It’s FA Cup weekend, time for most of us to put our feet up and prepare for the tension of wondering whether ITV can manage to bring us all the goals or try to sell us some mints.
There is one Premier League game to distract us, while the injuries and lineups from the Cup remain relevant with another gameweek on the horizon. Here’s some brief team news from around the grounds then…
Just one game in the Premier League then and it’s the double fixture for both Portsmouth and City at Fratton Park. Caretaker Paul Hart is likely to recall Pennant to his midfield for this one – he was ineligible against Liverpool last time out. Kaboul and Traore are also set to come into contention after missing last weekend’s defeat through injury. City are set to bring Elano into the midfield for the suspended Wright-Phillips. Dunne also misses out, although this is the last of his four-match ban.
Moving to the FA Cup and West Ham could give full debuts to Savio and Kovac in their tie with Boro. Collins and Behrami are expected to shake off knocks to be available. Boro meanwhile will be without cup-tied Marlon King, while Taylor, Riggott and Aliadiere remain sidelined through injury. Hoyte is expected to start at right-back with Wheater shifting to the centre alongside Huth.
Allardyce is without cup-tied Diouf for the home tie with Coventry. Big Sam has confirmed that he will rotate his lineup once again and from a fantasy perspective with next week’s league game in mind, it will be interesting to see if Santa Cruz or Roberts gets the nod up front.
Phil Brown could give Gardner and Barmby run-outs after they returned to training this week. Bullard has yet to train with the club and won’t be risked.
Wilkins will take charge of Chelsea at Watford and he is set to be without both Terry and Carvalho in his defence. Terry serves a one-match ban, while Carvalho is still troubled by his hamstring injury. The Drogba/Anelka decision will be the point of interest here. Wilkins could well play them both in a 4-4-2.
The tie of the round will see Everton take on Villa at Goodison. Moyes hopes to have Fellaini fit and available but Pienaar has already been ruled out of this one. Jo is cup-tied so we won’t be able to give his fantasy potential further assessment – although at least he’s free of injury risk. Villa will be without Barry who serves a one-match ban, while Reo-Coker and Cuellar are sidelined through injury. Luke Young is set to return after missing England’s Spanish lesson with a toe injury.
Ferguson is expected to welcome back Evra and Evans to his defence for the visit to Derby. Ferdinand should also make it, despite missing the England game through illness in the week. Rooney has been ruled out of the equation, with Ferguson keen to preserve him with the busy fixture programme looming. My bet is that he’ll be on the bench for Wednesday league game with Fulham.