Cesc Fabregas is a major doubt for the weekend clash with Villa although Wenger is still clinging to a faint hope that he’ll prove his fitness [source]. Fabregas suffered a hamstring injury in Tuesday’s Champions League defeat at Sevilla and the Arsenal medical staff don’t seem to share Wenger’s optimistic view of the injury. The midfielder will undergo a fitness test on Friday but it is suggested that he will be absent for around 10-days which would see him miss Arsenal’s forthcoming matches against Villa, Newcastle and Boro.

That will be a major blow to a huge amount of Fantasy Managers lining the Spanish midfielder up as their Fantasy Premier League captain in a double gameweek for the Gunners.

Meanwhile Hleb and Clichy are also rated as having a “slight chance” of making the weekend, while Van Persie has been ruled out by Wenger. Flamini is the only bit of bright news from the Arsenal camp. He should return to the Gunners midfield for the Villa game.