Team Talk Fantasy Football Gameweek 14

Team Talk Fantasy Football GW14

When the Lord said, “There is no peace for the wicked” I don’t think he had us managers in mind, but he may as well have done as we go straight from GW13 into GW14 in just over 48 hours. It’s another week dominated by injury, suspension and hits galore for many as “mini wildcards” are played by some. The most important part of GW14 is this: you will see the teamsheets for tonight’s six matches before the deadline, which is 19.30 UK time tonight – so you will have time to make late transfers depending on who is, or probably more likely, who is not starting. The line-ups are revealed an hour before the kick off for each game so from 18.45 this evening be near your phone, tablet, pc as those teams are revealed on here.
So, our midweek gameweek begins tonight as Burnley host Newcastle, Leicester entertain Liverpool, Stoke travel to Man Utd, Swansea take on QPR, Crystal Palace welcome Aston Villa and West Ham take the trip to West Brom.
Then onto Wednesday as Arsenal and Southampton meet at the Emirates, Chelsea host the London derby with Spurs, Hull go to Everton and Sunderland welcome Man City to the Stadium of Light.
Let’s Go Around the Grounds and catch up on all the news.

Burnley vs Newcastle (Tues 2 Dec 19.45)
I’ll have a fiver with anyone that this game is not the first one shown on Match of the Day! A goal fest we are not expecting, but Newcastle will be looking to get back on a good run after their drab defeat at West Ham on Saturday, while Burnley will be keen to extend their sequence of three games undefeated. There is no fixture form to track here, as these two haven’t met since 1983 – Burnley won 1-0 that day and I just wonder if that scoreline may be repeated here.
Toon midfielders Jack Colback and Moussa Sissoko are suspended, but striker Emmanuel Riviere returns to the squad. Winger Ricardo Aarons and defender Fabricio Coloccini should also be available, but Daryl Janmaat is struggling with a hamstring injury, while Mike Williamson and Massadio Haidara are also doubts with knocks. Tim Krul, Ryan Taylor, Davide Santon, Gabriel Obertan, Siem de Jong and Mehdi Abied remain sidelined. Obviously. Manager Alan Pardew fears Krul may be out until January with his ankle injury.
Burnley continue to have a doubt over Michael Duff. While manager Sean Dyche believes his man is not far away from a return he wants to be sure that Duff has fully recovered, putting his participation this week in question. If Duff doesn’t make it, Michael Keane will continue to deputise, while Matty Taylor, Sam Vokes and Nathaniel Chalobah remain unavailable. Midfielder Scott Arfield could be primed for a start after returning as a substitute at the weekend.

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Leicester vs Liverpool (Tues 2 Dec 19.45)
It may not have been pretty, but a win is a win and Saturday’s defeat of Stoke should have bolstered confidence within the Liverpool dressing room. Leicester meanwhile are now bottom and things are looking bleak for the Foxes. They still haven’t won since beating United in September and if I have to keep writing that stat every bleeding week it’s going to drive me insane.
Brendan Rodgers will be selecting from the same squad as the weekend, though he did say that defender Mamadou Sakho has returned to training, but won’t be ready for Leicester. Daniel Sturridge, Mario Balotelli and Jon Flanagan continue to miss out.
Meanwhile, Rodgers revealed that captain and bench warmer Steven Gerrard has been offered a new contract. Gerrard will almost certainly be recalled tonight after being rested for most of the game on Saturday. Talking of contracts, awful defender but occasional scorer of vital goals, Glen Johnson, who is also out of contract in the summer, says he won’t go crawling to the club for a new contract and will only play for a club that wants him. Heard Blackpool are looking for players, Glen lad. See ya.
Leicester chief Nigel Pearson has urged his troops to respond immediately to their defeat at QPR. Striker David Nugent has a sore ankle and will need a late test, but apart from him the squad will likely be the same. Matthew Upson remains sidelined.

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Man Utd vs Stoke (Tues 2 Dec 19.45)
A second home game in four days for United and another win would be their fourth in a row, but Stoke battled valiantly at Anfield at the weekend and will surely do the same here. However the Potters’ record at Old Trafford is awful, they have never won there in the Premier League and their last victory was in 1976. Still, Mark Hughes will be ever hopeful with the belief that records are there to be broken but with United having won five out of six and drawn the other this season, it’s a tough ask for Stroke.
Wayne Rooney is expected to shrug off the knock he received on Saturday but Angel di Maria is likely to be out for a fortnight or so with a slight hamstring strain. Luke Shaw, Daley Blind, Phil Jones and Jesse Lingard continue to be sidelined, but Rafael has returned to training and could be available for the trip to Southampton in GW15, while Jonny Evans played for the U21s on Monday so won’t be involved tonight. LVG will look to continue to increase Radamel Falcao’s playing time, but it’s fellow striker Robin van Persie who could be the man here – he has scored 11 goals in ten games against Stoke and has scored in every match against them for United.
Stoke have been hit by an injury to Steve Sidwell, which will keep him out for 6-8 weeks, while fellow midfielder Glenn Whelan is likely to miss another fortnight with his calf injury. There is better news of defender Phil Bardsley, who returned to training on Monday and is expected to be ok for the game, while Oussama Assaidi is also available after being ineligible to play against Liverpool. Robert Huth, Victor Moses and Peter Odemwingie remain out.

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Swansea vs QPR (Tues 2 Dec 19.45)
Swansea welcome Rangers to the Liberty wanting the three points after their disappointing display vs Palace at the weekend. But ‘Arry will be equally as keen for the victory to build on Saturday’s win over Leicester and to ensure they lift themselves out of the drop zone. Rangers have lost six out of six on the road this season, while the Swasn have only been defeated once at home. This game smacks of goals and ultimately another home win.
‘Arry is pleased to say that defenders Yun Suk-Young and Steven Caulker should recover from knocks, while striker Bobby Zamora will be checked in training, but is feeling better and hopeful of being available. Defender Richard Dunne is available again from suspension, but Sandro, Adel Taraabt and Alejandro Faurlin remain sidelined.
Swans boss Garry Monk has no new injuries for the match and welcomes back Nathan Dyer into the squad. Central defender Federico Fernandez continues to miss out.

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Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa (Tues 3 Dec 20.00)
Selhurst Park under the lights is not a place for the faint-hearted and Villa will do well to silence the crowd and come away with anything here. Having beaten Liverpool just ten days ago, Palace will be confident and tough to beat, but at least Villa have put an end to their run of six successive losses with three draws in a row. The Eagles are unbeaten in their last eleven home meetings with the Villains and it would be a surprise if that run ended this week.
Palace striker Dwight Gayle is a doubt with the back injury he picked up on Saturday, but Neil Warnock says he wants to be involved and will give him every chance. If Gayle doesn’t make it then either James McArthur or Fraizer Campbell will start in his place. Defenders Adrian Mariappa and Damien Delaney continue to miss out.
Villa welcome back Christian Benteke from suspension with manager Paul Lambert suggesting the striker will again need to build up his match fitness. However, these are desperado times for Villa and it’s likely Benteke will be thrown straight in. The problems remain at the back for Villa with Ron Vlaar, Philippe Senderos and Nathan Baker again ruled out, while Ciaran Clark is expected to recover from the knock he picked up at Burnley. He’ll have to recover otherwise Benteke may have to play as a central defender too! Fabian Delph and Libor Kozak are also still unavailable.

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West Brom vs West Ham (Tues 3 Dec 20.00)
With West Ham currently flying high in fifth place, they are not the visitors West Brom would of chosen as they are on a run of three successive defeats and only appear to be heading one way. South. Which ain’t great when you’re called West Brom.
Mark Noble is a doubt with a calf injury, but Enner Valencia returns to the squad as does Winston Reid after missing the weekend through suspension. Top scorer Diafra Sakho continues to miss out, but if all goes well this week he could return vs Swansea in GW15. So says Big Sam. But, there is a but. There is chat that only Alex Song didn’t travel up to Birmingham this morning, meaning Sakho hasn’t been completely ruled out yet. Big Sam says the squad is confident coming off a win, which will help with fatigue with the fixtures coming thick and fast.
The Baggies could be without defender Sebastien Pocognoli after he picked up a dead leg vs Arsenal, while a late decision will be made on midfielder James Morrison, who has been suffering from illness. Claudio Yacob is suspended and Jonas Olsson has been ruled out until the New Year.

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Arsenal vs Southampton (Weds 3 Dec 19.45)
The question on everybody’s minds is of course, “Was Sunday’s defeat the start of the downturn for Southampton?”. Well, Arsenal will certainly be hoping so as they look to continue their rise into a Champions League spot while the Saints will be hoping that Sunday was a blip as they look to regroup and continue their great season. Well, the odds ain’t great as Southampton haven’t beaten Arsenal in the league since 2002 and you have to go back to 1987 for the last time they won a league match away to the Gooners.
Damian Martinez will continue in goal for the Gooners as Wojciech Szczesny is again ruled out, as is first reserve David Ospina. Ospina should be available again in a week, while the same time frame is given for full back Mathieu Debuchy. Nacho Monreal, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs are all doubts and will need late checks, with Wenger saying that he hopes one of his left backs will be ok to play. Yaya Sanogo is available, for what its worth, but Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshire, Mikel Arteta and Theo Walcott will definitely be missing.
Saints midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin will miss the match with an injured adductor, but Jack Cork will return after missing Sunday through illness. James Ward-Prowse and Jay-Rod are the only other absentees.

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Chelsea vs Spurs (Weds 3 Dec 19.45)
A good old midweek London derby as Spurs take the short journey across London hoping they can upset a Costa-less Chelsea. But will the Blues even need Costa? Spurs haven’t won in the league at the Bridge in 24 games, indeed since Gary Lineker’s winning goal in 1990. Spurs will be buoyed of course from their win over Everton at the weekend, but Chelsea are six from six at home this season and nothing appears to be good enough to stop them. Yet.
Danny Rose, Emmanuel Adebayor and Etienne Capoue have all returned to training, though whether Mauricio Pochettino decides to tinker with the team that beat Everton remains to be seen. Kyle Naughton returns from suspension, Kyle Walker began his comeback by playing for the U21s on Monday and Nacer Chadli is available after being an unused substitute on Sunday.
The big team news from Chelsea is of course the absence of 78 year old wrestler Diego Costa who misses out through suspension after attempting to single-handedly dispose of the Sunderland defence on Saturday. Jose Mourinho says he trusts Loic Remy and Didier Drogba as much as he does Costa and he has no doubts they will be more than capable of a good performance vs a good Spurs side. Aside from Costa, Mourinho reports his squad to be fully fit, with only young defender Nathan Ake missing out through injury.

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Everton vs Hull (Weds 3 Dec 19.45)
Both teams will look to bounce back from disappointing GW13 defeats, but surely Everton will have too much under the lights at Goodison for a struggling Hull side that finds itself very much embroiled in the relegation battle. Steve Bruce’s boys have lost four on the spin and they’re only ever win at Goodison came in a Division Two match in 1952!
Steve Bruce has again had to rule out Abel Hernandez as the striker is away with his mrs giving birth, but there is better news of Tom Huddlestone who is inline for a recall. Gaston Ramirez is suspended, Robert Snodgrass is still sidelined, but Nikica Jelavic will be keen to score against his former club.
Everton will continue to be without midfielders James McCarthy and Darren Gibson – Roberto Martinez says Gibson has responded well to treatment and will be back soon, but it’s still too early to predict a return date for McCarthy. Steven Naismith has an outside chance of being fit for Hull, while Arouna Kone and Bryan Oviedo continued their comebacks by playing and scoring for the U21s on Monday night. John Stones and Antolin Alcaraz continue to miss out.

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Sunderland vs Man City (Weds 3 Dec 19.45)
Both sides will come into the game with confidence – City from their resounding win at Southampton on Sunday, while Sunderland became the first team to stop Chelsea scoring at the weekend, but can they go one step further and keep out City? Of course they can’t, City are flying. But one moment caller – check this out – Sunderland have won the last four meetings with City at the Stadium of Light. Who’s up for five out of five?
Gus Poyet has revealed that he has a couple of doubts for the game, but didn’t reveal who they were. However one of those is thought to be in defence as Sebastien Coates was warming up intensively throughout the 2nd half on Saturday. Surely not Wes Brown. Wes, tell me you’re ok son. Billy Jones and Emanuele Giaccherini are both training well, but are not quite ready for action. Patrick van Aanholt remains a long term absentee.
Manuel Pellegrini says that Vincent Kompany won’t be able to play tomorrow night, leaving a huge problem in defence with Eliaquim Mangala suspended and Matija Nastasic injured. Either Bacary Sagna or Dedryck Boyata will partner Martin Demichelis at the back – bear in mind Boyata played in the Charity Shield when City were thumped 3-0 by Arsenal. Sagna it is then. David Silva, Edin Dzeko and Aleksandar Koalrov all continue to be ruled out.

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Suspension Report

Players suspended for GW14
Diego Costa (Chelsea)
Gaston Ramirez (Hull)
Eliaquim Mangala (Man City)
Jack Colback (Newcastle)
Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle)
Claudio Yacob (West Brom)

Those players on 4 yellow cards and one booking away from suspension:

Tom Cleverley (Aston Villa)
Andreas Weimann (Aston Villa)
Dean Marney (Burnley)
Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea)
Nemanja Matic (Chelsea)
Gareth Barry (Everton)
Steven Naismith (Everton)
Tom Huddlestone (Hull)
Jake Livermore (Hull)
Andrew Robertson (Hull)
Liam Moore (Leicester)
Martin Skrtel (Liverpool)
Vincent Kompany (Man City)
Daryl Janmaat (Newcastle)
Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle)
Graziano Pelle (Southampton)
Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton)
Mame Diouf (Stoke)
Ryan Shawcross (Stoke)
Neil Taylor (Swansea)
Ashley Williams (Swansea)

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That, my friends, is that. Be sure to remember to check out the line-ups before the deadline this evening. Good luck and go big.

Thanks for reading Team Talk Fantasy Football GW14. This article was written by Cookie

Follow @SteveCook9

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Over on the WooFBet website they have a special tournament running from Gameweek 14 to Gameweek 19 called ‘Decembers Best Manager’, which is free to enter and has a whopping €500 up for grabs.

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Due to the quick turnaround in Gameweeks there is no specific free GW14 tournament for FF247 users, but there will be one for GW15

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