Scout Scribbles – Ba Fires Blues Top

Demba Ba grabs the winner as Chelsea make it through to the Champions League knockout stages as group winners, while Arsenal also qualify despite losing at Napoli. Christian Eriksen and Danny Rose could return for Spurs tonight, Wilfried Bony is back in the Swansea squad and Leighton Baines is hopeful of returning for Everton before the turn of the year:

Ba Proves the Difference as Jose Rotates

Jose Mourinho made seven alterations from the side that lost 3-2 to Stoke last Saturday, with only John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, John Obi Mikel and Eden Hazard retaining their starting berths. Fit-again Oscar and David Luiz were amongst those handed a start and replaced Juan Mata and Gary Cahill, whilst Demba Ba got the nod as the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1. Oscar provided the assist for Ba’s solitary strike before making way on 67 minutes, while Hazard was fielded for the entire 90 minutes in a 1-0 win that saw the Blues top Group E.

The Scout Says: With a home clash against Palace on Saturday’s agenda, Hazard’s owners will be a little frustrated by his manager’s decision to play him for the entire match. If anything, though, it seems a clear indication that, amongst his attacking options, Mourinho views the Belgian as his one “Untouchable” and is simply the only form player he can ill-afford to be without. Oscar’s immediate impact also bodes well for an instant return against the Eagles – a brief absence has seen him transferred out by many Fantasy managers, which has resulted in a price drop to 8.8, with Hazard now 9.8 and rising, by comparison. Last night’s match also saw Andre Schurrle recover from the calf complaint that forced him off late on at the Britannia – the German was handed a second-half sub role and, having notched twice against Mark Hughes’ side, may well get another chance to impress this weekend. Given that the likes of Willian is also back in the mix after missing out through illness at the weekend, Mata’s chances of earning a fourth straight league start on Saturday look increasingly slim.

Ramsey Handed Sub Role As Gunners Squeeze Through

The Welshman’s Fantasy owners will be delighted with Arsene Wenger’s decision to hand him no more than a 23-minute run out in last night’s trip to Naples. Ramsey came on as a second-half sub for Santi Cazorla, while the likes of Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud were both afforded the full 90 minutes in a game that saw Mikel Arteta sent off with just less than 15 minutes on the clock. Wenger started Tomas Rosicky as part of the attacking midfield three, leaving Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere on the bench in the 2-0 defeat.

The Scout Says: The result is hardly ideal preparation ahead of Saturday lunchtime’s trip to the Etihad – all the more so after City’s morale-boosting win in Bayern on Tuesday evening. Ramsey can expect to return to the Gunners XI, then, whilst Rosicky’s stating berth suggests it’s likely to be a straight fight between Walcott and Wilshere for the role on the right – the latter has started three of the last four but has now produced returns in just two of his 14 league appearances, while Walcott has provided assists in two of the last three via brief sub appearances off the bench. From a City perspective, the fact they’ve had an extra 24 hours rest, in addition to a tough night for the Gunners against Rafa Benitez’ side, may bode well for the hosts at the Etihad. Sergio Aguero currently sits fifth in this week’s Captain Poll but many may just be tempted to hand him the armband in light of the past two evenings’ action.

Injuries Ease for Swans

Ahead of their crucial Europa League match against Swiss side St Gallen this evening, Michael Laudrup has included Michel Vorm, Wilfried Bony and Angel Rangel in the Swansea travelling squad.

The Scout Says: While it’s still uncertain whether any of the trio will be fit enough to make the starting line-up or take part in the action, the news is certainly a step in the right direction as the Welsh club brace themselves for a testing run of matches. After this weekend’s trip to Norwich, Swansea face Everton, Chelsea, City, United and Spurs in the subsequent six Gameweeks – a dire-looking schedule that’s set to deter most from investing. Bony’s return to the fold, allied with Michu’s comeback from injury on Monday against Hull, looks a little ominous for Jonjo Shelvey owners already – if fully-fit, the duo would be expected to knock Shelvey into a more withdrawn role in front of the back-four and lessen his chances of continuing the form that has produced attacking returns in four of the last five Gameweeks. Furthermore, Vorm has confirmed he is set to undergo minor knee surgery in January which is expected to sideline the Dutchman for four to five weeks and bring Gerhard Tremmel into the picture as a potential cut-price keeper option.

Baines Optimistic of Quick Return

In an interview with the Everton official website, the left-back revealed he is on the mend from a toe injury and hopes to play some part in the hectic upcoming festive fixtures:

“I’ve not been able to do a lot to treat it [the toe] because it’s a break, so I’ve just sort of tried to see how it heals really and take it a day at a time. The manager said early on it’s quite a broad time frame that you can be looking at. We thought about different things -¬ injections and stuff -¬ but we didn’t know whether that would set us back further, so we are just trying to let it heal naturally at the moment. Obviously the schedule thickens up around Christmas and New Year so you like to think you would be back and available to help the team at that point, but it’s just one of those things. You have to wait and see.”

The Scout Says: Baines originally picked up the problem in the Gameweek 12 Merseyside derby on November 23, with the prognosis suggesting anything up to six weeks on the sidelines. Given that this coming Saturday will be mark three weeks since the injury, he’s not quite ready yet – indeed, Robert Martinez confirmed earlier this morning that the defender is still a “couple of weeks away” from fitness. Certainly, the form of deputy Bryan Oviedo suggests there’s no need for Martinez to hurry the England international back. With four home games in six, Everton look primed for investment but a return for the New Year (Gameweek 20) would see Baines miss four more league games, boosting the appeal of Seamus Coleman or bonus-magnet Phil Jagielka as a route into a defence that has already racked up eight clean sheets in 15 games under their new manager.

Eriksen and Rose Boost for Villas-Boas

The Spurs boss had some positive injury news in defence and midfield ahead of this evening’s Europa League game against Anzhi:

“We will look to try and give Danny Rose a couple of minutes in this game and Christian Eriksen is also selected, so there is the possibility that he could play some minutes as well.”

Villas-Boas also reported Vlad Chiriches has “a good chance” of making the weekend home game against Liverpool, before revealing the club are using a blood spinning technique on Jan Vertonghen’s ankle ligament injury in order to speed up the Belgian’s recovery period:

“”We will have the player in a boot for one to two weeks to try to settle it. We want to avoid surgery so we will use PRP treatment to try to get him back as soon as possible. We’ve had outstanding results with PRP treatment and we will do that again now.”

The Scout Says: With Younes Kaboul also sidelined due to a quad injury, Villas-Boas only has one fully-fit centre-half, Michael Dawson, at his disposal right now – hardly the ideal scenario as Luis Suarez prepares to roll up to the Lane on Sunday. Etienne Capoue will continue at centre-half against the Reds if Chiriches fails to make it, while Rose could be in line to replace Kyle Naughton at left-back at the weekend in his first start since Gameweek 4 – Rose’s classification as a midfielder in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game all but kills off any interest, though. Eriksen’s return will no doubt catch the eye. With just a single assist to his name in seven league appearances, the Dane has been a major disappointment since arriving from Ajax but there’s no doubt he’s a class act. Now down to just 7.1 in FPL, he reappears at a time where Spurs seem to have rediscovered their eye for goal, scoring twice in each of the last three league games – if he proves his fitness, a run of three home matches in four from Gameweek 18 (WBA, STO, CPL) may well be enough to persuade those willing to roll the midfield dice.