Injury News
Bouma Blow For Villa
Aston Villa’s Wilfred Bouma has suffered an horrific injury in today’s Intertoto victory over Odense and now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Bouma sustained the injury after just 15 minutes of the game and was immediately omitted to hospital with a suspected broken leg. Early news from Villa however indicates that the left-back has in fact dislocated his right ankle.
That offers a better prognosis but Bouma is nonetheless likely to be sidelined for around 4 months. That will be a major cause for concern for O’Neill. Gareth Barry came off the bench to replace Bouma but his future is still very much in doubt. Villa must surely now go shopping for a left-back.
Bouma played every Premiership match for Villa last season and this is likely to be a major blow to their defensive stability just weeks before the season kick-off.
ContinuedBosingwa Out For Weeks
Chelsea’s José Bosingwa is to be sidelined for at least 3 weeks according to a club statement.
The new signing pulled up early on in the friendly against Guangzhou on Wednesday with what appeared to be a muscle injury. A scan on Friday has now revealed the injury as a small tear in the thigh muscle.
Bosingwa returned to the UK today to continue his recovery with the club stating that they “hoped he could be back in action in three weeks”.
Chelsea are due to take on Lokomotiv Moscow on Tuesday with Paulo Ferreira now favourite to start at right-back. Indeed he looks to be in the box seat for the role for Chelsea’s openers against Portsmouth and Wigan when the season kicks-off.
ContinuedChelsea Wait On Bosingwa Scan
Chelsea’s Jose Bosingwa is due to have a scan later today after sustaining a muscle injury in last night’s friendly victory over Guangzhou Pharmaceutical.
The full-back pulled up after 19 minutes of the 4-0 win, complaining of a thigh injury. It was thought that Chelsea had withdrawn their new signing as a precautionary measure but it was later revealed he would undergo a scan to determine the extent of the injury.
Bosingwa seems set to make the Chelsea right-back spot his own and is well fancied in fantasy terms going into the season. We await news from Stamford Bridge.
ContinuedBosingwa Crocked As Chelsea Cruise
Chelsea got the Scolari era off to a flyer with a convincing 4-0 win in China although the victory may have come at a cost as new signing Bosingwa suffers a muscle injury early on.
ContinuedToure Laid Low By Malaria
There are reports today claiming that Kolo Toure is set to miss the start of the season having been struck down by malaria. The Arsenal man is thought to have contracted the disease whilst on holiday in the Ivory Coast.
Toure was admitted to hospital in Vienna after concerns grew amongst club medical staff. Whilst the condition is easily treated, Toure will face a recovery time of between two to four weeks which seems likely to sideline the defender for Arsenal’s opening games of the campaign.
His absence could well see Djourou or Senderos get some early starts, although Wenger may also consider playing Sagna alongside Gallas, with Eboue or Hoyte brought in at right-back.
ContinuedCity Lose Benjani For Openers
Man City’s Benjani will miss the opening games of the season after picking up a thigh injury.
The striker pulled a muscle in training and he isn’t expected to recover in time to make the season opener on August 16. It’s not yet known just how long he’ll be sidelined for.
City’s options up front are now severely limited with new signing Jo also out of the opening two games due to involvement with the Brazil at the Olympics. That will mean that Hughes may have to turn to Vassell or Bojinvov, with the likes of Corradi and Bianchi expected to depart in the coming weeks.
ContinuedTuesday’s Friendly Round-Up
Another busy night of friendlies sees Liverpool held, Wigan defeated, a Johnson-less Everton win at Preston and Barry booed with every touch as Villa edge past Walsall. Here’s all the notable events and lineups from tonight’s action…
ContinuedEuropean Round-Up
In all the pre-season excitement I’ve been neglecting those teams already plunged into competitive action in Europe. Here’s my scout notes on City’s UEFA Cup win over EB/Streymur and Villa’s draw in Odense in Sunday’s Intertoto clash.
ContinuedKeane Remains Gloomy Over Jones
Roy Keane is still none the wiser over the injury status of Kenwyne Jones but has admitted that the big striker will certainly sit out the first two months of the season.
Jones suffered a knee injury whilst playing for Trinidad and Tobago against England in June. Reports back then suggested that Jones could well be sidelined until February with ligament damage.
Right now however, Keane can’t look beyond the first two months of the season, ruling him out for the next 6 to 9 weeks at least. Jones is set to see a specialist in early August when a more accurate prognosis is expected.
The Sunderland striker was set to be a key pre-season target for fantasy managers having been a major success in his first season firing 7 goals and 10 assists.
ContinuedInjury Scare For Gerrard
Steven Gerrard has been sent home from Liverpool’s training camp in Switzerland after sustaining a groin injury.
The midfielder sat out Liverpool’s win over Lucerne earlier this week and it has today been revealed that he was carrying the injury. Gerrard is expected to be sidelined for around 10 days, missing the clubs next friendly with Wisla Krakow today, as well as next week’s fixture with Hertha Berlin in Germany.
The midfielder will be a huge favourite with fantasy managers going into the season but this “minor” injury certainly suggests that we need to exercise some caution before spending the significant amount of cash required to buy in the Liverpool man. I’ll keep you posted on his progress.
Continued
