Olivier Giroud is in buoyant mood ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Norwich. Jack Wilshere and Bacary Sagna step up their returns to full fitness, Bryan Ruiz is a doubt for Fulham’s game with Villa, Fabio Borini is out for around three months, Michael Laudrup calls for greater defensive resilience from Swansea ahead of Wigan’s visit to the Liberty this weekend, while Gaston Ramirez looks to be unavailable for Southampton this weekend:
Olivier Giroud revealed he is full of confidence heading into Arsenal’s trip to Norwich this weekend. The summer signing from Montpellier broke his scoring duck last time out at West Ham, producing a goal and assist for his Fantasy owners, and followed that up with a last-gasp equaliser in France’s draw with Spain on Tuesday evening. Speaking of his midweek strike, the Gunners forward admitted:
“That goal is definitely one of my top five. It has also come at a time when I am looking for trust. After the West Ham game I felt a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I am convinced this last goal will also do me a lot of good.””
With Norwich having conceded nine goals in their last two league matches, Arsenal have been heavily backed by Fantasy managers to produce the goods. While Santi Cazorla has accrued almost 50,000 new owners and Gervinho over 22,000, Giroud has been snapped up by less than 5,000, by comparison. If he maintains the starting role up front, his potential as a differential – with less than 1% ownership – looks particularly enticing going into Gameweek 8.
Jack Wilshere and Bacary Sagna continued their respective recoveries for Arsenal in a training ground friendly against Chelsea yesterday. Both players managed the full 90 minutes – Sagna started the game at right-back before moving to centre-half after the break, with Carl Jenkinson climbing off the bench to fill the vacated full-back slot. Wilshere, intriguingly, was fielded in “the hole” behind a lone striker, while Emmanuel Frimpong also managed the full game as he stepped up his recovery. The now-suspended John Terry played the first-half for the visitors before being withdrawn at the break.
Bryan Ruiz is considered a doubt for Fulham’s clash with Aston Villa this Saturday due to a thigh problem. Ruiz picked up the injury in Costa Rica’s match with El Salvador last weekend and was ruled out of Tuesday night’s game against Guyana – with doubts over Dimitar Berbatov and Mladen Petric, it leaves Martin Jol with just two forwards, Hugo Rodallega and Marcello Trotta, currently 100% available. Ruiz has been in decent form so far – three assists in six games indicates his consistency – and with Paul Lambert’s side picking up one point from four away games so far, plenty of investment should come Fulham’s way once Jol’s Friday press conference is done and dusted.
Fabio Borini is expected to be sidelined until after the New Year. In a statement on their official website, Liverpool revealed the former Roma man is set to undergo surgery on a broken bone on his foot after picking up the injury during training with the Italy Under 21 squad:
“The forward originally sustained an injury to the area during the recent Anfield clash with Manchester United. He then further aggravated the problem resulting in a fracture and returned from international duty with Italy last week. Borini was assessed by the club’s medical team upon his return to Melwood and a decision was made for the 21-year-old to have surgery. Typically, an injury of this nature requires a three-month rehabilitation period.”
While the news only further compounds Brendan Rodgers’ current injury crisis, owners of Raheem Sterling will be more than happy. The youngster has now started six of the Reds’ seven league matches and while there were concerns that Rodgers would perhaps rest and rotate Sterling in order to prevent burnout, there seems little chance of that now. Furthermore, it opens the door for the likes of Suso or Oussama Assaidi to also nail down a starting berth on the flank. Suso replaced the injured Borini against United and has now started the last two, while Assaidi has climbed off the bench in the last couple of Gameweeks as he gets his fitness up to scratch after injury.
Michael Laudrup has hinted that he may opt for a slightly more cautious approach when Swansea play host to Wigan this weekend.
“Maybe one of the most important things this weekend will be to keep a clean sheet. We know that if we do that then we will get a draw even if we have a day when we don’t take our chances. We know we will probably score a goal, because we have created chances in nearly every game we have played. We have scored double the number of goals compared to last season (12 against six) but we have conceded one or two more (11 against nine). I know it could be misunderstood — I hope people don’t think we are playing at home and thinking more about keeping a clean sheet than scoring a goal. We don’t want to be defensive-minded, but if we get a clean sheet then we will probably win the game.”
Having registered clean sheets in their opening two games, the Swans defence has been far from convincing. Each of their last five matches has seen their opponents score at least twice – with games against City and Chelsea to follow the Wigan showdown, it’s understandable that Laudrup is looking for a little more resilience as the schedule begins to take a turn for the worse.
Wigan’s Antolin Alcaraz looks set to remain sidelined for the Liberty match. The centre-half has been missing with a groin strain for the last few matches and although the prognosis isn’t too gloomy, Roberto Martinez revealed he won’t rush the defender back into action, which means the Latics will likely continue with a back-three of Ivan Ramis, Gary Caldwell and Maynor Figueroa:
“It’s still hard to assess how long it will be before he is back out on the pitch. But I don’t think he is anywhere near to being in a pain-free level at the moment. We’ll still have to take things very slowly, step by step, and take it from there. But I can’t see any way he’ll be fully-fit to be able to play this weekend. To do that, he has to get over the feeling on pain you are left with when you have that kind of soft-tissue injury, and he’s not there yet. He’s probably around five or six days ahead of where we thought he’d be at this stage, so in many ways we’re pleased with that. But the important thing now is not to put too much pressure on him, because the last thing we need now is a reaction.”
There’s been mixed messages over the injury prospects of Gaston Ramirez ahead of the visit of West Ham. While the club’s official website revealed Ramirez will be assessed prior to Saturday’s match, Saints boss Nigel Adkins has been quoted as saying:
“I think six weeks is probably about right, but we’ll see how he progresses through the rehab stages. If the time is from the medical department, it is from the date of original injury. He is showing good signs of recovery at this moment of time, but he won’t be fit for the weekend.”
Certainly, the direct quote from Adkins looks the likeliest to go on, though, meaning suggesting Ramirez is set to miss out for the second match in a row – a bitter blow, given that he has produced a goal and assist in his last couple of appearances.
West Ham have revealed Guy Demel and Winston Reid both face “races to be fit” for the Southampton showdown. Both defenders picked up problems in the 3-1 defeat against Arsenal last time round, though Joey O’Brien is available for Sam Allardyce after recovering from a hamstring problem.
Liverpool have rolled out an injury update on Pepe Reina. The keeper picked up a hamstring problem in a half-time kick about during Spain’s game with France in midweek and Brendan Rodgers revealed this afternoon that he will give the keeper another 24 hours before assessing his chances of making the Anfield showdown with Reading on Saturday. Brad Jones is on standby to step in should Reina fail to make it.
