Archive for March, 2007
Vidic out for at least a month
United have lost Nemanja Vidic after the defender dislocated his shoulder against Blackburn today. United will have a full prognosis on the injury tomorrow but Vidic will miss at least a month with the injury and could well be absent for the remainder of the season. This is the second shoulder injury United have suffred in recent weeks, after Silvestre was also sidelined. Vidic’s absence will mean that Wes Brown will remain in the side, even on Gary Neville’s return, while John O’Shea is likely to deputise in the centre of defence while Neville and Silvestre recover from their injuries.
ContinuedTeam news from Anfield
There’s some interesting changes made to both sides at Anfield for today’s early kick-off. Liverpool lineup with just Crouch up front, dropping Kuyt to the bench and leaving Bellamy out of the 16. Gerrard appears to be lining up in a centre-midfield 3 with Mascherano playing behind him and Alonso. Pennant is on the right while Aurelio lines up on the left with Riise left out of the squad. Arbeloa starts his first Premiership match at right-back as Finnan is also rested.
For Arsenal, Adebayor returns up front as expected but there is no Gilberto so Denilson starts in midfield. Eboue gains back the right-back spot with Hoyte relegated to the bench. Clichy returns at left-back with Gallas moving alongside Toure at the centre of defence. Ljungberg and Rosicky are both on the bench having played in international week.
ContinuedRobben out for the season
Chelsea have been hit by the news that winger Arjen Robben is likely to miss the rest of the season. Robben will undergo surgery on his knee that will more than likely rule him out for the remainder of Chelsea’s matches. The blow of losing Robben is somewhat softened by news of Joe Cole’s condition. The England man is apparently due to return to full training next week and could be available for the Spurs game.
In the short-term, Robben’s absence hands is likely to hand another start to Wright-Phillips at Watford tomorrow.
ContinuedLampard Plays, Essien nearing fitness
It’s good news all round for Chelsea. Frank Lampard looks certain to lineup at Watford despite suffering a fractured bone in his wrist. Lampard will play the game with a light cast. Michael Essien meanwhile is back in training and running on his injury, although the Watford game is likely to be too soon for his return to the side. Finally, Wayne Bridge is reportedly just a week away from fitness [source].
ContinuedRichards out…and it could be for 3 weeks
Micah Richards is out of this weekend’s game with Newcastle. Richards limped out of the England game against Andorra with ankle ligament damage, this after just returning from a shin injury. He could now face up to 3 weeks on the sidelines [source].
His absence could mean an immediate return for Danny Mills against Newcastle, although Trabelsi is another option.
ContinuedSaha and Solskjaer return
United will have both Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer available to face Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. Both have recovered from injury and are likely to figure along with Paul Scholes who returns from a 3-match suspension. There’s also a chance that Darren Fletcher may also be fit enough to be considered after being out for a several weeks with an ankle injury.
I’ll be updating all the team news for the weekend’s games later on tonight.
ContinuedLooking Forward…
Laursen fit to return for Villa
Martin Laursen is back in training and fit for selection for Villa’s game against Everton on Monday [source]. Laursen, a long-term injury victim for the majority of the season, returned at Fulham a fortnight ago but injured a hamstring in that game. It’s unclear whether Laursen will slot straight back into a defence that has performed well in the last two matches but certainly Gary Cahill, the man who made way against Fulham, now finds his place under threat. Fantasy Managers with Cahill in their squad should consider looking elsewhere with this in mind, maybe at Wilfred Bouma, one of my defensive scout picks this week.
ContinuedRonaldo is fit and plays
Ronaldo has eased worries over his fitness going into the weekend by lining up for Portugal tonight against Serbia. There was concerns over a foot injury suffered in training on Monday but all seems well and Ronaldo seems set to take his place in the United lineup against Blackburn.
ContinuedLampard’s wrist injury handy for McClaren?
Frank Lampard is out of England’s game tonight against Andorra after he sustained a wrist injury in training. Lampard’s wrist has apparently ballooned to the extent that he couldn’t be risked tonight and scans have shown ruptured ligaments. The question is, is the injury bad enough to keep Lampard out of Chelsea’s visit to Watford at the weekend or just a convenient knock that allowed McClaren to drop the under-fire Chelsea man and move Gerrard to the centre of midfield? I’d suggest the latter with Lampard likely to lineup for Jose at the weekend, but Fantasy Managers will need to keep an eye on news coming out of Stamford Bridge in the next day or so.
Continued
