A soggy 0-0, an injured Spaniard, an off the rails centre-forward and a bargain full-back. Monday brought a variety of notable events that had me scribbling…
There’s little to take from last night sodden stalemate, other than more evidence that Sunderland continue to be an impotent, ineffective force away from home. Steve Bruce mentioned in his post-match comments that his side were more accomplished before the dismissal of Chris Samba for hauling down Danny Welbeck; he was right. Down to 10 men, Blackburn showed defensive resolve and in Paul Robinson had a keeper inspired to repel the little that the Black Cats threw his way.
Sunderland have now won just 2 of 33 matches away from the Stadium of Light – at Bolton and Hull. Three consecutive draws and a defeat at West Brom have added to that record. Defensively they promoted themselves further as a source of Fantasy assets; the game brought a third clean sheet of the season and with that stat and his endeavours at Ewood, Elmohamady will continue to rise in popularity and price in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game. Home comforts against Aston Villa in the coming Gameweek may even offer the opportunity for attacking returns from the “out of position†Egyptian.
As for Blackburn, they earned only their second clean sheet of the season and they did it with the normally reliable Samba showered in the stands. He will miss the trip to Anfield this weekend. As we will see later in our “Frisking of the Fixtures†article, that’s just one of a several tough-looking fixtures ahead of Samba and co, making Ewood a likely no-go area for Fantasy Managers for the foreseeable future, despite the return of former favourite David Dunn from the bench and the maximum FPL Bonus that came Paul Robinson’s way.
Mikel Arteta revealed yesterday that he was a doubt for Sunday’s Merseyside derby, a game which he illuminated with a superb long-range goal to seal the win. The Spaniard was withdrawn on 74 minutes with a recurrence of the injury
“I felt it again in the second half and I had to come off. We’ll have to look at it.â€
That makes him an early doubt for the trip to White Hart Lane this weekend which will surely temper any Fantasy interest. Everton and Arteta have more appealing fixtures to come with Goodison encounters with Stoke and Bolton, with a trip to Blackpool sandwiched in between, over the Gameweek’s that follow.
I’m not sure what to make of Andy Carroll’s Monday morning. Charged with an alleged assault, the striker was bailed to go and live with club skipper Kevin Nolan. With Nolan having been “rested†by Chris Hughton for Saturday’s draw with Wigan, he’s likely to be in no mood for guests. Carroll is facing up to a court appearance next Monday on an alleged assault charge for “occasioning bodily harm†in a club last year. Then of course there was a previous incident involving team-mate Steven Taylor. All in all, it’s not a pretty picture and, switching to the trivialities of Fantasy Football for a while, his owners will be worrying whether Chris Hughton will put him out on the pitch at West Ham and what frame of mind he’ll be in if he does play.
Staying with Newcastle and you may have missed the tweet that brought you news of Danny Simpson being included in Newcastle’s reserves for this afternoon’s game with Bolton. If he’s spared the 90 minutes, that should give us all the indication we need that he will be likely to slot into Hughton’s defence at Upton Park. James Perch, Newcastle’s current right-back, came in for a round of criticism following the Wigan game making it seem inevitable that Simpson will get his opportunity eventually. The former United man is available for just 3.9 in the FPL – the cheapest price you can pay for a Defender. If he regains his starting role he will offer an excellent bench option which will free up much-needed funds elsewhere.
