Team Talk Game-week 35 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League

Welcome to GW35, upon us so soon and just about giving us time to get our breath back from a chaotic, dramatic and for some, disappointing DGW34. It seems so much has happened since we last chatted. Liverpool make huge strides towards what we will be an emotional league title, The Special One continues to plan his smash and grab project and City look to have thrown in the towel. Away from the top, Arsenal hold pole position in the race for fourth, Penfold is turning into Steve McQueen as Fulham’s great escape is gathering pace, there has been alleged bullying behind the scenes at Villa Park, across the city, West Brom striker Saido Berahino has been caught inhaling “hippy crack”, spying allegations at Cardiff, Tony Pulis makes a late challenge for the manager of the year award, there have been training ground bust-ups at Swansea and in the latest episode of the soap opera that is Man Utd, Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck and Young Tom are seen boozing, dancing and chatting up young ladies in the streets hours after United’s CL exit – this resulted in Young and Welbeck being fined and Young Tom being sent to his room with no dinner. Never a dull moment round here.

Let’s get Around the Grounds and see what GW35 has in store.

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Tottenham vs Fulham (Sat 19 April 12.45)

Fulham travel from their comfortable leafy riverside surroundings to the dregs of the capital – but at least it’s an early kick off, so with any chance the local low-life will have just got in from their night time activities and Penfold’s boys will be able to escape well before sundown. Escape is very much the word we associate with the Cottagers right now – two wins in a row has taken them to within two points from safety and with Norwich’s fixtures being about as bad as you can get, every scraped point is going to be invaluable for Fulham. Spurs meanwhile have been, well, Spurs, in the last four games, which have contained 21 goals, of which they have scored eleven – basically they could thump Fulham or get turned over by their lowly rivals – nothing would really surprise us. Form in this fixture certainly favours Spurs, who have won four of the last five meetings between these two giants of London, though Fulham did sneak a 1-0 victory at the Lane last season.

Penfold reveals he has only one injury in the squad for the trip to the Bronx and that, unsurprisingly is striker Kostas Mitroglou. A bigger loss is influential midfielder Lewis Holtby who is ineligible to face his parent club.

Tim Sherwood is pleased to see ex-Cottager Mousa Demeble return to the squad in the only change from last week, meaning Michael Dawson, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Erik Lamela, Etienne Capoue and Roberto Soldado continue to be sidelined.

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Aston Villa vs Southampton (Sat 19 April 15.00)

Now there have been a number of times this season when I have watched discussions on the chat room about Southampton, the rough gist of which went along the lines of, “cracking team, play good stuff, must have cover, playing really well” – and even now I see Adam Lallana or Rickie Lambert being spoken of as essential components of a FPL team. At times I have wondered if I was going mad and missing something. This is one of those times. They have lost three of their last four, including last week’s home loss to Cardiff – now if that doesn’t tell you they are already on their holidays – or in Lallana & Lambert’s case, the World Cup – then you’ll never believe it. On the other hand we have Villa – they’re crap, everyone knows they’re crap and no-one really wants any of their players in their team unless its cheapo Nathan Baker. The Villains have lost their last four and will be hoping that Norwich don’t get another 2pts in the last four games otherwise they could be in real trouble. It’s been a chaotic week at Villa after Paul Lambert’s assistants Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa have both been suspended and an internal investigation is underway, with some reports suggesting the pair have been accused of bullying some of the younger players and staff.

Villa have Leandro Bacuna back in the squad after recovering from a hamstring strain. Paul Lambert has no new injury concerns – but Christian Benteke, Chris Herd, Charles N’Zogbia, Jores Okore and Libor Kozak conyinue to miss out.

Mauricio Pochettino says Jay-Rod, Gaston Ramirez and Kelvin Davis are all ruled out of the game at Villa, but better news of first-choice keeper Artur Boruc, who is expected to return.

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Cardiff City vs Stoke City (Sat 19 April 15.00)

Are we about to witness a great escape from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his boys? Well, in all honesty probably not, but there is hope – and when you’re Welsh, hope must be one of your bestest ever friends, so they’ll have it in abundance. The Welshies are only a point behind Fulham and a win against Stoke would set up a proper finish down at the bottom, for their next two games are trips to the north-east to Sunderland and then Newcastle – both of which are obviously winnable. But they’ll find it tough against Mark Hughes’ side, who have won four of their last five games and are beginning to look a half-decent team again. The Potters are unbeaten in their last seven matches with Cardiff and one player who’ll be anxious to do well is Stoke striker Peter Odemwingie.

Stoke have no fresh concerns for the match but will have to continue to be without Matthew Etherington and Robert Huth. Oussa Assaidi will travel with the squad and will be assessed at Cardiff, but won’t be risked if not 100%, while Charlie Adam is expected to make the trip after having an operation earlier in the week to fix his broken nose.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was delighted with the win at Southampton and reports no fresh injuries from that game. Kenwynne Jones has an outside chance of being available, though for a more accurate look at their line-up you best ask someone at Crystal Palace. The manager said Craig Noone has an outside chance of being fit for the last game of the season vs Chelsea, while club captain Mark Hudson is, of course, ruled out for the season.

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Newcastle vs Swansea (Sat 19 April 15.00)

Oh the Swans, what’s happened to you? Capital One Cup winners, European football, Wilfried Bony arrives to partner Michu, Michael Laudrup in charge, playing great stuff – it was all looking so good. And now you’re scrapping for your Premier League lives as well as scrapping on the training ground, Chico the Brick has already attacked Garry Monk this season, Laudrup is long offski and you see it all going tits up. Well, the good news is the fixture list bod has been very kind to you and has given you a game vs Newcastle – which if you haven’t been watching lately is similar to playing cricket against your 2-year old sister in the back garden. Pardew has admitted that he and his squad “are not in a good state of mind at the moment” – hahaha what a bell, dragging his squad down with him, or is it the other way round? Or is it Ashley’s fault? Or Keegan? Or Shearer? Or, more accurately….who cares? Imagine if Mr Angry was in charge of Swansea, there’d be fights every day on the training ground. Twat.

Mr Angry is slightly less angry after revealing that striker Loic Remy and defender Mathieu Debuchy have returned to training and hopes to have them available this weekend, while midfielder Moussa Sissoko has begun light training, but is not likely to play vs the Swans. Hatem Ben Arfa picked up a knock vs Stoke and is a doubt for the game, while defender Davide Santon has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign.

Garry Monk will have a relatively full strength squad to choose from. Michu is a doubt with an ankle injury, defender Dwight Tiendalli has been suffering with illness and Chico Flores starts a two-match ban after being red-carded in the loss to Chelsea.

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West Ham vs Crystal Palace (Sat 19 April 15.00)

In this brave new world of foreign coaches, squad rotation, team pyschologists and so on, how great it is to see to experienced, old school English managers ploughing their trade to good effect – even though the Hammers fans may still hate the type of football on offer. So we’ll ignore those stupid east enders, cos they don’t deserve any air time. Palace – four wins in a row and now clear of relegation. Brilliant. Don’t forget, when Pulis arrived, the Eagles had lost seven of their first eight, had no attacking threat, open at the back to the extent that Fulham went there and won 4-1. Now, with four games left, they are safe from the drop, have taken 33pts from 22 matches and conceded just 20 goals in the process, a figure only Chelsea can better. The Hammers of course have stumbled to the brink of safety, in fact they probably are safe on 37pts, but it’s not quite mathematically secured and will be looking to continue the good form they showed in the first half at the Emirates in the week – however, their recent record vs Palace isn’t great, they are winless in the last five and Palace, as I have already said are on a roll after winning their last four matches, including Wednesday’s impressive win at Everton.

Pulis said a number of his players picked up knocks in the impressive midweek victory and striker Marouane Chamakh, defender Joel Ward and winger Yannick Bolasie will all need fitness tests before the game. Adrian Mariappa will also need assessing after suffering a broken nose at Goodison, while Kagisho Dikgacol remains a doubt.

Big Sam welcomes back Kevin Nolan, James Collins and Joey O’Brien back into the squad, giving him a full-strength line up to select from as he attempts to match Palace’s 40pt tally.

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Chelsea vs Sunderland (Sat 19 April 17.30)

Have Chelsea been given a window of opportunity in the league? With City throwing away two points at home to Sunderland in the week, the media frenzy has all been that Liverpool have their destiny in their own hands. Well, yes they do – but so do the Blues of course, because if they go to Anfield in GW36 and nick the victory, then they will be firm favourites for the title. Which makes this week even more important as they’ll need to see off Sunderland, who performed so heroically at the Etihad – will they be allowed the same space to play? Will they be able to breakdown Chelsea as easily as they walked through City? Well, probably not, but they will at least have gained some confidence and belief – which is great as long as they don’t look at the record between the two clubs, which shows Chelsea winning 17 of the last 19 matches between the two. The Blues have kept six clean sheets in a row at home and Mourinho of course has never lost a league match at the Bridge – a failure to change that record would surely mean curtains for the Black Cats this season.

Eden Hazard is the only member of the squad unavailable for the weekend, with assistant manager Steve Howard saying the midfielder is still to resume training and must be considered a doubt for the Champions League semi final first leg in the week. With that match in mind, don’t be surprised if Jose springs a couple of surprises on Saturday.

Chelsea old-boy Gus Poyet welcomes back defender Ondrej Celustka back into the squad, but still has to do without the suspended David Bardsley and injured Ki Sung-yueng, Carlos Cuellar, Kieren Westwood and Steven Fletcher while midfielder Liam Bridcutt is also missing due to personal reasons.

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Norwich vs Liverpool (Sun 20 April 12.00)

A huge game at Carrow Road which will have implications at both ends of the table. The Canaries are embroiled in the relegation fight and have four nightmare fixtures in which they will surely need to grab some points if they are to escape the drop, while Liverpool of course are going for the league and after last week’s victory over City, they find themselves top with their destiny in their own hands. Many at Anfield feel that this is their year – now, where have I heard that before? – and the win over City will only confirm those beliefs, but they have gone from many not giving them a chance to being most people’s favourites, which will mean they now have to deal with the pressure of expectation, so we shall see how they cope with that. Man City dropping 2pts on Wednesday pushes the pendulum firmly in Liverpool’s favour now. This is, of course, a nailed on away win on paper as the Canaries have gained just one point in their last nine matches vs Liverpool, who have scored five goals in each of the three meetings between the two – and if that isn’t scary enough, then it’s a brave manager that doesn’t captain Luis Suarez this week – the Uruguayan muncher has scored eleven goals in his last four vs Norwich! Is there any hope for the home side? Well, not really, although some will point out that their home form is ok – well, defensively at least, in that they kept clean sheets vs Man City and Spurs at home.

Daniel Sturridge is very unlikely to be fit for the weekend after suffering a small hamstring strain in the win over City – manager Brendan Rodgers said the injury wasn’t serious and hasn’t completely ruled the striker out of the game and with Chelsea coming next week, one would think he won’t be risked. Jordan Henderson is suspended for three matches after his red card last week and Jose Enrique remains in recovery mode.

Norwich caretaker manager Neil Adams is again without winger Elliott Bennett and defender Joseph Yobo, while Sebastien Bassong could be recalled.

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Hull City vs Arsenal (Sun 20 April 14.05)

We have an FA Cup final rehearsal as Arsenal seek to hold onto fourth place in the race for Champions League football, while Hull, though not mathematically safe will feel that they have pretty much secured another season of top flight football. Another win would, of course, secure their survival, though one wonders how many of their players will have their date at Wembley in the back of their minds, despite Steve Bruce’s assertions that the league is their total focus for now. The Gunners splattered and stumbled in the first half vs West Ham before showing some of their old form in the second half in a game that saw Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski return to goalscoring form and Santi Cazorla pulling the strings in midfield.

Arsene Wenger has said that defender Kieran Gibbs is definitely ruled out, but Nacho Monreal could return – if he doesn’t that Thomas Vermaelen will continue to deputise. Mesut Ozil may also “be fit to travel”, though Wenger said he’d have to monitor him first, which didn’t sound terribly bullish for this weekend. Mathieu Flamini returns from suspensions, while Aaron Ramsey and the Ox had a good rest this week, with the Welshie playing just the last 20mins of the West Ham game and by the looks of it has been spending time, errrrrm “chillaxing” with Giroud in the hot tub – steady on Olivier, those rumours will start up again.

Hull have no fresh injuries for the game, meaning that keeper Allan McGregor, defender Paul McShane and midfielder Robbie Brady continue to sit out. Strikers Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic return to the squad after being ineligible to play in the FA Cup last weekend.

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Everton vs Man Utd (Sun 20 April 16.10)

Despite losing on Wednesday evening, you can bet your last hub cap that the atmosphere at Goodison on Sunday will be electric. Not necessarily cos the home fans still think they’ll be playing Champions League football next season, but because Sunday sees the return of the illustrious Moyes and Fellaini back to their old employers. Far from being hostile and abusive, one can imagine the fans just laughing and mocking, given the state of utter bewilderment that both have brought to United. The Toffees, as we know, haven’t looked back since they waved goodbye to Dumb and Dumber and manager Roberto Martinez, who let’s face it, looks like Ottmar Hitzfeld when compared to Moyes, will be urging his players to finish the season well in the hope that Arsenal have a slip up over the last four game-weeks. United have had ten days off since losing to Bayern, which by the looks of it have been spent very wisely – as mentioned in the intro, Young, Welbeck and Young Tom have been cavorting all over Manchester, Rio has been opening new restaurants and nightclubs, Giggsy has been tracing his family tree, on match.com and Wazza has been nursing his broken nail. Wednesday’s win for Palace at Goodison was hugely significant for this one as we all know Moyes’ record vs the top four clubs and having won their last two vs the Reds at home, the Toffees will be confident of bouncing back on Sunday.

Everton have no fresh injuries for the game, but are expected to bring back James McCarthy into the starting XI. Martinez says Phil Jagielka is unlikely to be fit for the game, while he hopes that Steven Pienaar may be fit for the visit of Man in GW37. Bryan Oviedo, Darron Gibson, Arouna Kone and Lacina Traore remain sidelined.

Moyesie has probably just delivered his most transparent presser yet – half of me wants to go and give him a big cuddle, the other half wants to ask why its taken all bleeding season to manage it. Anyway, Wazza’s toe nail has grown back, so he has surprised many and will make the squad for the trip back to his old employers. Fuzzball is also fit after missing the Bayern game and will make the squad for the trip back to his old employers. Hopefully Young Tom and Young have sobered up and will make the squad for the trip to their future employers. Meanwhile, Rafael is still out, RvP is in Holland smoking de weed and Jonny Evans is “making progress”, whatever that means.

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Man City vs West Brom (Mon 21 April 20.00)

Our game-week concludes at the Etihad as City face another easy home fixture where all they’ll need to do is turn up and grab the three points. Hold on, I said that last week and Sunderland go spoil the party – can the Baggies do likewise? City, after two shocking results in DGW34 will need to turn their season around immediately here, if they are to retain any hope at all of winning the title. Manager Manuel Pellegrini says his team were still scarred by their loss at Anfield – jeez, how will they feel about being outplayed by the Mackems? Suicidal I would imagine. West Brom need points and quick – they looked so good going into a 3-0 lead vs Spurs last week, but then managed to cock that up good and proper – but they are unbeaten in three and their last two wins have both been on the road, so don’t rule them out quite yet. Unsurprisingly, City have a great record in this fixture, winning six and drawing one of the last seven between the two.

Having dropped 5pts in their last two matches, Pellegrini needs all his troops to stand up and be counted – unfortunately he’s not going to get his wish this weekend as the injury devil has descended on the Etihad. Yaya Toure is definitely out of this one, while fellow midfielders David Silva and Jesus Navas are also very likely to miss Monday’s game. Matija Nastasic remains out at the back. Much will now depend on Sergio Aguero if their season is not to peter out with just a Capital One Cup to polish.

Baggies midfeilder James Morrison hasn’t trained since the win at Norwich in GW33, but will be assessed over the weekend, while Pepe Mel is hopeful that defender Jonas Olsson will be available after he came off during the Spurs match with an achilles problem. Berahino should make the squad unless he plans one of his party weekends.

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Finally, on behalf of the FF247 team, we’d like to wish you and your families a very Happy Easter.

Thanks for reading Team Talk game-week 35, this article was written by Cookie.