Team Talk Fantasy Football Gameweek 35

Team Talk Fantasy Football Gameweek 35

Just four gameweeks remain,
To keep your mini leagues alive.
So I hope you’ve planned accordingly,
For gameweek 35.

No double gameweek this time
But plenty still to mull.
Starting off with Leicester,
And ending up in Hull.

The Foxes kick off lunchtime
As they welcome in the Toon.
Pearson’s recovery almost there,
It’ll be confirmed very soon.

Sherwood must stop throwing his gilet
It’ll get crumpled up and torn.
It’s Everton this week for Villa,
The Toffees in terrific form.

QPR travel to Anfield
To say their goodbyes to Stevie G.
But also farewell to the Premier League,
Great escape that was from ‘Arry.

If the Black Cats do get relegated
They can have no complaints.
No one really likes them,
We’re all cheering on the Saints.

Down on in the valleys,
Where the sheep run from the local folk.
Swansea go for another home win,
When they take on the mighty Stoke.

Bottom club Burnley travel to London,
Worrying times these for Sean Dyche.
A failure to get one over Big Sam
Will surely mean it’s “On your bike”.

A trip to Old Trafford this week for Pulis,
To pit his wits with the Philosophy.
But with the Baggies almost safe now,
It could be a good day for RvP.

Chelsea just three points away,
I don’t think they’re too bored.
They’ll be celebrating on Sunday
When they defeat Palace and the Lord.

Whenever Spurs and City do battle,
It’s normally goals scored for fun.
And with both defences leaking so much,
Put your savings on Harry and Kun.

The Goonies lead us home this week
At Hull on Monday night.
With Wenger chasing 2nd place
And Bruce the relegation fight.

Let’s go Around the Grounds to see what the managers have said in their pressers.

Leicester vs Newcastle (Sat 2 May 12.45)
The midweek loss at home to Chelsea shouldn’t detract from the recent form the Foxes have shown – four wins in a row before Wednesday has lifted Leicester out of the drop zone, a point clear of Sunderland, who have a game in hand. What effect the DGW has had on Leicester’s squad will be evident on Saturday – and I’m guessing the last thing they could do with is an early kick off with not much rest. But Nigel Pearson is clearly a great motivator and you can bet he’ll have his cubs up for this one. Newcastle’s form is in direct contrast – seven straight losses bring more doom and gloom to the North-East – the Geordies are on 35pts and must be glad that the likes of Burnley, QPR and Sunderland are showing no signs of form. Leicester knocked Newcastle out of the FA Cup in January but have failed to beat them in their last nine league meetings. If form is anything to go by, then a home win is almost certain – but it’s been a funny season and an even stranger last six weeks. Don’t write the Toon off just yet.

Pearson cheers up Jeffrey Schlupp owners by declaring the defender fit for the weekend. Striker David Nugent isn’t so lucky and will continue to miss out, meaning Jamie Vardy will likely need to play with another pain killing injection. Robert Huth and Andy king limped off vs Chelsea and are doubts for Saturday although they will be given every opportunity to prove their fitness.

Some good news for Newcastle as midfielder Moussa Sissoko returns from suspension and Paul Dummett has trained this week and will come straight back into the squad. John Carver says that Siem de Jong isn’t yet ready to start but should be involved, but Daryl Janmaat has recovered from illness in time to play. Massadio Haidara, Steven Taylor, Chieck Tiote and Rolando Aarons all remain out while Papiss Cisse serves the final game of his suspension.

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Aston Villa vs Everton (Sat 2 May 15.00)
The most played fixture in top flight English football takes place on Saturday as in-form Everton go to Villa, who despite the positivity displayed by Tim Sherwood are still fighting relegation and need a win or two to secure their Premier League status. Now wouldn’t that be great if Sherwood took them down. How I would laugh. Gilet sales would plummet and touch wood the great one would vow to bring Villa straight back so we’d have a year off having to listen to the numpty. Despite their battling and ultimately unlucky loss at City last week, Villa won’t have things their own way as Everton are on a real run of form since exiting the Europa League, winning five and drawing the other in their last six including last week’s demolition of United. Villa haven’t won any of their last eight vs the Toffees, though in fairness none of the previous eight saw the participation of Sherwood who can even inspire Young Tom to start scoring – sadly, for him, he doesn’t appear to be inspiring Brad Guzan who decided to offer Sergio Aguero an open goal at the Etihad. Nothing like choosing your client Brad. Welbeck maybe. Chamakh probably. Torres definitely. But not Kun, Brad mate.

Villa will again be without Gabby Agbonlahor, but Sherwood hopes the striker will return to full training early next week and be available for GW36. Alan Hutton has a chance of playing after the full back trained successfully this week, but Ciaran Clark remains out.

Everton have no new injuries from last week’s win over United, meaning Tony Hibbert, Steven Pienaar and Darron Gibson remain out. As does Bryan Oviedo who compounded his problems by breaking a metatarsal in training this week and won’t appear again this season.

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Liverpool vs QPR (Sat 2 May 15.00)
Well, that didn’t go well did it Brendan me ol’ china? No goals in a double gameweek vs West Brom and Hull when chasing a Champions League spot doesn’t go down well with the locals. That top four berth seems out of reach now for Liverpool, even the manager has admitted that, although a home victory vs QPR may just take some pressure off him, albeit temporarily. Rangers don’t travel well as we know, though they are, somehow unbeaten in their last two matches on the road. But with Leicester and Hull now showing some relegation-avoiding form the pressure is well and truly on the Hoops to win every game – the fact they’ve only won seven all season suggests relegation is the sentence hanging over the serial acquirers of over paid has beens. Last week Rangers managed a 0-0 draw with West Ham and with Liverpool clearly clueless in front of goal another scoreless draw can’t be ruled out. But c’mon, surely they can score vs QPR. Form in the fixture suggests so and unsurprisingly doesn’t make good reading for Rangers – they have lost six and drawn the other of their last seven trips to Anfield. While it may be a great time to visi Liverpool, a failure to take the three points back to West London is likely to be another nail in the relegation coffin.

Liverpool could welcome back Alberto Moreno (knew you’d all be pleased), Lucas and Steven Gerrard this weekend – Moreno and Lucas have trained this week and if they get through training ok on Friday they “should” be ok, while Gerrard was rested for the Hull match. Jon Flanagan has been ruled out for around nine months after undergoing knee surgery, while Daniel Sturridge and Mario Balotelli are injured, leaving Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini fighting it out to start up front – if Rodgers decides to play a striker – he’s clearly not keen on either of those two.

Mixed news for Rangers as striker Bobby Zamora is struggling with a hip injury and is a doubt for the match. But there is better news as Leroy Fer is now fit and will feature, while Adel Taarabt, Mauro Zarate and Suk-Young Yun all played in a friendly in the week and will come into contention. Rio Ferdinand should also make the squad, though Chris Ramsey admits the defender is not quite 100%.

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Sunderland vs Southampton (Sat 2 May 15.00)
“Come on you Saints” – let’s relegate this boring, dull club who let’s be honest, offer very little to the league and pretty much even less to us FPL managers. Give them great fixtures and they still can’t perform – anyone who gets spanked by QPR and Villa deserves nothing but the red card from the top flight. Let’s hope that Southampton can find at least one more perfromance in them – they’ve gone sloppy of late, which is bizarre as Graziano Pelle has rediscovered his nose for goal. Without an away win since defeating QPR in early February and in all reality this fixture shouldn’t hold any dangers for them if they can just refocus and concentrate and do us all a favour. Sunderland’s only win in their last ten was their derby win over the as-clueless Toon – but they always win that derby anyway. Worryingly the Chats Noir have a decent record at home to the Saints, but we’d obviously prefer to remember the 8-0 victory for Ronald Koeman’s men at St Mary’s in October.

Sunderland’s cause won’t be helped by the absence of striker Steven Fletcher – manager Dick Advocaat has said that the weekend is likely to come too soon for Fletcher. However, midfielder Seb Larsson is available again following suspension, but Wes Brown, Ricky Alvarez and Emanuele Giaccherini continue to be unavailable.

Southampton have been rocked by the news that Morgan Schneiderlin has been ruled out for the season – the midfielder, who has been heavily linked with a summer move to Arsenal suffered the knee injury in last week’s draw with Spurs. Dusan Tadic has a groin injury and misses the trip to Sunderland as of course does keeper Fraser Forster. There is good news of Jay Rodriguez, who has joined in training for the first time in a year with Ronald Koeman still hopeful the striker may feature before the end of the season.

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Swansea vs Stoke (Sat 2 May 15.00)
Eight meets ninth down in South Wales with both teams having little to play for now bar personal pride and in Stoke’s case, a chance to break their Premier League points record – they need a further four points to top last season’s tally of 50. The Swans of course broke their record in last week’s win at Newcastle. Both clubs have a lot to thank their respective managers for with Garry Monk certainly surpassing expectations after taking over from Michael Laurdrup last year and having to do without talisman striker Wilfried Bony after the African striker decided he’d rather occupy the City medical room and bench. Mark Hughes has had similar issues having to cope for most of the season without Bojan Krkic. Remember that train many wanted to board in August? It’s still in the sidings. This fixture generally produces goals and normally a home win but with both teams looking forward to their summer off it’s a tricky one to predict, but at least it should be a good one to watch.

Swansea welcome back Jefferson Montero and Neil Taylor. Taylor returns to the squad after serving his supension while Montero has been passed fit after recovering from his hamstring injury. Bafetimbi Gomis and Wayne Routledge both remain sidelined.

Stoke have a doubt over defender Geoff Cameron, who suffered a slight hamstring injury last weekend. Hughes is hoping the defender can train on Friday and will then make an assessment. Charlie Adam broke his nose in training on Thursday but is confident he’ll be ok to play in a protective mask, but there is unlikely to be a return for Marc Muniesa or Victor Moses. Peter Odemwingie will be hoping for some more minutes off the bench, while Bojan Krkic remains out.

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West Ham vs Burnley (Sat 2 May 15.00)
Poor old Burnley – for much of the season they were outperforming Leicester, less dull than Sunderland and just weeks ago Sean Dyche was being proposed by some as manager of the season! Five weeks and four defeats later, they are bottom, five points from safety with just four games left. Things are indeed looking bleak. What may just be their lifeline this week though is they’re playing West Ham, who couldn’t even score vs QPR last week – everyone scores vs QPR. Apart from Sunderland. And Burnley. And therein lies the problem. Goals. Or more pertinently, the lack of them, for Burnley have failed to score in seven of their last eight games, the one exception being when they beat City. Work that one out. They should at least take heart from witnessing Leicester’s recent performance’s and what can be achieved, despite the odds. But time is running out….the time is now or never for Dyche and his men. For the Hammers the summer can’t come quick enough as their season is petering out, a la Newcastle. Which isn’t a comparison one wants. Big Sam is rumoured to be offski come May, motivation is low and there is nothing to play for. Except pride. Which clearly they haven’t got. Which reminds me. London Pride – how I’d love a pint or two of that right now. Would make this more interesting. I’m waffling. Right, team news.

The Hammers will again be light up front with Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho remaining sidelined. Guy Demel and Winston Reid have also been ruled out, while James Tomkins has stepped up his rehab but likely won’t be risked, so young Reece Burke will get another start at the back. Alex Song has returned to training this week after a back injury ruled him out of last week’s trip to QPR.

Burnley striker Sam Vokes is touch and go for the trip to West Ham and will need a late assessment on his thigh injury. However Ashley Barnes is available again after suspension and could come straight back in to partner Danny Ings if Vokes doesn’t make it. Matty Taylor will be keen for another start vs his old employers, while long term absentees Dean Marney and Kevin Lonn remain on the treatment table.

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Man Utd vs West Brom (Sat 2 May 17.30)
Back to home comforts for United after two strange away losses where they dominated possession, created little and ultimately got dicked on by Chelsea and Everton. The Baggies are the visitors this week and they’re back to their Pulis best with two back to back clean sheets vs Pulis Past (Palace) and Pulis Future (Liverpool). United have only failed to score in one home game this season, that was vs Southampton who came looking for a draw and went away with 3pts….oh dear, this sounds a bit deja vu’ish. West Brom did win last time they visited Old Trafford, a Saido Berahino winner last season in The Dream Season starring David Moyes. LVG said they he noticed United were not “up for it” in the warm up at Everton, so you can bet your life that the Carrington training ground hasn’t been a fun place to be this week – a United win would see them on the verge of a return to Champions League football – don’t expect LVG to allow that to slip out of his grasp very easily.

The good news for United is that Wayne Rooney has recovered quicker than expected and has been passed fit for the weekend. Defender Phil Jones is also fit, but LVG needs to measure his “match rhythm”, but Luke Shaw and Jonny Evans are injured. Good old Jonny, gets suspended for six weeks and then gets injured! RVP played and scored for the reserves in the week and is available, but Michael Carrick will miss the game.

Pulis was unhelpful in his presser, merely saying “we have a few knocks, but I won’t reveal who”. Tone, mate, we don’t really care and I doubt that LVG is quaking in his clogs waiting for your “all important injury update”. Nob. What we do know is that Ben Foster is obviously out and James Morrison could be a doubt after limping off late in the draw with Liverpool. Youssouf Mulumbu is available after suspension and Darren Fletcher will be looking forward to going back to Old Trafford where he will be afforded a magnificent welcome.

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Chelsea vs Crystal Palace (Sun 3 May 13.30)
Boring, boring Chelsea can wrap up the title on Sunday with a win over Palace – if they do that’ll be with three games in hand, the second highest number of goals scored (the highest isn’t Arsenal, btw), the second least goals conceded (the lowest isn’t Arsenal btw) and with the Player of the Year in their side. I’ll take boring. Palace are the victims/guests this weekend and the Lord will want the Eagles to at least put up a fight, which they probably will as they’re much better away from home than they are at home. Bit like John Terry. Palace haven’t won at Chelsea since 1982 and it would obviously be a massive shock if they managed to break that trend this week – with Jose smelling blood and glory only overconfidence will surely stop them getting over the line – you only had to see their second half performance at Leicester to appreciate that when it really matters, The Special One is not afraid to lay into his players to refocus them. Two successive home losses may just be the sign that the season is up mentally for Palace, although they have won their last two on the road. Hmmmm, not enough for me – I fully expect to see JT holding the trophy aloft come Sunday afternoon. Boring, boring Chelsea.

Diego Costa has again been ruled out for the weekend with Mourinho saying he didn’t want to risk him. This blow has been softened by the availability of Loic Remy who has trained this week, while Didier Drogba showed flashes of his old self and scored in the second half at Leicester. Jose said he still hasn’t decided who will be in goal on Sunday, suggesting that Thibaut Courtois is still not 100%, so Petr Cech could deputise once again.

The Lord says most of his injured players have returned to training but strikers Marouane Chamakh and Fraizer Campbell will both need more time to build up their fitness. Defender Joel Ward “has a chance” and will need a late assessment.

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Spurs vs Man City (Sun 3 May 16.00)
It’ll be a sleepless night on Saturday for those Spurs defenders – 26 goals conceded in their last six vs City doesn’t bode well, but then those games were against a marauding Yaya, a crafty Nasri, a creative Silva, a dangerous Dzeko and an unstoppable Aguero. It’s a different City now – a stuttering City, an unsettled City. But it’s still a City who still start the weekend in second place after two successive wins has taken them back above United and Arsenal. Spurs are fighting with Liverpool and Southampton to avoid a Europa League place – that poisoned chalice that seems to be quite fun for about five seconds and then ruins your season. However, if Arsenal win the Cup all three will qualify…job done! I’ll be a Gooners fan for that weekend. City have lost their last four away matches and don’t write off them losing a fifth as they were somewhat fortunate to get past Villa last weekend and half the team gives the impression that they can’t wait to leave the club in the summer. They haven’t kept a clean sheet on the road since winning 1-0 at Leicester in mid-December and a shut out here seems about as likely as a Mario Balotelli goal….while their defenders may have that sleepless night at the thought of facing Kun and Silva, the likes of HurriKane, Chadli and Eriksen will surely be relishing the chance at taking Mangala and Demichelis.

Danny Rose is available again for Spurs, which is good news for Spurs as fellow left back Ben Davies has undergone shoulder surgery and has been ruled out for the season. The only other absentee is Kyle Walker, but with Eric Dier in decent form, this is neither an issue or a surprise.

City will have to do without Yaya Toure who suffered a hamstring injury while walking around the Etihad against Villa. Captain Vincent Kompany also remains out but has a chance of returning vs QPR next weekend, while Stevan Jovetic is also sidelined. Gael Clichy has recovered from injury and is available.

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Hull vs Arsenal (Mon 4 May 20.00)
Well, well, well, who’d have thought that Hull were the team to back in DGW34?! Not many of us. Two wins, two clean sheets and Hull have leap-frogged Leicester, Sunderland and Villa and sit on 34pts, four points clear of Sunderland. They may already have enough points, they may yet need another win, but you can bet your life Steve Bruce will be targeting at least one more victory and there’s nothing he’d rather do than claim another big scoop this weekend. Arsenal come into the game in great form, having won eight in a row before Sunday’s draw with “Boring, Boring Chelsea”. Bless those Goonies – they seem to have forgotten that Chelsea have scored more goals than them and of course the Blues could/should have been awarded three penalties before they started bleating about Gary Cahill’s handball not being given. Love ’em. The Gooners have won all three of their Premier League visits to Hull and frankly you’d expect them to win this one also and secure their hold on 2nd place.

Hull could welcome back striker Nikica Jelavic after the striker returned to training this week – a place on the bench is probably his best hope though. Andrew Robertson should be available again after recovering from an ankle problem, David Meyler is in contention after suspension but Mo Diame continues to be a doubt as he struggles to even train two days in a row. I know the problem.

Wenger tells us he has a full squad available, apart from those who aren’t available. That’s boring. Mathieu Debuchy has suffered a small hamstring problem in training and has been ruled out, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mikel Arteta are “not quite ready”.

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Suspension Report for GW35

Those players suspended for GW35 are as follows:

Papiss Cisse (Newcastle)

Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Gameweek 35. 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 for GW35, 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! If you haven’t done so yet we recommend you get yourselves over to WooFBet.com as this week they have over €300 in free entry prizes and a whopping €1,850 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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Please remember to vote in this week’s Captain Poll

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