Friday 8 April 2011

Week 32 - Update

Sorry for the lateness of the update post this week. Unfortunately I suffered an ankle injury playing football last night so have been at the hospital for most of the afternoon. I am in a lot of pain so for that reason this will be a bit shorter than usual.

Firstly, a reminder that Week 32 is the FINAL of The Blog Cup! 20 teams remain, with the highest weekly score winning the trophy & the £20 prize. You can see who's made the final by clicking the link below:

http://yahoofantasyfootballuk.blogspot.com/2011/03/blog-cup-semi-final-results.html

Good luck to all our finalists!

Now, team news:

David Luiz is back after he was cup tied for the Champions League in midweek. We have no idea how Ancelotti will play things vs Wigan as Chelsea need to overturn a goal deficit on Tuesday, so some players may get a rest - no idea who unfortunately. Malouda should get a game though, so he becomes a decent option in midfield.

Man Utd are without Wayne Rooney, so Hernandez should partner Berbatov upfront. No concrete news on Ferdinand but I think it's likely he'll get a rest, so I'm going to stick with Smalling. Van Der Sar & Valencia could also get a breather, so I may look to switch out Valencia for a certain starter. Rafael is out, but Brown, O'Shea & Fabio are fit, so it's a lottery for the right-back slot.

Theo Walcott and Bacary Sagna are major doubts for Arsenal, but Wenger confirmed Cesc Fabregas will start. I guess Wilshire, Nasri & Arshavin should also line-up in midfield with Denilson and Song still out injured.

Spurs have so many injury doubts it's difficult to keep track! Corluka, Gallas, Lennon & Kranjcar may all miss out, while Pienaar, Hutton, Palacios, Kaboul, Woodgate & King remain sidelined. Bale & Van Der Vaart should both be fit to start.

Aston Villa have a fully fit squad to choose from, and they face a Newcastle side missing two key men - Kevin Nolan & Tiote - both suspended. A defence of Walker, Collins, Dunne, Clark looks solid to me, so I'm likely to go with Friedel & may now want to grab a Villa attacker.

Kieran Richardson, Phil Bardsley and Sulley Muntari should be back for Sunderland, Nedum Onuoha returns after being ineligible to face City, but Titus Bramble and Fraizer Campbell are unavailable. Gyan and Wellbeck should continue upfront.

Birmingham are without David Bentley and Martin Jiranek, while Nikola Zigic and Obafemi Martins will face late fitness tests. Looks like it could be another opportunity for the Philips/Jerome striker-partnership to blossom!

Stephen Hunt has had hernia surgery so Jamie O'Hara should remain on set piece duty for Wolves, and Michael Kightly could get another run out on his very long road to recovery, but Kevin Doyle is still out.

Jack Rodwell, Tim Cahill and Seamus Coleman remain doubts for Everton.

Liverpool are without Daniel Agger, Glen Johnson and Steven Gerrard, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

That's all I have time for today, although I will give you a quick look at my team:

Friedel, Kolarov, Smalling, Luiz, Hitzlsperger, O'Hara, Young, Lampard, Suarez, Hernandez, Van Persie

No Nani is a worry but he's just too pricey, so I've decided Ashley Young is the next best thing as a set piece/penalty taking winger, which meant Fabregas had to go. I also have attacking players from Man Utd (Hernandez), Chelsea (Lampard) & Arsenal (Van Persie) as well as set piece takers in O'Hara & Hitz & a solid back-line, so I'm happy.

I still have 1.5m in the bank, so could move Suarez to Sturridge or Wellbeck but I may just keep it how it is as you get the feeling the Liverpool man loves the big games & will want to put on a show against City - what would you do? And how's your team looking?

Good luck!

Cheers,
AM

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

FIRST!!

Anonymous said...

SECOND SPOT TAKEN TOO!!

Anonymous said...

WOW...no one posting :P THIRD!! Took top 3 spots!

Anonymous said...

I AM FIRST

Assistant Manager said...

FIRST

d'oh

Anonymous said...

Thoughts on this 3-5-2...?

cech
evra, luiz, walker
nani, ramires, cesc, hitz, valencia
suarez, chicharito

thanks,
fres

Anonymous said...

thks for info..

Anonymous said...

Nik: How about HOILETT?

Martin said...

Is Agbonglahor a good option for this week?

Anonymous said...

Like that team, fres. Balanced. I think your only worry is Valencia's starting status.

Friedel
Smalling - Luiz - Heitinga
Adam - Fabregas - Lampard - O'Hara
Sturridge - Anelka - van Persie

Not settled on it, yet.

-Bombay Blues (BlueBlooded from chat)

Claude said...

What's with all this "first" nonsense? Anyway, I hope your ankle gets better soon AM; I've rolled mine more times than I'd care to recall and I know it's not much fun.

Anonymous said...

suarez will score zip

WaLaWaLa said...

How about gigs? anyone?

Birty said...

My team's a complete mess. This is the first week in ages I have no clue what to do. I have Rooney at 14 - not sure I want the 0, not sure I have the guts to sell him.

Anonymous said...

13th..how zat?

Anonymous said...

cahill anyone?

Anonymous said...

Are their any sources that say valencia and ferdinand will be rested? I dont want to have smalling if he is benched and had valencia on my page all week. I dont want to swap him and find out tomorrow he is in the team.

Kellz said...

@Anon: Yes, Fantasy Footbal Scout reckons Valencia could be rested and see Gibson slot into midfield with Anderson also making a push to start. It would be my idea that Valencia is the most likely to be rotated and I'd assume Smalling will be fine with Rio benched for CL game.

bertiebollocks said...

1st !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

chrism said...

Hey NIk

,J&N are running a thread about how to improve FF for next year. I posted a long reply, largely featuring you. Neal just responded, you might want to check it out its at http://fantasyepl.blogspot.com/2011/04/week-ahead-slacker-edition.html

IMHO its too early to really start dealing with next year but its something we can all begin thinking about.

Hope your ankle is ok. Ice the hell out of it.

cheers
chris

Ken said...

Good luck to all this week.

Suarez will score...12 points. Not sure how.

Hope the ankle is not to serious. I have an old family recipe for a bad finger but not an ankle....sorry

Oh...the recipie for a hurt finger is go home and soak it in cider.


If you did not get that say it slower!

good luck all

BL said...

Writing an update despite your injury. That's true dedication, AM! Kudos to you.

Kendo said...

Nik put yourself on the injuries and suspensions thread!

Take care!

Kendo

Anonymous said...

young or anelka? please answer

Anonymous said...

Nani/Sturridge
or
Hernandez/Lampard

Please help me!

- The Guy That Likes Turtles

Ian Sanderson said...

@above - young.

Surely the bigger question is Torres or Hernandez.
I'm plumping for Hernandez and switching for Torres next week.

Kellz said...

@Anon: Both really solid options but for matchup I like Hernandez/Lampard

Kendo said...

Think we need to be aware of next weeks double and no gamers when selecting

The barn door not to be missed!

Chels ars and brum are doubles

Stoke wolves Bolton city and fulham are No gamers

Kendo

The Guy that Likes Turtles said...

Thank you Kellz,

I was leaning towards that. just needed a second opinion.

Donut said...

Blog cup final team

Almunia
Kol Luiz Walker
Lamp Fab Adam Hitz OHara
RVP Suarez

Favourite team of the year for me...

Probably a bad sign!!

Smalling Valencia Nani Walcott all in atvsome point but not considered as doubts; need 11 chances to get lucky!!

Eldwin said...

Hi Nik,

I've only seen one post about Ramires. What are your thoughts about him? He seemed ok in the CL against MU except for the missed chances.

My team atm is:

Almunia
Kolarov Smalling Luiz Walker
Nani Lampard
RVP Suarez Hernandez

Having dropped Adam@12.29 to fit in Lampard, I kinda like my team now except for Almunia. Have 7.66 left in bank was thinking between Hitzlsperger or Ramires. Any thoughts people? :)

TwoFace said...

Friedel
Kolarov,Smalling,Luiz
Lampard,Nani,Gibson,Ohara
RVP,Sturridge,Hernandez

I'm going to give a go since last week awful 61 points burnt out by Nani bench and VDV/Defoe poor show..I'm going to give Nani another run since he should be starting this week and with Rooney suspended, Nani should be supplying ball to the in-form Hernandez..

Sturridge is my hunch although i'm still cycling him with Gyan, Suarez and SEB but i think i will settle with the Chelsea on-loan striker as he scores 17.5 points without a goal, that's crazy man!

I'm going with Gibson as a filler and i hope he pop with a goal :p , since he's at 2.10 i should not be questioning much if he got 0 pts anywy..

i'm 3rd in my private league with 100 points diff with 1st place, i really hope i could reduce some gaps ahead of double fixtures next week..

Anonymous said...

WELCOME BACK PHIL JONES (Blackburn)

im always waiting this player recovering from his injury.

Anonymous said...

shit i forgot it was blog cup final week..6 hours to sleep and come up with something genius to win this thing. Like Donut said, no time for risks...valencia is out for o'hara..

Irons

Anonymous said...

Why no one take koscielny..?

Anonymous said...

hey.....pick c.adam..!!!

SK said...

@Anon - No team have kept a CS at Blackpool this season. Not too optimistic that Arsenal will be able to do so.

I kinda like my team. Obviously no one from ManU offense, but I think they will have a low scoring game.

Mignolet
Luiz Walker Evra
Hitz Cesc Lampard O'Hara
Suarez RvP Sturridge

What do you guys think?

kendo said...

Man u team sheet v fulham no smalling but Valencia in?

Kendo

kendo said...

http://m.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/apr/08/squad-sheets-manchester-united-fulham?cat=football&type=article

Anonymous said...

Please comment my team:
almunia
luiz smalling walker caldwell(filler)
nani muamba lampard fabregas
RvP suarez

or should i change fabregas for hernandez. or lampard and fabregas for downing and arshavin?????

Anonymous said...

Dropped Nani and Valencia on discounts for Lampard and Anelka.
Final team
Kuszack
Kolarov Luiz Heitinga
VdV O'Hara Young Lampard
VanPersie Gyan Anelka

picking Gyan for the first time.

kendo said...

Have smalling @ 4.45 maybe worth holding on to ? Think I will risk Valencia as well

Jask
Smalling Luiz kosn
Adam Vdv Barton Valencia
Rvp Gyan Suarez

Feelin lucky this week! ;)

Kendo

Anonymous said...

Fingers crossed x

Friedel
Kolarov Luiz Smally
Lamps Bily Fabs Valencia
Suarez VanP Hernandez

Juggsy

Anonymous said...

Mate, I rolled my ankle in my first preseason rugby game today so you have my sympathy!

Dogs Ballix

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