Theo Walcott is back for Arsenal, though Arsene Wenger admits he’s likely to court caution with his game time. Jose Enrique is set for a spell on the sidelines with a knee problem, while Daniel Sturridge will be assessed prior to the Merseyside derby. Robbie Brady and Allan McGregor are expected back for Hull, Razvan Rat is a doubt for West Ham, while the injuries lessen for Newcastle as Norwich roll up to St James’ Park with Rickie Van Wolfswinkel sidelined once again:
Arsene Wenger gave Fantasy managers plenty to ponder yesterday after confirming Theo Walcott is back in the Arsenal squad to face former club Southampton. The winger has missed his side’s last seven league matches since undergoing abdominal surgery and has now dropped to 9.1 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), with an ownership under 4% – while Walcott’s return to action is a real boost ahead of three home games in four, his manager hinted that he could ease him back into action, with a start far from guaranteed:
“Theo will be back for Saturday in the squad. He’s completely fit again. He has not played for a long time, of course, he has not played even a reserve team game, but I will put him in the squad on Saturday. Yes [I will use him cautiously]…He is one of the players who goes behind [the defence] without the ball.. Theo has different qualities to other players and I am very pleased that he’s back.”
Wenger – who is without the suspended Mathieu Flamini – is likely to field Aaron Ramsey alongside Mikel Arteta in the double-pivot, though the Gunners boss also revealed he has issues elsewhere in midfield; Tomas Rosicky will require a late fitness test after he was forced out of the previous Gameweek at United due to a flu virus.
Brendan Rodgers conceded Jose Enrique is set to undergo a surgery to cure his troubling knee. Further prognosis on the problem is expected after a meeting with medical staff – initial reports indicate a period of two months, which, if accurate, would bring Aly Cissokho (5.0 in FPL) onto our radars, though reports in the local press suggest youngster Jon Flanagan may be preferred ahead of the Frenchman..
“It’s disappointing because he (Enrique) has been out for a couple of months and we’ve tried various ways to get him back fit. But he’s still in pain. We’re just waiting for clarification on his injury, but it looks like he’ll probably need a small operation. The conclusion will be that he’ll need the operation and we’ll assess it from there. I just need to wait and see, wait to hear from our head doctor later on today, and we’ll get a better idea of how long that will be.
Meanwhile, the Reds boss went on to reveal Daniel Sturridge missed England’s friendly loss to Chile last Friday evening as he’s been struggling with a leg problem for almost a month,
“He (Sturridge) obviously went to England with an injury. He’s had a dead leg for about three to four weeks that he has been playing through. He hardly trained when he left, after the Fulham game. We’ll assess him; he’s back recovering after that, with the other international players. We’ll see how it is over the next couple of days.”
Robbie Brady’s Fantasy owners will be slightly more optimistic this morning after Steve Bruce revealed his top scorer is on course to return to the XI for the first time since Gameweek 8. Brady has stepped up his recovery from a hernia injury over the past fortnight, while Allan McGregor is also likely to be in contention after being sidelined with a thigh injury – both took part in full training yesterday morning. Meanwhile there is less positive news on Stephen Quinn, who is out with a hamstring injury – the club’s official twitter stream indicated a timescale of four to five weeks for the midfielder.
“We’ve got two or three coming back for the weekend. It looks as though Brady, Koren and the goalkeeper will all be fine so that will give us a little bit more firepower. The international break has done us a bit of a turn in that respect.”
Sam Allardyce delivered some mixed news on the injury front as West Ham prepare for tomorrow evening’s visit of Chelsea. The Hammers boss confirmed Razvan Rat is struggling with the hamstring injury sustained in the second leg of Romania’s Wold Cup Play-Off match against Greece on Tuesday, though he remains fairly optimistic that fellow defenders Joey O’Brien and James Collins will be available as the hosts go in search of their seventh clean sheet of the season:
“We’re hopeful that the extent of James Collins and Joey O’Brien’s injury will not keep them out of selection for Chelsea. Our assessment of Razvan Rat is a more difficult situation where he came off with a hamstring injury after 25 minutes [of Romania’s FIFA World Cup Play-Off with Greece on Tuesday]. On top of the other injuries, these have come in the defensive area where we cannot really afford to suffer any more because Winston Reid is also out. George McCartney is just back to match-fitness, but we’re short in the defensive area. That’s just our luck at the moment because three defenders have been blighted by injuries on international duty, but hopefully James and Joey will recover and Razvan looks like a difficult one at the moment. “
Chris Hughton is deprived of his Dutch summer signing once again for the trip to Newcastle. The Canaries head to Tyneside without Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, who remains absence with an ongoing toe problem – this is likely to mean Gary Hooper gets another start alongside Johan Elmander upfront, after the pair were named in the XI for the previous Gameweek’s 3-1 win over West Ham.
“Ricky will miss out at the weekend. It’s one that’s taken a little bit of time. The good news is that it’s not a serious injury, but it’s taken a little bit of time to heal so he will certainly miss out on Saturday. We need to make sure he gets the rest that he needs. It’s just a toe problem. Sometimes these delicate ones can take a little bit longer. Thankfully, there are no problems with any of the lads who have been on international duty. If I’m looking for any fresh injuries, then we don’t have any. Most people know where we are with Elliott Bennett and Alex Tettey, who are both out for a period of time. “
Alan Pardew has revealed that, aside from long-term absentee Ryan Taylor, he has no injury worries for the visit of Norwich, with every senior player taking part in Thursday’s training session. This means Steven Taylor comes into contention for the first time since being dismissed on the opening day of the season – he has now recovered from a hamstring injury. Mathieu Debuchy will miss the game through suspension, having picked up a fifth yellow of the season in the win over Spurs, while Jonas Gutierrez is also pushing for a recall after missing the last few matches due to personal issue:
“He’s (Gutierrez) fine. He’s trained this week and we’re really pleased to have him in and around us. With everybody back, there’s real competition for places. It’s not ideal because the back four’s had two clean sheets against two of the best sides in the division so that’s something that’s forced upon us. But we’ve got plenty of players to be able to cope with that and I don’t see a massive problem for us there. We’ve got everyone training today and that’s good news for this Club. All our senior players are ready coming into a really big, thick part of the season in terms of games.”
