The Week Ahead/Injuries & Suspensions Combined Entry

Sorry that the big post is running late but I got back from my soccer safari in London on Wednesday afternoon and have been catching up with work since then.  The trip was a pretty remarkable journey to three clubs - Arsenal, Fulham, and Crystal Palace - that each provide their own unique experience for the fans who attend their matches.  From the stadiums to the fans to the atmosphere at the ground I was struck at the fact that each experience was unique which differs a great deal from professional sports here in the States which offer very similar experiences across cities, stadiums, and different sports leagues (e.g., football, baseball, basketball).

I'll post something longer on my month in sports which includes Spring Training baseball, the three soccer matches in London, a regular season baseball game, and then the Philadelphia Union/DC United match on Saturday night which will also serve as the home debut of the Union.  I'll probably throw in some observations from my trip to Argentina as well and end up with a bit of a comparative review for anyone interested in such things.

Since I'm already running late, lets get right to the news and the player recommendations.

Sort of a funny week because of the FA Cup matches this weekend and the resulting staggering of Premier League matches between the weekend and midweek.  Picking players from the teams playing in midweek will contain some level of risk due to the possibility of injury or suspension arising from their FA Cup matches.  For those not in the know, this specifically means Chelsea, Villa, Spurs, and Pompey.

The second note is that while Fulham and Stoke were scheduled to play both over the weekend and in midweek making them two-gamers, their head-to-head match-up has been postponed.

Finally, with all the Premier League teams out of the Champions League, the league title is the biggest prize left available to Arsenal, Chelsea, and ManYoo so with the race so tight at the top, you can expect all three teams to put their best available teams out there every time out.  I'm sure some of you will respond with "well, Chelsea can still win the FA Cup" and that is true but if you think about where the owners and specifically Roman see value, his manager will realize that while an FA Cup/Premier League title double would be a nice first year haul, that same first year would probably feel like a bit of a failure if the FA Cup is the only trophy that finds its way to the Stamford Bridge trophy case.  This is nice because between the race for the title, the race for fourth, the race for Europa Cup spots, and the relegation race all still on in earnest most teams will have something meaningful to play for through the last match of the season.




Schedule


It's rare that Wigan show up on this list but with Pompey visiting after their FA Cup semi-final which will either leave them with a far different priority (if they win) or deflated in the face of their season and Premier League run being over (if they lose) you have to like Wigan's chances.  Hull, ManYoo, and Chelsea are the others with strong match-ups.  As for Arsenal/Spurs - I can't say I have the faintest idea what will happen there so I'm going to stay away for the most part.  Finally, Liverpool vs. Fulham may not look great on paper but while both clubs are on the Europa Cup semis, they differ in that Liverpool still has something to play for in the league while Fulham will likely focus all remaining energy on their cup exploits.

Injuries


Obviously Wayne Rooney is the big story here.  He will definitely be out for the match with Rovers.  Elsewhere, Ivanovic is on the road to recovery putting Ferreira's spot in doubt for midweek.  Alan Hutton may return from his injury for the match with West Ham making him an interesting option but Andy Reid is likely done for the season (he's hurt? shocking, I know).  Looks like Nando will play for Liverpool and with the season essentially in the balance every week now I'd expect that he will do so each week assuming he can walk.  Jeremy likes Mancienne for Wolves with Henry out suspended after his red card at the Emirates last weekend.  Zamora is a doubt both due to a knock and a desire to keep him fit for the Europa semis.  Dempsey will join him on the sidelines for Fulham with a thigh injury.  Joe Hart is neither injured nor suspended but makes this paragraph because he won't be playing against the club that owns his rights.  On the other side, the Citeh defence may be missing Richards, Sylvinhio, and will definitely be missing Zabaleta who is still suspended. Ireland will also miss out for Citeh with an injury.

Forwards

• Tevez - in a great vein of form, hard to stay away;
• Bendtner - he's been scoring the big goals for Arsenal;
• K2 - if you can't afford Tevez he's your back-up plan; 
• Torres/Drogs - both come with questions (Torres minor injury and Drogs having been on the bench twice in a row) but I'm sticking with Drogs over Nando;
• DBent - priced a bit high at 15.28 but a nice final group of matches coming up;
• Yayga - he hasn't had a great second half of the season but with the match-up you have to like his chances;

Midfielders

• AJ - strong match-up and coming off of a nice performance;
• Walcott - seems poised to give Arsenal supporters hope for next season with a strong finishing kick;
• FloMal - he's been a steady contributor over the last two months or so;
• Zhirkov - he hasn't set the world ablaze but he's been decent value for the money at under 6.00;
• Jummy - not many great match-ups for Hull these days but Burnley coming to town is about as close as it gets; 
• Jarvis - Wolves have a nice match-up and he's been producing pretty regularly;
• N'Zogbia/McCarthy - pretty toothless against Fulham but should rebound vs. Pompey;

Defenders


Not sure how I'm going to follow up calling Hangeland's goal last weekend but here goes:

• Onuoha - not many other options left to partner Kolo plus the match-up is a good one;
• Elokobi - Here's where I get biased by watching a match in person, he looked good in a losing effort vs. Arsenal which didn't translate into many points but I'm sticking with my first hand impression;
• Mancienne - Two Wolves defenders? Really? Well, he's very cheap and they have played a bunch of tough matches in a row leading me to believe they've figured some things out rather than just having been lucky or temporarily playing above their heads - if they had a little more attacking firepower they'd have wrestled the "this year's Fulham" mantle away from Brum who gave it up about 6 weeks ago;
• Scharner - was Wigan's best player last weekend (warning, damning by faint praise) but he's my candidate to score from the back this weekend;

Keepers

• Kirkland - it makes me nervous counting on Wigan for a CS but if ever you were going to, this is it; 
• Myhill - another possible CS for cheap but he/they make me even more nervous than Kirkland/Wigan - plus, Burnley are better than Pompey;
• Cech - if you're going to splash some cash for a surer thing, he gets my vote over EvdS because he's cheaper and at home;

Good luck and look for a Live Chat tomorrow.