Scout Scribbles – Robin at the Double

Robin Van Persie bags a brace as United recover from a sluggish start to register their second Champions League win in succession. Juan Mata is the chief protagonist for Chelsea as the champions cruise to a 4-0 away win in Denmark. Elsewhere, Jose Enrique admits he’s been suffering from a knee problem all season, Arsene Wenger is sweating on the fitness of Mikel Arteta, while Darren Bent is looking to hold talks with Paul Lambert after being dropped last weekend:

FC Nordsjaelland 0 Chelsea 4
Juan Mata’s return to form shows little sign of abating as he once again proved the main man for the defending champions. The Spaniard – who has had a hand in all three of Chelsea’s goals in the last two league matches – bagged a brace last night, while David Luiz and Ramires grabbed the other strikes, with Oscar supplying the assist for the latter. Roberto Di Matteo made just two changes from the side that won at Arsenal on Saturday, with Frank Lampard replacing John Obi Mikel in the double pivot and Victor Moses coming in for Eden Hazard in the attacking midfield three – the Belgian was afforded a second-half sub appearance just after the hour mark.

CFR Cluj 1 Man United 2
Sir Alex Ferguson named Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie in the same starting line-up for the first time this season, as Shinji Kagawa dropped to the bench. The pair hinted at a burgeoning understanding up front, with Rooney – playing in “the hole” in a 4-3-1-2 – setting up the Dutchman for both his side’s goals as the visitors came back from a goal down to triumph. The United boss named the same back-four that lost to Spurs at the weekend, with David De Gea replacing Anders Lindegaard in goal, while Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs both missed out due to illness. Darren Fletcher, Anderson and Javier Hernandez were also amongst the starters, though Antonio Valencia continues to be sidelined with an ankle problem picked up in the Gameweek 5 win at Liverpool.

Post-match, Ferguson revealed Jonny Evans could be a doubt for the weekend trip to Newcastle. The centre-half was subbed off late on in the game after suffering a recurrence of the dead leg he picked up against Spurs last Saturday – his absence could hand Scott Wootton a chance alongside Rio Ferdinand, with United’s injury situation at the back going from bad to worse right now.

In Other News
Jose Enrique has revealed he has been struggling with a knee problem all season. The left-back spoke of his problems yesterday:

“I don’t know quite what the problem is but I have been playing with a lot of pain. I had an injection in my knee so hopefully that will settle it down and allow me to find my form again because it is difficult playing with pain. It is something behind my knee and I have had to be very careful with it. I’ve been trying to play with it but it is not 100 per cent. I felt it in training before the opening day of the season at West Brom and since then it has been very bad. Hopefully the injection will sort it out.”

Enrique has featured just twice in the league this season under Brendan Rodgers, with Glen Johnson moved over from his usual right-back berth to cover in the Spaniard’s absence. With Martin Kelly out injured for the foreseeable future due to knee ligament damage, Enrique was expected to return to the starting line-up for the trip to Norwich last Saturday but Rodgers handed 19-year-old Andre Wisdom the chance to shine at Carrow Road instead. Priced at a mere 4.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), the youngster made a strong impression on his manager in the Reds’ recent Europa League win over Young Boys, grabbing a goal in the 5-3 win, and the new boss talked up Wisdom’s prospects ahead of a couple of home league games against Stoke and Reading:

“When I came in, Andre Wisdom had been playing a lot at centre-half but he has the physical and technical capacity to play full-back. The modern day full-back has a lot of the ball and he has got to have strength, pace and power. Andre has that.”

Arsene Wenger has confirmed he is sweating on the fitness of Mikel Arteta ahead of this evening’s Champions League home match with Olympiakos. The midfielder missed training yesterday, with his manager revealing:

“Arteta will have a test tomorrow morning. We will make the decision then whether we include him in the squad or not. He has an ankle injury.”

With the Arsenal boss confirming Abou Diaby will be out for three weeks with a thigh injury, Wenger doesn’t have his problems to seek in the centre of the park right now. While Jack Wilshere came through 63 minutes of an Under 21 match earlier this week, Wenger has no intentions of rushing the youngster back after a 14-month absence and Arteta’s presence will be vital for this weekend’s trip to West Ham. A combination of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey or Francis Coquelin looks on the cards for Upton Park should Arteta also fail to make it.

Darren Bent has admitted he is far from happy with Villa boss Paul Lambert after being dropped for last Sunday’s draw with West Brom. The forward, who climbed off the bench to notch a late equaliser, went on to say:

“I can’t remember the last time I was left out. I only found out when the gaffer read the team sheet out. I didn’t know. It is frustrating and disappointing. All I can keep doing is what I did against West Brom – to come on and try to notch goals and go from there. I’ve not spoken to the manager at all about why he left me out. I’m sure we’ll probably speak next week. You are always frustrated when you are not playing games, and the way I found out I wasn’t playing.”

Bent, who had produced attacking returns in each of the two Gameweeks prior to the Baggies clash, has also lost the club captaincy to Ron Vlaar in the past couple of weeks. With Gabby Agbonlahor bagging a brace in the Capital One Cup win at City in midweek, Lambert partnered the latter with Christian Benteke for the midlands derby but his decision backfired, with Bent’s eye for goal rescuing a point for the hosts. Quite what his manager will make of yesterday’s outburst is another matter, though; a no-nonsense type of character, Lambert may well feel undermined by the forward’s decision to vent his frustrations in public and could well decide to continue with last week’s front pairing in spite of Bent’s obvious attributes.