Injuries and Suspensions

-
Suspensions Plenty of suspensions this week as the 5 yellow cards start to kick in and the raft of red cards last week:
  • Jamie Carragher
  • Habib Beye
  • Gary Neville
  • J'Lloyd Samuel
  • Philp Degen
  • Stiliyan Petrov
  • Barry Ferguson
  • Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
  • Geovani
  • Lorik Cana
  • Kenwyne Jones
Note that Jermaine Defoe is back after serving his recent 3 game ban.

Injuries A few headlines this week, none more so than some potentially disastrous news from Anfield:

Fernando Torres - Rumours are flying round that Torres might need surgery though Sky Sports suggest that having seen a specialist this week, El Nino could avoid any procedures and even play this week against Birmingham. Still held by an incredible 26% of owners makes Torres overpriced and too risky right now. Weeks 14 - 19 look good for Liverpool and Torres might be worth a look then for Van Persie owners spooked by Arsenal's tough schedule but until then I would stay away for now.

Steven Gerrard - Phyio Room rate Gerrard as very doubtful and he is too risky to play this week. Bring in Fabregas or Lampard if you can spare the transfer.

Glen Johnson - Sorry to pile it on Liverpool fans but Johnson could also be out though the Guardian rate him as set for a possible return. I like Liverpool for a clean sheet this week so Johnson owners should wait until tomorrow before deciding on Johnson but if you want a one week premium pick I think either Vermaelen or Bridge are your men.

Gael Clichy - I was all over Kieran Gibbs as a budget pickup here but Drew correctly noted that Eboue could fill in along the back instead. The Guardian and Telegraph like Gibbs too but I agree he is slightly risky. If you have a suspect sub in the 4.5m range and your regular starters face tough fixtures then why not bring in Gibbs for your sub then at least your regular starter can sub in if Gibbs doesn't get the start.

James Milner - It was a massive blow for Milner owners (including me) who jumped on board the Milner bandwagon for his double gameweek only to see him play just 45 minutes total. He is a doubt again this week though the Guardian and Telegraph both suggest he will play. I would keep him active as he is highly unlikely to come off the bench so your sub will drop in if he doesn't make it for kick off. The fixture at home to Bolton looks like it could prove fruitful.

Rio Ferdinand - If you're reading this I can't imagine you have Ferdinand who is outrageously priced at 6.7m having wracked up 12 points all season. However, when on form he is still an upgrade over Evans and Brown so his absence is a boost to Drogba and co who I like this week despite the tough matchup on paper. In case you do own him, Ferdinand is out and should be sold immediately.Vidic might be back for kick off with the Guardian pencilling him into their lineup.

Ashley Cole - The Guardian and Telegraph both report Cole as fit to take his place in the lineup so feel free to start him this week. I know the fixture isn't great on paper but I think Chelsea have a decent shot at the clean sheet and Cole is a solid play.

Aaron Lennon - The Telegraph suggest Lennon could be back this week while the Guardian say he is out. Sky Sports also have the tricky winger missing the game against Sunderland and it seems likely they will be right. If you have him you can probably play him if your reserves are decent and keep him for gameweek 13 when Spurs get Wigan at home.

Carlton Cole - The Telegraph have him in but the Guardian have him out. The official West Ham site say its 'too early to say' but you with a tough schedule after the next three games you might want to look elsewhere anyway.

Stay tuned to Twitter for last minute news tonight and tomorrow morning before the deadline. Good luck for the upcoming week and always, thanks for reading.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Expected goals plus-minus

-
Image
As the season ticks on, we're starting to get a bit of data to work with, albeit sometimes in small samples. This season I am not working with a relatively complex player model but am really interested in trying to "play the fixtures" as much as I can. A couple of sources of frustration, therefore, have been as below: 1. Sites which provide the difficulty of fixtures often seem a bit simplistic. For example, the Premier League site shows Wolves as an average "3-rated" opponent, both at home and away yet the reality is more complicated. While at home they have been very solid defensively, with an Expected Goals Conceded (xGC) of just 4.71 in five games, which ranks third best, yet on their travels they have surrendered 7.94 xGC, which is the third worst . Even more confusing is that most sites ( though not all ) don't distinguish between attacking and defensive fixtures, so facing Leeds at home is presented as an easy "2-rated" fixture when in reali
Read more

Selecting defenders within the same team

-
We talked about this earlier in the season, but with a couple more games in the bag, I've updated the viz which attempts to help you choose your defenders. The "All Players" tab should in theory help you do this coming with a blank slate, but the r aison d'etre for the viz is to help you choose between players in the same side, once you've decided that, for example, you want a City defender. The viz can be found linked from the main menu , and here and should be opened separately to best read this piece. A few notes as of GW5 below. Arsenal I'm not sure how much value there is with this defense right now, but if you are planning to play the fixtures and take a chance with one of Emery's men, this would suggest it should be Mustafi rather than the 10% owner Bellerin who you should target. Bournemouth Cook is the man here for now, though if a clear winner emerges from the developing Daniels vs Rico battle then one of those players could topple him b
Read more

A brief update

-
Happy holidays everyone; it's been a while. For those not on Twitter, I was away in Costa Rica over the break without much - if any - internet access hence the lack of posts around these electronic pages. Well, actually, that's only the main reason, not the only one. In truth I've become a bit disillusioned with the fantasy game the past couple of months, partly due to my other commitments which make copying data at 2am somewhat less appealing, partly due to a lack of excitement in this year's game and finally due to the constant frustration I have with today's internet culture. This blog is a labour of love and aside from the small amount of money I made from the pre-season guide many of you graciously purchased, I don't get much out of this beyond the enjoyment of interacting with readers and hopefully helping a few of you to gain a couple of extra fantasy points every now and then. While some of that enjoyment remains, I feel it has waned over time and th
Read more