Team Talk Fantasy Football Gameweek 38

Team Talk Fantasy Football Gameweek 38

The last TeamTalk of the season, a truly sad day (he joked). There is no rhyme this week and the reason for that is thus – I have joked at the expense of many this season with the Goonies and Scousers and Pardew of course, copping most of the stick. Deserved? Harsh? Whatever your view, I thought this week, the last week of the season, we should end on a positive note, being nice to all – yep even the Goonies and the Scousers. After all, I did my best Jeremy Clarkson impression last week and faced an FF247 disciplinary meeting after my twitter session last Saturday morning. Apparently I upset a few Scousers. I didn’t really understand the issue, I do it every week anyway, but I have been banned from the FF247 twitter handle until August. Funny that.
This gameweek has been labelled “Survival Sunday” as we will finally determine who will join Burnley and QPR in the Championship next season. With Sunderland’s point at Arsenal securing their safety it is now down to either Hull or Newcastle.
Don’t forget that all matches kick off at 3pm on Sunday.
For the final time this season, let’s go Around the Grounds to see what the managers have had to say.

Arsenal vs West Brom
Short of Arsenal losing badly at home and United destroying Hull, the order of the top four has now been decided, with Arsenal finishing third and losing their 4th place trophy. Wednesday’s goalless draw at home to Sunderland was the third consecutive match at the Emirates where the Goonies have failed to score – fortunately for them they nicked a draw at Old Trafford which ultimately saw off the United challenge. Or maybe not. Are we underestimating West Brom here? After all they took Chelsea to the cleaners on Monday evening and with Wembley on Arsenal’s mind, perhaps it’s not the most outrageous thought that the Baggies could nick something. And then it’s over to what United can do to Hull. But we are speculating here, it’s the last day, anything can happen, but it would be quite amusing wouldn’t it? Arsenal have beaten the Baggies seven times out of the last nine, with the other two being drawn, so United fans shouldn’t get too excited just yet.

Arsene Wenger says he will rest one or two of his players for the weekend – of course he didn’t name names, but the main speculation appears to centre around such names as Aaron Ramsey, Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny, though none of this is confirmed. Ramsey has of course been carrying a knock, as has Sanchez while Koscielny was struggling with illness in the week. Giroud has gone six matches without a goal. To ease your minds somewhat, the manager did say the team would be “similar to the team” that drew with Sunderland, so you can make your own guesses as to who misses out. Despite this, Wenger said he is focused on winning the game. Those confirmed out are Danny Welbeck, Mathieu Debuchy, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mikel Arteta.

West Brom have no new injury worries for the final game of the season, with keeper Ben Foster the only injured member of the squad.

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Aston Villa vs Burnley
A week before the Cup Final, Villa get the chance to sign off their league season in front of their home crowd as they entertain the relegated Burnley boys. After last week’s hammering at Southampton, Tim Sherwood will be keen to get his team back into the winning mentality that saw them escape relegation so that they go to Wembley in good heart and with confidence high. Villa have won their last two at home, but were held to a draw when they met Burnley in November – that was at a time when Sean Dyche’s men were showing signs that they could stay up for another season in the top flight. Sadly, that didn’t happen for them but they are still fighting hard and have certainly not thrown the towel in – far from it, as they have only conceded six goals in their last nine matches including clean sheets in their last two – but, as we have said so many times this season, it’s been scoring that has been the problem and what has ultimately sent them down – two goals in eleven matches at the business end of the season just ain’t good enough.

Good news for Benteke owners as Sherwood has vowed not to rest players in front of the Cup Final. Most of the Villa squad is now fit with the exception of defenders Ciaran Clark and Kieran Richardson and striker Libor Kozak, while Nathan Baker could come back into the squad.

Doomed Burnley will again have the same squad available – long term absentees Dean Marney and Kevin Long remain on the treatment table while Steven Reid may make an appearance before he retires.

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Chelsea vs Sunderland
The Black Cats have done it again – survival for another season has been achieved late on and unsurprisingly it was two 0-0 draws in DGW37 that got them over the line. What that means for their approach to Sunday is unclear at this point, but without doubt they won’t have the same defensive desire and intensity that they showed at the Emirates on Wednesday. Now Chelsea have completely gone on holiday if Monday’s display at West Brom is anything to go by. Can Jose get them fired up for one more Champions-like performance in front of their own? Or will they take their lead off Cesc Fabregas and try and get sent/taken off asap and get their speedos on? The Blues haven’t won any of their last three vs Sunderland and of course Mourinho’s unbeaten home league record was broken by Connor Wickham and Fabio Borini at the end of last season – as we have been told many times this week, GW38 is a lottery but my cash is on the Champions to sign off in style.

Right you only really care about Eden Hazard don’t you? Rather than waffle on I will give you Mourinho’s quote: “Well I hope he can play. But I would never have allowed him to have the operation if I thought it would be this big. His mouth is in trouble. I don’t know if he can play. He had dental surgey, three teeth. But now there’s an infection and he’s in a bit in trouble. If he’s a risk he won’t play, but he won’t train today (Friday)”. Petr Cech may be available after he resumed training today and Jose says if he is fit he will play “some part”. Cesc Fabregas is supended, while Oscar, Kurt Zouma and Ramires are all injured. Diego Costa is fit and will play, while Jose says he also hopes to play youngsters Andreas Christensen (defender) and Jeremie Boga (attacking midfielder).

Sunderland keeper Costel Pantilimon misses out on Sunday with a knee injury and will likely be replaced by Vito Mannone, while Danny Graham is a doubt with a knock on the ankle. Seb Larsson has been passed fit, while Lee Cattermole will be trying his best to become the first player in Premeir League history to reach 15 yellow cards in a season. Jordi Gomez, Wes Brown and Liam Bridcutt remain sidelined.

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Crystal Palace vs Swansea
This one should be a cracking end of season goal fest, we hope! Both teams are scoring – Palace put another three past Liverpool last week, while Swansea lost a cracking match to City a week after winning at the Emirates, so fingers crossed, we’ll have some entertainment. Cue the bore draw!! Both sides have had more than decent campaigns – the Swans under Garry Monk have recorded their best ever season in the Premier League and will finish eighth, whatever the result on Sunday. Palace were of course fighting relegation when the Lord joined and he has not only steered them to safety but improved their style of play to the point that they are an attractive team to watch and less defensive than under Pulis. Palace have never beaten the Swans in the Premier League, losing one and drawing two and since beating City in early April have gone on to lose their last three at home since – clearly the Lord will be keen to sign off with a home win, while for most of us the result is academic, we’re just looking forward to the likes of Siggy and Bolasie putting on a last day show.

The Lord says he has a fully fit squad to choose from for Sunday but will again use the game to give keeper Wayne Hennessey some gametime. Pardew has taken a load of grief off me this year, but redeemed himself by leading Palace to a 3-1 win at Anfield last week. Now my hero, The Lord used his presser to remind us that since he took over AT relegation threatened Palace, the Eagles are sixth in the table!! When asked if he agreed with Mourinho being named Manager of the Year, he replied, “Yes, he is manager of the Year. Garry Monk has done a good job, so has Koeman and….so have I”. Love him.

Monk says a number of his squad are carrying niggles, implying that there maybe changes. Sadly he failed to elaborate on that, summing up his helpfulness all season. What we do know is that Kyle Naughton, Jordi Amat, Ki Sung-yueng, Wayne Routledge and Nelson Oliveira are all out.

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Everton vs Spurs
Two of our Europa League participants fight it out at Goodison, with both teams probably looking forward to the end of the season and a chance to put their feet up and look back at a season. For Spurs it promised so much more – fighting it out in the Europa League, Capital One Cup and chasing a Champions League place – of course none of the aforementioned led to success as the fixture pile up took its toll. For the Toffees, their Thursday night commitments turned out to be more of a hindrance, creating problems in the league that were only eradicated once they left Europe – next season without any distractions should see better things at Goodison as their recent form suggests. Everton haven’t lost at home to Spurs since 2007 and with Kane and co seemingly running out of gas an away win here looks unlikely.

Roberto Martinez hopes that Sylvain Distin can shrug off illness to make a farewell appearance on Sunday, but fellow defender Antolin Alcaraz has been ruled out with a knock. Leighton Baines, Tony Hibbert, Bryan Oviedo, Steven Pienaar and Darron Gibson all continue to be sidelined while Aaron Lennon is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Emmanuel Adebayor will be missing for Spurs after being allowed to return to Togo for personal reasons, while keeper Michel Vorm has been ill all week meaning the retiring Brad Friedel may see some action. Defenders Kyle Walker and Ben Davies remain out.

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Hull vs Man Utd
You know the maths by now – Hull are two points behind Newcastle, so Steve Bruce’s men have to win but will only stay up if Newcastle then fail to beat West Ham at home. So Hull will need to go for it and put an end to their three match losing streak. They beat Liverpool at home in GW34 so it can be done and it may just be determined on which United turn up. The Reds have to smash Hull and Arsenal have to lose at home to West Brom for United to leapfrog the Goonies into third. For those associated with United longer than the likes of LVG and RVP will be in two minds here with ex-United captain Bruce being in grave danger of the drop – what doesn’t help Bruce is that in seventeen matches vs United he has failed to win one. Ah, doesn’t bode well for the Tigers.

Hull have no new injury worries for their must win game. Curtis Davies, Mo Diame, Robert Snodgrass and Gaston Ramirez are all still out, while Jake Livermore is of course suspended.

LVG says he will play his strongest available team “in respect of the honesty of the league.” Wayne Rooney has recovered from his leg injury and will play, but there is still a doubt over keeper David de Gea. The keeper returned to training today but only with the goalkeeping coach and the manager said he still has a small problem and will be assessed nearer to the game. Michael Carrick is ruled out, while there are doubts over Luke Shaw and Jonny Evans.

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Leicester vs QPR
A season of differing fortunes for both clubs, with many surprised which team of the two managed to escape the drop, especailly when just a number of weeks ago, Charlie Austin was banging in goals for fun, while Leicester couldn’t buy a win. And then came that day at Spurs, when Leicester lost 4-3, but suddenly decided they weren’t going to go down without giving it a go. They’ve scored goals, they’ve tightened up at the back, we’ve had #ostrichgate and the dressing room, at the behest of manager Nigel Pearson has united, fought together and succeeded. Like or loathe him, hats off to Pearson – aggressive he may be, but fair play, we’d all written off the Foxes – they were doomed. And now we’re all clambering for a Foxes defender in our team, or Jamie Vardy. That, my friends, is a success story. And then onto Rangers – overpaid egos, dressing room infighting, Barton kicking people in the bollocks and a complete lack of unity has led to another relegation and an uncertain future for the club with a huge Financial Fair Play fine hanging over them and plenty of aged players on huge contracts. QPR won the reverse fixture 3-2 in November – many if not all of us will be hoping for one more Leicester win and for them to record their first ever Premier League win over the R’s.

Pearson would dearly love to finish off the season in style but will have to do without the injured David Nugent, while fellow striker Leonardo Ulloa may not be unnecessarily risked after he has been carrying a knock. Danny Simpson won’t be considered for selection due to his ongoing court case.

Rangers boss Chris Ramsey says he expects some of the youngsters to feature at Leicester, while also saying that Rob Green won’t feature after picking up a knock to the head last week vs Newcastle. Steven Caulker may also not be risked after playing throgh injury these last few weeks, while the same may be true of Bobby Zamora. Those definitely ruled out are Rio Ferdinand, Sandro, Adel Taarabt, Alejandro Faurlin and Eduardo Vargas, but in all honesty none of you really care do you?

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Man City vs Southampton
Arsenal’s failure to beat Sunderland means that City are guaranteed second place – not what they would of wanted at the start of the season but better than what it looked like earlier this year when they couldn’t buy a win. And trust me, if they could of bought one they would of! They will surely want to finish off in style at home and eighteen goals scored in their last six games suggests they have found some form, albeit too late to challenge the beach bums of Chelsea. Southampton regained some form and confidence last week as they smashed six past Villa with Sadio Mane smashing a few Premier League records. The Saints will be hoping for a win that could see them finish fifth is Liverpool’s and Spurs’ results go their way, but will have their work cut out at a venue where they have lost their last four and have fresh in their minds the 3-0 drubbing that City inflicted over them at home in November.

City will without midfielders Samir Nasri and Fernando as manager Manuel Pelegrini says he will name the same team that won at Swansea last week and wants to sign off with another victory to close out the campaign.

The Saints will be without Morgan Schneiderlin and Dusan Tadic for the trip to City, while of course Fraiser Forster is sidelined. Striker Jay Rodriguez has progressed well and will travel with the squad, but is not quite ready to feature in the matchday squad.

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Newcastle vs West Ham
It’s time for the Toon to finally show some pride, guts and bottle as they attempt to see off West Ham and secure Premier League survival at the expense of Hull. Of course they go into “Survival Sunday” in pole position over the Tigers as their fate is in their own hands but last week’s loss at Rangers served as a reminder that all is not well in the North East. Just one point out of a possible thirty is complete relegation form, yet bizarrely they are still favourites to stay up. Manager John Carver has a job on his hands fuelling his players in readiness for the game, but if there was one opponent they would choose to play this week, then the Hammers would be near the top of that list for they themselves have shown poor form of late, though manager Big Sam may decide he has some unfinished business at St James Park! It may well be a case of which manager can most inspire his team.

Mike Williamson is available again for the Toon after serving his ‘holiday’, while Papiss Cisse has stepped up training this week and is likely to get more than the 28mins he played off the bench in the loss at QPR. Rob Elliot, Steven Taylor, Massadio Haidara and Chieck Tiote remain out as Newcastle try and escape the drop.

The Hammers will be without defender James Collins with a calf strain and will likely be replaced by young Reece Burke, although James Tomkins should return to the squad.Guy Demel, Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll remain out, while ex-Toon midfielder Kevin Nolan should be ok to play after missing last week due to family reasons.

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Stoke vs Liverpool
Liverpool go to Stoke still in pole position to finish fifth, though if results go against them they could still be overtaken by Spurs and Southampton. Overall, it’s been a disappointing season for Liverpool, for many reasons that have been well documented over the course of the past few months. For the Potters, it’s been a record season for them in the Premier League and they’ll obviously want to sign off for the summer with one more victory. They have however struggled in this fixture of late, losing the last three to Liverpool including an entertaining and Suarez inspired 3-5 loss last season. Stoke have been a bit of a mixed bag of late, while Liverpool have won just one of their last five which has seen them ultimately miss out on Champions League qualification.

Stoke boss Mark Hughes says that keeper Asmir Begovic will play at the weekend, but midfielder Steven Ireland is a doubt as he is suffering with a stiff back. Victor Moses has a hamstring injury, but everyone else is fit and raring to go.

Brendan Rodgers confirmed that Mario Balotelli is a doubt and defender Mamadou Sakho has a chance after returning to training in the week. Of Raheem Sterling, Rodgers expects him to be available, while maintaining the young cheeky chappie will see out the final two years of his contract at the club. Ok… Daniel Sturridge is of course out.

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Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football Gameweek 38. This article was written by Cookie

Follow @SteveCook9

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Don’t forget to vote in this week’s Captain poll.

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