Ah the FA Cup weekends. They leave most fantasy managers twiddling thumbs, hand Premier League managers the chance to fiddle with their lineups and help boost the number of injuries and suspensions. I’m not a big fan…
The Lineups
The FA Cup weekend often offers little guidance to fantasy managers when it comes to anticipating team selection. Indeed, with second string players handed opportunities, the lineups are normally complete red herrings. In truth however, we saw the majority of premier league bosses resist the urge for heavy rotation.
Going into the weekend, it was thought that the United and Spurs tie would epitomise the feared rest and rotation policy of premier league managers. As it turned out, both Ferguson and Redknapp put out fairly strong sides.
The United boss was hampered by a string of injuries and was forced to reshuffle his defence. O’Shea started at right-back with Fabio handed a debut on the left. Skipper Neville joined Vidic in central defence. Aside from Fabio – Welbeck was the only real second-string player on show for the home side. He played out wide with Ronaldo on the other flank.
As for Redknapp, all the talk was he would put out a weakened side but in fact the likes of Pavlyuchenko and Modric both started. Once again Alnwick started in goal, with Gomes returning to the bench despite struggling with a thigh injury. Gunter claimed the right-back spot with Corluka shifting to a central role alongside Dawson in the absence of Woodgate (back injury) and King (hamstring and his old knee trouble). Also missing were Lennon (groin injury), O’Hara (hip injury), Jenas (calf injury) and Bent (groin and wounded pride).
Giovani did at least make a first appearance in Spurs colours under Redknapp after months on the sidelines through injury. He wil now give the Spurs boss additional options out wide – handing more threat to Bentley for a starting role. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Harry have more options for the league game with Stoke – Woodgate, Lennon and O’Hara would be my bet to make returns for that one.
Elsewhere, changes were fairly few and far between. Chelsea put out a strong lineup against Ipswich – Belletti coming in for Mikel who was suspended. Deco and Drogba were back on the bench and both saw action. Villa boss O’Neill gave Nicky Shorey a rare run-out at Doncaster but I wouldn’t imagine that will continue. Reo-Coker moved into the midfield to cover the loss of Ashley Young through suspension. Phil Brown made a few changes to his Hull lineup – resting Myhill and welcoming back Dawson to his defence. He was an early season fantasy prospect, with the odd assist from set-plays. He could have some potential again if Hull can continue to tighten up at the back then.
Zola rested Upson from the squad and Neill to the bench for the visit to Hartlepool. Fulham boss Hodgson rested Pantsil to the bench for the trip to Kettering, handing a rare start to Stoor at right-back. Andreasen also got a starting berth with Murphy benched. Both he and Pantsil can be expected to return for the trip to Sunderland on Tuesday.
Tony Adams was without Kranjcar who is now sidelined for a number of weeks with a groin injury. He could call on new loan signing Pennant however, and, typical of Adam’s brave/bizarre approach, he kept the 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation and put Pennant in Kranjcar’s position just off Crouch up front, leaving Nugent wide on the right. He did switch this in the second-half with the introduction of Kanu in a 4-4-2, with Pennant looking immediately more effective. Elsewhere Johnson was suspended with Cranie coming in at right-back. Hughes returned from injury in midfield, replacing Kaboul. The injury to Kranjcar could well force Adams into a 4-4-2 for the coming weeks.
At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland and Blackburn fought out a dull 0-0 draw. Sbragia rested his strike pairing of Cisse and Jones, handing starts to Chopra and Healy. Allardyce in contrast, recalled Santa Cruz alongside McCarthy in his attack but even they couldn’t break the deadlock. Rovers were nursing injurys to Roberts, Ooijer, Dunn and Derbyshire. Surprise, surprise, Allardyce is confident that most of them will make a return against Bolton in midweek. It will be interesting to see how he shuffles his forward line if Roberts is fit.
http://www.rovers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10303~1532157,00.html
Mowbray put out a strong West Brom lineup against cup specialists Burnley. Zuiverloon returned from injury as a sub to replace Donk who limped off. He joins Barnett, Olsson and Meite on the sidelines and West Brom face a defensive crisis for the visit of United in midweek. Zuiverloon seems set to find himself at centre-back in that game. Elsewhere, Bednar returned from suspension to partner Simpson up front and Filipe Teixeira and Kim earned starts in midfield with Brunt and Valero dropped/rested to the bench.
Southgate didn’t muck about with pressure mounting on his job. The win at Molineux has helped keep the wolf (sorry) from the door for another week however, and came as a result of an almost full-strength lineup. Jones did replace Turnbull in goal, while Bates came in at right-back. Johnson also earned a start in midfield. Hoyte returned from injury as a second-half sub and he could figure for the trip to Chlesea in midweek. Southgate is hoping to have Pogatetz available for that game, while loanee Marlon King could also figure, although it’s not clear who would drop out.
On Sunday, Wenger made an array of changes to his lineup for the trip to Cardiff, including starts for Bendtner and Ramsey. The likes Denilson, Diaby and Adebayor were all rested to the bench. They sat alongside Gallas who returned from injury. All four seem likely to figure at Everton in midweek.
As for the Merseyside derby – we saw Rafa revert to his almost his strongest possible lineup. Gerrard was back behind Torres, the lone striker. Arbeloa returned at right-back, allowing Carragher to partner Skrtel in defence. The selection of Babel over Riera was a slight surprise perhaps, as was the omission of Keane from the squad. Agger was missing with a calf injury once again, while Hyypia was relegated to the bench and now looks unlikely to get regular starts. As for Everton, they put out their strongest side but were hampered by the absence of Arteta with a rib injury. Castillo came into the midfield.
The Form
The weekend didn’t provide too much that we already didn’t know. Lampard and Gerrard continued their scoring form from midfield, while Ronaldo failed to impress yet again. That followed recent trends to the letter then. As did Berbatov’s fourth goal in as many games for United. He looks menacing going into the trip to West Brom – particularly given the fact that the Baggies have been ravaged by injury in defence.
Pavlychenko continued his strong run of form with his fourth goal in six games for Spurs. He could warrant some short-term investment, although Spurs do have a missing fixture in gameweek 27. Goals for Zamora and Johnson could set them up with a little confidence going into a period where Fulham have two double gameweeks in two months. That was Zamora’s first goal in four months however. Boro’s Alves is in slightly more prolific form – his goal against Wolves was his fourth in four games. He could well be rotated with new signing King in weeks to come though, unless Southgate finds a new role for Tuncay.
There were plenty more patterns that continued. Arsenal struggled to find fluency once again in the 0-0 with Cardiff. West Ham maintained their run of form with a win at Hartlepool – Noble scoring his third spot-kick in four games. While Portsmouth continued their slide with the home defeat to Swansea. Defensively Adams just can’t work things out and although Pennant looked brigh on his debut (when he was eventually switched to the right wing), concerns are growing at Fratton Park and fantasy investment continues to look unwise at both ends.
Defensively Everton looked strong again at Anfield, while the Liverpool backline conceded from a set-play once again. The same weakness was apparent in the Chelsea back four against Championship Ipswich. With Terry and Carvalho still injury doubts for midweek – this will continue to be an area of concern going into the Boro game. Indeed, defensive points could be a problem for this gameweek given that United are nursing a string of injuries in their rearguard. Although they face West Brom on the back of ten league clean sheets, the Baggies have been scoring goals at the Hawthorns so we can take nothing for granted.
If you’re looking for alternatives for investment at the back – look to Ewood Park. Blackburn continued to demonstrate strong defensive form with another clean sheet at Sunderland. They have conceded just two goals in six games since Allardyce took control. With Bolton and Boro next – the Rovers defence looks a good short-term option.
Injuries and Bans
More injuries and knocks from the weekend will no doubt surface over the next 24 hours but there are already a number of notable casualties from the weekend. Ricardo Carvalho was subbed on 69 minutes against Ipswich. He was suffering from a tweaked hamstring and was due tests this morning according to Wilikins in his post-match summary. He certainly gives the impression that it’s not a serious setback, although Carvalho will be a doubt for the Boro game in midweek.
United lost two more players to injury. Welbeck suffered a knock on the ankle but is expected to be available for the trip to the Hawthorns on Tuesday. Fabio however, picked up a calf injury and is expected to be ruled out. Yet more problems in defence for Ferguson then.
West Brom suffered further injuries in their tie with Burnley. Greening and Donk both picked up problems to add to Mowbray’s woes. Greening is out for at least a fortnight with a knee ligament injury, while Donk suffered a groin injury. Craig Beattie also picked up a knock.
Boro’s Taylor limped off early on against Wolves and was replaced by McMahon. Shawky also picked up a hamstring injury and was subbed at half-time.
In terms of suspensions, Gary O’Neil picked up his fifth booking of the season and will miss next weekend’s league game with Blackburn. New entries onto the suspension tightrope included Alonso, Carragher, Van Persie and Blackburn’s Samba. They are all one booking away from a one match ban.