Gareth Bale bags a brace for Tottenham once again to secure a vital win over Lyon. Oscar continues his European scoring form by earning the winner for Chelsea at Sparta Prague. Papiss Cisse misses opportunities and has two efforts disallowed in Newcastle’s goalless draw with Metalist Kharkiv, while Liverpool suffer another defeat, as the Reds’ trip to Russia ends in a 2-0 loss at the hands of Zenit.
Tottenham 2 Lyon 1
Andre Villas-Boas made as many as five changes from the side that defeated Newcastle last Saturday lunchtime. Four of those occurred at the back, with Hugo Lloris, Kyle Naughton, Michael Dawson and Steven Caulker dropping out for Brad Friedel, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Jan Vertonghen and William Gallas. Up front, Emmanuel Adebayor replaced Lewis Holtby in a reshuffle that saw the Togo international lead the line, with Clint Dempsey shifted to the left and Gareth Bale afforded a roving role through the centre behind Adebayor. Once again, the Welshman was the goal hero for the north London outfit. A pair of superbly placed free-kicks secured a vital victory and took his tally to six goals in the last four games in all competitions – it’s little wonder he’s had over 70,000 transfers in so far this Gameweek, almost 25,000 more than any other player. It’s 17 goals for the season for Bale now, who admitted post-match he’s in the form of his life under Villas-Boas.
“I would probably say it is the best I have been playing in my career. As I said I am enjoying my football and the team is playing well which makes things easier for me. I just have to keep my head down and keep working hard and keep my form. I still have a lot of improvement, I know what I have to do but season on season I am improving but I will just keep working hard and hopefully get better.”
Zenit 2 Liverpool 0
Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho were both cup-tied for the trip to Russia, as Brendan Rodgers made three changes from Monday’s match with West Brom. Martin Skrtel replaced Daniel Agger at centre-half, Joe Allen came in for Lucas in midfield, while Jonjo Shelvey dropped out for Raheem Sterling. The Liverpool boss made just one alteration – Sterling was replaced by Lucas with 12 minutes remaining, meaning the likes of Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and Glen Johnson all played the full 90 ahead of Sunday’s second match of the double Gameweek against Swansea. Johnson and Jose Enrique owners will hardly be optimistic heading into the weekend – this was the fifth game in all competitions that Liverpool have conceded at least two goals.
Sparta Prague 0 Chelsea 1
Rafa Benitez was without David Luiz (suspended) and Demba Ba (cup-tied), while Nigeria pair Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel were left out the travelling squad after their African Cup of Nations exertions. John Terry recovered from a knee problem to take his place on the bench but was an unused sub in a game that saw Benitez make just two changes from the side that hammered Wigan last weekend. There was just one change at the back, with Ryan Bertrand replacing Ashley Cole at left-back, while Ramires moved back to central midfield after starring on the right against the Latics; Marko Marin was handed a rare start in the attacking midfield three. The latter was replaced by Yossi Benayoun with 22 minutes left, while Juan Mata made way for Oscar on 82 minutes – the Brazilian needed a mere matter of seconds to grab the visitors’ winner, courtesy of an Eden Hazard assist.
Post-match, Benitez explained the decision to leave Terry and Cole on the bench for the game and went on to praise the central defensive partnership of Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic. With Benitez remaining catuious over Terry’s knee problem, it’s perhaps good news for the pair’s Fantasy owners and those holding Cesar Azpilicueta, suggesting the Spaniard could continue to nail down the right-back role ahead of Chelsea’s strong run of league fixtures:
“Terry had a slight setback during the week and then he was fine again, he had no reaction in the next training session, but we have to manage the situation. He has to train with the team regularly and then he will have more chance to play, but it’s a vicious circle because if he doesn’t play he can’t improve his match fitness. We have to manage and in the meantime Cahill and Ivanovic are doing well. They were doing really well in training and they did well today, I was really pleased with both, so credit to them. Ashley had a cold but we wanted to give Ryan Bertrand a chance. To manage the squad it’s a good option to have.”
Newcastle 0 Metalist Kharkiv 0
Alan Pardew made three changes from the side that were beaten at Tottenham last time out. New boy Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa was handed his first start at the back – perhaps surprisingly, he was fielded as a right-back, with Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini continuing their partnership in the heart of defence. Cheick Tiote replaced James Perch in the double-pivot alongside Yohan Cabaye, while Gabriel Obertan stepped in for Yoan Gouffran on the flank – the latter is expected to return to training on Monday, allaying any injury fears after being stretchered off at Spurs on Saturday. Papiss Cisse at least hinted that his eye for goal could come to fruition ahead of a strong run of league games – he had two efforts ruled out for offside as the match finished all-square. Intriguingly, Mathieu Debuchy has been omitted from the Magpies European squad entirely. According to the rules, clubs can add only one player that has played in another UEFA competition this season – bearing in mind that both Debuchy and Yanga-Mbiwa had featured in the Champions League earlier this term, Pardew decided on the latter; perhaps a sign on his reliance on Debuchy at right-back for domestic games already.
In Other News
Roberto Martinez received some positive injury news yesterday, after both Emmerson Boyce and Ryo Miyaichi revealed they are closing in on first-team returns. Boyce’s return will be of particular interest from a Fantasy perspective – he was subbed off in the Gameweek 24 draw at Stoke with a hamstring injury and his absence has afforded Ronnie Stam a chance to deputise as a cut-price out of position prospect on the right side of midfield. Boyce admitted the club’s trip to Tenerife this week has speeded up his recovery, with reports suggesting he could come back as early as this Sunday’s FA Cup Fifth Round trip to Huddersfield:
“It’s not quite as bad as we thought, so that’s a massive plus. It’s only a grade one, which is nowhere near as bad as the one I had last season when I was out for a couple of months. It’s just been a case now of nursing it and making sure everything is right before I try and do some proper running, to avoid making it worse. That’s what I did last time, and it ruled me out for a couple of months – so I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.”
Arsene Wenger rolled out an injury update this morning yesterday ahead of Arsenal’s FA Cup clash with Blackburn. The Gunners boss revealed Thomas Vermaelen is “90-10” to return from an ankle problem, though Laurent Koscielny remains a doubt with the calf problem that forced him out of last weekend’s win at Sunderland. Further up the pitch, Jack Wilshere is also uncertain to make the match against Rovers – he is undergoing tests on the thigh strain that forced him off at Sunderland last weekend, though with a Champions League match against Bayern just around the corner, Wenger hinted he may leave him out regardless:
“‘I will not take a risk [with his fitness], with the rest of the season in mind and what happened before”
Stephane Sessegnon has revealed he is happy to continue in a wide role, after he was shifted from his regular position in “the hole†to the right flank over the last couple of matches. With Danny Graham arriving from Swansea, Martin O’Neill has hinted at a move from 4-4-1-1 to 4-4-2 and bearing in mind the Benin international has notched just once in the last 14 Gameweeks, it’s fair to say he’s disappointed in front of goal. Sessegnon, however, reckons the space afforded on the wing may allow his talents the space to flourish:
“”When you’re playing out wide, you have more of the chance to run with the ball and you have a bit more space in which to operate. It’s somewhere where I haven’t played regularly for a while, but I’m happy to stay there if the manager wants. He’s the one who picks the team. It’s true that the signing of Danny has given us more options and he’s done well in his two appearances so far. Hopefully he can continue to do well for us, but it’s a decision for the manager over how he uses Danny and Fletch.”
Martin O’Neill has also shed more light on his recent tactical tinkering. The Black Cats boss has experimented with 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 formations of late, moving away from his default set-up of 4-4-1-1. Interestingly, O’Neill also revealed he may decide to utilise Steven Fletcher as a more withdrawn number 10, allowing Danny Graham the chance to lead the line:
“I’ve no fixed way of thinking this is the perfect way to play. We went to Wigan and played three in the middle of the pitch with two wide players for the first time. Tactically, I didn’t want to be outnumbered by Wigan in there because they had caused us plenty of problems in the early part of the game there in January last year and the same here earlier this season, although I don’t concern myself with everything the opposition do…. In this modern day, I honestly believe that the second striker – whether you call him a No 10 or forward-thinking midfielder – his natural position is to drop in. Interestingly, I actually think Fletcher could play that position, even though he’s enjoyed playing up there as the centre-forward and getting hold of it. He could be a link man. It’s a thought. We needed to bolster the squad and get someone in to try to help and get a few goals and Danny is capable of doing that, as he’s proved.”
