Scout Scribbles – Three and Easy for Defoe

Jermain Defoe notches a treble as Spurs sweep aside Maribor, with Gareth Bale supplying a couple of assists. Shola Ameobi and Vernun Anita grab the goals as Newcastle draw in Brugge, while a much-changed Liverpool side lose narrowly to Anzhi. Elsewhere, Ben Foster is a doubt for West Brom, Alex McCarthy is ruled out for Reading and Lukas Podolski covets a central role for Arsenal:

Tottenham 3 Maribor 1
A change of formation brought out the best in Jermain Defoe as Spurs recovered from their home loss to Wigan last weekend. Andre Villas-Boas rolled out a 4-4-2 with Emmanuel Adebayor handed a start alongside Defoe up top; the latter bagged a hat-trick to help his side to their first win in Europe this term. At the back, Hugo Lloris was handed a chance in goal, while Jan Vertonghen was partnered by Michael Dawson and Kyle Naughton came in at left-back. Gareth Bale provided a couple of assists, while Tom Carroll laid on Defoe’s second. The victory will lift spirits after the dire home defeat against the Latics, though it’s debatable as to whether Villas-Boas will keep the same formation for Spurs’ trip to City on Sunday. Predictably, the praise was lavished on Defoe, with Andre Villas-Boas quick to get the ball rolling…

“Jermain was brilliant and he’s such a prolific striker…He doesn’t take any chances lightly. He focuses, he scores and it was great to watch him.”

The hat-trick will undoubtedly increase Defoe’s stock further, at a time when Emmanuel Adebayor is back on the scene to threaten his pitch time. This now looks unlikely, with 4-4-2 surely the only way that Villas-Boas will look to incorporate Adebayor for the time being.

Tottenham Starting XI: Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Naughton, Lennon (Falque 90), Huddlestone, Carroll, Bale (Mason 86), Adebayor, Defoe (Dempsey 82)

Anzhi 1 Liverpool 0
Brendan Rodgers fielded a team of fringe players and youngsters for Liverpool’s trip to Moscow, with the vast majority of his first-team regulars left behind in Merseyside ahead of Sunday’s trip to Stamford Bridge. Rodgers experimented with a 3-5-2 formation, with the likes of Jordan Henderson, Joe Cole Seb Coates and Conor Coady given rare run-outs; Jon Flanagan made his first appearance since being sidelined with a long-term injury. He will add a further option at full-back and, from a Fantasy perspective, owners of Andre Wisdom may now be a little tentative – the teenager has started the last five league games at right-back but was handed the full 90 minutes last night. With Glen Johnson returning to full training this week, Rodgers may well decide to keep Jose Enrique at left-back, rather than replace the Spaniard, which would see Johnson fielded in his more natural right-back role at Wisdom’s expense this weekend.

Liverpool Starting XI: Jones, Wisdom, Carragher, Coates, Flanagan, Henderson, Shelvey, Cole (Assaidi 77), Coady (Suso 61), Morgan (Pacheco 61), Downing

Brugge 2 Newcastle 2
The Magpies came back from two goals down to earn a vital point last night, with goals from Vernun Anita and Shola Ameobi. Alan Pardew handed Fabricio Coloccini and Cheick Tiote starts, with the pair both suspended from domestic action, while in defence, Anita again started the game at right-back, with Steven Taylor replacing Mike Williamson at centre-half just before the hour mark. First-team regulars such as Papiss Cisse, Jonas Gutierrez and Davide Santon were given the night off, though Yohan Cabaye’s owners will be pleased to hear the Frenchman recovered from the hamstring strain sustained at Liverpool last Sunday to earn a brief sub appearance late on.

Newcastle Starting XI: Krul; Anita, Williamson (S Taylor 58), Coloccini, Tavernier; Bigirimana (Cabaye 72), Tiote; Sammy Ameobi (Amalfitano 83), Marveaux, Obertan; Ameobi

In Other News
Arsene Wenger handed Fantasy owners an early heads-up ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Fulham this weekend. The Gunners boss has ruled out Kieran Gibbs, Abou Diaby, Tomas Rosicky and Gervinho, while Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both face fitness tests prior to Saturday’s game. Wenger also admitted Wojciech Szczesny may also be in the squad – the keeper will turn out for the U21’s today and could be drafted in providing he comes through unscathed. Talking of the keeper situation, Wenger also hinted that Szczesny remains ahead of Vito Mannone in the pecking order:

“Wojciech is No 1. When he is fully fit, I will make the decision who to play”

It seems the Arsenal wide men are queuing up for a shot at a more central role. Wenger has already trialled Gervinho up top and while Theo Walcott has made no secret of his wish to play centrally, Lukas Podolski has also thrown his hat into the ring, going on to say:

“I’d rather play centrally up front. On the left, I have to do a lot of defensive work, constantly running up and down. But I am not a classical winger. “

Bearing in mind Olivier Giroud has notched a single league goal in the first 10 Gameweeks, a change in up front personnel could hardly be detrimental. Wenger had been spoiled by Robin Van Persie’s relentless ability to find the net in the previous couple of campaigns but his side have stuttered badly since the Dutchman’s departure, scoring more than one goal just three times so far.

Michael Laudrup revealed Chico has only an outside chance of featuring in Swansea’s trip to Southampton. The centre-half picked up a leg problem in the recent Capital One Cup win at Liverpool and resultantly missed last Saturday’s draw with Chelsea – with Garry Monk poised to deputise once again, the Swans boss admitted:

“Chico is very doubtful, he is still in lot of pain. I knew when it happened against Liverpool it was very serious. Normally when you have a dead leg, you get up and play on but then it is sore for three or four days. So when Chico had to come off, I knew he was hurt, he wants to play every minute of every game. It was looking like eight or 10 days out so he is very doubtful for this weekend. There is no point risking him for one game if he is not right, because we have lots of games coming up over the next few months.”

Steve Clarke has admitted Ben Foster has picked up a groin problem and has flown to Germany in order to be assessed prior to this weekend’s game at Wigan:

“With Ben we’re waiting on the diagnosis, and fingers crossed it is positive. I’m hopeful he’ll be available to play again on Saturday, kicking with his right foot. Hopefully it is something we can manage similar to what we’ve done with Shane [Long] over the last few weeks. Ben’s chances of playing on Saturday are probably 60-40 in his favour. If we can manage it then we can get a few more games out of him. But we’ve got good back-up keepers.”

Foster has been in superb form for the Baggies this term and has already racked up 41 FPL points – just two less than top scoring keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. Only 10 of those have arrived on his travels, however, with all four of his clean sheets coming at the Hawthorns so far – bearing in mind Clarke’s side now have four away games in the next six, in addition to home clashes against Chelsea and Stoke, clean sheets may be hard to come by in the short-term, at least. If Foster is indeed ruled out, his owners could be set to plan an exit strategy if West Brom’s struggles on the road continue.

Clarke also revealed that James Morrison has overcome the niggle that kept him out of last Monday’s 2-0 win over Southampton – the Scot looks set to return to the first-team, providing he comes through training unscathed. Steven Reid has also returned to full training after a hamstring injury, though Clarke revealed he was likely to be a little cautious with the right-back:

“We have to be careful with Steven because he has been out for such a long time. We showed patience with Chris Brunt to get him back involved with the squad and we’ll show the same patience with Steven.”

Still on West Brom, Clarke hinted that he is likely to continue fielding Zoltan Gera in the first XI. The Hungarian is priced at just 5.0 and has made his way onto Fantasy radars after a series of displays that have also caught his manager’s eye:

“Zolly has played in different positions for me in the last few games.
Because of injuries to other midfield players he has played in that No.10 position behind the striker and he has done really well. But wherever you play Zolly, when he’s in a moment like this, you have to find a place in the team for him because he’s playing fantastically.”

Alex McCarthy’s Fantasy owners were dealt a blow yesterday after Brian McDermott revealed the keeper will be out for ”a little while” with a shoulder injury sustained at QPR last weekend. Priced at 4.1 in FPL, the Reading stopper has offered us a real cut-price option between the posts and has started the last seven for the Royals. The news mean Adam Federici is likely to be handed a chance to impress once again – currently priced at 4.3 in FPL, he could be set for investment if McCarthy’s problem proves to be more than short-term.