The Pre-Match Preamble

Wayne Rooney is in the papers and in our minds as we approach another fantasy football deadline. There are articles all over the place this morning quoting Ferguson’s frustration with his striker – reiterating that Rooney is a doubt for the trip to Wolves today.

The good/bad news is that half of my morning papers predict a Rooney start at Molineux so we face a nervous wait for the 5.30 kick-off later today. Elsewhere it appears there’s great confidence in the fitness of Wigan’s N’Zogbia and Scharner, Glenn Johnson is widely expected to start for opponents Liverpool and Diaby is back in the Arsenal side to face Burnley at the Emirates.

Let’s dive head first into the world of print and take a gander at their full predicted lineups for the gameweek…

The Sun
Worrying the UK’s favourite red-top has chosen to take Alex Ferguson’s words very seriously and has omitted Rooney from their predicted United lineup. They go with Berbatov, supported by Nani with Valencia and Park out wide and Scholes starting in midfield.

Abou Diaby makes the Arsenal lineup, as does Arshavin with Walcott taking up the opposite flank. Eagles starts in their Burnley lineup but there’s no start for Graham Alexander with Jack Cork reclaiming a starting role. The Sun go with Wilshere in the Bolton midfield with no start for Matt Taylor. Tamir Cohen comes in and Elmander keeps his shirt up front. There are no real shocks in their Everton lineup with Yakubu leading the attack. There’s no place for injury doubt Osman in the midfield. Phil Brown gambles by starting with Bullard in his midfield. N’Zogbia and Scharner are both in the Wigan lineup with Glen Johnson returning from injury at right-back for the visitors. That means that there’s no place for Benayoun with Mascherano starting back in midfield having filled in at right-back last time out. Agger is passed fit to start alongside Carragher.

The Times
This first broadsheet also leaves Rooney out of their lineup, again going with Berbatov up top with Nani in support. They also go with Darren Gibson in midfield and Wes Brown at right-back. Diaby is in their Arsenal lineup with Nasri on one flank and Arshavin on the other. Both Eagles and Alexander start for Burnley.

The Times recall Matt Taylor to the Bolton midfield, along with Ricardo Gardner replacing Wilshere and the injured Holden. Yakubu leads the Everton attack while Bilyaletidonov also starts in an attacking midfield with Rodwell missing out and Osman fit to start. Bullard starts for visitors Hull. Both N’Zogbia and Scharner start for Wigan, as does Victor Moses with McCarthy missing out. Johnson is also in their Liverpool lineup with Maxi making way for Mascherano’s return to midfield. Agger is fit to start in defence.

The Daily Telegraph
The Telegraph are the first of my papers this morning who start with Rooney in their predicted United lineup at Wolves. He partners Berbatov with Nani also starting on the left with Valencia on the right in front of Wes Brown at full-back.

Diaby is safely in their Arsenal lineup but they go with Eboue on the right-flank with Arshavin recalled on the left. Neither Ealges nor Alexander are in their predicted Burnley lineup. Wilshere keeps his place in the Bolton midfield at West Ham with Matt Taylor recalled to replace the injured Holden. The Telegraph also go with Bilyaletidonov in their Everton midfield with Heitinga occupying the holding midfield role ahead of Rodwell. Jagielka gets a first start in central defence despite injury concerns. There’s no Bullard in the Hull midfield. N’Zogbia and Scharner both lineup for Wigan against Liverpool. Johnson fails to make it for the visitors but Agger is fit allowing Carragher to shift to right-back with Kyrgiakos starting after his ban.

The Guardian
The Guardian make it 50-50 in my morning papers when it comes to Rooney’s selection. They put him tentatively on the United teamsheet with Nani and Valencia on either flank. Gary Neville takes the right-back berth for this paper with Scholes in central midfield.

Diaby again starts for Arsenal with Walcott and Arshavin given the nod either side of Bendtner in attack. Nugent is recalled for visitors Burnley with Eagles and Alexander both missing out. Matt Taylor is recalled to the Bolton midfield and Jack Wilshere keeps his start for the trip to West Ham. Elamander partners Kevin Davies in attack. The Guardian goes with Osman in the Everton midfield with Rodwell also a starter and Bilyaletidonov benched. Bullard makes the Hull teamsheet. Scharner and N’Zogbia are both in the predicted Wigan lineup as is Glenn Johnson for the visitors. Maxi makes way for Mascherano’s return to midfield and Agger is fit enough to start alongside Carragher.

Match Facts
The morning wouldn’t be complete without some lovely hard-boiled match facts to tuck into. Here’ they are then – courtesy of the Guardian and the BBC.

• Over the first 14 away games, Burnley have conceded the most goals (43) in Premier League history.
• Don’t expect a blistering start from Arsenal – Wenger’s side are yet to score in the opening 15 minutes of a home match in any competition this season.
• Bolton have won three of the last four meetings with West Ham by a score of 3-1. They have also won their last five meetings with the Hammers.
• Owen Coyle’s side have failed to score away from home for seven hours and two minutes. In contrast West Ham have not conceded in their last four matches at Upton Park.
• Just to reinforce the thinking on a United clean sheet – Wolves have failed to score against them in eight of their last ten meetings and have the worst shot accuracy in the league with just 38% of efforts on target.
• Good news for investors in the Everton defence – Hull have failed to score in eight of their last ten away league games.
• Good news for investors in Everton attacking players – Hull have allowed opponents more shots on goal than any other side in the league.
• Anyone keeping faith with Dirk Kuyt can cling to the fact that he has scored five goals in his last five games against Wigan.

Finally a reminder that the Fantasy Football Scout Cup closes its doors at 11.30 this morning so if you still haven’t entered your Fantasy Premier League side into our tournament, you have just a few hours to do so.

As usual this morning I will be closing comments very shortly and moving discussion over to our chatroom. The new comment system is due to be activated tomorrow and rolled out behind the scenes. You guys are unlikely to see any differences until later in the week and I’ll be making a post discussing all the changes and the steps you need to take to get ready for the change.