Team Talk Game-week 26 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League

Well it’s a quick turnaround into GW26 and we have done our best to gather all the team news together for you. The most important piece of information is that after much panic and worry, the Fulham vs Liverpool match DOES go ahead on Wednesday evening, after the proposed tube strike in London was cancelled. This evening sees four matches and Chelsea can extend their lead at the top to four points if they can bring three points away from West Brom, while Cardiff host Aston Villa, Southampton travel to Hull and West Ham welcome Norwich to Upton Park.
Tomorrow, sees Everton playing Crystal Palace, Man City and Sunderland have a dress rehearsal for the Capital One Cup final, Spurs go to Newcastle, Stoke play Swansea and, still reeling from their weekend horror shows, Arsenal entertain Man Utd….in addition to the aforementioned match at Craven Cottage.
Don’t forget that you will be able to see the line-ups for all tonight’s games before the deadline of 19.30.
Let’s get around the grounds and catch up on the latest team news to help you prepare for those last-minute transfers and team deliberations.

Cardiff City vs Aston Villa (Tues 11 Feb 19.45)
Villa manager Paul Lambert is hopeful that captain Ron Vlaar may be ready for a return, though he won’t be risked if he’s not quite ready. Marc Albrighton is pushing for a start after impressing in the 2nd half defeat to West Ham, while Ryan Bertrand is a doubt with a rib injury.
Cardiff midfielder Craig Noone should be available again after missing the loss at Swansea through injury, while Solskjaer hopes to have defender Kevin Theophile-Catherine available for selection. Jordan Mutch could be recalled and new signing Juan Cala is pushing to make his debut. Craig Bellamy has until 6pm this evening to respond to his FA charge of violent conduct – if he accepts the charge, he will begin a 3-match ban tonight.

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Hull City vs Southampton (Tues 11 Feb 19.45)
For Hull defender Liam Rosenior looks likely to miss two weeks with a thigh injury, which he picked up in the win at Sunderland. Keeper Allan McGregor completes his suspension, leaving Steve Harper to deputise. Defender James Chester is still out, but striker Sone Aluko should again be on the bench.
Saints pair Dejan Lovren and Gaston Ramirez remain sidelined, but midfielder Victor Wanyama is hoping for a recall. Young striker Sam Gallagher has returned to full training and will travel with the squad after being granted compassionate leave last week.

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West Ham vs Norwich (Tues 11 Feb 19.45)
Big Sam welcomes back midfielders Mo Diame and Joe Cole back into the squad, but Andy Carroll is still missing through suspension. Kevin Nolan is fit to play, despite suffering from a tight groin after the weekend win over Villa. The mystery of Ravel Morrison continues – the player maintains he doesn’t need a hernia operation, the manager says he needs to step up his fitness, while lurking in the shadows, ‘Arry wants to take the player on loan at QPR. Joey O’Brien is a longer term absentee.
Canaries midfielder Robert Snodgrass faces a late fitness test on a groin problem, but Jonas Gutierrez & Ryan Bennett are all definitely missing. Striker Gary Hooper has shrugged of a foot injury picked up vs City while Jonny Howson is set to resume training next week. Michael Turner remains sidelined with a hamstring injury. Ricky van Wolfswinkel is ok to play, despite being kicked violently on his bottom by Yaya Toure. Craig Bellamy, there’s a lesson for you there pal. Bottom is ok, head is not acceptable. So many jokes. Best move on.

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West Brom vs Chelsea (Tues 11 Feb 20.00)
Chelsea captain John Terry remains sidelined with a muscle problem, though Mourinho expects him to return for the FA Cup tie with Man City at the weekend. Better news, well I think it’s better news of striker Fernando Torres, who has recovered from injury and is available for selection, while Ramires, who was rested at the weekend, could return.
Baggies defender Billy Jones is a doubt due to a knee injury, while Pepe Mel has to continue to do without Nicolas Anelka, Stephane Sessegnon & Jonas Olsson. New striker Thievy Bifouma is hoping for a start after scoring as a substitute in the loss at Palace.

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Arsenal vs Man Utd (Wed 12 Feb 19.45)
Arsene has described the loss at Liverpool as “an accident” and expects a positive response. The Gunners have no new injuries from the weekend disaster – Aaron Ramsey & Thomas Vermaelen are still out, but striker Yaya Sanogo is available – yep, I’ve never heard of him either. Expect Kieran Gibbs to replace the ineffective Nacho Monreal at left-back.
Moyes is as helpful as ever. Presser lasts less than 3mins and he maintains, “we played well vs Fulham and were unlucky”…and…”we got a good result vs Arsenal at Old Trafford and we’ll try for the same again”. Brilliant, just ******* brilliant. Thanks for your help. Right I’ll do my own research. Phil Jones had a scan on his hip injury at the weekend and is unlikely to feature, but Tom Cleverley may be fit after a calf problem (noooooooooooooooooooo!!). The match at the Emirates is likely to come too soon for Jonny Evans and Marouane Fellaini – not all bad news then.

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Everton vs Crystal Palace (Wed 12 Feb 19.45)
Everton’s on-loan striker Lacina Traore may feature vs Palace but he’s not yet ready for 90mins, so prolific scorer Steven Naismith is likely to start again. Romelu Lukaku has returned to light training and is likely to be ready to return in GW28, as he is ineligible for the GW27 match vs Chelsea. Antolin Alcaraz should also be back for GW28.
Tony Pulis has no new injuries and a fully fit squad to choose from, but is likely to keep the same starting XI that defeated West Brom at the weekend, with all three new signings Tom Ince, Joe Ledley and Scott Dan impressing.

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Man City vs Sunderland (Wed 12 Feb 19.45)
Mixed news for City as Pellegrini reports that midfielders Samir Nasri & Javi Garcia are both back in full training, but Fernadinho and Sergio Aguero are still a week away from returning to training. Defender Matija Nastasic has a slight knee injury, while Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo are still not 100% fit, but should make the squad.
Sunderland have no new injury concerns for the match but will have to do without Wes Brown, who picked up his third, yes 3rd red card of the season at the weekend and starts a two match ban. Carlos Cuellar remains out with a hip injury, while Steven Fletcher is still struggling to shrug off an Achilles injury

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Newcastle vs Tottenham (Wed 12 Feb 19.45)
Newcastle still have plenty of concerns but could be boosted by the return of Papiss Cisse against Spurs. Pardew says 4/5 players are on the verge of a comeback, including Chieck Tiote, who should return for GW27, captain Fabricio Coloccini may be back around that time too as will Loic Remy, who completes his suspension this week. Mathieu Debuchy is doubtful after limping off at Chelsea with a calf injury.
Tim Sherwood has no new injury concerns for the trip to Newcastle, meaning he should select from the sale squad that overcame Everton on Sunday. Andros Townsend will be pushing for a start. Vlad Chiriches could be out for a further six weeks with his back injury, while Erik Lamela has suffered a setback in his recovery from a thigh strain. Sandro is also missing.

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Stoke City vs Swansea (Wed 12 Feb 19.45)
Garry Monk is hopeful that midfielder Jonjo Shelvey should be ready to return soon, it’s possible he could feature at Stoke, but Michu has had a small setback in training, delaying his return.
Stoke hope to welcome back Marko Arnautovic and Marc Wilson tomorrow – both have returned to training this week and providing they suffer no setbacks, will be named in the squad. Robert Huth is still sidelined with a knee injury, but could return to training in ten days or so.

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Fulham vs Liverpool (Wed 12 Feb 20.00)
Brendan Rodgers is pleased to report that Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger have both returned to training, but it’s a case of “wait and see” as to whether Wednesday’s match comes too soon for either one of them. Liverpool will continue to be without Jose Enrique, Mamadou Sakho and Lucas.
Fulham, fresh from their hard-earned point at Old Trafford, now have the tough task of keeping Suarez & Sturridge quiet. They’ll still have to do without defender Fernando Amorebieta, while new signing, striker Kostas Mitroglou is not yet ready to make his debut.

Good luck for GW26

Thanks for reading Team Talk, this article was written by Cookie.

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