Injuries and Suspensions

Premier League Team News - Barclays Premier League - ESPN Soccernet

The news from Arsenal (or at least it is news to me) is that Denilson is out this week with an abdominal injury.  This definitely leaves me wondering about who will nominally play in the holding spot this weekend for Arsenal.  Denilson wasn't a great choice as a replacement for Song but he IS a better choice than anyone else on the roster.  I guess the next most likely candidate is former "next Vieira" Diaby even though he has been playing much better in a more advanced role this season.  If Diaby is indeed the choice then that would re-open a more advanced spot for Ramsey or Rosicky (probably Ramsey as Wenger can't help but be ultra-cautious with 'sicky at this stage...right?)

Elsewhere the news is what we expected...
Liverpool - Nando, Gerrard, GJohn, and Benayoun all out (Riera too not that anyone really cares); Masch returns (pushing Aquilani a little further forward?) and Maxi Rodriguez will play if he is cleared (like there's a choice).  For the 3 of you who may be thinking that Babel is an option given the injury issues up top and on the wings we have this from Babel's very own Twitter page...

Hey people, I got some disappointing news, I m not travelling 2 Stoke.. The Boss left me out the squad. No explanation..

So...where will Babel end up? Hopefully somewhere he can start and we can find out if he is going to be a solid player or not.  I still hold out hope that he can contribute to a fantasy team and a real life team if given a legitimate shot.


ManYoo - Fletch and Rio are out and I'd personally rate Vidic as questionable given his recent health record but EvdS returns for ManYoo leaving the possibility that things will be solid at the back again.  Not a guarantee, just a possibility.

Spurs - King, Hutton, BAE, Lennon, and Woody are all ruled out.  This means Bale and SeaBass are in at the back (both are under 7 in cost and playing winnable matches where Spurs could easily get a CS).  Lennon's continued absence means that the Modric/Kranjcar pairing is likely to continue (and why not? as they're doing well).  No mention of Defoe's injury which I assume means he's in good shape to play.

Chelsea - Still missing their quartet of ACN players (Drogs, Mikel, Essien, and Kalou) along with the injured Deco and Bosingwa but the Elk returns.  Seems to me that their best line-up at this point is Elk + Sturridge which is nice for fantasy owners but we certainly don't know that for sure.  What we do know is that FloMal and JCole have been pretty close to useless and Sturridge has at least shown some flashes when given the chance so if you're taking a chance, go that way.

Elsewhere - I'm not sure on the status of O'Hara's loan deal at Pompey but I will be curious to see what they have left with Dindane, Belhadj, and Yebda all at the ACN.  If O'Hara is recalled to Spurs then things will start looking pretty thin at Fratton Park (although KPB might re-emerge as a great fantasy option as he will see more of the ball)...Sunderland is still missing a bunch of players (Turner, Gordon, Nosworthy, Ferdinand, BFAR, Cattermole, and Mensah) which means that Chelsea are essentially playing the Sunderland reserves with the starting strikers...Citeh have their line-up essentially determined by the ACN + injuries with K2, Bridge, Ireland, Lescott, Onuoha, RSC, and Kolo all out for one reason or another according to BBC.com...Everton are likewise depleted with Yak, Yobo, Rodwell, Arteta, and Jagielka definitely out with Distin facing a fitness test.

Not too much excitement that we didn't know about already.  Good luck choosing your squads and I'll see you tomorrow on the Live Chat...

Cheers - Neal