Diego Costa scores twice as Chelsea get the better of Real Sociedad. United scrape a late win over Valencia thanks to Marouane Fellaini but the injuries are mounting for Louis van Gaal. Marc Albrighton remains a doubt for Leicester, Roberto Martinez is hopeful on Romelu Lukaku’s chances of making the weekend, whilst Alan Pardew is still optimistic on Siem de Jong’s prospects of facing City on Sunday:

Costa Bags a Brace
The summer signing scored both Chelsea’s goals in a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad. Jose Mourinho started with Cesc Fabregas in “the hole” behind Costa, with Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle selected out wide, though the former Arsenal man was moved into the double-pivot after the break, with substitute Oscar handed the advanced role. Hazard managed 80 minutes’ game time – more than any attacking midfielder – with his manager clearly looking to get the Belgian up to full fitness as quickly as possible.

The post-match talk surrounded Costa’s display after the new boy took his tally to four for the summer. Costa is approaching 29% ownership in FPL and his manager admitted the former Atletico Madrid man is the perfect player for the lone striker role at the Bridge:

“What can we expect? I expect Diego and Diego is a team player who works hard, he’s not just about goals. It’s about his defensive work, mentality and ambition. This is the player we bought and we were waiting for since last season. This is why we didn’t buy a striker in the winter market. We were waiting for him, we have him and hopefully everything goes well.”

At the back, Nathan Ake surprisingly got the nod on the left alongside Gary Cahill, John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, Mourinho then introduced Filipe Luis and Cesar Azpilicueta at the interval and as we head towards the weekend deadline, Fantasy managers are no closer to sussing out the Blues boss’ intentions. Frustratingly, the same applies to the situation between the sticks. Thibaut Courtois recovered from a knock to play the full 90 minutes last night but although Mourinho has confirmed he’s decided on his first-choice stopper for the season ahead, he’s yet to tell the players:

“I played Thibaut for 90 minutes because he was injured and didn’t play last weekend. Petr played two matches in Turkey and the first half against Ferencvaros. Since he arrived Courtois has only played 45 minutes against Werder Bremen, he needs to play. The fact Courtois played 90 minutes wasn’t me saying he’s first choice for Monday, it’s because he didn’t play the last three matches. The players don’t know (who’s first choice). When will I tell them? On Sunday.”

Injuries Mount Up for United
Wayne Rooney missed a penalty before goals from Darren Fletcher and Marouane Fellaini earned United a narrow 2-1 win over Valencia. With Danny Welbeck absent due to a knock, Javier Hernandez was handed the chance to partner Rooney up front, with Juan Mata tucked in behind in a 3-4-1-2 – the trio failed to play a part in the goals, though, with Ashley Young earning the assist for Fletcher’s strike after the Scotsman converted his corner.

While the triumph ensured Louis van Gaal’s side ended the summer with a 100% record, the main story from a Fantasy perspective was the absence of a number of the Dutchman’s defenders. Rafael remained out with a hamstring problem and was joined on the sidelines by Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia, with question marks over all their game time. Young – who scored three times in pre-season and comes in at 5.5 in FPL – looks set to retain his starting berth against Swansea, whilst young Reece James played the full 90 minutes at left wing-back and may well get the nod, injuries dependent.

Van Gaal handed Fellaini and Adnan Januzaj their first game time of the summer, though Robin van Persie failed to play a part. After the game, the Red Devils boss discussed the Belgian duo and admitted he’s uncertain over his backline for the weekend.

“Fellaini and Januzaj have only been with us training for one week. They can’t play any more minutes than they did tonight…I think we have a lot of injuries now. Don’t forget, Jonny Evans was injured, Luke Shaw was injured, Antonio Valencia was injured. These are three defenders. We have to wait to see if they can play on Saturday. The main thing is that we have won, despite playing our worst game.”

Albrighton Remains a Doubt
Question marks remain over the Leicester wide man ahead of Saturday’s clash against Everton after he was forced off with a groin problem last weekend. Foxes boss Nigel Pearson gave an update on the former Villa man yesterday – the 4.5-priced Albrighton reached an FPL ownership of 9% but his weekend withdrawal has sparked an exodus, with only 5% managers currently

“(We’re) disappointed to pick up a potential injury in terms of Marc Albrighton because I think he’s had a very good pre-season so that’s the only downside. It’s groin related but exactly what I don’t know at the moment, we will have to wait and get the scan results. We will deal with it – it’s something that happens and I’d rather pick up injuries in games rather than in training so we will have to see how that pans out.”

Pearson also confirmed that midfielder Anthony Knockaert is out for a couple of weeks, while Matthew Upson is set for surgery and will be sidelined “for a while” – potentially boosting Liam Moore’s hopes of nailing down the spot alongside Wes Morgan in the heart of the back-four. The Foxes also have concerns over James Vardy for the opener.

Pardew Still Hopeful on De Jong
The Magpies boss refuses to rule the Dutchman and Cheick Tiote out of City’s visit on Sunday. After scoring in each of his first two appearances, De Jong has failed to feature since July 26 and in his absence, fellow new boys Remy Cabella and Emmanuele Riviere have grabbed two and three goals respectively. The former was handed the role in “the hole” in Newcastle’s final friendly but is expected to shift to the flank once De Jong is finally injury-free; worryingly for the latter’s 5% of FPL owners, though, he broke down with injuries five times last year and could prove a frustrating Fantasy option.

“It will be disappointing if they are not [available], but they are running well today. So they could be available and make it an easy job for me to pick my strongest team. But we’ll have to see.”

Martinez Optimistic on Trio
With just three days until Everton’s opener at Leicester, Roberto Martinez is refusing to rule out Romelu Lukaku, Kevin Mirallas and Seamus Coleman. The former two failed to play over the summer friendlies but were both handed 45 minutes of a behind-closed doors game against Sheffield Wednesday (Lukaku scored twice in a 4-1 win), whilst Coleman hasn’t featured since picking up a hamstring problem in the first summer friendly. The likes of Steven Naismith, Aiden McGeady and Tony Hibbert seem set to benefit if the trio fail to make it.

“All three are going to train normally with the team today, so we need to assess how they are and how they go through the week before any decisions are made on Saturday. It’s really good to see Rom and Kevin reaching a really good level of fitness so quickly, but we don’t know yet if they’re going to be ready for the weekend. Seamus is training with the team and had the ‘all okay’ from a scan yesterday, so that’s very good news as well.”

Ideye at the Double
West Brom’s record signing was handed his first taste of action in a behind-closed door match against Nottingham Forest yesterday. The Nigerian’s debut was held up by work visa issues earlier in the summer but he quickly found his form by scoring twice in a 3-1 win to suggest he could finally solve the Baggies goal scoring problems. The likes of Gareth McAuley, Jason Robertson and Stephane Sessegnon also featured, with the latter netting a spot-kick – McAuley still remains a real doubt for the opener against Sunderland.