This morning’s big worries for Fantasy Managers concern the weather forecast rather than the whims of the Premier League bosses. We’ve already lost one fixture just moments ago and at least two more are in doubt.
These are hairy times for those attempting to plot transfers prior to this morning’s deadline and, when the weather isn’t causing concern, we have plenty of unanswered posers courtesy of the Gameweek’s teamsheets.
I’ve already taken my aching Lemsip limbs out into the snow to buy the papers this morning. It would be folly not to give them a quick flick to see if they can offer any guidance. Here’s a slippery underfoot preamble…
As you’ve heard – the Wigan vs Aston Villa game has now been postponed to become the first victim of the recent snowfall. Conditions around the ground, rather than the state of the pitch itself, was the main concern with this fixture. Wigan have just confirmed the postponement.
Elsewhere, Birmingham have this morning offered a far more positive update on their site – they’ve stressed that the undersoil heating has done its job ahead of the clash with Newcastle. While conditions around the ground are being maintained by a team of “dedicated maintenance staff”.
Blackburn are being more cautious. They’ve updated their fans this morning and, although the Rovers pitch and surrounding area has experienced 3 inches of snow, the game is still on – for now. Rovers have stressed that fans should continually check back for news so Fantasy Managers can only hope that we know one way or the other by 11.30.
Blackpool’s Sunday clash with Tottenham is identified as another game under threat, simply because Bloomfield Road does not have undersoil heating to thaw the pitch. With Rafael van der Vaart earmarked for a possible return, this is a potentially a key fixture for Fantasy Managers. Quite rightly those without the Dutchman will be wary of the prospect of the game being postponed and indeed, investment in Spurs this Gameweek will be met with caution. However, right now, the forecast in Blackpool looks encouraging in terms of snowfall; the big question is whether Blackpool can keep the pitch from freezing over.
Van der Vaart is far from guaranteed a starting role for Spurs. The Sun have Harry Redknapp going with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe up front. Having said that, all three of my other morning papers have him earning an immediate recall and in the lineup. There’s no doubt that if the game goes ahead and the Dutchman starts, he will make a strong differential for those who kept him in their squads.
The Arsenal lineup is another to attract our interest this morning. The Sun has both Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas in the side to face Stoke at the Emirates, while Theo Walcott also gets the nod. Again, my three broadsheets disagree. They’ve kept faith with Marouane Chamakh, although Fabregas does start behind him. I’m currently in the same camp – Van Persie kept on the bench in this one.
Steven Gerrard is another key player and potential Fantasy target on his way back this weekend. The Sun don’t hesitate to put him in their Liverpool lineup for David Ngog. The Times agree, while the Telegraph have Gerrard in midfield for Raul Meireles making way. The Guardian have Gerrard missing out. In my view we will see Gerrard back and, with Lucas and Meireles in form, I see Roy Hodgson deploying up just behind Fernando Torres.
Somen Tchoyi is a player we’ve been promoting hard recently with a selection in the Scout Picks and a shout-out in Big Dunc’s “Spot the Differential” last night. Roberto Di Matteo was thought to be preparing the Cameroonian for a striker role in Sunday’s local derby with Wolves. The papers don’t seem to have much faith in that. The Sun don’t even include him in their predicted lineup but this morning’s broadsheets have him in the right-wing role. A less subtle, more direct threat that Fantasy favourite Chris Brunt, Tchoyi will cause an injury-strewn Wolves defence more than a few problems and with 2 goals in his last 3 league matches, has form. Again, he’s a good option at 5.0 in the FPL.
The West Ham team news has been very slow to arrive from Upton Park sources and this morning we perhaps discovered why. The Daily Mail carried an “Exclusive” this morning which revealed that Robert Green would miss out on the trip to Blackburn today after failing to recover sufficiently from a minor operation. The Hammers have big problems in this department now, with reserve keeper Marek Stech apparently a doubt having suffered a hamstring problem in training. He could still make it, although 23-year-old Belgian Ruud Boffin may have to make his Premier League debut. Big problems for West Ham and Avram Grant then, which may well give a nudge to those Fantasy Managers considering Blackburn’s attacking assets; if the game goes ahead that is.
