The Dugout Discussion – Saturday

A blank Gameweek for Tottenham and Chelsea, due to their involvement in the Capital One Cup final, means there are only five three o’clock kick-offs for Fantasy managers to scrutinise this afternoon.

Burnley go head-to-head with Swansea City at Turf Moor as Sean Dyche’s men look to build on a hard-fought point at Stamford Bridge last time out. The visitors would be wise to pay close attention to Clarets’ star man Danny Ings, who’s bagged five goals in his previous seven outings. Nonetheless, the Swans will also be buoyed by their first ever league double over Manchester United and the impressive form of Sung-yeung Ki – the South Korean midfielder’s netted twice in his previous three starts. The team news finds the influential Gylfi Sigurdsson missing out with a hamstring problem for the visitors as Tom Carroll is recalled.

Louis van Gaal will look to silence his ever-growing legion of critics as Manchester United welcome Sunderland to Old Trafford. With Robin van Persie ruled out, Wayne Rooney appears to be deployed in an advanced role for the second league match in succession – he’s partnered by the recalled Radamel Falcao. Angel Di Maria hasn’t scored since early October yet remains a strong creative outlet for the Red Devils, tallying four assists in the past four Gameweeks. A win for the Black Cats would break a run of four road fixtures without a victory – Patrick van Aanholt is recalled by Poyet.

Newcastle have been handed the perfect match-up to recover from a 5-0 drubbing against Manchester city last weekend as they play host to Aston Villa. John Carver’s outfit will attempt to extend the Villains’ run of 11 Gameweeks without a victory, snapping out of a three-match winless streak of their own. Villa boss Tim Sherwood will source hope from the fact that the Toon have only kept one clean sheet in their last 14 encounters, with Christian Benteke and our Spot the Differential candidate Scott Sinclair looking to breach the Magpies’ backline.

Stoke City and Hull City lock horns at the Britannia, as Tigers new boy Dame N’Doye endeavours to score for the third consecutive league match for the Yorkshire outfit – unexpectedly, he starts from the bench today, while Nikica Jelavic is also missing with a minor knock, presumably sustained in training. For the Potters, Mame Biram Diouf has tailed three goals in five outings, whilst Victor Moses and Jon Walters’ output from midfield could also be key for the home side – that trio start in an unchanged lineup.

Southampton will be desperate to rediscover their rhythm in attack when they challenge West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns – the Hampshire club’s last five matches have only harvested one goal, in part a product of Graziano Pelle’s nine-game drought. They’ll have their work cut out against a Baggies outfit that’s only conceded in two of the last six Gameweeks, whilst further up the field, Brown Ideye will be looking to replicate the form that served up an 11-point haul in his previous appearance at the Hawthorns. Ronald Koeman recalls Sadio Mane to his starting XI today, shifting to a three-man defence with Nathaniel Clyne and the returning Ryan Bertand deployed as wing-backs. West Brom are unchanged as Saido Berahino is past fit to retain his start.