Arsenal stumble past Huddersfield, while City are held at Meadow Lane and League One opponents threaten to humble Premier League giants. Elsewhere Fulham destroy the Spurs defence at Craven Cottage, whilst Harry Redknapp, Arsene Wenger and the entire football media appear to have mislaid their FA handbooks. Here’s the Scout Notes on yesterdays FA Cup ties, including the correct details on forthcoming player suspensions…
Samir Nasri’s injury dominated the fallout from Arsenal’s scrappy 2-1 win over Huddersfield at the Emirates. A Nicklas Bendtner opener and a spot-kick from skipper Cesc Fabregas proved just enough to see off their League One opponents, but it was the hamstring injury sustained by Nasri that will be of particular interest to Fantasy Managers. Arsene Wenger was pretty candid with his prognosis of the injury in his post-match comments…
“Nasri looks to have a serious hamstring injury…Usually it is three weeks [out], we have to see if it is a Grade One [strain] because that can be two [weeks]…it is a big blow, how big I do not know because the results in the future will tell, but it is a big blow. Put three weeks to today’s game and you will know [if he misses the Barcelona game]. I think yes.”
Nasri has been a hugely popular Fantasy signing this season and has shown form that warrants his inclusion in the Player of the Year reckoning. Yesterday’s injury and statement from Wenger did however, proved the catalyst for big sales of the player in the Fantasy Premier League game and Nasri has already dropped from 8.5 to 8.4 overnight as a result. More sales will follow, although his remaining owners are likely to be waiting for the dust to settle on today’s transfer deadline, before making a decision on a likely replacement.
Arsenal have also lost Sebastien Squillaci to a suspension after he saw red in the first-half. Arsene Wenger stated in his post-match comments that Squillaci would be banned for three-matches. The “professor” needs to do his homework however; FA procedures state that players only face a one-match ban for “denying a goalscoring opportunity by physical means”, indicating that Squillaci will just miss Tuesday’s league clash with Everton. This is now confirmed by the FA. Johan Djourou will surely come back into the Arsenal starting lineup having been benched in yesterday’s Cup tie while Andrey Arshavin would seem set to start in Nasri’s absence with Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie also set for recalls to the starting lineup.
Edin Dzeko notched his first goal in City colours but Roberto Mancini’s side failed to dispose of League One Notts County on a scarred pitch that restricted City’s free flowing football at Meadow Lane. The City boss again rotated his lineup, making six changes overall. The Italian started with Micah Richards and Pablo Zabaleta at full-back, with Jerome Boateng brought in alongside Joleon Lescott in central defence. Patrick Vieira and James Milner also earned starts, while Jo came in to replace back-injury victim Carlos Tevez.
Micah Richards suffered an ankle injury late on but Mancini stated post-match that he didn’t feel the setback was serious. He will nonetheless be a doubt for the trip to Birmingham on Wednesday. City have been cursed with a string of injury problems of late with winger Adam Johnson set to face the next three-months on the sidelines with an ankle injury sustained in training. Roberto Mancini is hopeful that Tevez will be back to make the trip to Birmingham; we will know more on his back problem today.
“It’s very unlucky, we don’t have a player like Adam but I hope that Tevez will be OK for Birmingham, we will see on Monday.”
Robert Huth once again proved a key figure for Stoke City as the big German headed their winner on 81 minutes of their tie at Wolves. Huth has now scored 5 goals this season and remains their major threat from set-plays. Huth’s contribution was matched by that of Thomas Sorensen, who staked his claim for a full recall as Stoke’s number one by saving a Nenad Milijas’ spot-kick.
Tony Pulis made a string of changes to his regular lineup, although two were forced with Ryan Shawcross serving a suspension and Danny Higginbotham sidelined with a hamstring injury. John Carew was given his first start up front, he partnered Kenwyne Jones in a what was a fearsome looking strike force. Salif Diao earned a start in midfield, alongside Rory Delap, while Jon Walters and Matt Etherington took up the wide roles. Expect more changes for the trip to Anfield on Wednesday.
Wolves, already without striker Kevin Doyle through illness, also lost Stephen Hunt early on in the tie with a calf injury. While Doyle looks to have a chance to make a return for the league clash with Bolton on Wednesday, Hunt looks a major doubt. Mick McCarthy offered this on Hunt’s chances…
“Hunty’s got a calf strain which will probably rule him out of midweek…We won’t know the extent until he gets assessed tomorrow morning but I can’t imagine he’ll be fit.
Victor Obinna waited for the arrival of Robbe Keane at Upton Park before offering a glimpse of his true potential. Obinna’s hat-trick was just enough to see off Championship Forest in a 3-2 win. He returned from suspension, along with Freddie Piquionne to form a partnership up front. Elsewhere, Avram Grant handed starts to Pablo Barrera and Radoslav Kovac in midfield, while Danny Gabbidon, Winston Reid and Herita Ilunga also earned recalls at the back. Again, we can expect changes from Grant for West Ham’s trip to Blackpool on Wednesday.
Gareth Bale missed Tottenham’s disastrous 4-0 defeat at Craven Cottage – his back injury remains a concern for Harry Redknapp’s side ahead of Wednesday’s league meeting with Blackburn. Redknapp’s problems escalated as the cup tie progressed, as he watched his defence crumble under pressure from a lively Fulham performance. Michael Dawson saw red for pulling back the impressive Moussa Dembele and, according to the Spurs boss and the entire football press, will face a three-match ban as a result. Again, this is inaccurate – Redknapp and the media have it wrong. Dawson will in fact face just a one-match ban for “denying a goalscoring opportunity”. The FA have confirmed this to us this morning. Dawson will sit out the Ewood Park trip on Wednesday then.
Mark Hughes will have been understandably delighted with the result and performance against Spurs. He was forced into changes to his lineup with Chris Baird dropping to the bench through illness. Carlos Salcido came back into the back four for yesterday’s tie then. Although new signing Steve Sidwell drew praise for his display in midfield, Dembele was possibly the standout performer for Fantasy Managers. His goal for Fulham’s fourth, a superb solo effort, caught the eye and, if he can take that form into league fixtures, he could yet emerge as an effective budget differential up front.
Danny Murphy came out of the game with two goals from the spot. Interestingly Murphy assumed penalty-taking duties here, despite Clint Dempsey being on the pitch. Dempsey scored his second goal of the recent 2-0 win over Stoke from the spot but now appears to have surrendered the responsibility back to Murphy. This does of course impact on the potential offered by Dempsey as a midfield acquisition given that he is also set to be deployed as a wide man rather than a makeshift striker, from this point on.
