Florent Malouda’s starting berth gets secured by Salomon Kalou’s troubles. Andy Carroll shuffles into the frame for a recall to a Newcastle 4-4-2 and Roberto Martinez singles out Jordi Gomez for praise, the latest budget midfielder to offer potential from the “in the hole” role.

Yesterday’s statement from Chelsea on Yossi Benayoun brought the shocking news that the Israeli will be out for six months with his Achilles injury, but it also included a significant update on Salomon Kalou’s fitness which has a big impact on the outlook of Florent Malouda this weekend.

According to Chelsea’s statement Kalou is “due to return to full training next week”, ruling him out of this weekend’s trip to Villa Park. With both Kalou and Benayoun out of the equation, it would seem that Malouda is now far more assured of his start on the left flank, despite facing a Champions League tie on Tuesday.

Previously Malouda was rested for the trip to West Ham which preceded the Champions League meet with MSK Zilina. Many Fantasy Managers will have been looking closely at Malouda’s prospects given that Cesc Fabregas is back in the frame as a heavyweight midfield option. The Chelsea man’s fixtures show three away games in four, compared to Fabregas’ three in four at the Emirates. The fact that Malouda also faced the threat of rotation also counted against him; Kalou’s continued absence appears to have reduced that risk considerably.

There’s some interesting noises coming out of St James’ Park today with reports suggesting that Chris Hughton is considering opting for a 4-4-2 against Wigan. There remains question marks over Andy Carroll’s chances of starting at the weekend given that he was left on the bench at City by Hughton. To my mind Carroll will start, with Hughton today stating that the centre-forward is “buoyed” by signing his new five-year contract at the club; the suggestion is that he will be paired with Shola Ameobi with skipper Kevin Nolan perhaps reverting to a deeper central midfield role.

This will have obvious repercussions on Nolan’s potential but also hopefully improve Carroll’s output in what would appear to be a Newcastle side with a greater attacking threat. The flipside of that of course is that Hughton will have to remove one of his midfield protectors to make way for Nolan’s shift back into the engine room. That could leave Newcastle’s defence, impressive to this point, exposed that little bit more.

Staying with Newcastle, it’s interesting to note that Danny Simpson played 90 minutes for the reserves last night – more or less confirming that he won’t be involved against Wigan. Danny Guthrie played no part though – presumably he will return to the first-team squad and will add to Hughton’s options in midfield. It’s getting trickier to predict Hughton’s lineup.

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has today lauded the impact of Jordi Gomez against Wolves and indicated that he is in the box seat for the advanced midfield role playing just off the striker.

“We have created a very good competition for places throughout the squad and the team. But it’s important we use our players when they are in good moments of form – and that certainly applies to Jordi right now.”

Gomez has scored three goals in three starts for Wigan this term, two of which have come in the Carling Cup. He was on target against Wolves in Gameweek 7 however and our recent Members article revealed he put in a highly impressive shift – only Rafael Van der Vaart fired in more efforts on goal in the league over that weekend. Gomez’ free-kick strike against McCarthy’s side should certainly give him the opportunity to hog Wigan’s set-plays. At 4.8 in the Fantasy Premier League game, Gomez may warrant some Watchlist attention over Wigan’s kind fixtures if you’re looking for a budget option in midfield.