Scout Scribbles – Sturridge Injury Fears Rise

Daniel Sturridge seems poised to miss out for Liverpool this weekend according to the Merseyside press. Emmanuel Adebayor is in the goals for Togo, Southampton’s new boy Sadio Mane strikes again for Senegal, Wilfried Bony faces a late return to training after international duties, whilst Geoff Cameron is sidelined after undergoing hernia surgery for Stoke.

STURRIDGE INJURY CONCERNS MOUNT

Reports suggest that Daniel Sturridge could be sidelined for two to three weeks with the thigh injury he sustained in training whilst on international duty with England last week.

The Scout Says: Whilst there is still no official word from Liverpool on the matter, the fact that over 114,000 managers have already chosen to offload Sturridge this Gameweek suggests that is a mere technicality for some. The proposed absence would see Sturridge miss Saturday evening’s clash with Aston Villa and next weekend’s trip to West Ham, and leave the striker in a race to be fit for the Merseyside derby at the end of the month. In contrast to the England man, team-mate Mario Balotelli has received plenty of investment leading up to this weekend’s deadline, and confirmation of Sturridge’s absence could spark a massive bandwagon and see that investment increase pointedly. Given a chance to play in his preferred role through the middle, Balotelli could find his feet at his new club quicker than expected, though Brendan Rogers does have another alternative to consider – Rickie Lambert, yet to start for Liverpool since his summer move, is a ready-made replacement for Sturridge as a centre forward, and, if given the opportunity, the 7.2 priced target man could prove a canny short-term acquisition for Fantasy managers whilst his team-mate recovers.

ADEBAYOR’S GOAL NOT ENOUGH FOR TOGO

Tottenham’s Emmanuel Adebayor scored his side’s second goal in their 3-2 loss to Ghana yesterday evening in their second African Cup of Nations qualifying match. The striker pulled his side level in the 77^th minute with a powerful header, only for Everton’s Christian Atsu to score a late winner for Ghana and leave Togo winless in their two games thus far.

The Scout Says: Last night’s result shines favourably on Adebayor’s Fantasy potential in more ways than one. Not only will his goal give him some momentum heading into this weekend’s trip to Sunderland with Spurs, but the fact that Togo have now lost both their opening games means there is already a good chance they won’t qualify for ACoN, which, subsequently, would mean that Adebayor won’t go AWOL in January. With home encounters against West Brom and Southampton to come in Spurs’ next four, and the likes of Stevan Jovetic and Romelu Lukaku currently injury doubts going into this Gameweek, the 8.6-priced Adebayor is one of the few forwards in his price range to have any real allure right now, and the Tottenham man will be keen to spark a return to form for his side this weekend after their heavy defeat at the hands of Liverpool last time out.

MANE ON THE GOAL TRAIL

Southampton’s deadline day signing Sadio Mane scored his second goal of the international break as his Senegal side ran out 2-0 victors over Botswana in their ACoN qualifier.

The Scout Says: Mane is now firmly on our radars as the Saints face a quintet of kind fixtures, including four at home, in their next six (NEW, swa, QPR, tot, SUN, STO) that offer the midfielder a great chance of building on his current form. At 7.0, the winger is more budget friendly than fellow new boys Dusan Tadic and Graziano Pelle (both 7.5) and his direct style on the left wing could bring a new dynamic to Ronald Koeman’s side in the coming weeks as they look to add another win to their tally after Gameweek 3’s 3-1 triumph against West Ham. One to monitor for sure.

Bony Set for Late Return to Training

Wilfried Bony is not expected to return to training with Swansea until Friday due to his commitments with Ivory Coast, meaning that Bafetimbi Gomis may be handed his first league start for Swans in this Saturday’s trip to Chelsea.

The Scout Says: Can Garry Monk really do without his first choice striker for the visit of Stamford Bridge? Whilst the Swans boss has previously underlined his faith in Gomis’ ability, and his intention to give the Frenchman plenty of football this season, an away match against Jose Mourinho’s men will hardly have been what Monk would have had in mind. That said, Bony has hardly lived up to his 8.5 price tag so far this season, with not one goal or assist to his name after three appearances, and were Gomis to grab his chance on Saturday afternoon, he may well edge ahead of his teammate in Monk’s thoughts for Gameweek 5’s clash with Southampton.

SURGEY REQUIRED FOR CAMERON

USA international Geoff Cameron finally underwent a hernia operation yesterday after being plagued by the problem since the back end of last season and is now due to miss at least another fortnight of action for Stoke. The Potters did receive some positive news, however, after it was confirmed that Stephen Ireland and Oussama Assaidi are stepping up their recoveries from injury – assistant manager Mark Bowen clarified why Stoke have been cautious with Assaidi since his deadline day loan move from Liverpool:

“He’s been training all week and looked good. We are taking things easy with him because he hasn’t had a pre-season. But everything we’ve thrown at him in training he has come through.”

The Scout Says: With Cameron now definitely sidelined for the near future, Phil Bardsley looks nailed on at right-back for the Potters. The former Sunderland man demonstrated his potential for attacking returns with an assist in Gameweek 2 and could prove a decent differential in light of Stoke’s superb upcoming fixtures (LEI, qpr, NEW, sun, SWA). The imminent return of Ireland and Assaidi, meanwhile, looks set to up the competition for places further up the field, though Mark Hughes seems likely to stick with the starting XI that walked away from the Etihad with a shock victory last time out for this Saturday’s encounter with Leicester, meaning that the likes of Marko Arnautovic and Bojan Krkic may have to make do with bench-warming duties once again.