I pick the Fantasy Football bones out of a dull, fairly predictable Wednesday night in the Premiership and another sparkling goal fest from Spurs in Europe…

Aston Villa vs Arsenal

Nothing much to report from the Villa perspective tonight. As expected Agbonlahor came in for Maloney who was out with a virus, while Cahill got his place in defence back as a result of Laursen’s hamstring injury. Villa did switch tactics in the second-half. Converting from 4-4-2 with Carew and Young up front to a 4-3-3 formation with Agbonlahor and Young employed either side of Carew. Despite a good amount of possession and pressure, Villa couldn’t break a determined Arsenal backline. Tonight’s blank could be enough to see Luke Moore make a return on Sunday against Liverpool. He was on the bench tonight but not used, but could come in for Agbonlahor at the weekend.

Wenger was forced to shuffle his deck once again with suspensions and injuries. As expected, he elected to keep Gilberto at centre-back but played him alongside Gallas, rather than bring Senderos back into the 11. Djourou played at right-back with Hoyte returning from injury to play at left-back. In midfield, Diaby came in for the injured Hleb and Wenger went with Alliadiere and Baptista up front. Walcott was on the bench but didn’t appear. Arsenal’s back four is of interest. Clearly, Clichy will return at left-back on Sunday against Everton, and with Toure also back, there’s likely to be a major reshuffle which should see Gilberto back in midfield for Denilson. A Toure/Gallas pairing at centre-back looks likely with Senderos remaining on the bench.

Man City vs Chelsea

For City Pearce made some changes as expected. Mpenza predictably started up front for Coradi, however in a more unlikely change, Weaver was dropped for Isaksson in goal. Although City lost again tonight, there’s no reason why the Swede won’t keep the shirt for Saturday’s match, so it’s certainly worth considering moving Weaver out if he’s in your squad. Owners of Trabelsi meanwhile, should have the message by now, the Tunisian didn’t even make the bench tonight.

Sad though it is to see City struggling so badly, from a Fantasy perspective, any side facing the Pearce’s team are almost guaranteed a clean sheet right now, such is their lack of confidence and quality in front of goal. The Boro back 5 are certainly worth a look for this weekend, if you can be sure to find one who won’t be rested for Monday’s replay with United. Schwarzer looks like the safest bet.

For Chelsea we saw the return of Terry and, as predicted, the absence of both Essien and Shevchenko through injury. No word yet on the severity of either of those but both will remain serious doubts for Saturday given then Chelsea face Spurs in the Cup replay on Monday. Geremi came back in at right-back, possibly to give Diarra a rest in order to give Mourinho the option to use him to rest Makelele on Saturday. The little Frenchman came back into the side tonight after being rested with a minor knock on Sunday. Kalou came in up front with Drogba and you can expect a similar front line on Saturday against Sheffield Utd, unless Mourinho is brave enough to rest the Premiership’s top scorer. As a side note, Ballack and Drogba picked up their 7th bookings of the season tonight. Both are now walking the suspension tightrope, hoping to avoid 10 bookings by April 15 or face a 2-match ban.

Whilst in Europe….

Finally, Spurs were in action in the UEFA cup tonight. They successfully negotiated their way around opponents Braga by once again proving irresistible in front of goal – they ran out 3-2 winners. No surprise to find that Berbatov was central to the result with 2 goals, before laying on a third for Malbranque. The Bulgarian really is in delicious form right now – cracking a tremendous volley coupled with a sublime finish for his first goal. On this form he should be an automatic choice for Fantasy Managers, but perhaps just not for this gameweek. It looks likely that Mido and Defoe will line up against Watford on Saturday, with Berbatov and Keane rested for the Cup replay with Chelsea on Monday. The Spurs lineup had Chimbonda restored and at centre-back alongside Dawson, while Huddlestone made a return to midfield. You can expect to see Rocha restored to centre-back on Saturday with Tanio, Ghaly and even Taarabt coming into the reckoning as Spurs look to rest the likes of Lennon and Zokora.