Chelsea edge past FC Basel to clinch a place in next month’s Europa League final against Benfica. Arsene Wenger is set to retain Lukas Podolski at centre-forward, despite Theo Walcott’s wishes for a move to the middle, Emmanuel Adebayor is back for Tottenham’s double Gameweek after a minor knee problem, Chris Brunt is out for West Brom this weekend, while Newcastle welcome back Fabricio Coloccini for the trip to West Ham:
Rafa Benitez made five changes as Chelsea overcame FC Basel at the Bridge last night. Ryan Bertrand replaced the suspended Ashley Cole at left-back, Branislav Ivanovic got the nod ahead of John Terry at centre-half, while Frank Lampard, Victor Moses and Fernando Torres came in for Juan Mata, Oscar and the ineligible Demba Ba. Moses, Torres and Luiz grabbed the goals as the Blues turned round a 1-0 first-half deficit to progress 5-2 on aggregate, with Luiz – once again selected in central midfield – serving a reminder of his attacking sensibilities ahead of the double Gameweek courtesy of a superb long range effort for the hosts third. In a similar situation to last week’s first leg, both Mata and Oscar were utilised as subs later in the second-half; Mata replaced Hazard on 75 minutes, with Benitez revealing the Belgian’s withdrawal was nothing for us to worry about:
blockquote>”I think he is okay. He is not very serious, he was limping a little and it was just a precaution.”
Nevertheless, given that he’s utilised Mata more sparingly in recent matches, the Spaniard may well be the more fancied of the pair to accrue more minutes over the double now. Looking further ahead, with the Europa League final taking place on Wednesday May 15 – four days after the Gameweek 37 trip to Villa and four days before Benitez’s final match in charge of the club, at home to Everton on Sunday May 19 – the threat of rest and rotation looks set to concern Fantasy managers all the way up until his departure.
Arsene Wenger has revealed he intends to utilise Lukas Podolski as the lone forward over Arsenal’s next two matches against QPR and Wigan in light of Olivier Giroud’s suspension:
“It believe so, he has the qualities because he is a good finisher. He has a good technique and because we have a game based on very quick combinations I believe he can be a part of that. Overall I am convinced in the coming games he will show it. At the moment, yes [I will play Podolski in the middle]. A definite decision has not been made but if there is an opportunity then there is a good chance I will do it.”
Having fallen out of favour over the past couple of months, Podolski was handed his first start since Gameweek 24 in last week’s home clash against United after Giroud received a three-match ban in the previous fixture at Fulham. While the German failed to find the net and was withdrawn with 20 minutes remaining on the clock, it seems he will continue to receive his manager’s backing in the short-term at least – a decision that is likely to frustrate Theo Walcott. The winger fired the Gunners opener against United and has now notched 19 for the season in all competitions – yesterday, he reiterated his desire to take up the central role as Arsenal look to secure third place:
“I played a few games there and I would like a few more towards the end of the season. I got a lot of my goals when playing up front, so I have shown what I can do and it is up to the manager to do what he sees is best. I am sure another chance will come.”
In yesterday’s press conference, Andre Villas-Boas admitted Emmanuel Adebayor was left out of Tottenham’s XI at Wigan last week due to injury. Many assumed the Spurs boss handed Jermain Defoe a chance to impress after his stunning strike against City in the previous Gameweek but Villas-Boas revealed:
“Adebayor had a pain in the knee so that took him out of the Wigan game too. He came back to training this week so he’s in contention for the game. “
Over 73,000 FPL managers drafted Defoe in last week and so far this time round over 27,000 have snapped him up ahead of the double Gameweek against Southampton and Chelsea – Adebayor has received less than 400 new owners by comparison. While the Togo international has been anything but prolific, he has, nevertheless, been selected ahead of Defoe in the majority of recent matches in Villas-Boas’ preferred 4-2-3-1 system, with his more unselfish running off the ball creating space for Gareth Bale to wreak havoc in a central role behind. With Adebayor fit and available, Defoe’s game time certainly looks far from assured heading into the weekend – something of a concern for the 100,000+ who have snapped him up since his strike against City.
West Brom were dealt an injury blow yesterday after both Chris Brunt and Goran Popov were ruled out of the weekend clash with Wigan. Brunt remains on the sidelines with a knee problem which forced him out of last week’s win at Southampton, while Popov has picked up calf complaint – both have only “an outside chance” of making the second match of the Baggies’ double Gameweek on Tuesday evening at City. Steve Clarke received some good news, however – James Morrison is expected to shrug off the groin problem that forced him off towards the end of last week’s win at St Mary’s and with Youssouf Mulumbu back in the squad after a three-match ban, Morrison could potentially move further forward and take up a place on the front of the front three if Clarke chooses to keep faith in the 4-3-3 formation that swept the Saints aside.
Alan Pardew rolled out a mixed injury update as Newcastle prepare for tomorrow’s trip to West Ham. The Magpies boss revealed Fabricio Coloccini is “fit and well” to return for the first time since Gameweek 27 after breaking two bones in his back but also confirmed left-back Massadio Haidara is sidelined with a hamstring injury. With first-choice left-back David Santon also sidelined with a similar complaint, Pardew could turn to Jonas Gutierrez against the Hammers – bearing in mind Mathieu Debuchy is serving a one-match suspension on the opposite side of the back-four and Tim Krul is out for the season, Pardew’s backline could suffer against a side that has failed to score in only one of their home games all season. Andy Carroll has scored or assisted in each of his last five and looks primed for a promising weekend against his former club.
