Friday 23 October 2009

Injury Update 23/10/09


Injury news from football365.com (will be updated as it appears)...
Let's begin with the news from Old Trafford.

Although Patrice Evra is fit for Manchester United's game at Anfield, 'worryingly there are still doubts over Wayne Rooney and Darren Fletcher's fitness.'

"I can't really give you a clear picture," said Sir Alex Ferguson. "We still have doubts about Rooney and Fletcher.

"Patrice Evra and Ryan Giggs will be fit, but we'll have to see how Rooney and Fletcher progress over the next day or two.

"Wayne is always deserpate to play, that's the nature of the boy. But you can't allow that to cloud the realistic part of the situation, which is 'how fit is he?'. How Wayne does in training on Saturday will be very important in determining whether or not he's fit."

The news could present Michael Owen with the chance to start against his former club while Ferguson may opt to deploy Dimitar Berbatov as a lone striker should Rooney miss out.

As for Liverpool, the word in The Times is that 'Fernando Torres has recovered sufficiently from a groin strain to be almost certain to take his place in Rafael Benítez's starting line-up' but that 'the chances of Steven Gerrard being fit for action only five days after he trudged off the Anfield turf with a recurrence of his abdominal problem are considered remote.'

Glen Johnson should also be passed fit to start.

Arsene Wenger is expecting Eduardo to return for Arsenal's trip to West Ham on Sunday but Tomas Rosicky and Nicklas Bendtner are rated as 50-50.

"Rosicky and Bendtner are 50-50 but Eduardo should be back," Wenger told Arsenal TV Online. "I would say only Walcott is definitely out."

Wenger also suggested that Samir Nasri would continue his comeback in the Carling Cup next week rather than against the Hammers, and reported that "Denilson should be available in four weeks and Johan Djourou will be March."

For Chelsea, Jose Bosingwa (knee) is out while midfielder John Obi Mikel and defender Alex are not deemed match fit after recovering from injury.

Yury Zhirkov (knee) is on standby to replace Ashley Cole, though the full-back is expected to shrug off a knock.

Man City manager Mark Hughes had bad news on Thursday about Robinho, who will be out of action for at least another couple of weeks, but there's more hopeful updates on Kolo Toure and Craig Bellamy with Hughes saying it is possible both of them will return for Sunday's game with Fulham. Emmanuel Adebayor faces the dreaded late fitness test after his ankle injury vs Wigan.

Everton's problems are on the increase with Diniyar Bilyaletdinov the latest casualty with a thigh problem. Joseph Yobo (head), Leon Osman (ankle) and Leighton Baines (calf) remain doubtful after sitting out the game after being injured following the draw against Wolves at the weekend

Elsewhere, Birmingham's defensive duo of Franck Queudrue and Stuart Parnaby are fit for the clash with Sunderland, but Wigan may be without Chris Kirkland and Paul Scharner for their trip to Burnley. Scharner has a thigh problem while

Kirkland dislocated a finger against City last weekend and has yet to train this week.

For Sunderland, Lee Cattermole is out with a knee ligament injury and John Mensah (calf) is also out, but Kenwyne Jones, who was carried off with a twisted ankle on Saturday, trained on Friday and is expected to be fit, as are Bolo Zenden (hip) and Andy Reid (calf).

Hull's record signing Jimmy Bullard could make his first Hull start in Saturday's Premier League clash against Portsmouth at the KC Stadium.

Defender Anthony Gardner is also back in contention after two months on the sidelines with a knee injury while captain Nick Barmby has overcome a calf problem.

With Richard Garcia nearing fitness after a knee injury, Ian Ashbee (knee) is Hull's only major casualty.

For opponents Portsmouth, Papa Bouba Diop and Richard Hughes remain absent with hamstring and hip problems respectively, despite turning out for the reserves in midweek.
The Adebyaor news really test my faith. If Bellamy, Santa Cruz & Tevez are fit then there's no reason for Hughes to risk him, surely?

Cheers,
AM

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is Bosingwa definitely out? If so then Ivanovic would be a top pick.

Doctor Teeth said...

Gents - I'm taking an informal poll. Assuming that Billy is confirmed to be a scratch this weekend (or his featuring against Bolton is doubtful), I'm curious what managers intend to do. Drop him? Hold on to his value for a week and hope that he returns in short order?

I think I am leaning towards dropping him.

As for AM's "short-list" for this weekend:

GK and defense look good to me. I still think Bassong is not a YFF performer...as other posters have noted, his performance against Liverpool in the first week of the season totally skews his stats and he is not a threat going forward (his goal in that game was only the second in his top flight career, the other coming across the English Channel in Ligue 2). And, even though I'm a Spurs fan, I just don't see that defense getting many clean sheets this season...even though Gomes continues to amaze as a fantasy points producer, he is shaky at best (always seems to let in a crap goal but also makes some fine reaction saves). Stoke can be lethal from set pieces/corners when they bring their burly defenders forward. I have Mears as my third defender right now but will probably drop him for Richards...my only qualm there is that I usually like to diversify my backline against my GK and I have Given in goal. Still, doubling down on Citeh against Fulham at home is not the worst bet.

Strikers look good to me too. I will feature 2/3 of Bent, Tevez and Crouch next to Drogba (my current team is actually a 3-5-2 right now but I expect to change that). A darkhorse selection for me is Ebanks-Blake.

MF is interesting...I don't agree with spending 18.65 on Lamps when you can buy MTay for 1.5 less (mind you, I have him at a discount for 15.36). I think Petrov's starting status week-to-week is still too questionable to spend that much cabbage on him...how can you justify selecting him when SWP and Ireland are available for less (I know he has been somewhat disappointing but Ireland is now priced in the low 10s)? I suppose Kranjcar is a decent pick...assuming the funds are there, I still think I'd spend a bit more for Lennon. I have KPB on my side right now but was planning to drop him and reinsert O'Hara. How about Kightly?!?! Talk about man-crushes...I'm not sure when I'll finally shut up about him. Finally, Bullard was a half-season stud last year but even if he does start this weekend, there's no way he's playing a full 90 minutes...I don't see him being fit enough yet. Good fixture, though.

And here I thought Friday was going to be a breeze...

Anonymous said...

Argh...the dreaded late fitness test. I can't afford to have 2 non-playing players in my team, Bily & Adebayor.

I am contemplating exchanging them for Tevez/Ballack. How bout that? Comments are very much appreciated ^~^

Dare to Devil

Anonymous said...

What do people think about Eduardo for a pick this week?

Assistant Manager said...

Teeth - I agree on Bassong BUT he's a chance (slim) of a clean sheet for a very cheap price. I'll still probably go Sonko ahead of him to save £2m. In additon, while Gomes is a flapper, he can make world class saves that nobody else in the league can make. I'd never pick him for YFF though, and it's 99% certain to be Given for me.

Lamps is a consideration...last season at £18m he'd be snapped up & if he hits form it's 30 points vs Blackburn. MTay is also an option now Everton are down to the bare-bones.

Petrov is an outside bet though I probably won't take the risk, but I really like Kranjcar & Bullard.

You like Kightly way too much...good luck this week mate :)

Cheers,
AM

Fidan said...

@ DT - Regarding Billy...I think everyone who has him for 4.71 (category in which I belong too) should KEEP him...only and only if he misses just one week, which I think he won't, cuz I'm 90% sure he'll start against Bolton (or at least play a considerable time to earn those 4pts)...Everton just don't have any CHOICE...esp if Osman is out too...!!!

So, a big YES to Billy (on discount)...!!!

About differentiating GK with defense, I TOTALLY agree. That has been my strategy since the beginning...and that's the reason I'm VERY reluctant on picking Richards. I think I'll end-up with either Ivanovic, RJohnson or less likely SeaBass (the other two being Verm and Heiti@5.5)...

I think I'll keep the 3-5-2 formation unless Eduardo is somehow fit to play at least 30min. If not I think I'll give a chance to either RGardner (pure hunch) or JCole(!!!). As for Lamps/MTay issue, I think I have that sorted out. Lamps was my first choice even on last Sunday, so I'll follow my hunch and stick to him. Add the fact that I COULDN'T bd MTay and you got a perfectly clear choice...!!!

As it is:
Given
Verm,Heiti,(Ivanovic/RJohnson/Richards/Bass)
Billy,Fabs,KPB,Lamps,(RGard/JCole)
Drogs,Crouch,(Eduardo/Blake)

Any suggestion would be welcomed...!!!

Cheers

greginho said...

doctor teeth,
i am keeping bily for one week, as well. what people don't realize, is that it only 4.71 of my budget going for a player that is not playing. i had 3.5 leftover last week that didn't go to a player. i would be more worried about much a larger sum going to a player that is not playing.

which brings me to giggs. i am foolishly contemplating putting him in for adebayor. does any manu guys or girls know if he will start? he is healthy according to ferguson, and they need this game. liverpool's defense is only called a defense because that is where the guys line up, but they do not play it very well. if not i will go bellamy or lennon. i missed out on the barndoor to mtay, so i am short a few pennies.

chris m said...

@doctor teeth.

The problem with Blly/Blini nobody is mentioning is what happens to him when Pienaar returns, which will probably be next week. If it was just this week, and I too have him at 4.71, and I was knew for certain he would return to the starting line-up, I would be keeping him without question. There is also the issue of Arteta though further down the road.

If Toffee Dave is reading maybe he can chime in on this.

Right now, my intention is to keep him even though he may sit.

Anonymous said...

anyone have news about woodgate?? will bassong play if woodgate fit? if no, i'll have to change it...

song said...

will jordi gomez play?

Anonymous said...

guys need ur opinion: bassong/M.taylor OR bassong/arshavin OR sonko/fabregas??????????

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