chester Liam Rosenior and Robert Snodgrass, while midfielder Mo Diame is also ruled out after suffering a setback in training this week. There are no fresh injuries for Hull who have not lost to Rangers in their previous four meetings.

Charlie Austin is fit and will come back in contention for Rangers, but defender Mauricio Isla has been ruled out after picking up a knock in the win at Sunderland. The hero at Sunderland was of course scoring midfielder Leroy Fer – sadly for Rangers, Fer has been ruled out until April after limping off at the Stadium of Light with a bad knee injury. Sandro, Richard Dunne and Alejandro Faurlin remain out, while Ramsey says his appointment means everyone who is fit is up for selection and there is a new start and clean slate for everyone, which is bad news for Adel Taarabt who may actually have to get off his arse and do something for his 50k a week. Joey Barton is not one who needs firing up and will be looking to extend his Premier League record, which so far stands at seven consecutive bookings.

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Sunderland vs West Brom (Sat 21 Feb 15.00)
A fortnight or so ago this write up would of been a lot different, but contrasting fortunes for the Black Cats and the Baggies suggest this may not be the home win many would have predicted. A cup defeat at Bradford saw Gus Poyet crumble under pressure as it seems all is not well at the Stadium of Fright, while the preceding home loss to QPR places Sunderland just two points off the relegation zone. Tony Pulis meanwhile coupled a home victory over Swansea with a resounding 4-0 Cup win over the Hammers, two clean sheets in a row for our favourite defensive manager – it’s just a shame that he seems to have ignored all the cheap options we were so excited about! Sunderland won the corresponding fixture 2-0 last season at a time when they were fighting for their Premier League life – a failure to win on Saturday will plunge them into a similar late season scenario as last term, while Pulis will just do what he does best…..

Poyet was pretty coy in his presser, as you would expect from a manager under intense pressure and who feels the need to write a letter to the fans. He is hopeful of a fully fit squad to choose from, but much will depend on the final training session this afternoon. Jermain Defoe is of course the name you are most interested in and he is described as “touch and go” to be available. Maybe a bench role and bring on when/if required? Your guess is as good as mine. Lee Cattermole appears to have more chance of a return – the midfielder hasn’t played this year and clearly the Black Cats have missed his technical skill and finesse in the middle of the park. Anthony Reveillere and Emanuele Giaccherini also have a chance of featuring but will need late tests.

Pulis says that his only concern for the weekend is striker Victor Anichebe who continues to struggle with a groin injury. Jonas Olsson is fully fit for the first time since GW4, which is likely to create more uncertainty as we struggle to identify the manager’s preferred defenders. However, Olsson together with Christian Gamboa and Sebastien Pocognoli all played Thursday evening in the Birmingham Senior Cup, which probably rules them all out of playing at Sunderland. Midfielder Youssuf Mulumbu has returned to full training but is also unlikely to be risked at the weekend, but Callum McManaman should be in contention for selection.

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Swansea vs Man Utd (Sat 21 Feb 15.00)
“The football is crap,” they said. “Half the players are playing out of position,” they said. But LVG marches on his merry way, with his primary aim being a top four slot. The fact that United have collected more points than anyone over the past fifteen matches, suggests the Dutchman will stick to his guns and carry on with his philosophy. Swansea meanwhile continue to defy all logic and reasoning – their only win in seven was at Southampton, while in the same period they have failed to beat QPR, Sunderland or West Brom. So who knows what will happen here. Swansea won at Old Trafford on the opening day courtesy of a man-of-the-match performance from Siggy, who returns after a lovely break, courtesy of his suspension, and is £0.6mln cheaper than when he last played. Swansea have never beaten United at the Liberty and will need to improve their form of scoring just nine goals in their last eleven if they are to send LVG away unhappy.

Swansea’s only injury is defender Kyle Bartley, who is due to miss at least six weeks with a knee injury. Strikers Marvin Emnes and Modou Barrow have both recovered from injury and are available, while the returning Siggy is relishing the chance to make up for lost time, starting with United on Saturday.

LVG has confirmed that Phil Jones and RvP are fit and available for the trip, while the manager has also dismissed fears about Angel di Maria. United’s only injury is Michael Carrick, who is expected to return to training next week.

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Man City vs Newcastle (Sat 21 Feb 17.30)
The Toon army will march down to Manchester confident and happy – not because they are unbeaten in three games, but because they continue to enjoy life sans-Pardew. Sadly, for them, they run into a team that has just worked out how to win sans-Yaya….just in time for the big man’s return. Seven goals already this season and yet Yaya is 0.3mln cheaper than he was at the start of the season – his pre-ACON form of six goals in eight matches will, give Manuel Pellegrini the confidence that all is not yet lost in the hunt for the title, but a win here is essential with Chelsea at home to Burnley. What will be of equal concern will be Tuesday’s visit of Barcelona and the scary thought of what Messi, Neymar and Goofy may do to Kompany and co at the back. Back to the league and one look at the fixture history may see John Carver wish he still had Lord Pardew back to hide behind – for 90mins only – as City have won fourteen and drawn the other two of the last sixteen meetings between the two. With Yaya back, that stat should only get worse for the travelling Toon.

James Milner is City’s only absentee as the midfielder has picked up a knee injury. Sergio Aguero is fine, Yaya is back, Wilfried Bony is waiting to be unleashed and will definitely be in the squad, with Manuel Pellegrini refusing to say if he starts or comes off the bench.

Paul Dummett has joined fellow defender Steven Taylor on the treatment table. The 23-year old picked up a knee injury at Palace and could be out for the rest of the season, though the good news is he won’t need an operation – this leaves John Carver with just two fit central defenders in Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson. Remy Cabella is a doubt for the game having picked up an injury in training, while Siem de Jong is recovering from a collapsed lung. Jeez no wonder Pardew jumped ship. Chieck Tiote and Rolando Aarons also continue to miss out.

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Spurs vs West Ham (Sun 22 Feb 12.00)
Whilst it may be true that many people admit to not liking Spurs, West Ham loathe them. They despise them. They would gladly destroy them. While to be honest, Spurs look at West Ham as more of a nuisance. The mosquito that buzzes around annoyingly and every now and then bites. The power battles concerning the Olympic Stadium has not helped ease the hatred – “Lasagne-gate” in 2005/06 still rankles with the Spurs faithful, while David Levy’s refusal to subsidise a January move to West Ham for Emmanuel Adebayor just served to increase the bitterness the Hammers fans feel. The derby takes on added significance this season with West Ham outperforming to the extent that the teams are only separated by five points and the scousers. Last week’s disappointing Cup defeat at West Brom refuelled the “Big Sam out” chants from the adorable Hammers fans, but a week’s rest and the thought of a trip to their nearest and dearest will be enough motivation for the eastenders. Thursday’s Europa tie vs Fiorentina started a run of six matches in 17 days for Spurs, which may just mean rotation of the squad is an issue in the short term. The Hammers have won their last two matches at Spurs and completing the hat-trick will go a long way to appeasing the fans attitude to Big Sam….for a couple of weeks.

Spurs have a fully fit squad for the derby. Harry Kane only started from the bench on Thursday, but did come on and play 25mins at the end, he will obviously start vs the Hammers as will Danny Rose, Ryan Mason and Mousa Dembele who were sat with Kane. Eric Dier could also start alongside Jan Vertonghen. Anyone fancy a fiver on Hammer wannabe Adebayor to score the winner on Sunday?

Big Sam, who has survived another week in the Hammers’ hot seat is gutted to lose Andy Carroll again and says that new signing, Brazilian forward Nene, won’t be ready for another 10-14 days. The positive news is that Winston Reid, Matt Jarvis and James Collins have all trained this week and will be available for Sunday. Morgan Amalfitano is suspended after his sending off in the Cup defeat at West Brom last week – in that game both Diafra Sakho and Alex Song were withdrawn early to protect them in front of the visit to Spurs. To be fair, it looked like the whole team was resting, both on and off the pitch, so the Hammers should definitely be ready for their grudge match.

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Everton vs Leicester (Sun 22 Feb 12.00)
A trip to Bern may well be a welcome distraction for most of us, but for Roberto Martinez, it’s a complication that he doesn’t really need with his team languishing in the bottom half of the league and nearer the relegation zone than the top half of the table. However, their 4-1 victory last night, with Romelu Lukaku grabbing a hat-trick will have done both the team and the striker the world of good and in this case maybe their Thursday night adventure may be worthwhile after all. The Toffees have won just two out of the six matches they have played after a Thursday night game this season, although those victories came against Burnley and QPR, so the visit of Leicester shouldn’t prove too big a problem. While goals have been a problem for Everton, they have at least tightened up at the back, conceding just one goal in their last four – sadly they have only scored once in that time! The Foxes look doomed, unless the Leicester Strangler can come up with a cunning plan. Four consecutive losses in the league sees them four points adrift at the bottom and unless there is a quick turnaround, it’ll be a swift return to the Championship for them. Just one win over Everton in their last seventeen meetings doesn’t bode well for Leicester.

Martinez says Leighton Baines will be fit for Sunday, but Aidan McGeady is unlikely to be back. Both players, along with Sylvain Distin and Arouna Kone didn’t travel with the squad to Switzerland on Thursday, but out of that quartet, it’s only McGeady that won’t be fit to face Leicester. Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar played for the U21s on Tuesday and will join Tony Hibbert in training tomorrow – it’s unlikely they will play on Sunday, but Martinez will give them every opportunity. Gareth Barry is suspended following his red card at Chelsea, Aaron Lennon returns to the squad, while Bryan Oviedo felt a strain in his hamstring in Bern and will be assessed on Saturday. James McCarthy was withdrawn on Thursday just as a precaution and is fine for the visit of the Foxes.

Leicester have no new injury worries for the weekend, they do however, have to get over the hangover of losing to Villa in the Cup – that will take some getting over, but if the team is going to play for anyone, then its Nigel Pearson. Just out of fear. Kasper Schmeichel remains unavailable, which should see Mark Schwarzer preferred to Ben Hamer between the sticks. New signings Robert Huth and Andrej Kramaric may well be the only hope if the Foxes are to survive.

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Southampton vs Liverpool (Sun 22 Feb 16.15)
The Steven Gerrard farewell tour makes it’s way to Southampton this week as fourth meets seventh. The two teams are separated by just four points with the Saints in pretty good form, while Liverpool have won four of their last five and beginning to show glimpses of returning to their best. Even Mad Mario has shown an improvement of late, albeit from a pretty low base. This has been a mixed fixture over the recent years, though Liverpool have won the last two, including a 3-0 victory at St Mary’s last season which inspired Brendan Rodgers to buy half the Southampton team. Mario was again the hero for Liverpool on Thursday, scoring a late penalty in their 1-0 victory over Besiktas – in fairness, if there’s one thing he can do, it’s take a penalty, which probably seals his future at Anfield when Gerrard sails off to pastures new.

Ronald Koeman expects to have Morgan Schneiderlin, Shane Long and Matt Targett back into the squad for Sunday, but will have to continue to cope without the suspended Ryan Bertrand and the injured Toby Alderweireld. The manager is hopeful that Alderweireld will be available next week.

Liverpool welcome back Raheem Sterling for the tough trip to St Mary’s after the England international returned to action with a 15 minute cameo off the bench vs Besiktas. In the same match Daniel Sturridge completed 90mins for the first time since his comeback and is building up his match fitness nicely. Kolo Toure is available again after returning from the ACON, but Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva, Jose Enrique and Jon Flanagan all miss out through injury. Expect Lazar Markovic to feature vs the Saints as the midfielder sat out the win on Thursday due to his European suspension.

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Suspension Report

Players suspended for GW26

Gareth Barry (Everton)
Ryan Bertrand (Southampton)
Geoff Cameron (Stoke)
Morgan Amalfitano (West Ham)

Players who receive ten cautions by the second Sunday in April will receive a 2-match ban. Players currently on 9 cautions are:

Gareth Barry (Everton)
Jack Colback (Newcastle)
Phil Bardsley (Stoke)
Lee Cattermole (Sunderland)
Neil Taylor (Swansea)

It’s also worth pointing out that Diego Costa & Cesc Fabregas are both on 8 cautions.

DOUBLE GAMEWEEK INFORMATION:

The match between Leicester and Chelsea has been rearranged for GW34, meaning both clubs will have a DGW that week.

LEICESTER will play Burnley away and entertain Chelsea;

CHELSEA travel to Arsenal and then face a second away match at Leicester

Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football GW26. This article was written by Cookie

Follow @SteveCook9

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WooFBet
We would like to remind you that our official partners, WooFBet, are again running a whole host of prize competitions, which will please many of you who are slowly building a lovely retirement nest egg, while others continue to persevere in the hope that this week will be their week! We published an article earlier this week to explain the tournaments in more detail and we recommend you get yourselves over to WooFBet.com as this week they have over €500 in free entry prizes and a whopping €4500 in guaranteed pots. You also have the option to create your own tournaments and head-to-head challenges. Choose your rules and buy-in fee, and invite friends or leave it open for the public to challenge you.

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Don’t forget to vote on the Captain Poll

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