An early start to another gameweek – and Saturday’s aren’t complete now without our usual aimless natter after Friday’s storm has calmed. It’s all about the captain today – both in our world and the wobbly world of Arsene Wenger…

First up though, there’s a few omissions from my picks this week that need explaining on my part. It’s mainly the absence of Defoe and Torres I feel I should justify.

I have clear reservations with both going into the weekend. Firstly, Portsmouth go into the Hull game without both Diarra and Krajncar. That will badly weaken their midfield and rob them of both drive and creativity. I worry that this could lead to a very tight game against Hull that could easily fall easily into the 1-1 category. Defoe could be the difference between the sides, but with a very slight injury doubt hanging over him and just one goal (from the spot) in the last five starts, I’ve decided to look elsewhere.

As for Torres – yes he is set to start against Fulham, but again I see this as a potentially edgy game for Liverpool. Hodgson’s side won’t rule over, Liverpool don’t have Gerrard to drive them on and Torres, although potentially deadly, could still be protected by Rafa somewhat with the Champions League in midweek. I can see Torres getting 70 minutes – that could be enough to do the damage and hand his fantasy owners decent returns but again, I’d rather look elsewhere at strikers facing a more charitable defence than Fulham’s – hence Bent and Cisse get the nod. I’m still getting those urges over Tuncay too – I need to take something for that.

The FPL captain situation is nothing short of nasty this week. Ronaldo is at Villa Park with United, off the back of his trip to Brazil with Portugal and with a record that shows just one assist in his three starts away from home since returning from injury. Lampard would normally slot in to provide the obvious replacement but he has an injury doubt hanging over him having missed the England game on Wednesday with a rib problem.

For me, there is enough evidence to suggest that Lampard will start. Scolari revealed that he trained on Thursday and there are a good few reports suggesting that he will take the field today. Hardly cast iron sources, but enough to offer some reassurance. Ballack’s return to fitness does offer Scolari an obvious replacement for our Frank, but it would seem that Deco could be the one to be rested given that he made the trip to Brazil with Portugal in the week.

If Lampard starts, then he will surely be the logical replacement for Ronaldo, although that hands us the prospect of watching the United man in action on Sky after Lampard has had his game. That’s never going to be an enjoyable experience unless Frank can dish out substantial damage on Newcastle. There’s a pretty uncomfortable Saturday afternoon in store then but right now, I’m sticking with Frank and putting myself through the agony of watching Ronaldo run up to his free-kicks and twisting Shorey and Young into the ground at Villa Park.

We’re not the only ones with a pretty nasty captain conundrum of course. The Gallas situation has hogged the media attention over the past 24 hours so it’s about time I touched on this from a fantasy perspective. The Gunners go to Man City without Gallas and with Clichy likely to lead them out. There are conflicting reports on the situation of the Arsenal captaincy – some say he was stripped of the responsibility by Wenger, others claim he gave up the role after a team meeting. The club themselves are currently silent on the issue but if the former is confirmed then it would seem that we’ve seen the last of Gallas in an Arsenal shirt.

These events coincide with Wenger’s recent praise of Djourou, with claims that he is ready for a first team place. He would appear to be the player earmarked as the replacement for Gallas, although where he stands in relation to Toure (injured for the City game) is yet to be made clear. I would expect that Toure would be restored with Wenger shopping in January. Djourou will surely get more starts however and could be a fantasy consideration if you’re keen to invest in what is likely to be a typically crumbly Arsenal defence for weeks to come.

There’s similar potential at Old Trafford with the injury to Wes Brown. He’ll be out for 4-5 weeks having undergone exploratory surgery on his ankle. His absence will hand opportunities to Rafeal, O’Shea and Neville and it’s the latter that interests us fantasy managers. Neville’s chances of starts are improve as a result of this setback for Brown – although with a missing fixture in gameweek 18 and Rafael still a major factor, Neville still represents a punt rather than a sure-thing.

I need to sign off at this point, so I’ll wish you all a decent weekend fantasy haul. Think of me on every Ronaldo opportunity in that Villa game later. I’ll be around to share your pain should you be in the same precarious boat.