Who said the Carling Cup can’t be an altogether interesting affair? Not only did the semi finals over the last couple of weeks bring us 17 goals in 3 matches that can only be described as humdingers (and one game to forget), they have also created another little gap in the upcoming fixture schedule.
If you avert your eyes down and to the right for a brief second, or just click here, you will now see that thanks to having to walk down Wembley Way on February 28th Aston Villa and Manchester United (and their respective opponents Hull and West Ham) no longer have a Fantasy Premier League fixture during gameweek 28…
Aston Villa’s current spell of fixtures may well convince a few that this is the time to cash in on the likes of Milner and Dunne (ful, tot, MUN, BUR, blank). It must also be noted that if Aston Villa win their FA Cup 5th round tie (away at either Wolves or Crystal Palace) they will also face a missing fixture in gameweek 29 – a potential Fantasy Premier League fixture disaster.
Investment in Villa must be questioned – not least because they also haven’t scored in the Premier League in their last four fixtures. Could O’Neill’s side suffer the same kind of blip that we saw in the latter half of last season?
As for Manchester United (ars, POR, avl, eve, blank), they also face a few more testing away days, so those who recently sold their assets for the missing fixture in gameweek 23 may feel like they can breathe a little easier and resist retrieving their United players. Rooney’s form may suggest otherwise however.
During the aforementioned FA Cup weekend United will not have any fixtures down in their calendar and seeing as the opponents of their cancelled game (West Ham) are also free, we could very well see another double gameweek fixture quickly scheduled for gameweek 26; much like their fixture against Hull in gameweek 23 when the Carling Cup semi with City reared it’s head.
Keep your wits about you, and stay frosty folks. If there is any news we will most certainly bring it you in a prompt fashion.