Saturday morning finds me dodging the raindrops to hit the rags over breakfast. Time to contemplate the major issues of the day with Wenger’s whims again a priority for our concerns.

Elsewhere I’m left pondering whether Berbatov has done enough for Alex Ferguson to gamble on a 4-4-2 at a ground where his side lost 3-0 last season, plus there’s the minor issue of how Roberto Mancini will find a place for the talents of James Milner on Monday night…

Will Wenger select both Fabregas and Van Persie?

For the second week running Wenger’s teamsheet is the burning issue. This time however, with a potential points bonanza at stake at home to Blackpool, the interest from Fantasy Managers in the musings of the French Professor is even more intense. Will he find a place for both his World Cup stars?

The Sun: No. The tabloid has the Arsenal skipper in Wenger’s midfield along with Eboue and Diaby but there’s no place for Van Persie with Walcott and Arshavin flanking Chamakh.
The Guardian: This paper goes with the opposite. Van Persie earns a start playing just behind Chamakh but there’s no place for Fabregas who presumably gets kept on the bench. Eboue, Diaby and Song make up the midfield trio.
The Daily Telegraph: Yes. They both start. Fabregas lines up alongside Wilshere and Diaby, whilst Van Persie operates on one flank with Arshavin on the other and Chamakh down the middle.
The Times: Fabregas starts but there’s no place again for Van Persie in the Arsenal attack. Wilshere and Diaby claim starting roles alongside the skipper and Walcott starts with Arshavin either side of Chamakh.
We say: We’ve left them both out of my predicted lineup and I’ll stick with that. The opinion of the papers this morning just underlines the fact that there’s no cast-iron assurance that one or both will start against Blackpool. I’ve no doubt that both with see time on the pitch, I’m just not sure if that will be more than 60 minutes as a starter or sub at this stage. Unfortunately, as expected, Wenger gave little away.

Will United go with two up front?

Dimitar Berbatov’s goal last weekend announced him once again as a Fantasy prospect but away at Fulham there’s every chance that Ferguson will revert to a 4-5-1/4-3-3 system which will see Valencia and Nani flanking Rooney and an extra body in midfield. What do the papers think on that one?

The Sun: It’s 4-4-2 for the red-top. Berbatov retains his starting role with Nani and Valencia on either flank. Scholes and Fletcher keep their starting roles in central midfield.
The Guardian: Ryan Giggs comes into the midfield in support of Rooney and Berbatov drops to the bench with Nani and Valencia flanking Rooney.
The Daily Telegraph: It’s 4-4-2 here and Berbatov starts in an unchanged lineup with Fletcher and Scholes again manning the midfield.
The Times: It’s the same again in the Times. Berbatov keeps his start as Ferguson goes for goals at Fulham with a 4-4-2. Scholes and Fletcher again start and its Nani and Valencia out wide.
We say: Our predicted lineup shows a 4-4-2 but I feel that Carrick will be brought in alongside Fletcher to provide that extra bit of protection away from home. I worry that Park could also figure and I’m not entirely convinced that Valencia will keep his place as a result. I’ve kept faith with him in our lineup though.

How will James Milner fit into the City lineup?

There’s no doubting his abilities but while Milner can certainly bring something extra to the City midfield, there’s still an issue with regards to how Roberto Mancini fits him in. So far we’ve seen the Italian go with three “Protectors” away from home. Surely he’ll break that trio up and hand Milner a start against Liverpool on Monday?

The Sun: Not according to our first morning paper. The Sun have Mancini sticking with a Barry, De Jong, Toure trio protecting the back four. No place for Milner here then.
The Guardian: The Guardian also keep that trio in their lineup but find a place for Milner in the side with Wright-Phillips dropping to the bench. This suggests a wider role for Milner or perhaps a more central support role behind the striker. As it is, while the Sun go with Adebayor and Tevez up front, the Guardian feel that Tevez will lead the attack on his own again.
The Daily Telegraph: The first paper to break up Mancini’s midfield trio and it’s De Jong who makes way for Milner. Interestingly they also predict a start for Balotelli who looked just that little bit lively in the Europa League on Thursday. Wright-Phillips drops out again here.
The Times: No Milner. No Balotelli and no Wright-Phillips. Mancini will stick with the De Jong, Barry, Toure midfield and draft in Johnson out wide to help support Tevez as the lone striker.
We say: We’ve broke up Mancini’s midfield in our predicted lineup. I see De Jong making way for Milner and a 4-4-2 with Adebayor starting with Tevez up front. Wright-Phillips makes way for us too.

Finally if you’re an owner of Wayne Rooney, I’d recommend picking up the Guardian this morning. They’ve an excellent article on Rooney’s streaky scoring which highlights his patterns of production over a series of seasons.

Interestingly Rooney started last season with 7 goals in his first 10 games. The previous season he scored just two in the same spell and in 2007/08 he started without a goal in his first five games, only to score 8 goals in the 7 games that followed.

If he fails to score at Fulham he will be extending the worst drought of his career; previously he’d gone 1002 minutes without scoring in 2005/06 – currently Rooney is without a goal in 1081 minutes. As a stubborn Rooney owner myself I’m just a little bit tempted to back him to notch on Sunday.