Team Talk Gameweek 32 – FPL Fantasy Football Premier League

Welcome to GW32 and after the fun and games of DGW31, its back to normality with just a single round of fixtures. No scores of 200pts this week me thinks. But this of course, is the bread and butter of our game, not that nonsensical free-for-all we were subjected to last week. And where better to kick off than at Old Trafford, the Theatre of Dreams – or as it now more commonly known as, The Theatre of Screams, if you’re David Moyes. Villa are this week’s grateful recipients of anything United can give them, which will probably constitute a couple of goals and three points. We then have five 3pm kick-offs as Crystal Palace host league leaders Chelsea, Newcastle take the long trip down to Southampton, Stoke welcome Hull to the Britannia and then two massive relegation six pointers as Swansea entertain Norwich and Cardiff go to West Brom. Saturday evening sees Man City face one of their harder fixtures (on paper, at least) as they take on Arsenal at the Emirates. Fulham vs Everton is the lunchtime kick-off on Sunday and then at 4pm we’re back to Anfield to see if Liverpool can continue their hunt for the title against Spurs. Our game-week finishes Monday night as Sunderland welcome West Ham to the Stadium of Light. Without further ado, let’s go around the grounds to catch up on the latest team news.

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Man Utd vs Aston Villa (Sat 29 March 12.45)
United welcome Villa to Old Trafford on the back of their impressive performance in midweek vs City – impressive I hear you say? Of course, City scored six against higher placed Arsenal and Spurs, United therefore must be twice as good as those two pretenders and poor old Moyesie still doesn’t get the credit he deserves. After the derby, Moyesie said he wants his team to “raise their game to the level of City” – first things first Davie lad, raise it to the likes of Southampton and Everton first mate. Oooh Everton, better not mention them eh, they appear to have defied all logic and actually improved since Lord Moyes departed (small hint there Mr Glazier). Villa of course are as inconsistent as you can get – a home win vs title-chasing Chelsea was followed by a 1-4 reverse at home to Stoke…..yep, Stoke!! Ha-ha – this match should be on the comedy channel. United’s record vs Villa is of course  excellent – they have won the last six meetings between the two and have scored at least three goals in five of those matches – while Villa have failed to score in four of the last five league matches against the Reds.
The “MoyesOut” campaign is gathering pace with demonstrations planned, a plane has been hired to fly over the ground during the game parading a “MoyesOut” flag and “The Chosen One” banner in the ground is under threat by fans – all seems a bit of a waste of energy, bearing in mind the man himself is doing a good enough job with the campaign. Those Mancs eh?

Paul Lambert has said that Karim El Ahmadi is struggling for the game – the midfielder picked up a thigh strain in the defeat to Stoke and is rated very doubtful for the trip to Utd. There is better news of Andreas Weimann, who has recovered from a dead leg and should be ok. Chris Herd, Jores Okore, Charles N’Zogbia and Libor Kozak all remain out.
It’s obviously not been a great week for United…again. Rio Ferdinand says he is embarrassed being seen out in public, Marouane Fellaini is spitting mad and Moyesie says he is hurting but is driven to succeed. Unfortunately, not driven out. As usual The Unhelpful One gave little away at his presser, so again it’s up to me – hope you appreciate this weekly last minute nightmare I have. Chris Smalling is a doubt – I assume he didn’t help his injury while parading around in a fountain at midnight last weekend singing, “we’re Man Utd, we’ll do what we want”. Ok Chris – how about playing a bit better old chap – any danger of that? Jonny Evans is still a concern…his injury I mean. RvP is obviously out, but midfield general Fellaini is expected to recover after Pablo Zabaleta head-butted his elbow in the derby and should be ok to take up his normal position…..i.e on the bench with Young Tom. Nemanja Vidic is available again after suspension – ah, some good news at last. I think.

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Crystal Palace vs Chelsea (Sat 29 March 15.00)
Jose takes his boys the short distance from their Surrey mansions to the relative squalor of South London for their fourth London derby in five weeks – having taken nine points out of nine and scored 13 goals in those other three derbies, they will be confident of extending their lead at the top and putting more pressure on chasing City and Liverpool. It’s a massive ask for the Eagles of course, but what we do know is that Tony Pulis will have them well organised and up for a battle. However, just one goal in their previous five matches warns of impending doom for Palace and their record vs the Blues offers little encouragement – five defeats in a row, never beaten Chelsea in the Premier League and just two wins in 26 meetings. Jose’s men rule London this season – their record in derbies is six wins and three draws, while in seven derbies, Palace have just gained three points. Well, all is not lost for those die-hard Palace fans, they at least get to enjoy the cheerleaders pre-match and at half time – and, if they show any flair, round the back of the main stand while Hazard et al are strutting their stuff.

Pulis only has two players out for the game – unfortunately they are strikers Marouane Chamakh and Dwight Gayle – well, when I say strikers, probably forwards is a better description. No wonder they’re lacking goals when they miss those two. Anyway there are rumours that the pack may be shuffled somewhat in order to improve their goal tally and there are local rumours than Tom Ince could be in line for more game time. The good news is Chamakh should be back for GW33 – I hate to think what the bad news is.
The Special One has told us that Samuel Eto’o misses out with the hamstring injury he picked up in the destruction of Arsenal – Fernando Torres will start. Cashley continues to be sidelined and Ramires is still suspended – although Willian returns after serving his ban. Jose, with a big smile on his face, continues to maintain that his team have the hardest run in and that he’d rather be in City’s position.

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Southampton vs Newcastle (Sat 29 March 15.00)
Newcastle travel down to Southampton with Mr Angry back on board – well in the stadium at least, he’s still not allowed on the bench – he still has a few anger management classes to attend before he’s allowed that close to the oppo. Unfortunately, it’s likely he’ll be back on the post-match press conference explaining what a changed man he is and what a great job he is doing. Well, let’s hope the Saints can do a job on the Toon to shut the idiot up – but with Southampton it’s never clear what you’ll get as inconsistency has been evident of late, none more so than when they threw away a two goal lead at Spurs last week. However, they have lost just one of their last 20 league games against Newcastle, who don’t seem to be able to score if Loic Remy isn’t playing…which he isn’t here.

Toon keeper Tim Krul misses out with a knee injury and will likely be out for the next 2-3 games, while defender David Santon is back in training but is only rated “touch and go” to play. More importantly, Remy is still missing, but should return to training on Monday and has a good chance of playing in GW33. Mathieu Debuchy is still a couple of weeks away, while Sammy Ameobi is also missing with a knock. Oh nooooo, it’s started already – wait for this, Mr Angry/Arrogant in his presser, “my return to the dressing room can revive the team” – someone please take this prick out.
Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that popular FPL striker Jay Rodriguez, defender Nathaniel Clyne and midfielder Steven Davis are all carrying knocks and will need to be assessed before the game. Defender Maya Yoshida injured his knee ligaments in training this week and has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Morgan Schneiderlin is still a doubt.

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Stoke City vs Hull City (Sat 29 March 15.00)
Ex-United stalwarts Mark Hughes and Steve Bruce lock horns at the Britannia, with Bruce being the more on edge, having seen his Hull side succumb to the Hammers in the week, leaving them tantalisingly on 33pts – still a win or two away from safety. The Potters meanwhile are fresh, having not played since Sunday’s 4-1 victory at Villa Park and will be confident of victory here, to continue a run at home of three wins and a draw from their last four matches. Bruce reckons his side needs two more wins to secure survival and though they’ll start as underdogs, their performance with 10 men at West Ham will have given them confidence as will the fact that Stoke have only kept one clean sheet in their last fifteen league games. However, Hull have won just one of their last nine league games against Stoke.

Keeper Allan McGregor has had his suspension overturned after being sent off at Upton Park – however it won’t help his owners as the poor lad ended up in hospital and is still there after damaging his kidneys in the controversial incident that led to a penalty and red card – unfortunately, the keeper will now miss the rest of the season with the injury. Steve Harper will deputise in goal, while Eldin Jakupovic has been recalled from his loan spell at Leyton Orient. Joe Dudgeon and Robbie Brady are also injured, while George Boyd is suspended after spitting at Joe Hart. Maynor Figueroa will need to be assessed before the game, but Liam Rosenior is fit.
Hughes has some difficult decisions to make this week. Both Charlie Adam and Stephen Ireland are available again, but the manager admits the lads who have played in their absence have done really well. Defender Erik Pieters, who limped off at Villa, should be ok for the game, but Oussama Assaidi is unlikely to make it. Jon Walters is suspended and Robert Huth is out for the season.

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Swansea vs Norwich (Sat 29 March 15.00)
A massive game at the wrong end of the table and a win for either side would be a huge boost to their quest for survival – while for the loser its back to squeaky bum time as the threat of relegation becomes more of a reality. Now, you’re all thinking, “home win” especially after Swansea nearly topped the Gooners in midweek, while Norwich as we know are rubbish away from Carrow Road, but just hold on as Norwich have, surprisingly, become a bit of a bogey team for the Swans, have never lost to the Swans in the Premier League, winning their last two at the Liberty Stadium. Those Robert Snodgrass fans, listen up – is he your differential captain this week? He scored in both league games vs the Swans last season and also assisted twice – add to that he has scored in his last two league games and has netted four in the his last seven. Hmmmm tempting eh? Talking about men in form – I give you Wilfried Bony – eight goals in his last thirteen games at the Liberty and two goals on the road in DGW31.

Norwich have no fresh injuries for the game and Hughton says his squad is buoyed after last week’s victory over Sunderland. Leroy Fer has stepped up his light training but is still a couple of weeks away.
Swansea have a fully fit squad. The return of Michu could be significant, he has scored three in three vs the Canaries and manager Garry Monk is excited about being able to pair him up with Bony for the rest of the season.

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West Brom vs Cardiff (Sat 29 March 15.00)
“Dreadful” vs “Dreadful” takes place at the Hawthorns with both sides heading towards the Championship and have only not been relegated already due to the rubbish form of Sunderland and the lack of fire-power from Palace. The Baggies have won just one out of their last ten matches, while Cardiff have just one victory in seven and have not won on the road since beating Fulham in September. Then again West Brom haven’t won at home since New Year’s Day, so it really is a case of who can be less bad here. Cardiff did give Liverpool a good game last week and ran them close for long periods and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be taking the positives from that for sure and their recent record against the Baggies is good, having gone unbeaten in their last five against them.

Pepe Mel says he has had a decent week – the squad has trained very well and the manager has enjoyed his first ever curry on a team night out. Though I think he got a little confused – when asked which curry he ordered, he replied “I had a Tarka – it was lovely.” A tarka – never heard of it? “It’s like a korma, just a little ‘otter”. Ok sorry, that was bad – but you try writing about West Brom vs Cardiff. Back to the important stuff and Morgan Amalfitano has been passed fit, while Gareth McAuley is also available. Striker Victor Anichebe will need a late fitness test, but Claudio Yacob, Diego Lugano, Chris Brunt and Billy Jones are all ruled out. Jonas Olsson is suspended.
Cardiff defender Matt Connolly has resumed training and is available again, but winger Craig Noone has still not recovered from a muscle injury. Ben Turner was ill in the week but is expected to be fine, while captain Mark Hudson is of course ruled out for the season.

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Arsenal vs Man City (Sat 29 March 17.30)
Well they looked so good for so long – Mesut Ozil was their saviour, “the assist King of Europe” we were told, Arsene had finally spent some money, Aaron Ramsey was scoring for fun, Olivier Giroud was banging them in from all angles (on the pitch), Theo Walcott was the “Daddy” for all of a month, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny were tight at the back and then it happened – February arrived, the pressure increased as their title odds shortened and now they’re surrendering their title challenge faster than a Frenchman in a pillow fight. Capitulation time has arrived, Wenger is cracking up, Ozil’s gone AWOL – and that’s just on the pitch, Giroud took his scoring talents off the pitch, Ox got so traumatised he thought he was a goalkeeper and Jack Wilshire got injured….obviously. And just when you think it can’t get any worse, City come to town. This is the City who dispatched United more ruthlessly than Fulham dispatch managers – they’ve now won twelve out of fourteen (pretty much without Sergio Aguero) and haven’t conceded a goal in their last five matches in the league. And of course, this is the City that knocked six past the Goonies at the Etihad in December. Two men in form are strikers Shagger Giroud and Edin “High Tower” Dzeko – Shagger has scored five goals in his last three games at the Emirates while High Tower has scored six in his last seven starts for Citeh, including that brace at Old Trafford – ouch, let’s move on.

Poor old Arsene still has a cracking five-a-side team unavailable with Ozil, Wilshire (obviously), Walcott, Ramsey and Koscielny all still on the treatment table. Oh – and Nacho Monreal also. Anymore injuries and they’ll need to start using the trophy room as a makeshift treatment room – after all, they have a lovely stadium and it would be a shame not to make full use of it. Thomas Vermaelen will again partner Mertesacker at the back while both Kieran Gibbs and The Ox are both available following “Handballgate” at Chelsea last week. Aaron Ramsey should begin training (again) next week – we’ll wait and see on that eh. Heard it all before. Meanwhile, Wenger is confident that Bacary Sagna will sign a new contract and resist any advances from Man City. Just like Kolo Toure resisted. And Samir Nasri. And Gael Clichy. Oh well, at least City have the Gooner’s bank details – should hurry things up a tad.
Manuel Pellegrini has revealed that star striker Sergio Aguero is still out and will need another week’s training before they can even think about playing him. Go the Dzeko train – choo choo!! David Silva, who was rumoured to be an injury doubt, has been declared fit and will travel down with the squad, but Matija Nastasic and Micah Richards are still unavailable.

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Fulham vs Everton (Sun 30 March 13.30)
Roberto Martinez takes his bag of Toffees down to Fulham, knowing that a second away-day victory in five days will take them closer and within touching distance of a coveted Champions League spot. Fulham of course are rooted to the bottom, four points from safety, fresh from a spanking at the Etihad and frankly looking doomed – they have not beaten Everton in their last eight Premier League meetings and suffered a 4-1 loss up at Goodison in December. Basically, if Everton show anything like the form they displayed at Newcastle in midweek, then three points for the visitors looks nailed on, though it is worth pointing out that the Cottagers have scored in fourteen of their fifteen games at the Cottage so far this season.

Martinez is pleased to report that defender Phil Jagielka is now fully fit and will come into contention to play. The rest of the squad is the same that travelled to Newcastle, meaning Steven Pienaar, Bryan Oviedo, Darron Gibson, Arouna Kone & Lacina Traore all remain out.
Penfold still has to do without striker Kostas Mitroglou, but he hopes to have him available for GW33, while Georgis Karagounis picked up a knock in training today and will need to be assessed before the game. Ashkan Dejagah returns to the squad, but Scott Parker and Matthew Briggs remain out. Fernando Amorebieta is suspended after being sent off at City and Mahamadou Diarra has rejoined the club until the end of the season.

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Liverpool vs Tottenham (Sun 30 March 16.00)
Well the charge goes on, seven wins in a row now for Liverpool, following Wednesday night’s nervy but vital win over Sunderland. Brendan Rodgers and captain Squeaky have gone from not commenting on their title chances to now acknowledging them with almost an embarrassed grin – bless, it’s been a while. Tottenham are the visitors this weekend, which in all reality shouldn’t pose too many problems for the Pool, but as we’ve all seen before this time of the season plays with the old nerves. But this is Spurs – remember what Luis Suarez did to them at the Lane in December – just the 5-0 that day and given the fact they have only kept one clean sheet in a dozen away games, SaS lovers will be licking their lips at the thought of this one.

Liverpool have no fresh injury concerns for the game, with only Jose Enrique remaining on the sidelines. The manager will have to decide whether to recall Raheem Sterling or persevere with the impressive looking, but FPL frustrating Phillippe Coutinho.
Tim Sherwood has said that defender Kyle Walker will again miss out through injury and cannot put a time frame on his return. Striker Emmanuel Adebayor is also a doubt, though the manager said that the striker is confident he will be ok. Etienne Capoue & Erik Lamela remain long-term wasters, while Vlad Chiriches starts his road to recovery by playing for the U21’s tonight. Sandro is available again and Moussa Dembele has trained all week after coming off at half-time last weekend.

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Sunderland vs West Ham (Mon 31 March 20.00)
Poor old Big Sam – sees his flops lose three in a row and slide back down dangerously close to the relegation zone, but he fights back and his team see off ten-man Hull in midweek and all he hears is boo’s. Horrible, ungrateful lot, those Cockneys – still living in the past wanting “The Academy” (oh please) to play the “West Ham way” – I guess living in the past is what some clubs must do (eh Arsene?). Anyway, Sam will be chuffed to be on the road this week, away from the baying mob, until he realises he’s on the way up to Mackemsville, where things are quite often not what they seem. The Black Cats did, of course, surprise many at Anfield in the week, but still succumbed to defeat to leave them languishing in the drop zone, three points off safety.

Black Cats striker Fabio Borini is available again after he was ineligible to play vs Liverpool in the week. Steven Fletcher and keeper Keiren Westwood remain missing, but Adam Johnson and Sung-Yueng Ki are hopeful of starts after both impressed after coming off the bench at Anfield.
Big Sam is waiting to see if defender James Collins recovers from the calf injury he picked up in midweek vs Hull – Roger Johnson and Winston Reid are on standby to replace him if he doesn’t make it – though Reid was strangely absent from the squad vs Hull. Matt Jarvis is unlikely to be ready to return, while Joey O’Brien and Marco Borriello are longer term absentees.

Good luck for GW32! Thanks for reading Team Talk Gameweek 32 , this article was written by Cookie.