Now the gameweek begins and just like that the hulking Saturday Surgery regresses into it’s much less fearsome Bruce Bana-esque Dugout Discussion. Come in if you fancy, we’ve certainly got more than enough games to keep you interested.
We kick off with Stoke playing host to Sunderland this afternoon, a war of attrition looking likely. Tony Pulis recalls the likes of Matty Etherington and Long-throw Delap into his team while Steve Bruce looks like he might be following suit at Liverpool by countering Stoke’s aerial threat with three centre-halves. Sulley Muntari also makes his debut. Teams in full are…
Stoke XI: Begovic; Higginbotham, Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross; Delap, Pennant, Whitehead, Etherington; Jones, Carew.
Sunderland XI: Gordon; Onuoha, Ferdinand, Mensah, Bramble (C), Bardsley; Richardson, Henderson, Muntari, Sessegnon; Gyan.
The heavy dose of Saturday football doesn’t end there as we then head on into six 3pm kick-offs and just about round out my Fantasy Premier League (FPL) gameweek before it even starts with ten of my eleven finished by 5pm – the likes of Man City vs West Brom, Everton vs Blackpool and Newcastle vs Arsenal are high on my agenda, who are you tracking?
Then we have Manchester United rounding us out as they pay visit to Mick McCarthy and his Premier League stragglers. Time to watch through my fingers.
The Dugout Discussion will be open through all eight of today’s games right up until the bonus judges hand out their bounty this evening. Stick with us.

