Brendan Rodgers is set to continue with a front two for Liverpool’s home game with Palace. Robbie Brady could be back by Gameweek 8 for Hull. Alan Pardew hints at making changes for Newcastle’s trip to Cardiff. Gabby Agbonlahor and Ashley Westwood are expected to return for Villa, Nicolas Anelka and Chris Brunt are amongst a handful back in training for West Brom, whilst Bacary Sagna is out with a hamstring injury for Arsenal:
Brendan Rodgers is hopeful the likes of Glen Johnson and Philippe Coutinho will be back after the international break. There are conflicting reports over the availability of Aly Cissokho, though – the Liverpool website quotes Rodgers as saying the left-back will return for Gameweek 8, whilst the local newspapers reckon Rodgers stated Cissokho could feature this weekend. The Anfield boss also discussed tactics yesterday and explained why his side will continue with a 3-4-1-2 against Crystal Palace:
“It’s about exploiting the strengths of our players and I think this does it well for us. What I’ve found is that if I play one up top and one wide, I take a little bit away from them. They work better as a proper front two. The thing I have learned is that Suarez is not a No 10 for me. A No 10 is someone who is more of an offensive midfield player. Philippe Coutinho is a No 10 and while he’s been out injured Victor Moses has done really well there.”
Steve Bruce has revealed he has yet to decide whether Stephen Quinn or George Boyd will replace the injured Robbie Brady on Hill’s left flank this weekend. The Tigers boss has given Brady’s Fantasy owners a real boost, though, by admitting the midfielder could recover from this week’s hernia surgery in time for the Gameweek 8 trip to Goodison:
“It’s quite unbelievable the modern surgery now. It was always a month or six weeks going back but Everton is a realistic possibility. It can be a painful one but he was walking around the training ground this morning. He was in and out of hospital very quickly. He’d been complaining of it for five or six weeks now. It’s been grumbling away at him and after last Saturday he was that sore he couldn’t train. We thought then that we’ll go and get him done. The quicker he gets it done, the quicker he could be back. It was needs-must really.”
Arsene Wenger has ruled out Bacary Sagna for three weeks with a hamstring injury. The defender picked up the problem in the midweek Champions League win over Napoli, with his absence set to hand Carl Jenkinson a start for Sunday’s trip to West Brom – Wenger also ruled Santi Cazorla out of the Hawthorns clash but says the Spaniard is “not far” from returning after the international break.
Steve Clarke is without Scott Sinclair for the Gunners clash after the wide man was subbed off with a hamstring injury last week. The Baggies boss rolled out a substantial injury update yesterday, with mostly positive news – Chris Brunt, Nicolas Anelka and Matej Vydra returned to training in midweek after recent injuries, while James Morrison, Shane Long and Stephane Sessegnon were all expected to train yesterday, with the latter recovering from a midweek knock. Clarke also admitted Victor Anichebe is a doubt with a groin problem but is optimistic the Nigerian will be ready for Sunday’s showdown:
“There have been a few missing this week – mainly knocks and niggles. When you carry a big squad you tend to get those. Victor tweaked a groin during Saturday’s game. He tried to lay the ball off and felt a sharp pain but finished the game, which is normally a good sign. We are hopeful he’ll be okay for the weekend.”
Paul Lambert is hopeful both Gabby Agbonlahor and Ashley Westwood will be available for Villa’s trip to Hull tomorrow. Agbonlahor has been missing since limping out of the Gameweek 5 win at Norwich, whilst Westwood has spent the past three weeks on the sidelines – their absence, along with the loss of Christian Benteke, has seen Lambert tinker with his formation, moving from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 in the past three matches. Both players have trained this week and will return to the squad after being assessed this morning. Lambert also discussed Benteke’s situation after his star striker was unexpectedly named in the Belgium squad for the upcoming internationals despite being sidelined with a hip injury:
“I’ve spoken to [Belgium coach] Marc Wilmots and the medical people have had good dialogue so there are no problems. He is doing really well so we just have to wait and see how he is feeling. I’ve spoken to Christian every day as I do with everybody else. He is doing alright. I trust him to look after himself as well. You can only take him so far. I trust Christian, I’ve spoken to him and I’ve spoken to the medical people. I don’t tend to get too caught up in the whole scenario.”
Alan Pardew has admitted he is considering alterations to his first XI after a poor performance against Everton last Monday. The Magpies boss hauled off Hatem Ben Arfa and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa at the break at Goodison and ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Cardiff, would only say:
“Fortunately there are a few players who have played their way into the team in the second half at Everton. There’s no doubt about that. We showed some pride and that we have got good players at this club. We have to make sure we put a team out that gets us a result at Cardiff. That’s what they had to do. There was no other way out of it. And not only that but play. We got the right combination in the second half.”
Mark Hughes has revealed Jon Walters is a real doubt for Stoke’s trip to Fulham tomorrow. The midfielder picked up a groin problem in last weekend’s home loss to Norwich and could be set to miss out at Craven Cottage – Jermain Pennant could be set to benefit, though Marko Arnautovic may swap flanks for the Potters, allowing Matt Etherington to return to the XI on the left.
Younes Kaboul is ruled out of Tottenham’s home game with West Ham on Sunday. The centre-half was forced off in last night’s Europa League win against Anzhi – post-match, Andre Villas-Boas revealed:
“It’s a bit of a problem because of his injury in the knee it has taken him time for his body to adapt to new positions on his run. Because of that he’s putting extra strain on his muscles and keeps getting small contractions that limit him finishing the games. At the moment it doesn’t look very serious but it will force him to stop for a week or so. When we get him back we will give him a one-week or two-week preparation to be physically better.”
