As confirmed yesterday, Cesc Fabregas will not be in the Arsenal lineup for tonight’s Champions League tie with Porto. Arsene Wenger is all over the papers today insisting that they can overcome a 2-1 deficit and progress without their skipper. More to the point there are suggestions in a number of reports that Fabregas could make a return for Arsenal in the weekend trip to Hull, but it’s only a possibility at this stage.
Monday’s scans on the hamstring revealed no serious damage and Wenger has confirmed that surgery isn’t required. He also stressed that the step to leave the midfielder out of tonight’s lineup is to prevent the possibility of a month-long absence. To add to this, Fabregas himself has spoke out expressing his willingness to play against Porto…
“I wanted to play but the doctors recommended I rest and avoid any risk. I am sad to miss out because Porto is important to us. I will suffer far more than usual, having to watch from the side.”
That all sounds positive for us fantasy managers, although there is no confirmed talk of his availability for the KC stadium trip. Indeed, some reports today suggest that the home game with West Ham will be a more likely return…
While the loss of Fabregas is a major one for his fantasy owners, at least it has arrived in a gameweek where options are plentiful. Aston Villa and Wigan handing us double gameweek options and with both Chelsea and United facing home fixtures. There options for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) captains then and there are plenty of managers facing up to the dilemma of choosing who to bench rather than scratching around for a starting eleven.
In other news from the Emirates, it’s been confirmed that William Gallas has suffered a recurrence of his calf injury which, according to Wenger, has shifted him back to his “starting point” with the injury. In his absence Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre will deputise alongside Thomas Vermaelen. Campbell is the preferred option although there is clearly doubt that he can withstand Arsenal’s busy fixture schedule…
“It was unexpected that Sol would play so many games, but it is also good because I think it was the right decision to bring him back. Sol is a guy who gives everything when he is on the pitch. Can his body still take two or three games in a week? Who knows.”
Wenger rested Campbell’s groin injury against Burnley at the weekend and the rotation between the pair looks set to continue…
“We have a good mixture with him and [Mikael] Silvestre because he is also a player who gives everything, so we can rotate them. The only problem is that when you play with two left-footed players sometimes Vermaelen is not always in his best position.”
Clearly the absence of Gallas and the rotation in defence could be a factor when it comes to Arsenal’s clean sheet potential. The Gunners have kept three shut-outs in their last seven league outings – against Villa, Liverpool and Sunderland. All three of those sides are struggling for goals so this is perhaps not a good indication of Arsenal’s current defensive strength. Despite a decent run of fixtures to come (hul WHM bir WLV tot wig) there’s the suggestion that investment in Wenger’s defence should be questioned. Vermaelen remains a popular signing but he may have to maintain his goalscoring form to justify his hefty price tag while Gallas sits in the stands.