If you don’t pay much attention to soccer outside of the Premier League, you’d think clubs are on a two-week break. However, it’s far from that. While the EPL has been off, there is still soccer to go around. Clubs have been playing in Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup matches since last Tuesday.
Of course fatigue is a problem and one result of the extra games that you can’t really predict. That’s why it’s time to focus on injuries, which are starting to pile up this time of year.
Starting with Tottenham, Emmanuel Adebayor picked up a knee injury in training last week which forced him to miss their Sunday match. Top Fantasy Defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto is in doubt to play Arsenal this Gameweek due to a minor operation he had on his groin last Monday. This is in addition to Rafael Van der Vaart’s continued calf problems.
In Arsenal, defender Per Mertesacker will be out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Laurent Koscielny also picked up a knock but could return for this weekend’s match.
Maybe the biggest injury from the week is on the Manchester United front. Antonio Valencia, one of the hottest midfielders over the past month, picked up a hamstring strain and will be out for a while. Ryan Giggs is also battling an ankle injury and could be out against Norwich.
Two bigger names that could be on the positive side of injuries are Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor and Newcastle’s Ryan Taylor. Each of them has been out for a few games and all signs are pointing to them returning.
The Deuce is loose. Photo Credit: Nathan Forget
Unfortunately with most injuries in this league, you won’t really know the full status on these players until Friday or possibly right before the game when lineups are announced. Such is life when playing Fantasy Premier League.
Enough of this injury talk though. Injuries are boring and depressing.
FIXTURE FRENZY
Before getting into numbers, we have to get into schedules. Due to the Carling Cup Final, Liverpool and Everton will not be playing in Gameweek 26. Going even further, Gameweek 29 could see even fewer matches because of the FA Cup. Right now, there are only four fixtures that definitely will not be affected. Others will depend on what happens in FA Cup play.
What better place to check updated schedules than on the official Fantasy Premier League site? They update the fixture list regularly.
Going even further, the two clubs you want to look at for the future are Fulham and Newcastle. Neither of their schedules is set to be changed. Not to mention, they have nice matchups. Fulham will face QPR, Wolves, Aston Villa and Swansea in the next four weeks. As for Newcastle, they have Wolves, Sunderland, Arsenal and Norwich, three of them being at home.
Have you heard of Clint Dempsey or Demba Ba? Now might be the time to add them if you haven’t already.
FANTASY TIP
Chelsea has won only one game in their past six matches in all competitions. That one win was against QPR. So even if they have a friendly schedule coming up, it may not be the best thing to go after the Blues. Expect low-scoring matches against the likes of Bolton, West Brom and Stoke City. Chelsea is in a state of disarray and with the addition of Champions League and FA Cup matches, most players aren’t a certain thing to feature in the starting lineup for Premier League play. If anyone, Juan Mata is the best bet to come through, although highly priced for a struggling squad.
YOU’RE THE CAPTAIN
Gareth Bale was a big disappointment last Gameweek. He was captained by many and did not get a goal or an assist. That’s not the surprising part though, as Tottenham had five goals. Fret not, Bale is still alive which means he most certainly deserves a look.
Bale will take the backseat this weekend to Robin van Persie though. The Arsenal-Tottenham match should be a high-scoring match with a lot of pace being played. RVP gets the nod above Bale because he will be at home against a depleted Spurs backline.
We can’t forget about David Silva. Manchester City has the most favorable matchup of the weekend. They will be playing at the Eastlands against quite possibly the worst defensive club in the league. If Silva doesn’t do something on the score sheet in this game, something is wrong.
Clint Dempsey has made the captain rankings for the second straight week. While Fulham is on the road, they are going against a very inconsistent QPR side. The last time QPR had a clean sheet was back in December. Plus, Dempsey is in form.
Going back to Manchester City’s favorable matchup, Sergio Aguero fills in the final spot. He will most likely get the start and is always around the goal. He just needs to get his foot on more goals.
- Robin van Persie, Arsenal
- Gareth Bale, Tottenham
- David Silva, Manchester City
- Clint Dempsey, Fulham
- Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
WEEKLY RANKINGS
Goalkeepers
- Joe Hart, Manchester City, 6.8m, vs. Blackburn
- Petr Cech, Chelsea, 6.8m, vs. Bolton
- Tim Krul, Newcastle, 5.0m, vs. Wolves
- Simon Mignolet, Sunderland, 4.3m, at West Brom
- Michel Vorm, Swansea, 5.3m, at Stoke City
Defenders
- Vincent Kompany, Manchester City, 6.6m, vs. Blackburn
- Gary Cahill, Chelsea, 5.2m, vs. Bolton
- Joleon Lescott, Manchester City, 6.2m, vs. Blackburn
- Patrice Evra, Manchester United, 7.2m, at Norwich
- Jose Bosingwa, Chelsea, 5.5m, vs. Bolton
- Phil Jones, Manchester United, 6.2m, at Norwich
- Ryan Shawcross, Stoke City, 5.1m, vs. Swansea
- Brede Hangeland, Fulham, 6.0m at QPR
- Taye Taiwo, QPR, 4.5m, vs. Fulham
- John O’Shea, Sunderland, 5.0m, at West Brom
Midfielders
- Gareth Bale, Tottenham, 9.7m, at Arsenal
- David Silva, Manchester City, 10.5m, vs. Blackburn
- Clint Dempsey, Fulham, 9.1m, at QPR
- Juan Mata, Chelsea, 9.6m, vs. Bolton
- Stephane Sessegnon, Sunderland, 7.3m, at West Brom
- Nani, Manchester United, 9.9m, at Norwich
- Scott Sinclair, Swansea 6.6m, at Stoke City
- Jonathan Walters, Stoke City, 6.5m, vs. Swansea
- Adam Johnson, Manchester City, 7.0m, vs. Blackburn
- Jonas Gutierrez, Newcastle, 6.0m, vs. Wolves
Forwards
- Robin van Persie, Arsenal, 13.4m, vs. Tottenham
- Sergio Aguero, Manchester City, 11.2m, vs. Blackburn
- Daniel Sturridge, Chelsea, 7.2m, vs. Bolton
- Demba Ba, Newcastle, 7.9m, vs. Wolves
- Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, 12.0m, at Norwich
- Emmanuel Adebayor, Tottenham, 9.1m, at Arsenal
- Darren Bent, Aston Villa, 9.6m, at Wigan
- Bobby Zamora, QPR, 6.8m, vs. Fulham
Don’t forget to check out our latest podcast of Premier League Plus. Each week, Matt Mariconi aka FootiePhantom and Adam Zdroik of RotoExperts review and preview every Fantasy situation you can think of from Barclays Premier League.
*Stats up-to-date as of 02/20/12
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