Everton’s Gameweek 29 match with Arsenal is postponed after the Toffees see off Oldham to set up a Sixth Round FA clash with Wigan. Marouane Fellaini misses out through injury while elsewhere, Nemanja Vidic reckons he’s edging towards full match-fitness and Vincent Kompany could remain sidelined for City. Robert Huth is charged with violent conduct by the FA, Clint Dempsey could be out for a couple of weeks for Spurs, while Neil Taylor may be back within a fortnight for Swansea.
Everton 3 Oldham 1
David Moyes made a couple of changes from the side that lost at Norwich last weekend. The Toffees boss confirmed Marouane Fellaini was unavailable after sustaining an injury in the 2-1 Carrow Road loss – Phil Neville replaced the Belgian in a midfield reshuffle which saw Leon Osman moved to “the hole”, while Kevin Mirallas was preferred to Steven Naismith on the right. Mirallas opened the scoring courtesy of a Darron Gibson assist before Leighton Baines slotted home from the spot after Oldham handled in the box. Osman grabbed the third thanks to a Steven Pienaar assist, with the result meaning the Toffees Gameweek 29 match with Arsenal must now be rescheduled.
On the back of Fellaini’s news, his owners have a real quandary now. The fixture cannot be rescheduled for the same Gameweek due to Arsenal’s Champions League commitments and with three of the next four against Arsenal, City and Spurs, plenty may decide to sell on, given that he’s scored in one of his last nine. Post-match, though, Toffees assistant boss Steve Round revealed the Belgian should be fit for the weekend home game with Reading – Moyes’ Friday press conference will be eagerly anticipated, with many putting Fantasy plans on hold until further prognosis.
In Other News
Nemanja Vidic has revealed he is gradually building up his match-fitness after returning from a knee injury in December. Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester yesterday, the United skipper admitted:
“With playing Wednesday and Saturday, some games I have to think if it’s good for myself to play or not. After every game I feel better and better, which is a good sign. Sometimes I will get reactions, sometimes not. When I have got through two or three months without injuries, I will be fine. It’s not long-term. It’s normal procedure after this kind of operation. We have to manage the knee for the next two or three months and after that it’s going to be normal.”
Vidic has rarely played two successive matches in a row since recovering – with the Red Devils battling for silverware on three fronts, Sir Alex Ferguson has been keen to protect the Serbian’s injury for fear of a relapse but Vidic started last Monday’s FA Cup win over Reading and retained his place for Saturday’s trip to QPR. Ferguson had previously hailed Jonny Evans’ displays just last week only to bench him for back-to-back matches and with so much uncertainty again surrounding the United centre-half positions, Patrice Evra and Rafael seem to offer greater security at full-back. Next weekend’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid could deter investment in United for Saturday’s home game with Norwich, though, with Ferguson expected to make wholesale changes for the visit of the Canaries.
Over in the blue half of Manchester, the Mail have suggested Vincent Kompany has suffered a setback in his recovery from a calf problem. The Belgian has now missed the last four with the problem but is rumoured to have now picked up a similar injury in his other leg, with doubts now increasing over his availability for Monday’s trip to Villa. Perhaps surprisingly, though, City’s defensive returns have stood up to analysis without their skipper – they have produced four clean sheet in the seven matches he has missed, compared to eight clean sheets in the 20 games with Kompany in the first XI.
Stoke’s defensive worries increased yesterday after Robert Huth was charged with violent conduct by the FA after an incident with Philippe Senderos in the Potters’ defeat at Fulham on Saturday was missed by the referee. Having conceded in each of their last nine, Tony Pulis’ side have been a real let down at the back in recent matches and with Huth now likely to miss the next three Gameweeks, their hopes of an upturn in resilience have definitely taken a dent. Geoff Cameron may now come into consideration, have been shifted out the back-four in recent matches. Having featured mainly as a full-back this term, the US international was moved into midfield in the Gameweek 25 trip to Arsenal and also featured there at the Cottage – with Marc Wilson now back in the picture, his chance of returning to defence looked slim prior to Huth’s charge but a slot alongside Ryan Shawcross looks likely if Huth is indeed ruled out for the fixtures against West Ham, Newcastle and West Brom.
Clint Dempsey is expected to be sidelined for “one to two weeks” with a calf strain according to Andre Villas-Boas. The US international had started each of the last four for the north London outfit, returning a goal and assist but, having missed out in Monday’s win at West Ham, could face a struggle to reclaim his starting berth. With Emmanuel Adebayor back from African Cup of Nations duties and Jermain Defoe expected to return from injury soon, competition for places through the middle looks tough – indeed, it has only intensified after Villas-Boas’ masterstroke to utilise Gareth Bale centrally. Bearing in mind January signing Lewis Holtby also capable of filling in on the left or in “the hole”, Dempsey may be back to bench-warming duties once again.
Ben Davies could be set for some competition at left-back for Swansea. The Welsh club’s first-team coach Alan Curtis has revealed Neil Taylor is edging towards a comeback from a long-term ankle injury quicker than expected:
“He’s literally only a couple of weeks away from being available. But he’s got this huge challenge ahead now of Ben Davies in front of him.”
Taylor was the Swans first-choice left-back under Brendan Rodgers last term and started the opening three fixtures for Michael Laudrup’s side before being stretchered off with the injury in Gameweek 3 against Sunderland. Now down to 4.5 from an initial price of 5.0, he is now cheaper that Davies’ 4.6, though given the severity of the injury, it’s more likely that Laudrup will gradually introduce him back into the first-team fold, though there’s no doubt Davies’ 12% owners will be keeping a keen eye on this one.
