Week 6 - Update

I'll be pleased to see the back of Week 6 - point delays, late price updates and point adjustments have made this one of the most difficult weeks to write about and of course it meant I wasted a large amount of my free-time by having to recalculate the blog cup results. I've actually spent very little time on my team this week because of the issues.

Luckily it's just over 24 hours till deadline so I can now focus on getting my team in order and updating you all on team news throughout the day. Of course we usually get the best of this around lunchtime after the manager press conferences but there's already a fair bit for you to consider and I'll be adding to throughout today...

- Vermaelen's come-back from injury has been delayed (how often do we hear that about Arsenal players) so he'll miss West Brom making Koscielny's place safe, and Diaby is set to return. Rosicky and Eboue are facing fitness tests. Fabregas is out for another 10 days so Nasri is now officially on penalties until Cesc/RvP return.

- Manchester City face a defensive crisis with only 3 fit defenders (Toure, Kompany & Zabaleta) available for Mancini vs Chelsea. It could mean Barry or Milner playing at full-back and it's news that suddenly makes Drogba & Malouda a bit more appealing.

- Speaking of Chelsea, Terry will be back to captain the side but Frank Lampard has been ruled out for another few games. This is again good news for Drogba owners as he'll continue on free-kicks and penalties. Kalou and Benayoun are missing after picking up injuries in the Carling Cup.

- As we already know, Fulham's Dembele will be missing for at least 2 weeks due to ankle ligament damage suffered after Andy Wilkinson's reckless challenge on Wednesday night. Clint Dempsey is set to lead the line.

- A real shame for Blackpool's Alex Baptiste who has started the season in fine form. He's set to be sidelined for 4-6 weeks after a recurrence of an old knee injury. Looking at the pool results he was set to be a popular pick so make sure you replace him if you have him in your team.

- Asamoah Gyan is set to miss Sunderland's trip to Anfield, while Kieron Richardson & Anton Ferdinand are also struggling to make it. All 3 have hamstring injuries. In crazier news, Steve Bruce has decided to keep Lee Cattermole on as captain. Why?

- Steve Harper is out until Christmas with a shoulder injury sustained vs Everton so Tim Krul has a real chance to stake a claim for the Newcastle number one as Harpers been far from impressive. Any chance of a Shay Given return in January...?

UPDATED @ 12:45...

- Harry has reported Corluka is back in contention so this could raise doubts over Hutton's starting status at right-back.

- Saha still out, Cahill, Osman & Hibbert all doubtful for Everton. Attacking full-back Seamus Coleman could start.

- Dirk Kuyt has a chance of returning for Liverpool's game vs Sunderland, but it's 50-50. Hodgson has confirmed he'll make a full 11 changes to the side that lost to Northampton.

- Gotta love Ancelotti, he's already named the Chelsea team for tomorrow: Cech, Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Essien, Ramires, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba. Note, no Ferreria.


That's it for now, but keep checking back as I'll be updating team/injury news as I read/hear about it throughout the day.

Poll closes at 4pm: http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/501734

Having a quick look at my team this morning it looks likely that I'll end up going without Gerrard, Arshavin or Berbatov, which is slightly worrying. Out of those three Arshavin would be my preference but it would mean losing Malouda at a £4m discount and I'm not prepared to do that. Foster is in, Chamakh & Drogba will stay but I'm still trying to decide on my final striker spot...lots to think about!

How's your team looking?

Cheers,
AM

p.s. We're upto 831 members in the blog facebook group and I'm really hoping we can reach 1000 before the end of the year. As the group has grown we're getting some great discussion on there to add to the already excellent comments section and chat room...please join us!