Angel Rangel is out for a month with an ankle problem. Lucas is set for scans on his injured knee, an injury to Roman Pavlyuchenko limits Spurs’ up front Europa League options and Robin Van Persie gets the night off as Arsenal slip out the Carling Cup.
Swansea have confirmed their right-back Angel Rangel is set to be sidelined for a month. The Spaniard was taken off before the half hour mark in Sunday’s draw with Aston Villa and it has now been confirmed he has suffered ankle ligament damage. Jazz Richards is expected to deputise in his absence but Rangel, who had previously played every minute of the season, is an integral part of how Brendan Rodgers’ side play and his loss will be a huge blow to the Welsh side. Richards is classified as a 4.4 midfielder in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), with left-back Neil Taylor, at 4.2, the best long-term bet for those eyeing up a replacement in the Welsh sides’ back-line.
Kenny Dalglish revealed Lucas is set for scans after being stretchered off at Stamford Bridge last night. The Brazilian let the field after seventy minutes of Liverpool’s 2-0 win, following a challenge by the home side’s Ryan Bertrand and his manager was unsure of the severity of the problem.
He’s damaged his knee. We don’t know what it is. We’ll get him looked at and take it from there. We don’t know what it is so rather than speculate we are best waiting until we get the proper diagnosis tomorrow or the next day and we’ll let everybody know in due course. He needs to get it scanned.
Josh McEachran will undergo scans today after picking up an ankle knock in the Stamford Bridge defeat. Having played just eight minutes of league action this term, he was handed a rare start by Andre Villas-Boas as the Blues boss trialled a midfield diamond, but McEachran’s night was cut short with the problem and he left the ground wearing a protective boot on his left foot.
Blackburn’s Steven Nzonzi has accepted the FA’s charge of violent conduct after an off-the-ball incident with Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross last Saturday. The midfielder will serve a three-match ban, which covers last night’s Carling Cup defeat at Cardiff and the league matches with Swansea and Sunderland. Nzonzi will be available for Rovers’ gameweek 16 clash with West Brom on the 17th December.
Arsene Wenger gave Robin Van Persie’s Fantasy managers a boost last night. The Dutchman, along with the likes of Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey, was left out of Arsenal’s Carling Cup squad for the game against Man City- it was noticeable that those three were the players Wenger cited as being fatigued earlier in the week. With the Gunners having already won their Champions League group, their game against Olympiacos next week is something of a formality and it’s conceivable any one, or all three, of the trio could be rested there, too. This bodes well for the weekend trip to Wigan, then, with Van Persie’s goals vital if the Gunners are to get back to winning ways.
Sergio Aguero’s owners would have been pleased to see the Argentine start last night’s game at the Emirates on the Man City bench, as Roberto Mancini chose Edin Dzeko to lead the line with Samir Nasri tucked in behind the Bosnian. Mancini made ten changes from the side that drew against Liverpool just over forty-eight hours beforehand but sent Aguero on just after the half-hour mark as a replacement for Aleksandar Kolarov- the Argentine came through the match unscathed, netting the winner with seven minutes remaining.
Harry Redknapp’s plans for tonight’s Europa League lineup in the match against PAOK were dealt a blow, with the news that Roman Pavlyuchenko is a major doubt for the game after a training ground accident. With Rafael Van der Vaart still a doubt for the weekend league clash against Bolton, Redknapp would ideally like to rest Jermain Defoe this evening but now likes likely to play the striker, with so little alternatives now available:
There is no-one else really because Pav did his knee. It doesn’t look very good. He just banged it on Andros Townsend’s head. He slipped and hit Andros and it looks very swollen. It doesn’t look great.
Stiliyan Petrov is set to return to training for Aston Villa ahead of the weekend game against Man United. The Bulgarian missed out on Sunday for the trip to Swansea but Alex McLeish is hopeful his skipper will be fit and available for the crucial clash against the champions.
