Scout Scribbles – Advantage Black Cats

Fabio Borini gives Sunderland a narrow lead over United in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final. Wayne Rooney misses out again with a groin problem as the champions taste defeat once more. Roberto Martinez is hopeful Leighton Baines will return for the weekend clash against Norwich, Manuel Pellegrini confirms Sergio Aguero will be back at some point this month, whilst Maarten Stekelenburg could return for Fulham this weekend:

Black Cats in the Ascendency

Sunderland have one foot in the Capital One Cup Final after heaping further misery on United with a 2-1 first leg semi-final win on Wearside last night. With John O’Shea back from injury to partner West Brown in the centre and Marcos Alonso available to make his debut, the Black Cats boss shifted Phil Bardsley to right-back – in indication, perhaps, of his first-choice back-four. Poyet rolled out a 4-3-3, with Fabio Borini and Emanuel Giacherrini on either side of Steven Fletcher, and Borini grabbed the all-important winner from the spot – crucially, this occurred when Ki Sun Yeung was on the pitch, suggesting the Italian is actually Poyet’s preferred option for spot-kick duties.

The Scout Says: Having already beaten City and Chelsea in the league and cup at the Stadium of Light under Poyet, there’s a case for saying that last night’s win over United perhaps wasn’t quite the shock many have made out to be. Given that the club have taken a single point from their last four league games in front of their fans, though, Poyet’s charges will undoubtedly be buoyed be their triumph – with home games against Southampton, Stoke, Hull, West Brom and Palace in the next 10, Fantasy managers may also be ready to take a punt on Sunderland’s main assets. Vito Mannone and Bardsley have proven particularly popular in the last week, with 20,000 and 6,000 transfers in respectively.

Another Defeat for Moyes

Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie missed out yet again as United fell to a third straight defeat in all competitions last night. David Moyes fielded Ryan Giggs behind lone striker Danny Welbeck but had to rely on a headed goal from skipper Nemanja Vidic as the one crumb of consolation. Elsewhere in defence, Rafael returned following injury but Jonny Evans was subbed off after picking up a knock; further adding to the worries at the back, with reports also suggesting Rio Ferdinand may be out for two weeks with a knee problem.

The Scout Says: Rooney owners were hoping for at least a bench appearance last night as we look for a sign of his availability ahead of the weekend home clash against Swansea. His omission leaves us with a real dilemma now and judging by David Moyes’ recent press conferences, it would be somewhat surprising if he offered a definitive update on Rooney’s groin strain on Friday afternoon. Given that many Fantasy managers have already offloaded Theo Walcott, the United forward’s potential absence would prove a real headache and test the strength of numerous benches heading into the weekend, perhaps even tempting some to contemplate bringing forward their plans to wildcard… Moyes failed to mentioned Evans’ withdrawal, though it is believed to be a back knock – with Ferdinand unlikely to be fit and Phil Jones still sidelined, Chris Smalling and Nemanja Vidic look likely to earn the nod against the Swans, depending on the Irishman’s prognosis.

Martinez Hopeful of Baines’ Weekend Availability

The Toffees boss issued an injury update in an interview with Everton TV yesterday. Martinez revealed both Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin are likely to remain sidelined for another couple of weeks with hamstring injuries before issuing an update on Leighton Baines, after the left-back missed the weekend FA Cup clash against QPR:

“Sylvain and Phil both have got probably a period of between seven and 10 days, but I would say two weeks is the most realistic time. But they are players who recover really well from these sorts of tissue injuries. They are not major problems….Leighton Baines was just a back spasm and he is recovering as we expected so I don’t think he’s going to be too far from being able to train. I would say Leighton will be back in training on Thursday. We’ll then have to assess him. Back spasms can be cleared completely or they can leave you a little bit with a lack of mobility. Any player needs to be 100% to be able to play and to be considered to play, so we’ll assess Leighton on Thursday, see how he is and take it from there.”

The Scout Says: Certainly, with all three looking imminent for a return, the Fantasy potential of John Stones or Antolin Alcaraz looks very limited. The pair are likely to deputise for perhaps two more Gameweeks (at home to Norwich and away to West Brom) with Martinez allowing his first-choice centre-halves enough time to rest and recuperate before the Merseyside derby at Anfield in Gameweek 23. Baines has been shipped in by over 28,000 FPL managers this week after racking up an 11-point haul on his first start since Gameweek 12 last time around – yesterday’s update gives his new owners cause for concern and presses pause on his bandwagon until Martinez hands us further prognosis in Thursday morning’s press conference.

Pellegrini Talks Injuries

The City boss also discussed his current injury list ahead of this evening’s Capital One Cup clash with West Ham. Pellegrini reiterated that he expects Sergio Aguero back before the month is out, whilst also revealing he plans to rotate some of the side that drew against Blackburn at the weekend in order to cope with the frantic fixture list.

“I think Sergio will be back during January – he’s working, he is training. Of course it’s very good news. Any players that are recovering from their injuries is very good news, especially an important player like Kun Aguero. It’s difficult to know [with Jovetic], but I suppose the same as Kun, during January. Of course for the player it is very bad news always for him that he cannot play because I think he is a very important player. But things happen and we must try to be optimistic for the future and suppose that Stevan will play the second part of the season…. Jesus Navas has a little problem with his knee. It’s not very important, but we are just being cautious. Richards can play, but he is not in the squad list. He must work a little more, but he is not injured and Demichelis is in the squad….I don’t know exactly how many changes we are going to make, but we are going to make some changes”

The Scout Says: The Aguero news confirms what the player and his manager have already mentioned in the past week. Unfortunately for Fantasy managers still waiting for the green light to activate their wildcards and acquire the Argentine, this could still be as late as January 29, where City roll up to Spurs on a Wednesday evening – many are still tentatively making plans until the situation becomes a little clearer. Demichelis’ return may hopefully afford us a window into Pellegrini’s thinking at the back, with some uncertainty surrounding his first-choice central defensive partner for Vincent Kompany. On the other hand, City still have six fixtures to play this month and the availability of another centre-half may afford their manager a chance to rotate more often until the schedule somewhat eases.

Stekelenburg Closing in on Cottagers Return

Rene Meulensteen is optimistic his first-choice stopper could recover from injury in time for the weekend’s crucial home clash against Sunderland.

The Scout Says: Stekelenburg has now missed the last three Gameweeks with an ankle injury, allowing David Stockdale the chance to deputise once again for the Cottagers. The latter has already stepped in for the Dutchman earlier in the season after he was sidelined with a shoulder injury but has managed just a single clean sheet in nine starts – Stekelenburg has fared almost as poorly, with a pair of shut-outs in 11 appearances indicative of Fulham’s porous backline. Given that Meulensteen’s side have conceded four to Everton and City and six to Hull in the last five Gameweeks, it’s fair to say that few will be looking to invest any time soon, despite games against Sunderland, Swansea, Southampton and West Brom in the next seven.