Sergio Aguero is back for City’s home game with Newcastle. Mathieu Debuchy, Davide Santon and Cheick Tiote are all out for the visitors, though. Aaron Lennon and Michael Dawson return for Tottenham’s trip to Swansea, Russell Martin has shaken off a hamstring problem for Norwich, Harry Redknapp reckons Adel Taarabt still has a role to play for QPR, while Sam Allardyce is uncertain when Mark Noble will return from a hamstring injury.
Roberto Mancini has revealed Sergio Aguero is fit and available for City’s home game with Newcastle tomorrow afternoon. The Argentine has recovered from the knee injury that has forced him out of the last couple of league games and while his return is a huge boost for City, their manager has admitted the title race is already out of his side’s hands. With United playing at Sunderland in the lunchtime kick-off, Aguero and co could be 18 points behind their rivals by the time they take to the field against the Magpies – Mancini, though, is desperate to end the season on a high:
“Yes. It’s over, but this changes nothing, because we should do our best from now until the end of the season. If you can’t win the title, you should play well and try to win all your games. We also have the FA Cup semi-final ahead.”
The City boss also revealed his thoughts on Belgium’s decision to play Vincent Kompany in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier against Macedonia. The centre-half had been absent for over two months with a calf injury and Mancini had hinted prior to the international break that he didn’t expect his skipper to participate for Marc Wilmots’ side over the last fortnight – yesterday he admitted he was yet to assess whether Kompany will be available for the Newcastle game:
“I don’t know if Vinny is okay for us or not. One week before the international break, he was not good to play for us. He didn’t play for us for 60 days, and he went to play for Belgium. I did not agree with this. I think some national team managers should understand the situation. This player plays for the club. The club pay him a salary every month….I did not see Vinny yesterday. I will see him today.”
Mancini might be a little more optimistic on picking up the three points, however, after Alan Pardew’s injury update yesterday. The Newcastle boss conceded both Mathieu Debuchy and Davide Santon have failed to recover from hamstring and thigh problems respectively, while Cheick Tiote has picked up a muscle strain in training and is also unavailable for the Emirates trip. With Tim Krul and Fabricio Coloccini still sidelined, Pardew is left with just one of his first-choice back-four – Steven Taylor – and with the visitors devoid of Tiote’s ball-winning abilities, Aguero and David Silva owners will be confident of picking up Fantasy points. Pardew is likely to turn to James Perch and Vernun Anita as cover and with Jonas Gutierrez likely to be shifted to left-back, Sylvain Marveaux could be handed a chance to impress on the flank again.
This morning’s press conference saw Sir Alex Ferguson once again discuss squad rotation ahead of the upcoming games against Sunderland and Chelsea. The United boss admitted many of his squad are a little fatigued following the recent internationals – perhaps his broadest hint yet that he plans to utilise the depth of his squad for tomorrow’s trip to the Stadium of Light. With the FA Cup clash against Chelsea less than 48 hours later, though, Ferguson is keen to ensure there are no slip-ups – with Paul Scholes, Phil Jones and Nani all returning to training, his options to rotate have been boosted further; hardly ideal for Fantasy managers as we brace ourselves for a repeat of Ferguson’s eight changes against Reading last time out:
“There’s a fair bit of tiredness and the answer to that is to make sure we get the energies back in their bodies. So there’s the recovery side to it with not much training. There was a fair bit of travel – Chicharito and Valencia only got in yesterday [Thursday] afternoon and the English players got back at 5am. Other than that, we’re very satisfied….Nani, Jones and Scholes are all doing a little bit of training. Hopefully it will give us a good strong squad to approach the two games on Saturday and Monday. We’ll try and keep the momentum going with the run we’re in at the moment. If we do that, Monday will take care of itself.”
Norwich have been handed an injury boost by the news that Russell Martin and Alex Tettey have recovered from hamstring and knee problems in time for tomorrow’s game with Wigan. While Tettey’s availability has no real significance for Fantasy managers, Martin’s return will certainly be welcomed after he recovered from the injury which forced him out of the Scotland squad to face Serbia on Tuesday. Martin’s cut-price appeal has earned 10,000+ new FPL owners in five of the last nine Gameweeks, thanks to a consistency of game time and propensity to pick up points at both ends of the points. With three goals and four clean sheets in his last 11 appearances, the 4.3 priced defender can be expected to earn further new investment, then, and with home games against Swansea, Reading, Villa and West Brom between now and Gameweek 37, continues to look superb value.
Tottenham were afforded cause for optimism yesterday after both Michael Dawson and Aaron Lennon were passed fit ahead of their trip to Swansea. Dawson was subbed off at the break in the Gameweek 30 home defeat by Fulham due to a muscle injury and withdrew from the England squad over the past fortnight but is expected to take his place at the Liberty as the visitors look to bounce back from two successive defeats. Lennon’s recent absence has particularly hit Spurs’ league ambitions. Sidelined for the last two with a hamstring injury, his pace on the right has been sorely missed, given that the north London outfit were unbeaten in 12 prior to his injury – Gylfi Sigurdsson deputised on the right in the Cottagers loss but is expected to shift back over to the left again. Andre Villas-Boas also revealed Younes Kaboul is back training with the first-team but given that he hasn’t played since the opening day of the season, it’s fair to say he’ll be eased back into the action – Jan Vertonghen, Steven Caulker and William Gallas in addition to Dawson, the Spurs boss has no need to take any chances with Kaboul’s fitness.
Harry Redknapp has insisted Adel Taarabt still has a part to play in QPR’s battle to beat the drop. While he took the time to praise the Moroccan, the R’s boss was typically blunt in his assessment of the player’s application:
“Of course, I’m not going to reveal my hand this early, but Adel looked sharp when I brought him on (against Villa) and he’s still in the frame. He’s very much in my mind. But playing like he does, he’s never going to be consistent. There’s always going to be ups and downs. But he can be a match-winner. The only one who can do play like he does all the time is Lionel Messi, but he also works hard, never misses a game, gets kicked and then gets up, and with no disrespect to Adel – he’s not Messi.”
Certainly, Redknapp’s decision to drop Taarabt in recent matches has boosted his side’s attacking potential. Seven goals in the last three without the Moroccan in the first XI highlights their increased ability to find the net and, having moved to a 4-3-3 last time out, with Andros Townsend and Loic Remy flanking Bobby Zamora up top, Redknapp is keen to go on the offensive in order to boost his side’s survival bid. While upcoming games against Fulham and Wigan look appealing, Taarabt seem likely to rely on game time from the bench once again unless Redknapp decides to alter his side’s formation.
Sam Allardyce has admitted he is uncertain as to when Mark Noble is expected back from injury. The midfielder has now missed the last three after undergoing shoulder surgery on a trapped nerve and, according to his manager, his return date is still up in the air:
“We don’t really know, because it’s an injury we haven’t incurred before and we know very little about. So we can only take it day-by-day on how Mark feels and what the specialists or the surgeons say next time they visit. He’s making good progress at the moment but quite how long it will be, we don’t know.”
Prior to his absence, Noble had been in decent form for the Hammers, with a goal, three assists and five bonus points over his last six appearances. With a double Gameweek 33 just around the corner, Allardyce’s side are likely to appear on Fantasy radars and with spot-kicks in his locker, Noble’s possible return could earn him new investors. Allardyce’s thoughts are hardly reassuring, though – if Noble remains out, Andy Carroll is next in line for spot-kicks and having scored in each of his last two home games, will be key for the Hammers as West Brom roll up to Upton Park tomorrow.
