Scout Scribbles – Wounded Magpies

Hatem Ben Arfa picks up a hamstring injury as Newcastle secure progress to the Europa League knockout stages. Jonjo Shelvey is fielded as a lone forward and fires Liverpool ahead against Young Boys, Moussa Dembele returns from injury in Spurs’ goalless draw with Lazio, while Theo Walcott is ruled out of Arsenal’s trip to Villa…

Newcastle 1 Maritino 1
Sylvain Marveaux’s goal helped clinch a point that secured Newcastle’s progress but last night’s match came at a cost. Alan Pardew went into the match with 10 players out through injury or suspension but saw Hatem Ben Arfa limp out of the proceedings with a hamstring injury. Post-match, Newcastle have confirmed that the Frenchman has been ruled out of Sunday’s trip to Southampton by Pardew. Although Demba Ba came through 50 minutes unscathed after climbing off the bench to replace Ben Arfa, Papiss Cisse could also add to Pardew’s selection woes after he was subbed off with a thigh problem on 50 minutes.

“He [Cisse] got a kick on the thigh and he was starting to limp with it because it tightened up over half-time, so unfortunately I had to take him off when I didn’t really want to. With no striker on the bench, it was proving problematic…Shola looks doubtful for the next couple of weeks but Papiss, I think, has got a good chance for Sunday. Hopefully we have done enough tonight to protect him.”

With Yohan Cabaye now expected to be sidelined for six weeks due to groin surgery and Jonas Gutierrez still a weekend doubt with a hamstring problem, Pardew’s side could be without several of their regulars for the St Mary’s game. Factor in Fabricio Coloccini’s suspension and Newcastle’s winless away record so far and Southampton’s Fantasy owners will be a little more optimistic heading into Gameweek 13.

Newcastle Starting XI: Krul; Simpson, S Taylor, Coloccini, Santon; Bigirimana, Anita; Sammy Ameobi (Abeid 76), Ben Arfa (Ba 40), Marveaux; Cisse (Amalfitano 50)

Lazio 0 Tottenham 0
Hugo Lloris was selected ahead of Brad Friedel again between the sticks for the trip to Italy, while Steven Caulker returned after missing out last weekend at Arsenal. Andre Villas-Boas selected Gylfi Sigurdsson ahead of Aaron Lennon on the right, with Clint Dempsey tucked in behind Emmanuel Adebayor up top. Frustratingly for Spurs, Gareth Bale had a goal disallowed last night which means they still have all to play for heading into their final group game. On the positive side, Moussa Dembele returned as a second-half sub after missing the last few with a hip problem.

Spurs Starting XI: Lloris; Walker, Caulker, Vertonghen, Naughton; Sandro, Carroll (Dembele 76); Sigurdsson (Lennon 63), Dempsey (Defoe 63), Bale; Adebayor

Liverpool 2 Young Boys 2
Jonjo Shelvey as the lone striker was vindicated Brendan Rodgers’ bold decision to field him as the lone striker by firing the hosts ahead last night. Joe Cole also played his part with a goal and assist, though Andre Wisdom’s owners were given cause for concern after the full-back was subbed off after 31 minutes, with Steven Gerrard his replacement. Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling also climbed off the bench – the Uruguayan was afforded a half-hour second-half run out, while Sterling came on with 15 minutes left on the clock. A win would have been enough to take the hosts through by a late leveller for the Swiss outfit means Rodgers’ side head to Udinese in a fortnight’s time with their hopes of progress still on the line. Post-match, the Liverpool boss seemed confident Wisdom will be available for the weekend trip to Swansea:

“It was a precaution really, he had a little knock in his knee. Hopefully he’ll be fine but it meant we had to adapt.”

Liverpool Starting XI: Reina; Wisdom (Gerrard 31), Skrtel, Carragher, Downing; Henderson, Sahin; Cole (Sterling 75), Suso (Suarez 61), Assaidi; Shelvey

In Other News
West Brom boss Steve Clarke also rolled out an injury update yesterday. The Scot revealed Gareth McAuley is available once again after missing out against Chelsea last weekend, though Youssouf Mulumbu is sidelined with a hamstring injury. While the latter could return for the Gameweek 14 trip to Swansea on Wednesday evening, his absence at the weekend may see James Morrison drop deeper into central midfield – Morrison moved out of his regular role in “the hole” and covered there recently for Claudio Yacob. Clarke also delivered some potentially worrying news for Ben Foster’s owner. The keeper will miss out with a groin injury this weekend for the third game in a row and with the problem requiring further assessment, it seems his return might not be imminent:

“Ben won’t be fit this week. We’re thinking he may have a similar problem on the other side now so we’ll get that checked out.”

Any lengthy absence for Foster could bring Boaz Myhill onto the radar as a cut-price keeper option. At 4.4 in FPL, West Brom’s strong home record and rotation with Stoke could make him one to consider is the Foster prognosis is pessimistic.

Martin Jol gave Fantasy managers a window into his thinking ahead of Fulham’s trip to Stoke tomorrow. After confirming Bryan Ruiz and Alec Kacaniklic are out for a fortnight with hamstring injuries, the Cottagers boss admitted he has plenty of permutations to consider up front, with Ruiz’s absence denying Jol the chance to partner the Costa Rican with Dimitar Berbatov for the fourth game running:

“Berbatov could drop into a number 10 role with Mladen Petrić coming in. We could play in a 4-4-2 or we could play with a 4-4-1-1, so that is the decision we have to make. We know Stoke well; they are very strong, especially at home so it’s only a matter of whether we go with Hugo Rodallega up front or Petrić up front. Hugo was playing on the left against Sunderland because Richardson was not there and Kaca was not there. Petrić came on at the weekend and he scored so he can play with Berbatov. They do well in training together. [But] Rodallega can make a good pair with Berbatov too, and Berbatov can play on his own. Giorgos [Karagounis] can play in the hole too so there are a few options.”

Arsene Wenger’s Thursday update came with the news that Theo Walcott and Andre Santos are out of Arsenal’s trip to Villa. Walcott’s absence is particularly frustrating from a Fantasy perspective – having returned to the first XI in Gameweek 11, he has produced a goal and three assists in the last couple and has already been transferred in by almost 14,000 Fantasy managers. Bearing in mind that the Gameweek 14 deadline is 7.30pm on Tuesday evening, Walcott’s owners may choose to hold after Wenger revealed he could be ready for the following day’s trip to Everton, though the return of Gervinho may be enough to persuade many to sell him on. The latter is expected to be sidelined for 10 days, though with Kieran Gibbs now fit and available, his absence will be minimal at best, given his recent peripheral role.

Tony Pulis has revealed that Stoke face an anxious wait on the availability of Andy Wilkinson after the full-back sustained an injury in Monday’s draw at West Ham. The Potters website claim Wilkinson is “unlikely” to feature this weekend and their manager went on to praise the display of replacement Ryan Shotton at Upton Park:

”Shots came on and did really well on Monday, so he’ll be in the frame. We are concerned Wilko may have damaged a disc, but we must wait to see what the scan shows before we know the extent. “

Any potential length of absence for Wilkinson would leave FPL managers with one less route into the tightest home defence in the league. Shotton’s classification as a midfielder, allied with regular left-back Marc Wilson’s broken leg, means Geoff Cameron, at 4.7, is comfortably the cheapest Stoke defender on offer.