Florent Malouda will sit out Chelsea’s visit to Anfield on Sunday. Carlo Ancelotti confirmed that the ankle injury that kept the French winger out of last night’s 4-1 Champions League win over Spartak, will be enough to see him sidelined for the Gameweek 11 encounter.
The Chelsea boss revealed the news in his post-match comments last night…
“Malouda has a twist on his ankle, not a big problem but he is not able to play against Liverpool, the week after yes.”
From the “week after” it’s not clear whether Ancelotti is indicating that Malouda will be fit to face Fulham at the Bridge on Wednesday 10. Right now, we have to presume that this will be the case, with a second home fixture with Sunderland to follow that game.
Not all bad news for Malouda owners perhaps, given that, realistically, he was set to miss out on one of Chelsea’s three matches over the seven day period starting from Sunday’s game at Anfield. In terms of potential returns, the trip to Liverpool looks to be the best option of the three matches; that is of course, presuming that Malouda will be fit to start against both Fulham and Sunderland.
Salomon Kalou would seem likely to benefit from Malouda’s absence and take up the role of flanking to the left of Didier Drogba on Sunday. Yuri Zhirkov is another option here – particularly if Frank Lampard returns to the midfield. Carlo Ancelotti remains hopeful that this will be the case.
Malouda is 42% owned in the Fantasy Premier League game and, with United’s Nani also set to be sidelined for the Old Trafford clash with Wolves, we now face the situation of having the top two scoring midfielders out of Gameweek 11.
Whether that will see big sales of the pair is another matter entirely. Both have enjoyed significant price rises due to some explosive Gameweek totals. Early adopters of the heavy-hitting pair would need to stomach a substantial loss of funds should they transfer out either player. Right now, with every chance of both players making returns a week from now, it seems that those with a bench strong enough to cover their loss, will sit tight and wait further news – particulary when it comes to Nani’s prognosis.
