- Sunderland
- B Alnwick, J Hoyte, G Breen, S Caldwell, D Collins, D Whitehead, L Lawrence, C Bassila, T Miller, J Stead, C Brown
Subs: K Davis, A Welsh, N Nosworthy, A Gray, G Leadbitter - Liverpool
- J Reina, S Finnan, S Hyypia, J Carragher, J Riise, S Gerrard, M Sissoko, X Alonso, S Luis Garcia, P Crouch, F Morientes
Subs: S Carson, H Kewell, D Traore, F Sinama Pongolle, S Warnock
For those of you keeping score at home
Friday's Team News Today
Though we've covered this ad nauseum, The Guardian and other sources are finally giving us the details:
Owen's absence also gives the England striker more time to recuperate from a minor tear in his groin, but a tear none the less. Owen, who sustained the damage after a training session prior to the visit to Chelsea 10 days ago, is also a doubt for Saturday's home game with Aston Villa. The standard recovery period for such an injury is three to six weeks, though Souness said Newcastle never considered surgery.
Yahoo!, you have some 'splaining to do
Seems that no one can see their teams or groups on their home page. But while some managers can get to the teams, others can't. Not good for Yahoo! on game day. Let's hope they sort it out soon.
Google to sponsor ManU?
Manchester United is in talks with a number of global high-tech giants, including Google, about replacing Vodafone as its shirt sponsor, according to reports.How would this fit with a company whose informal corporate motto is "Don't be evil."?
[snip]
Some of the names reportedly thought to be willing to top that include Google, IBM and Yahoo, according to a report this weekend in British newspaper The Observer.
The article then drops this little gem:
Two of the nontech brands believed to be in talks with the soccer club are Coca-Cola and Levi Strauss.Not quite Neal's vision of McDonalds, but good none-the-less.
Liverpool giveth, Liverpool taketh away
As they are two gamers, and playing pitiful Sunderland tomorrow, a lot of us have an excess of Liverpool players in our fantasy teams. Many of us also have Reina cheap (~$9 and ~$4 under current market value). Good deal, right?
For now, yes. But how will you feel come December 18 and Liverpool are in Tokyo for the FIFA Club World Championship? Do you sell now? Sell then? Hold em for the eventual 2-game make up week?
Anyone do some research and figure out who else is not playing that weekend, ie. who Liverpool would have played?
For now, yes. But how will you feel come December 18 and Liverpool are in Tokyo for the FIFA Club World Championship? Do you sell now? Sell then? Hold em for the eventual 2-game make up week?
Anyone do some research and figure out who else is not playing that weekend, ie. who Liverpool would have played?
Friday's Team News Today
Owen absent again for Magpies
This is becoming quite the saga. Expect quite a few qualifying words on Friday regarding Owen's chances of playing on Saturday.
England striker Michael Owen will not be fit in time to play in Newcastle's Carling Cup fourth-round tie at Wigan on Wednesday.
Owen, who failed a fitness test before Sunday's Premiership defeat by Everton, had been expected to make his return at the JJB Stadium.
But a persistent groin injury has not improved sufficiently for Owen to feature against the Latics.
This is becoming quite the saga. Expect quite a few qualifying words on Friday regarding Owen's chances of playing on Saturday.
Is it too early to worry...
... about losing players to the 2006 African Cup? Quite a few EPL players could be gone for up to 4 EPL games in January and February. The participating nations are Egypt, Togo, Senegal, Zambia, Ghana, DR Congo, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Libya, Angola, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Morocco, Guinea.
That could mean losing strikers like Diouf, Lua Lua, Drogba, Mido, and Yakubu. Other players could be Geremi, Jaihdi, Babayaro, Mbusema, Lauren and Toure (with Arsenal already thin on defensive cover), Essien, Okocha, Diao, etc.
That could mean losing strikers like Diouf, Lua Lua, Drogba, Mido, and Yakubu. Other players could be Geremi, Jaihdi, Babayaro, Mbusema, Lauren and Toure (with Arsenal already thin on defensive cover), Essien, Okocha, Diao, etc.
State of Sunderland
Fabulous article from The Guardian. While obstensibly a match report, it gives you the depth of despair evident in Sunderland's play, and evidently in Sunderland proper.
Liverpool come on Wednesday and as one pessimist said: "We'll lose that too and, what's worse, Crouch'll score."Hope for those of you with Morientes, Garcia, or god-forbid Crouch on your teams this week and who need a pick-me-up after Saturday.
Owen Follow-up
Michael Owen is expected to feature for Newcastle in their Carling Cup clash with Wigan on Wednesday after missing both games since the last international break.
WWOP?
When Will Owen Play?
How long will fantasy managers put up with this?
Enhancing his reputation by not playing was Michael Owen... Perhaps it is just as well; he is now showing symptoms of a curious problem that Paolo di Canio once had, ruling the victim out of away games. Either that, or he really did have a groin injury.
How long will fantasy managers put up with this?
EPL on TV this weekend
| Soccer on Fox Soccer Channel | |||||
| Day | Date | Competition | Home | Visitor | Kickoff (ET) |
| Sat. | Oct 29 | EPL | Portsmouth | Chelsea | 12 p.m. |
| Sat. | Oct 29 | EPL | Sunderland | Birmingham | 3 p.m. |
| Sat. | Oct 29 | EPL | Arsenal | Blackburn | 5 p.m. |
| Sun. | Oct 30 | EPL | Fulham | Bolton | 1 p.m. |
| Soccer on PPV/CCTV | |||||
| Day | Date | Competition | Home | Visitor | Kickoff (ET) |
| Sat. | Oct 29 | EPL | Manchester City | Liverpool | 10 a.m. |
| Sun. | Oct 30 | EPL | West Ham | Manchester United | 11 a.m. |
McDonalds to Sponsor ManYoo?
OK, not really - but the jersey is the right color and it would confirm every horrible thought that the Brits have had about the Glazer era which makes it an even more amusing thing to think about. Keano gone and the golden arches on the front of the jersey - sad days in Manchester indeed...and that midweek Champions League performance couldn't have helped any.
In fantasy news, there are some good match-ups this week (see Newcastle's visit to Everton and Boro hosting WBA) and one (Chelsea visiting the south coast) that might be a bit less appealing than it was before Pompey sacked their manager. Also, everyone should keep in mind that Liverpool and Sunderland have two matches this week so that has to go into everyone' s mental calculus as they prepare their line-up. So, with all that in mind, away we go...
Chelsea - This one can go either way. In one scenario, Pompey's players fear for their jobs as they try to impress a new manager and draw 1-1; In the other, things are completely in disarray and despite the new manager, Chelsea completely destroys Pompey 5-1. The fact that Pompey will score at least one goal in this match is down to the absence of Claude Makelele - probably the one player that Chelsea don't have anyone resembling a replacement for. He's the anchor of their defense which has been sort of sketchy the last month and a half anyway. On offense, Drogba is healthy again but Crespo has scored in two straight matches so who the hell knows what's going on there. Lampard is set for a big match after being quiet last weekend. Duff turned a mediocre weekend into a nice one with a cheap goal at the end of the match but might be a decent (albeit expensive) bet. Robben is still out and as a result, Joe Cole might be a decent pick-up but there are probably other worthwhile things to spend your money on. As for Pompey, I wouldn't waste your time on anyone but Robert and, like Cole, there are better ways to spend your money.
The Former "Big Two" - Steadily gaining momentum in the Premiership, this will be an important weekend for United who have a winnable away match against West Ham. This is the sort of away match against a mid-table opponent that they always found a way to win as recently as two seasons ago. No mystery in the fact that Rooney and Ruud are the two guys that you want in this one. Alan Smith is playing (slightly) better but is listed as a Striker so he isn't a good value. Ronaldo is still too expensive for his (lack of) production this year. Not much excitement to be had on the West Ham side of the ball. After a bright start, the Hammers have failed to produce many excellent fantasy performances. Even more distressing is the lack of consistency from their creators - strikers are always up and down but midfielders SHOULD be easier to predict. If you think that ManYoo are likely to get a clean sheet (about 50/50 in my opinion) then Wes Brown is an inexpensive bet in defense.
At Highbury, up and down Blackburn come to town (DWLWL in their last five). Not only have Rovers been up and down with their results but their offensive and defensive form has varied dramatically from week to week ranging from their 4-1 win over Charlton to a 1-0 loss to Liverpool to the 4-2 loss to Chelsea to the 0-0 outing with Citeh last week. So, who knows what you're going to get from Rovers. The best I can tell is that Rovers matches seem to take on the character of the team that they're playing which is a good sign for Arsenal because they've been exceptional at home. Henry and van Persie have been as good as it gets over the last couple weeks and there's no reason to think that it will stop now. That said, Arsenal seem to give away a soft goal so I wouldn't count on a clean sheet. For some reason, I'd also bet on Pires to pick up another PK in this one but he's relatively expensive for what you're likely to get for your money. On the Blackburn side, the one goal they'll get has Dickov written all over it. He's the type of annoying striker who will give Arsenal's makeshift defense fits. One other source of possible offense for Rovers will be Emerton who will definitely start on the right against Arsenal's depleated left side as Bentley sits out against the club that owns his rights. He may not score but he'll have a lot of "phantom points" (e.g., successful crosses, corners won).
Against the Relegation Zone - Welcome back to this category to the Toffees. This week, they will host Newcastle who are coming close to being at full strength with the returns of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen to the line-up. Look for Newcastle to win and for Owen to have one of THOSE matches where he scores two or three against an extremely poor opponent. Luque is also back for the Magpies but his place in the line-up is in question due to his health and the performance of Charles N'Zogbia. Not too much reason to pick any of the Toffees in this match. Cahill might be back, but I wouldn't think you'd want to take him until you know for a fact that he'll be starting and maybe not even then.
The rest of this category will go by quickly as Birmingham travel to the Stadium of Light to face off in a "six-point" relegation struggle with Sunderland leaving us to wonder "if a match happens and no one watches, do the fantasy stats count?" Given that the answer is probably "yes", you might want to think about Anthony La Tallec if you're looking for a cheap striker so you can afford someone else (or for Sunderland's two game "potential"). Whitehead has been an excellent fantasy point-producer for his price and not too bad at any price and represents something of a no-brainer in this week where he plays twice and one of those two vs. Birmingham. Pennant is about the only guy worth mentioning when the topic is Birmingham. Jarosik started off brightly but hasn't done much in over a month - in other words, he went from being cheap and productive to just being cheap - not good times in the Jarosik household.
Random Notes - First some random buys from the non-two gamers and then we'll get to Liverpool last (I have to make sure everyone reads the whole thing since I spent the time to write it). Wigan hosting Spurs and no one has said anything about Defore starting or not. Look for a 1-1 match. Too many other interesting options out there to buy anyone new in this match. I still have YP "Free" Lee from Spurs defense but that's mostly because I have him cheap and he's done OK. Michael Carrick is a solid seven points every week but seems unlikely to do much more than that. The Addicks travel to Villa Park in a match-up of a bad team (Villa) and a fading team (Charlton). The middle of Villa's midfield and defense isn't very good and this might be the week Murphy and Bent regain some measure of form. I'm not ready to buy back in, but if I were going to, I'd go after Murphy. As Jeremy pointed out, I'm on the Darren Ambrose bandwagon and have been for a while so I'll recommend him if you're looking for something a little different from the pack. Bolton is likely to score more than 1 goal this week as they travel to the Capital to play Fulham who will still be missing Claus Jensen. Nakata might be an interesting pick-up to capitalize on this mismatch. Finally, Boro hosts wretched West Brom and my man Yakubu is on a hot-streak - I shouldn't need to tell you much more than that. Mendieta is still uncertain so you probably want to stay away. In his absence, Rochembeck is likely taking Boro's kicks and might be in for a big week as Boro are likely to repeat last weekend's three-goal outburst.
OK, now to Liverpool. Xabi Alonso is hurt and therefore he shouldn't be considered a two-gamer. Luis Garcia is reported healthy and is worth considering. Ditto Morientes who seems to be a first choice at striker regardless of who else is playing at striker (Cisse/Crouch). Reina is a no-brainer for inclusion and, finally, the only time you'll hear this from me this season - Josemi isn't a bad bet. He's still cheap and he might end up with two clean sheets in under 10 minutes played (which means he isn't likely to get more than one yellow card over the two matches). Not the ideal situation but for the money spent, he's a pretty good value compared to the other affordable defenders (e.g., Jon Spector).
In fantasy news, there are some good match-ups this week (see Newcastle's visit to Everton and Boro hosting WBA) and one (Chelsea visiting the south coast) that might be a bit less appealing than it was before Pompey sacked their manager. Also, everyone should keep in mind that Liverpool and Sunderland have two matches this week so that has to go into everyone' s mental calculus as they prepare their line-up. So, with all that in mind, away we go...
Chelsea - This one can go either way. In one scenario, Pompey's players fear for their jobs as they try to impress a new manager and draw 1-1; In the other, things are completely in disarray and despite the new manager, Chelsea completely destroys Pompey 5-1. The fact that Pompey will score at least one goal in this match is down to the absence of Claude Makelele - probably the one player that Chelsea don't have anyone resembling a replacement for. He's the anchor of their defense which has been sort of sketchy the last month and a half anyway. On offense, Drogba is healthy again but Crespo has scored in two straight matches so who the hell knows what's going on there. Lampard is set for a big match after being quiet last weekend. Duff turned a mediocre weekend into a nice one with a cheap goal at the end of the match but might be a decent (albeit expensive) bet. Robben is still out and as a result, Joe Cole might be a decent pick-up but there are probably other worthwhile things to spend your money on. As for Pompey, I wouldn't waste your time on anyone but Robert and, like Cole, there are better ways to spend your money.
The Former "Big Two" - Steadily gaining momentum in the Premiership, this will be an important weekend for United who have a winnable away match against West Ham. This is the sort of away match against a mid-table opponent that they always found a way to win as recently as two seasons ago. No mystery in the fact that Rooney and Ruud are the two guys that you want in this one. Alan Smith is playing (slightly) better but is listed as a Striker so he isn't a good value. Ronaldo is still too expensive for his (lack of) production this year. Not much excitement to be had on the West Ham side of the ball. After a bright start, the Hammers have failed to produce many excellent fantasy performances. Even more distressing is the lack of consistency from their creators - strikers are always up and down but midfielders SHOULD be easier to predict. If you think that ManYoo are likely to get a clean sheet (about 50/50 in my opinion) then Wes Brown is an inexpensive bet in defense.
At Highbury, up and down Blackburn come to town (DWLWL in their last five). Not only have Rovers been up and down with their results but their offensive and defensive form has varied dramatically from week to week ranging from their 4-1 win over Charlton to a 1-0 loss to Liverpool to the 4-2 loss to Chelsea to the 0-0 outing with Citeh last week. So, who knows what you're going to get from Rovers. The best I can tell is that Rovers matches seem to take on the character of the team that they're playing which is a good sign for Arsenal because they've been exceptional at home. Henry and van Persie have been as good as it gets over the last couple weeks and there's no reason to think that it will stop now. That said, Arsenal seem to give away a soft goal so I wouldn't count on a clean sheet. For some reason, I'd also bet on Pires to pick up another PK in this one but he's relatively expensive for what you're likely to get for your money. On the Blackburn side, the one goal they'll get has Dickov written all over it. He's the type of annoying striker who will give Arsenal's makeshift defense fits. One other source of possible offense for Rovers will be Emerton who will definitely start on the right against Arsenal's depleated left side as Bentley sits out against the club that owns his rights. He may not score but he'll have a lot of "phantom points" (e.g., successful crosses, corners won).
Against the Relegation Zone - Welcome back to this category to the Toffees. This week, they will host Newcastle who are coming close to being at full strength with the returns of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen to the line-up. Look for Newcastle to win and for Owen to have one of THOSE matches where he scores two or three against an extremely poor opponent. Luque is also back for the Magpies but his place in the line-up is in question due to his health and the performance of Charles N'Zogbia. Not too much reason to pick any of the Toffees in this match. Cahill might be back, but I wouldn't think you'd want to take him until you know for a fact that he'll be starting and maybe not even then.
The rest of this category will go by quickly as Birmingham travel to the Stadium of Light to face off in a "six-point" relegation struggle with Sunderland leaving us to wonder "if a match happens and no one watches, do the fantasy stats count?" Given that the answer is probably "yes", you might want to think about Anthony La Tallec if you're looking for a cheap striker so you can afford someone else (or for Sunderland's two game "potential"). Whitehead has been an excellent fantasy point-producer for his price and not too bad at any price and represents something of a no-brainer in this week where he plays twice and one of those two vs. Birmingham. Pennant is about the only guy worth mentioning when the topic is Birmingham. Jarosik started off brightly but hasn't done much in over a month - in other words, he went from being cheap and productive to just being cheap - not good times in the Jarosik household.
Random Notes - First some random buys from the non-two gamers and then we'll get to Liverpool last (I have to make sure everyone reads the whole thing since I spent the time to write it). Wigan hosting Spurs and no one has said anything about Defore starting or not. Look for a 1-1 match. Too many other interesting options out there to buy anyone new in this match. I still have YP "Free" Lee from Spurs defense but that's mostly because I have him cheap and he's done OK. Michael Carrick is a solid seven points every week but seems unlikely to do much more than that. The Addicks travel to Villa Park in a match-up of a bad team (Villa) and a fading team (Charlton). The middle of Villa's midfield and defense isn't very good and this might be the week Murphy and Bent regain some measure of form. I'm not ready to buy back in, but if I were going to, I'd go after Murphy. As Jeremy pointed out, I'm on the Darren Ambrose bandwagon and have been for a while so I'll recommend him if you're looking for something a little different from the pack. Bolton is likely to score more than 1 goal this week as they travel to the Capital to play Fulham who will still be missing Claus Jensen. Nakata might be an interesting pick-up to capitalize on this mismatch. Finally, Boro hosts wretched West Brom and my man Yakubu is on a hot-streak - I shouldn't need to tell you much more than that. Mendieta is still uncertain so you probably want to stay away. In his absence, Rochembeck is likely taking Boro's kicks and might be in for a big week as Boro are likely to repeat last weekend's three-goal outburst.
OK, now to Liverpool. Xabi Alonso is hurt and therefore he shouldn't be considered a two-gamer. Luis Garcia is reported healthy and is worth considering. Ditto Morientes who seems to be a first choice at striker regardless of who else is playing at striker (Cisse/Crouch). Reina is a no-brainer for inclusion and, finally, the only time you'll hear this from me this season - Josemi isn't a bad bet. He's still cheap and he might end up with two clean sheets in under 10 minutes played (which means he isn't likely to get more than one yellow card over the two matches). Not the ideal situation but for the money spent, he's a pretty good value compared to the other affordable defenders (e.g., Jon Spector).
Yahoo! confirms 2 gamers
With Liverpool playing Sunderland in midweek, it makes a lot of sense to get as many Reds in your team as possible this week.Do you blow up the team for a crack at Sunderland? Do the Black Cats have a shot at a struggling Birmingham or a distracted Liverpool? Do Liverpool rotate their strikers with 3 games in a week, or rest their middies?
We'll see if Neal gets a chance to post his thoughts later today (it's a holiday weekend here in the USA), but for now, what are you going to do?
Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!
| Fenerbahce | 0 - 4 | AC Milan |
| 16' | 0 - 1 |  Shevchenko | |
| 52' | 0 - 2 | Shevchenko | |
| 70' | 0 - 3 | Shevchenko | |
| 76' | 0 - 4 | Shevchenko |
| Schalke 04 | 3 - 0 | PSV Eindhoven |
| 18' | Kobiashvili | 1 - 0 | |
| 72' | Kobiashvili | 2 - 0 | |
| 79' | Kobiashvili | 3 - 0 |
| Inter Milan | 4 - 0 | Artmedia Petrzalka |
| 28' | Figo | 1 - 0 | |
| 41' | Adriano | 2 - 0 | |
| 59' | Adriano | 3 - 0 | |
| 74' | Adriano | 4 - 0 |
Vodafone cuts off Manchester United
Vodafone today ended its £36m shirt sponsorship deal with the club two years earlier than planned.
Flickering of the lights in England (or perhaps Europe) was caused by everyone with half a joke launching Photoshop at once.
Anyone seen any good ones yet?
Flickering of the lights in England (or perhaps Europe) was caused by everyone with half a joke launching Photoshop at once.
Anyone seen any good ones yet?
Resident Yank: Premiership First Quarter Grades
Neal, our very own "One-Man Media Empire", takes an alphabetically organzied look at the first quarter performance of all the EPL teams, their needs, and their options.
Birmingham-Bolton game postponed
The Premiership game between Birmingham and Bolton has been postponed due to heavy fog around St Andrews.
Sincere apologies to those who had Pennant on their team.
2 Gamers?
Thanks to an eagle eye in the comments,it's come to our attention that the rescheduled SUN/LIV matchup is next Wednesday.
If Yahoo! gets on the ball and includes this match, do you break the bank for Gerrard? Reach for Morientes? Settle for Crouch? Bet on Whitehead? (I'm assuming that most everyone has Reina already.)
At Manchester City is Liverpool's relatively tough test at the weekend, while Sunderland is home to a struggling Birmingham side who will have two fewer days to rest and prepare for what is sure to be billed as a "relegation 6-pointer".
If Yahoo! gets on the ball and includes this match, do you break the bank for Gerrard? Reach for Morientes? Settle for Crouch? Bet on Whitehead? (I'm assuming that most everyone has Reina already.)
At Manchester City is Liverpool's relatively tough test at the weekend, while Sunderland is home to a struggling Birmingham side who will have two fewer days to rest and prepare for what is sure to be billed as a "relegation 6-pointer".
Answers to Friday's questions
- Some good games on the telly this weekend... and then there's West Brom/Everton. Sigh.
- Unless you're a WBA fan!
- We'll get to see if Wigan are for real as they take on the Arsenal. Can they quiet Herny and van Persie? Can Arsenal's depleted left flank contain Pascal Chimbonda?
- Maybe. Nope. Yep.
- Charlton/ManU should be an exciting game as both teams are trying to solidify their places this season. ManU need to build on their victory over Chelsea while Charlton need to rediscover their early season form.
- And indeed it was. What a goal from Ruud and what an assist from Rooney. We'll see that for years, and we won't tire of it. Charlton feasted on some easy early season opposition and now need to bunker down and get some wins. And has anyone seen Danny Murphy lately?
- And Sunday brings a London derby that will hopefully be an open, entertaining game. That is of course, if Tottenham don't string together 4 deep-lying middies and strand Mido and Defoe against a suprisingly effective West Ham rear-guard.
- Mido does his bit. Heads in a goal, commits enough fouls to get carded. So day at the office for him. Defoe rested and Keane was lively. But West Ham held on long enough and Ferdinand, part of that "suprisingly effective West Ham rear-guard" heads home the equalizer at the death.
Kudos...
... to Mike. He's going to end up fielding 9 this week, and still he's going to kick our asses. Fielding Henry is nice. But getting big games from Whitehead and Morientes... that's priceless.
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