In the aftermath of last night’s double gameweek 4-2 comeback against Bolton, we lost another soul from the Arsenal ranks – with Abou Diaby the latest casualty. Arsene Wenger shared this with us earlier today:
“Diaby has a calf problem,” said Wenger. “The first news is not bad but he has a scan tomorrow [Friday] and we will know more from there…Of course, he is out for Stoke and certainly for the Villa game. There is hope he might be back for Manchester United but we don’t know yet.
Wenger is getting down to the bare bones with his midfield reportoire right now, with the likes of Nasri and Ramsey also currently on the sidelines and Song and Eboue out in Angola at the African Cup of Nations.
In terms of a replacement, the best guess would be another chance for young Eastmond who recently earned a league start at Bolton – that would see Denilson unshackled from the defensive midfield role. Rosicky could possibly be drafted back into a deeper role as another alternative, with Walcott perhaps given an opportunity to prove is fitness as part of the front three…
With Diaby having been a bit of fantasy bargain this season and playing regularly for Arsenal there are now set to be 16% of FPL managers with a dilemma on their hands. The obvious candidates for replacement look set to be players like N’Zogbia and Pienaar who have been in blistering form of late and have already attracted 33,000 and 25,000 “transfers in” respectively this week. With news of the scan yet to come in we need not jump the gun, but with many players already missing the upcoming gameweek preperation shall be vitally important.
It looks wise to sit and wait for the FA Cup weekend to pass however. If those teams with a double fixture in gameweek 24 complete their weekend cup ties without a need for a replay, then there looks likely to be a few nice double gameweek options on the horizon once more, with the likes of Duff, Gera and Collison set to attract some mid-price midfield attention.