Scout Scribbles – Full House

Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor are amongst the goals as Spurs clinch a place in the Europa League knockout stages. Jordan Henderson is the unlikely hero as Liverpool also edge through, while Alan Pardew rests and rotates, with the Magpies already qualified. Theo Walcott is ruled out for Arsenal tomorrow, Bryan Ruiz is out for a month for Fulham, while Gaston Ramirez looks ready for Southampton selection despite having the week off for personal reasons.

Tottenham 3 Panathinaikos 1
Andre Villas-Boas’ tactics were perhaps a sign of what’s to come as Spurs prepare for Gareth Bale’s hamstring injury absence. The Spurs boss rolled out a 4-4-2 with Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe up top, while Clint Dempsey was fielded on the left of midfield in a reprisal of his role at previous club Fulham. Dempsey – who has an assist in each of his last three in the league – continued his impressive creative form by playing a part in two of the hosts’ goals and, with both Defoe and Adebayor finding the net in a comfortable win, Villas-Boas has plenty food for thought with Bale set to be sidelined for at least the next two Gameweeks.

Tottenham Starting XI: Friedel; Walker, Caulker, Vertonghen, Naughton; Lennon (Livermore 88), Sandro, Carroll (Dembele 75), Dempsey (Sigurdsson 80); Defoe, Adebayor

Udinese 0 Liverpool 1
Despite omitting Steven Gerrard, Lucas and Daniel Agger from the squad, Brendan Rodgers named a strong-looking line-up as the Merseysiders clinched progress to the knockout stages. Luis Suarez was afforded the full 90 in light of his upcoming weekend suspension and intriguingly, Jose Enrique kept his place at left-back, with Stewart Downing handed a role on the left of the front three instead. Glen Johnson featured at right-back, with no place for Andre Wisdom again, while Raheem Sterling’s owners will be pleased to see he was given no more than a brief 19 minute run out in the second-half, as Jordan Henderson proved the match-winner with a rare goal. In terms of injuries, Nuri Sahin was subbed off after just 12 minutes with a reported broken nose.

Liverpool Starting XI: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Carragher, Enrique; Henderson, Allen, Sahin (Shelvey 12); Suso (Sterling 71), Suarez, Downing

Bordeaux 2 Newcastle 0
With his side already through to the knockout stages, Alan Pardew handed many of his squad players the chance of game time in last night’s defeat. There was no sign, then, of the likes of Demba Ba, Cheick Tiote or Davide Santon, after the trio limped out of Monday’s match with Wigan, while Fabricio Coloccini and Papiss Cisse climbed off the bench late in the second-half. Clearly, Pardew is taking little chance with his first-team regulars in light of the Magpies’ current injury situation.

Newcastle Starting XI: Elliot; Tavernier, Williamson (Coloccini 73), Perch, Ferguson; Abeid, Bigirimana; Ranger, Marveaux, Sammy Ameobi (Anita 46); Shola Ameobi (Cisse 81)

In Other News
Martin Jol revealed in yesterday’s press conference that Bryan Ruiz is set to miss the busy festive schedule after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury:

“He came back on Monday and then he had a setback. He will be out for at least four weeks. It’s the same injury; he was in the final stage of his rehabilitation and he aggravated his hamstring muscle again. He has had intensive screening and that highlighted some problems. That occurred in his final training session before he was due to join us…we’ve found out it was a structural thing so we got a second opinion and hopefully we’ve found the solution now, but he needs treatment and he will be out for the next four weeks.”

While Ruiz hasn’t been the most popular of Fantasy picks this term, his effect on Fulham’s attacking potential has been eye-catching. Looking at the Cottagers’ results so far, they have scored 21 times in the nine games Ruiz has featured in – without him in their ranks, they have scored a mere four goals in six games; a somewhat alarming difference ahead of what looks a strong run of fixtures. The impact on Dimitar Berbatov’s recent Fantasy potential has been marked – the Bulgarian has now produced four straight blanks, coinciding with Ruiz limping off before the hour mark against Sunderland in Gameweek 12. Indeed, Berbatov has produced attacking returns just once in those six games Ruiz has missed – while an upcoming schedule that sees him host Newcastle, Southampton and Swansea in the next five looks appealing, his owners will be a little concerned, with Ruiz’s absence forcing Berbatov into a more withdrawn role up top, as one of Hugo Rodallega or Mladen Petric leads the line instead.

Arsene Wenger rolled out an ever-increasing injury list yesterday. The Gunners boss revealed that Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski will both be missing for tomorrow’s game at home to West Brom, with the latter picking up a hamstring problem which is described as “short-term”. With Gareth Bale sidelined for the next two at least, many Fantasy managers had eyed up a transfer to Walcott as a midfield alternative to Santi Cazorla ahead of Arsenal’s decent run of fixtures – those plans will no doubt already be restructured, with some now looking at double Gameweek punts instead. The pair’s absence will likely see Aaron Ramsey, Gervinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain battle it out for the wide berths, though Tomas Rosicky is also back in the frame after netting against Olympiacos in midweek. Wenger also revealed Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny will remain out – Carl Jenkinson will deputise at right-back again and with Thomas Vermaelen partnering Per Mertesacker in the middle, 5.4 FPL priced Kieran Gibbs continues to look good for starts.

Gerhard Tremmel has been handed a brief stay of Fantasy execution after Michael Laudrup revealed that Michel Vorm will not be included in Swansea’s squad for the home clash against Norwich tomorrow. Vorm had returned to full training but admitted the other day he is not yet 100% – while it’s likely the Dutchman will return in the next couple of weeks, Tremmel will now start against a Canaries side that have scored just five goals in eight on the road; boosting his chances of a clean sheet before Vorm inevitably replaces him. Laudrup also admitted that Pablo Hernandez remains doubtful for the weekend, though Wayne Routledge looks set to return after missing the Emirates win last time out – affording further options on the flanks, after Jonathan de Guzman was utilised wide left against the Gunners.

Brian McDermott rolled out a handy injury update for Fantasy manages ahead of Reading’s double Gameweek:

“Pavel Pogrebnyak has picked up a bit of the knock in the friendly on Tuesday so I’m not sure if he’ll be available. Danny Guthrie played 45 minutes in that game and should be available, despite taking a knock to his shin on Tuesday. Jem Karacan is training a little bit more now which is good, but I don’t think Jimmy Kebe will be available for the weekend.”

The Pogrebnyak and Kebe news is of particular interest for those eyeing up Adam Le Fondre or Hal Robson-Kanu as short-term punts. The latter pair have averaged six and four FPL points per game over the last four respectively and with less competition for starting berths ahead of trips to Southampton and Sunderland, their appeal looks that little bit more enticing.

Nigel Adkins offered an explanation as to why he allowed Gaston Ramirez to fly back to his native Uruguay this week ahead of Southampton’s crucial home clash with Reading:

“Gaston went back to Uruguay last Sunday for compassionate reasons. He is back on the training ground tomorrow morning so we will have a good chat with him then. He has done a bit of training over in Uruguay so that is beneficial and I am sure he will be desperately wanting to play at the weekend. We’ll have a good chat with him in the morning [about how he is feeling], but, knowing Gaston, he’ll want to play.”

With the game at St Mary’s taking place tomorrow afternoon, Ramirez will be afforded just a day’s training in preparation but there seems little doubt that Adkins is more than willing to select him. Two wins and a couple of draws in their last five have the Saints buoyant despite last week’s narrow loss at Liverpool and bearing in mind they have next weekend off before another crucial home tie with Sunderland, Ramirez’s contribution is simply too crucial to omit from the Royals’ showdown.