Tonight’s Cup Scout Notes
It was Carling Cup action for some clubs tonight with some red faces amongst the Premiership “elite”. Liverpool meanwhile put some reserves out for a Champions League something or other. Read my notes from tonights games…
Sunderland were the Premiership’s whipping boys tonight, going out 3-0 in the Carling Cup to League One Luton. Greg Halford was sent off for Keane’s men - his career at Sunderland has got off to a similar start to his life at Reading. Aside from Ward in goal for Gordon, Keane put a first choice eleven out but was well beaten on the night. Halford will now miss his date with Nani when Sunderland travel to Old Trafford at the weekend. Dan Higginbotham is likely to be drafted in at right-back to face Nani on his debut. Nani’s stock for the weekend rises several more points as a result.
Wigan meanwhile faired little better, surprisingly being turned over by Hull City by the odd goal. Manager Hutchings rested the likes of Koumas, Heskey, Landzaat and Valencia and paid the price.
Derby lost on penalties to Championship Blackpool. Camara and Fagan got Derby’s goals in normal time before Blackpool’s Michael Jackson netted the winning penalty in errr…a thriller (sorry). Derby where another to field a strong side with Steve Howard and Andy Todd the only real notable absences. Both appeared as second-half subs but couldn’t help Derby slipping to defeat in the tie.
Reading’s Sam Sodje was another to get his marching orders although Leroy Lita did the business at the over end, netting the winner and his first of the season as Reading beat Swansea. Coppell had Duberry back in his defence and gave runouts to Kitson and Convey who has just returned from suspension. Duberry, Kitson and Lita all seem set to push for starts at the weekend following the drubbing at Bolton.
Villa cruised past Wrexham with Maloney offering “keep me” plea to O’Neil by hitting a brace. Luke Moore, Reo Coker and Harewood rounded the night off. Villa rested the likes of Young, Carew and Petrov, although the Bulgarian got on after the hour mark. Moore and Maloney look set to start at the weekend should O’Neil choose to hold on to the former Celtic man.
Craig Bellamy also hit a brace as West Ham overcame Bristol Rovers. However, the result was overshadowed by the suspected leg break suffered by Kieron Dyer. Curbishley rested Upson and recalled Gabbidon in defence. Noble was dropped to the bench to accomodate Bowyer. Ashton missed out on getting another game under his belt as his wife was giving birth. Highly inconvenient.
Portsmouth were too strong for Leeds, running out 3-0 winners with a brace from Pamarot and a Nugent’s first (and maybe his last) senior strike for Redknapp’s men. Harry rested Campbell, James, Taylor and Kanu among others. Mendes returned in midfield after missing the Chelsea game. Kranjcar also made a first start of the season. Redknapp now seems to have a world of options opening up for him making his team selection beyond the weekend increasingly hard to predict, particularly as he’s unlikely to resist getting another new face or two before the window closes.
O’Connor and McSheffrey netted for Steve Bruce’s side as Birmingham beat Hereford 2-1. Bruce gave Vine and O’Connor their first starts up front along with Danns in midfield. Sadler also got his first start in defence alongside Ridgewell.
Fulham got a win at Shrewsbury courtesy of Diomansy Kamara’s first goal for the club. Sanchez played with Volz at right-back in place of the suspended Baird , while Pearce returned in the centre of defence as Zat Knight packed his bags for Villa Park. Elsewhere it was as expected for Fulham with Dempsey and Kamara starting for McBride and Bouazza.
Meanwhile, in the lesser known Champions League, Liverpool thrashed Toulouse 4-0 to win their Qualifying tie 5-0 on aggregate. Goals from Crouch, Hypia and a brace from Kuyt won the day for Rafa’s men. Kuyt is expected to start alongside Torres at the weekend and Hypia is set to continue alongside Agger while Carragher nurses his broken rib.
How often do you think Sissoko will get a full game against?
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Dean Whitehead won’t be drafted into right back or anywhere as he is out for six months
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I think Sissoko will play about 50% of Liverpool’s games, and not a Fantasy Football player, as other than his sweet strike against Sunderland, he may not score another goal all season. Interesting situation at Liverpool, I watched the game last night and I was impressed by Sissoko, Mascherano and new boy Leiva. There’s so much competition in the centre of that midfield. Personally, I’d drop Alonso, as he hasn’t made as much of an impact in recent games.
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im surprised no one has made a big deal about Dempsey playing up front for Fulham, as he’s a midfielder in FPL and priced at next to nothing. I take it that was just a once off then?
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whats the news on carvalho’s injury? i was wondering whether to bring in a l’pool defender in for ben haim, since he will certainly make way once carvalho is back. besides, i need to bring in a striker to replace keane (tot), to make generate some finances to bring ronnie back in for next week. any suggestions? i was thinkin voronin (7.8M), but will he play after not even being named as a sub midweek and kuyt scoring 2? rafa is unpredictable..
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thanks Chris…missed that while I was away
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Posted on another page but its old so noone looks so here goes again,
Hey guys, on the subject of Bale, I was really impressed with what I saw on the weekend and so I bought him in but now I have a big problem. My defenders are Richards, Dunne (from Man City playing Blackburn), Baines (playing Bolton), Scharner (playing Newcastle but on a hot scoring run) and Bale (playing Fulham). I want to only play 3 defenders as I have a midfield of Scholes, Arteta, Lampard and Fabregas, and my strikers are Tevez, Van Persie and Forsell (Middlesborough this weekend so big chance to score), but which three defenders to select?
Great website by the way and the longer the other guys in my league don’t find it the better, cheers.
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I’d go with Scharner, Bale and whichever of the Man City guys you prefer, personally.
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What do you think about the chances of Lehman getting back its No 1 place? Almunia looks like a bargain now
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I don’t know which game you are playing nbalive, but in the Fantasy Premier League comp. Almunia is 5 million, which is the same as James, Robinson and Howard with Jaaskelainen at 4.9, and Hahnemann at 4.6. Considering the uncertainty of who is going to get the starting spot long term at Arsenal, and the fact that Arsenal are not great at getting clean sheets anyway, I would look to one of the other options.
Thanks B.Lo for the advice. I will follow it and maybe slot in Richards since he is probably more likely to score or get an assist than Dunne. Cheers.
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hi.. thanks God that i’ve found this website.
Anyways, I need an advice. I’m thinking to change Martins (playing Wigan this weekend, but haven’t scored the last 2 games, and always got substituted, and has a big competition with Owen) with Anelka (playing Everton, but really hot now). What do u guys think?
Thanks
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Hi Mad…I’ve gone with Anelka from day one in most of my sides..hasn’t let me down. Now he’s signed a new contract with Bolton i think he’s a good bet. Martins is under threat for his place but scored last night. Won’t be long before Owen starts though I wouldn’t have thought. Not sure what game you’re playing but Anelka is also a better bet for assists and bonus/mom points.
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Bale?
Huh?
His goals / assists will be crippled by lack of clean sheets. Sad, but that will only be assuaged by a full strength Spurs defense. Going with bros from Man City has worked for me, with Lescott (and his one goal), Evra, or Shorey filling in the gaps.
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Thanks, Mark! I’m playing Fantasy PL. Yea, things that hold me with martins are: his goal last nite, and errr his price is already increased to 9.3.
But i guess Anelka is more consistent.
About Bale, I think he’s a good bet, a bit expensive at 6.0. But nowadays, I guess it’s just hard to depend on clean sheets. Liverpool and Chelsea hardly had a clean sheet this season.
IMHO, Man City was just lucky in the last 3 games, with Richards played perfectly well. We’ll see in the next games how City’s holding up.
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See with Bale right now Jol is playing him as a midfielder meaning that he’s more likely to score from assists and the odd goal here and there. Any clean sheet that Spurs conjure up along the way would just be a nice little bonus on top.
However even though he looked impressive last week against ManU, with Lennon returning from injury one wonders whether or not he’ll be guaranteed starts every week at left mid.
With Yakubu’s move to Everton, do you guys Johnson will start to come good now that he’ll be paired with a decent strike partner? I’ve had him from the start and he still hasn’t scored yet…
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What are the chances of Alex getting significant playing time now and in the future for Chelsea?
He’s a great, cheap pickup at this point if the plan is for him to get serious playing time in the longer-term.
Thanks.
PS Great website. Should start a message board to make these discussions easier. I’m sure may of us would donate money if necessary.
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