Walcott To Face United As Wenger Lets Rip
Theo Walcott should be fit to lineup against United at the weekend according to Arsene Wenger.
The Arsenal boss opened up on his worries in today’s press conference prior to the Fenerbahce game and he was quick to announce that Walcott and Gallas could well return to face United. Sagna is also fit and should get back to action tomorrow. Wenger, in a forthright mood, then went on to blame his latest array of injuries on poor old Stoke in what was a rather colourful day for the press at the Emirates…
“[Walcott, Adebayor and Gallas] are all injured,” revealed Wenger. “It is not more serious than that. Gallas and Walcott are short-term but Adebayor is a bit longer, Eboue as well.”
Would any of those return against United then? “Gallas and especially Walcott,” was Wenger’s answer.
The Arsenal boss then made his feelings felt regarding the weekend clash with Stoke and the treatment dished out by the home side. Wenger was adamant that the tackles going in at the Britannia Stadium were far from fair.
“Do you think (Rory) Delap tried to play the ball when he tackled Walcott? Or that (Ryan) Shawcross tried to play the ball when he tackled Adebayor off the pitch. All the players have been injured deliberately,” raged the Gunners boss.
He went on to list a catalogue of players he’s lost to injury, all of which were down to some first class hacking according to his claims…
“Do you want me to tell you the players we have lost here? Diaby, deliberate foul from behind, Rosicky, deliberate foul, Eduardo, deliberate foul. Now we lose Walcott, deliberate foul and we have lost Sagna - deliberate foul on him”.
Given that Van Persie came off the bench to clatter Sorensen unceremoniously on his arse on his own goal line, it all appears a little blinkered from Wenger. Still, the Arsenal boss is certainly excellent value these days.
Back to the Arsenal team news, and Sagna’s “knock” against Stoke shouldn’t stop him taking his place at right back tomorrow night. Bendtner is set to start up front tomorrow and against United this weekend, with Adebayor’s ankle injury likely to keep him sidelined for “a bit longer”. Van Persie will figure tomorrow but is suspended for the next three domestic matches - United, Wigan in the Carling Cup and Aston Villa.
Only today Bendtner has revealed his determination to take his opportunity. Given the desperation that Arsenal will need to show at the weekend, you can see Arsenal notching one or two goals, so Bendtner looks a decent short-term prospect. He’s priced at just 5.3 in the FPL game.
StewB
X-Ray Dog
Jonny
dadoune
Fran
I’ve used this as a perfect opportunity to draft in Ronaldo, Bendtner and Ireland in exchange for A Young, SWP and Defoe. My first points hit of the season, but I couldn’t be without Ronaldo a moment longer!!
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 4 9:19 pm:
i think the key is to make those changes before they score the big points! man u have 3 tricky away games in the next 4. i expect some returns from ronny but not stellar like the last 2 gameweeks
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Think I’ll be staying away from Arsenal defenders for a while but Bendtner is very tempting. Currnetly have Zaki, Defoe an Carew anyone think a trade for Bendtner is worth a punt?
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I’ve been running Zaki and Carew with Bendtner as my cheap sub but I think I’ll still keep him on the bench against United. He’s shown good technique but without Adebayor/RvP as a foil, I don’t know if he’ll be able to really do much on his own… who knows, maybe Vela will be the one to star.
Need some advice here at the back:
I have Van Der Sar and am looking to transfer him out. I have 1M in the bank. Should I pick up Reina (the obvious choice) in a straight swap and stay with a back line of -
Alex, A Traore, and one of L Young, Figueroa, Garrido
OR
Should I pick up Boaz Myhill (great fixtures) and improve my defense by dropping Garrido for Evra or Agger, etc.
Do you guys think Hull can keep clean sheets?
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 4 9:21 pm:
i had the same issue this week. i went for myhill. and with your current defense i would advise doing that so u can beef it up a bit
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Reply by Marknlard on November 4 9:22 pm:
Hull can, they’ve done it home and away this season. Decent fixtures coming up for them.
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Reply by JWF on November 4 9:24 pm:
A Hull clean sheet against Bolton at home looks good but in the following games against Man City and Portsmouth I’m not so sure.
I would ideally want three players from Chelsea, Liverpool or Man U at the back so maintaining the two you’ve got is a must. Alex is great for the next game or two but when Carv’ is back you’ll have to use your funds to upgrade to one to 6.5m options. If you upgrade to Reina (very good choice, of course) make sure you hav enough to replace Alex.
Agger is worth considering as he’s only 0.3m more than Alex (although he’s going up tonight). Obviously if you took Agger and Reina you’d have two Liverpool defenders but their fixtures do look good!
Sorry, that’s a bit rambling and probably not very helpful… it’s been a long day!
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Reply by Will on November 4 9:28 pm:
Agger is going up tonight-are you sure?
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Reply by Marknlard on November 4 9:31 pm:
He’s been stalled for the last week.
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Reply by JWF on November 4 9:32 pm:
no, sorry (like I said, long day) mis-read it as 93% and actually meant this week not tonight! If he comes through tonight without getting injured (fingers crossed) the I’d expect him to rise in a day or two.
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Reply by Marknlard on November 4 9:29 pm:
I think the way things are turning out this season, having Man City at home and playing Portsmouth now is pretty good for Hull. They’re not bankers, but if you feel like living dangerously, Hull are a good team to back.
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Reply by JWF on November 4 9:29 pm:
do you play 3 or 4 at the back? You’ve got 3 defenders priced 4.3, 4.4 & 4.2 downgrade one or two of these to a 4m option and free up some extra cash (I’d dump Garrido personally)
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Reply by Ibracadabra on November 4 9:32 pm:
I play 3 at the back.
5 in the midfield - CRon, Lampard, Ireland, A Young, Arteta
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Reply by JWF on November 4 9:38 pm:
So do you need 5 ‘playable’ defenders? Don’t get me wrong, it’s great if you can afford to have a solid bench but I’d focus on getting a solid keeper (Myhill might be a good choice) and three very good defenders, at least two from Liverpool, Chelsea or Man U (in that order) and one decent sub. Have one dog of a 4m defender that you’ll probably never play is OK if you use the saved cash to strengthen elsewhere.
If you didn’t go for Myhill you could even get McShane for 4m who might be a good 4m bet.
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Hi,
My team is:
Myhill (Turnball)
Bosingwa Agger Traore (Paintsil Fig)
Ronny Lamps Cahill Modric Young
Berbatov Zaki (Moore)
Any suggestions?
HELP
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Reply by Will on November 4 9:31 pm:
You’re team looks good. What do you think is wrong with it?
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Reply by Will on November 4 9:31 pm:
Your team looks good. What do you think is wrong with it?
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Reply by McLovin on November 4 9:36 pm:
nothing. i just wanted you to say that
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Reply by Will on November 4 9:37 pm:
wow, strong insecurity.
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Reply by Alan on November 5 12:28 pm:
surely thats no an fpl team? cant be arsed to do the maths but looks a tad expensive!
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 5 1:22 pm:
on current prices it is, but not if they got the players in early
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Reply by McLovin on November 4 9:34 pm:
You got my name!! Is Torres going to play this weekend?
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That’s my name!
Im McLOVIN!!!!
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Anyone think its worth transfering out robinho and defoe for torres and miller? Bearing in mind i have a squad that already includes reina, bosingwa, evra, troare, marney, a young, cron, lamps, zaki.
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Reply by Stion - (Strathcarnage) on November 5 1:27 pm:
Wait and see if Torres fitness is okay, if Defoe gets less opportunities with a more conservative pompey, If Man city can become more solid and Robinho can keep scoring in the harsh winter environment of the prem when the games come thick and fast.
Wait and see.
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No way Jose…
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just need to make 1 change this week, adebayor for somebody.
considering king, torres, berbatov, cisse, robinho, jo and any other suggestions.
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Reply by CK on November 4 11:23 pm:
Crouch!
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Reply by spidey on November 5 3:56 am:
I swapped Adebayor out last night for Berbatov.
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over the whole season who do you think will score more points…
arteta and berba
or
pienaar and torres?
i can see torres hitting some form for the scousers but am unsure that he wont get rotated throughout the season as rafa now has keane too. pienaar seems assured of his place but if cahill, fellani, arteta are playing will pienaar be rotated with osman or will saha also come into that reconing? arteta seems safe of his position and is both set piece and pen taker but form seems an issue. will he score more than pienaar? and finally berba is on form and i recon will be for the rest of the season. it seems he wont bw rested and is setting up goals for fun! but will he score more than torres?! (an added issue is that 3 of my mini league have berba while none currently have torres, i am top but only by 1 point!)
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i would go with option 1 for the season…. for the next 4 games or so i reckon punting on the 2nd option and then switching to the first could be worth it from a fixtures point of view
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Reply by Shower on November 4 10:21 pm:
cheers dr, not a massive fan of the short term, i prefer to look long term as i always find that short term bandwagons or ideas just cause problems in the future when they get dropped or lose form! for big name players i therefore prefer to look long term but i suppose i may change my mind with form issues over this weekend and maybe next!
was thinking of a chelsea midfielder in after this weekend but cant decide if lampard is worth over 2mil more than deco or joe cole!
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is there a way of checking price changes for champions league fantasy football? (the official game)
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Agger has looked pretty good tonight-plenty of goal threat.
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Reply by Ibracadabra on November 4 10:39 pm:
but will hyypia get a game at home to WBA on Saturday?
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How lucky are liverpool? 93rd/94th minute?
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gerrard or Berbatov to get most points this season???????
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Reply by max on November 4 11:30 pm:
berb. no doubt. steve cant score unless liverpool win a (DODGY DODGY DODGY) penalty it seems!
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Reply by Stion - (Strathcarnage) on November 5 1:29 pm:
Berbatov seems to be coming into form. Gerrards has been a bit patchy so far with changing position and swapped striker etc. So Berbatov I reckon.
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Is Agger injured?
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Reply by Ibracadabra on November 4 10:48 pm:
No, he’s just at risk for rotation with veteran Hyypia backing him up.
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Reply by Ade on November 4 10:53 pm:
had dislocated finger put back in during game tonight!should not be a problem though
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Reply by CK on November 4 11:27 pm:
Anyone know if his price will rise tonight. How accurate is Crack the code??
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Reply by Will on November 4 11:37 pm:
He shouldn’t CK, but then again I thought Fig was safe from dropping last night.
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Reply by CK on November 5 12:20 am:
I want to transfer him in this week but keen to wait till all CL games are over.. but of course the threat of his value increasing is worrying.. I’ll take my chances though
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WHO FOR CAPTAIN THIS WEEK
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 4 11:36 pm:
at the moment im looking at (probability of my selection in brackets):
Lampard (50%)
Ronny (20%)
Zaki (30%)
Would like to hear others thoughts on this
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Reply by Qubit on November 5 12:14 am:
I can’t justify Zaki myself. Its got to be either Ronaldo or Lampard. Normally id give it to Lampard given the easier fixture. But with Arsenals poorish form and Ronaldo scoring well its tempting to try Ronaldo.
Mind you that probably means he’ll do squat and Lamps will score a bucketload!
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Reply by CK on November 5 12:21 am:
I was thinking Zaki too! but I’ll probably chicken out and just go with Ronnie
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Anythin Ronaldo can do Gerrard can do eh?
DIVER
DIVER
should be ashamed, can never call anyone a diver again
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Reply by Paul on November 5 4:36 pm:
I don’t think anyone watching that game could call Gerrard a ‘diver’ for the penalty decision. He charged in to win the ball in the air as he knew time was running out. I don’t think he was thinking of fooling the ref, just getting the ball back. He looked as shocked as some of the A.Madrid players that it was given. It was a shocking decision to give but that’s not Gerrards fault!
Compare that to Ronaldos “Ref! I’ve been shot!” theatrics and you get my point.
Crackin’ pen tho.
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i dont have a clue how this crack the code works, at times there are players over the 100% and they dont rise, and then first thing in the morning when i check the price changes their is about 10 players that have changed yet maybe only 2 of them was over the 100% the night before what way does this work.
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Reply by CK on November 5 12:22 am:
It’s just not updated regularly I think. Therefore unreliable!
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Ok chaps - who is more useless SWP or AYoung (I’m looking to boot one of them out for Geovanni)?
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Reply by Ibracadabra on November 5 12:08 am:
Get rid of SWP, Young is just in a bad stretch but is more explosive I believe over the LONG TERM. (He faces Man U and Arsenal in his next three though/) We’ve just been debating this one - Young v Kuyt and Never Captain Nicky Butt. Would love to hear your opinion Trooper.
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Reply by Trooper on November 5 12:13 am:
Kuyt is better. Kuyt is on form and Liverpool has a great run on fixtures.
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Reply by CK on November 5 12:25 am:
Personally I would avoid Kuyt. He has done well but he will be sitting behind Benittez as soon as Torres returns
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Reply by Stion - (Strathcarnage) on November 5 1:33 pm:
I dont know where this idea comes from. He will still be on the right wing. Benitez will either play Torres with Gerrard in the hole. Or Torres and Keane with gerrard deeper in midfield next to Mascherano. It has been the same all season. Kuyt remains on the wing in either scenario. Why do people keep saying Kuyt will be dropped !?!
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Ok, just taken a 4pt hit to bring Agger in for Paintsil…
Not perfect I know-but I was going to have to take a 4pt hit to bring him in next week anyway, so I thought I might as well have him for the West Brom game.
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Reply by CK on November 5 12:26 am:
Nooo mate did you not hear? Agger pulled his hamstring tonight. Limped off at the final whistle!
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Reply by CK on November 5 12:27 am:
Only joking mate, couldnt resist!
Yeah very good purchase. I like the way Agger gets forward and there should be plenty of cleans!
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Reply by Will on November 5 1:13 am:
lol, very funny-had me worried for a second there!
His finishing wasn’t great tonight, but he had several good chances on goal and gets forward impressively for a defender. On another night he could have had a couple of goals. As long as nobody gets injured tomorrow its all good… *crosses fingers*
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Reply by Paul on November 5 4:38 pm:
Agger has his fingers crossed for you too
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From what I’ve read/ heard today Rafa is aiming to give Torres some time on the pitch, him not returning today was down in a large way to the opposition Liverpool faced, Torres’s ex club.
Of course this may well be wrong, Liverpool definately don’t NEED him for the weekend (or anytime soon looking at their fixture list!) though the sooner he gets match fit and playing again the better for the team.
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Des: For some reason my reply you has appeared further up the page check out my comment re Torres at 12.18.
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Does no-one favour Arbeloa? He’s not any list here. Is he not a good bet?
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Who do I get rid of this week?
A. Traore - may not play much
Garrido - hasnt played last 2 games
Defoe - not scoring under Adams
(Robinho, Arteta, SWP) - not great form
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Reply by Badger on November 5 12:32 am:
SWP looks like a good bet to get rid of in my opinion, his form has really dipped and more importantly he doesn’t seem to be value for money if a team that already has a much cheaper midfielder that at least in the short term can potentially provide better returns (Ireland).
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Reply by Badger on November 5 12:33 am:
Regarding Defoe, it’s a gamble if you ask me, personally, I’ve had him from GW1 and am planning on keeping faith for a little longer with Portsmouth coming into a nice run of games. His value may well continue to dip though that’s the risk you take!
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is it worth taking a 4 point hit to bring in alex for A traore this week? i know i’ll have to take out alex when carv comes back but i’m thinking he’ll get a couple of games and traore might only get half a game again anyway?
cheers
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Reply by Dr. Rog on November 5 12:57 am:
this is a good week for your cheap benched defenders to come in and pick up points so i wouldnt advise it…
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Do you think Torres well start on sat or even make an apperance from the bench?? I have Torres, Zaki and Berbatov up front.
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Reply by TJMoray on November 5 9:38 am:
It’s pretty likely you’ll see Torres for a part of the game but there is always going to be a strong possibility it will ‘only’ be part. That’s a fairly heavy forward line, what does the rest of your team look like?
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Does anyone know what the gap in gameeweek 18 is for? i see man utd not playing…
also when is the man utd fulham game goign to be slotted in…any ideas?
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Reply by Marknlard on November 5 4:46 pm:
They’re in the World Club Championship…used to be in Japan, assume it’s still there.
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Apparently only at the end of the season…
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