Birmingham grind out a point at Goodison to bring the curtain down on the gameweek. A battle of attrition passed by without major talking points and Fantasy returns, aside from another injury for Mikel Arteta. The Spanish playmaker looks set for a spell on the sidelines, just as he had begun to offer glimpses of form and Fantasy fetching potential. Down at the Lane meanwhile, Spurs clung on to 0-0 scoreline against AC MIlan to earn progress to a Champions League Quarter-Final and pile more pressure on their run-in schedule.
David Moyes made just one change to his lineup that earned the three points at Newcastle – John Heitinga came into the midfield holding role to replace the injured Phil Neville. It was the Dutchman who earned Everton a share of the spoils, blasting home from outside the box on 35 minutes.
Moyes was forced into a tactical change after just 7 minutes with playmaker Mikel Arteta suffering a hamstring injury. The Everton boss reacted by introducing Seamus Coleman who again started life on the bench in this game. The Irishman assumed his role on the right-flank with Osman shifting to Arteta’s position on the left.
The loss of Arteta came as a major blow to Everton on the night. They seemed bereft of ideas and with the likes of Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini also sidelined, David Moyes acknowledged that he is struggling to find midfield inspiration…
“We don’t know the extent of Mikel’s injury yet, but obviously it’s a hamstring…And losing him was a big blow for us because we needed some creativity. I knew if we didn’t have him we were going to be struggling to create too much…Leon Osman had a go, but otherwise we were struggling to make things happen.”
While Everton’s run of forthcoming opponents looks kind enough (FUL AVL wol BLA), Fantasy Managers are running out of options and will be worried that the Toffees will offer limited returns at both ends in the coming weeks. The mounting injuries at Goodison do at least appear to offer Seamus Coleman greater opportunities to regain his starting role on the Everton flank. We should expect him to start against Fulham in gameweek 30 once we have confirmation of a term of absence for Arteta. The Spaniard left Goodison on crutches and scan results this week are likely to shed the light on a full prognosis.
Alex McLeish made three changes to the Birmingham lineup that suffered a home defeat to West Brom at the weekend. Martin Jiránek returned from injury to take his place in defence with Curtis Davies making way. Seb Larsson also returned to a five-man midfield in with Obafemi Martins dropping out. Keith Fahey was also missing, he suffered a groin injury in training so Jordon Mutch earned a start.
Birmingham suffered an early injury of their own – David Bentley pulled up with groin problem and was replaced after just 9 minutes. He will be a doubt going into the FA Cup tie with Bolton this weekend as McLeish’s casualties continue to mount up. McLeish offered this on the Bentley injury…
“Bentley came in before the warm up was finished saying he felt a twinge in his groin,” he added…Although the medics and physio’s had a go at him and he felt he could start, he was clearly not okay. It will probably be a scan tomorrow for him and on Friday we will know the extent.”
Nikola Zigic was only fit enough for a bench role and saw action on 73 minutes. The Serb ended the gameweek with just a single point then – hardly the anticipated returns ahead of Birmingham’s double fixture.
Defensively there was at least profit for both Roger Johnson and keeper Ben Foster. The latter made 8 saves on the night, while Johnson earned another maximum 3 Fantasy Premier League Bonus Points – his total of 17 for the season is bettered only by Bolton’s Gary Cahill.
Birmingham’s fixtures offer some potential and incentive for holding onto their assets (wig BOL bla SUN/che). A double fixture is still possible in gameweek 33 but that depends on events in the FA Cup; should Birmingham get past Bolton then they would lose their home clash with Sunderland in that gameweek.
Harry Redknapp made four changes from the side that drew at Wolves on Sunday. Rafael Van der Vaart and Peter Crouch were paired up front, while Aaron Lennon returned on the right-flank with Vedran Corluka recovering from injury to take up the full-back role behind him. Ledley King was back on the bench as an option for Redknapp – threatening his first action since October. He was joined by Gareth Bale who was not considered fit enough for s start but was introduced for a tiring Van der Vaart on 67 minutes.
Tottenham’s progress will now see them play a two-legged Quarter-Final with the opening tie taking place on April 5/6. That will follow Tottenham’s gameweek 31 trip to Wigan. The second leg on April 12/13 will follow the gameweek 32 home encounter with Stoke.
Rotation will therefore be a concern for both those gameweeks with the likes of Van der Vaart and Bale particularly vulnerable. Having said that, Redknapp will of course be keen to continue the push for a top four Premier League finish and faces a juggling act as a result. There’s no denying that, from a Fantasy perspective, Tottenham’s forthcoming run of opponents looks favourable with a double fixture also currently scheduled in gameweek 33, pending FA Cup results (WHM wig STK mcy/ARS WBA).
