Team Talk Fantasy Football GW5

Team Talk Fantasy Football GW5

Welcome to GW5 and it’s at this point that the leagues are starting to take shape, both in the Premier League and also in our own little fantasy world. Whether your captain choice made or broke your GW4, it’s time to move on, re-focus and knuckle down to the joys that await us this week. It’s a lovely short 2-day gameweek that kicks off Saturday lunchtime as QPR and Stoke hope to put disappointing defeats behind them at the Loft. Four 3pm matches follow as Arsenal travel to Aston Villa, Burnley welcome Sunderland, bottom of the table Newcastle host Hull and Southampton go to Swansea. A lively night under the east end lights at the Boleyn awaits Liverpool. Sunday sees the remaining four matches – Leicester host a rejuvenated Manchester United at the same time as Spurs take on West Brom before Everton play host to Crystal Palace at Goodison. But the best is saved until last as Manchester City do battle with Chelsea at the Etihad – Pellegrini vs Mourinho, Kompany vs Terry, Yaya vs Fabregas, Silva vs Hazard and, of course, Aguero vs Costa. It’s gonna be massive, it will be huge, it may well be the match that decides your gameweek. Bring it on!
Without further ado, let’s go Around the Grounds and see if Jose tries to hoodwink us again!

QPR vs Stoke (Sat 20 Sept 12.45)
Stoke midfielder Jon Walters is a doubt for the match with a calf injury, while Marko Arnautovic has pain in his foot and will need to be assessed. Better news of Erik Pieters, who has recovered from a knock, while Steven Ireland will be available. Geoff Cameron and Peter Odemwingie continue to miss out.
Rangers’ midfielders Joey Barton and Jordan Mutch face late fitness tests ahead of the game – Barton’s competitiveness was particularly missed at Old Trafford last weekend. Yun Suk-Young and Eduardo Vargas are both expected to be available, but Adel Taarabt is “back to square one”, according to ‘Arry after the midfielder damaged ankle ligaments in training.

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Aston Villa vs Arsenal (Sat 20 Sept 15.00)
Ron Vlaar is a doubt for the game as he continues to struggle with the calf injury that kept him out of last week’s victory at Anfield. Christian Benteke and Joe Cole have both returned to training, but will need to build up their fitness before they become available – clearly Paul Lambert will be keen to get Benteke back as soon as possible. Libor Kozak is still recovering from his broken leg.
Calum Chambers has recovered from tonsillitis and Mathieu Flamini has shaken off his thigh injury, so both will return, while Jack Wilshire, who sustained (another) ankle injury in Dortmund is fit, for now. Mathuieu Debuchy, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott all continue to miss out. Nacho Monreal is also out with a back problem as is Yaya Sanogo with a slight hamstring problem.

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Burnley vs Sunderland (Sat 20 Sept 15.00)
Burnley will be without Danny Ings for the visit of the Black Cats – the striker limped off in the first half at Palace, though Sean Dyche is hopeful to have him back sooner rather than later. Matt Taylor and Sam Vokes are the only other absentees.
Gus Poyet has been delighted with the attitude of his squad, particularly those not getting starts and admits that midfielders Will Buckley, Emanuele Giaccherini, Jordi Gomez, Liam Bridcutt and fullback Billy Jones are all pushing hard for a starting spot. The manager suggests he may tinker with his side to an extent as he searches for the their first win of the season.

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Newcastle vs Hull (Sat 20 Sept 15.00)
This is surely a must-win game for Newcastle if Alan Pardew is to remain as boss. Many of the fans would, of course, prefer to see Pardew offski, but not me, he’s far too entertaining. It was against Hull last season when he head-butted David Meyler and how ironic it would be if he chose this match to literally not go down without a fight. Well the fans need some entertainment. Pardew will, of course, argue that injuries are not helping him – and he has a point as Davide Santon, Siem de Jong, Ryan Taylor, Papiss Cisse and Rolando Aarons all continue to be ruled out.
Hull have no new injury worries ahead of the match, meaning it’s just Robert Snodgrass who misses out through injury, while loan signing Hatem Ben Arfa cannot play against his parent club. Stephen Quinn has been passed fit to make the squad. Steve Bruce did say that striker Abel Hernandez was tired from Monday’s match vs West Ham, so a decision on him will be made before the game.

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Swansea vs Southampton (Sat 20 Sept 15.00)
The Swans will be without Jordi Amat and Leon Britton, but Garry Monk has an otherwise fully fit squad to select from as they look to bounce back from last week’s loss at Chelsea. Amat’s absence is likely to mean a first start for Federico Fernandez, while Wilfried Bony is likely to regain his starting spot from Bafetimbi Gomis.
Sadio Mane has now received his work permit, but won’t feature this weekend. Shane Long has recovered from the knock he picked up last week and has returned to training and should be available, but J-Rod remains on the treatment table. Reserve keeper Artur Boruc has joined Bournemouth on loan until January.

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West Ham vs Liverpool (Sat 20 Sept 17.30)
The Hammers will have the same squad available as per the Hull game on Monday night, meaning Joey O’Brien, Kevin Nolan, Matt Jarvis and Andy Carroll remain out. Big Sam is concerned that his side has not yet kept a clean sheet so expect them to be setting up as tighter, while looking to unleash Enner Valencia as much as possible at the other end.
Liverpool continue to be without Daniel Sturridge, Joe Allen, Glen Johnson and Emre Can, but welcome back Martin Skrtel. Jon Flanagan has undergone knee surgery and is expected to be out for a number of months. Sturridge has a chance of being fit for the derby in GW6, according to Brendan Rodgers.

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Leicester vs Man Utd (Sun 21 Sept 13.30)
The Foxes will be boosted by the return of midfielder Matty James, while keeper Kasper Schmeichel is expected to be fit after his knee injury. Matthew Upson remains out, but Esteban Cambiasso played 45mins at Stoke, while striker Leonardo Ulloa will be looking to continue his impressive start to the season, which has seen him score three goals in four matches. Nick Powell, on loan from United is ineligible.
LVG continues to be more useful the Moyes ever was…in many ways. Rooney owners will be pleased to hear the manager say, “I don’t think any player is fixed in the team, only the captain has more privileges”. There you go Wazza lovers, no more worrying for you. LVG is also pleased to report that the injury count is down to six, with Chris Smalling returning to training. Phil Jones is amongst those still out. No one else you will care about from a fantasy viewpoint.

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Spurs vs West Brom (Sun 21 Sept 13.30)
Baggies manager Alan Irvine is delighted to get his whole squad on the training ground together for the first time this season. However, some players may still lack the necessary match fitness to be considered this week – Joleon Lescott is described as “close”, though midfielder Silvestre Varela is “not as close” (as Lescott). Youssouf Mulumbu, Stephane Sessegnon and Victor Anichebe are all fit as is reserve keeper Boaz Myhill.
Mauricio Pochettino made ten changes for Thursday evening’s Europa Cup trip to Belgrade with keeper Hugo Lloris the only survivor from last week’s draw at Sunderland. Emmanuel Adebayor, Danny Rose, Younes Kaboul and Nacer Chadli didn’t even travel with the squad as they put their feet up in preparation for Sunday’s encounter with the Albion. Andros Townsend is to be assessed after picking up a knock in Thursday’s draw, while Kyle Walker continues to miss out.

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Everton vs Crystal Palace (Sun 21 Sept 16.00)
Roberto Martinez is expecting Seamus Coleman to shrug off a knock he picked up in the win over Wolfsburg on Thursday. The defender suffered a knock to the head and spent part of Friday under observation, but it is not thought to be too serious and he should be fine for the match. The Toffees have no new injuries, but Tony Hibbert and Ross Barkley are still unavailable. Sylvain Distin could return after missing the previous two games with a dead leg, while Bryan Oviedo and Arouna Kone are “not far away”.
Marouane Chamakh faces a late fitness test after making good progress from his hamstring injury, but manager Neil Warnock is hesitant on rushing him back too soon and it is likely he will be on the bench at best. Joe Ledley is fit and available again.

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Man City vs Chelsea (Sun 21 Sept 16.00)
A tale of two strikers.
Chelsea have a fully fit squad for the trip to the Etihad. Even Diego Costa. Sort of. The Special One says his striker is not in the best condition, but he will start vs City, but ideally needs a couple of weeks rest and until then will need to be protected until he is fully fit. This probably rules him out of Chelsea’s Capital One Cup tie vs Oldham in the week! There you go, no issues this week, no Friday night headaches, no trying to second guess the Special One.
Meanwhile in the City camp, Manuel Pellegrini has a similar issue with his main man, Sergio Aguero, who like Costa, is not fit enough yet to play three games a week, which explains his starting from the bench in Munich. Therefore, expect him to start on Sunday. This is too easy.
Edin Dzeko picked up a back problem in Munich, but is expected to be ok for Sunday, leaving Fernando and Stevan Jovetic as the only definite absentees for City, though the manager did say that defender Eliaquim Managla is still building up his fitness, therefore don’t expect a start for him.

Wishing you the best of luck for GW5.

Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football GW5. This article was written by Cookie

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