Scout Scribbles – Klopp’s Men Clinch Wembley Spot

Liverpool edge into the Capital One Cup final thanks to a spot-kick shootout win over Stoke. Marko Arnautovic returns from injury to get amongst the goals. Vincent Kompany could be back in two weeks’ time for City. Carl Jenkinson may be out for the season, whilst Bournemouth new boy Juan Iturbe bags a hat-trick for the reserves to strengthen his first-team claim.

Allen the Liverpool Hero

Despite losing 1-0 at home to Stoke on the night, Liverpool triumphed in a penalty shootout to progress through to the Capital One Cup final. Simon Mignolet rebuffed spot-kicks from Peter Crouch and Marc Muniesa, with Joe Allen slotting home the hosts’ winning penalty. Nathaniel Clyne was sidelined with a knee complaint, so Jon Flanagan clocked 105 minutes at Anfield. Having shaken off his hamstring problem, Dejan Lovren returned to the matchday squad, though was an unused sub by Jurgen Klopp.

The Scout Says: From a Fantasy perspective, the result, of course, means that Liverpool’s Gameweek 27 showdown with Everton – which was due to take place on February 28, ie the same day as the Capital One Cup final – will now need to be rescheduled, handing Fantasy managers the first double Gameweek of the season. With the Toffees and Man City set to battle it out for the other berth later tonight, new dates for the fixture should be imminent, allowing us the chance to plan our future transfers with a greater degree of clarity. Gameweeks 25, 34 and 37 look the most likely, with last night’s result also meaning that Everton (as Liverpool’s GW27 opponents) will have a double Gameweek and subsequent blank regardless of whether they advance this evening. Although the Reds did enough to overcome the Potters, Klopp will still be concerned by their lack of consistency. Since recording back-to-back 1-0 wins over Leicester City and Sunderland, Liverpool have tasted victory once in four outings, shipping 10 goals along the way. Additionally, only three teams surrendered more shots inside the box (25) over the stretch, exposing their inability to control matches. Beyond a trip to the King Power Stadium next Gameweek, Klopp’s charges enjoy a pair of favourable fixtures (SUN, avl), so it’s certainly worth keeping tabs on their prime Fantasy assets. Lovren’s return to the bench last night strengthens Klopp’s defensive options, with the Croatian likely to replace Kolo Toure in the centre-back pecking order once fully-fit.

Arnautovic strike not enough for Potters

Courtesy of a Bojan Krkic assist, the fit-again Marko Arnautovic was on target as Stoke crashed out of the Capital One Cup at the final hurdle. Xherdan Shaqiri started on the bench but entered the fray at the 77-minute mark. In the absence of the injured Ryan Shawcross, the 4.2-priced Marc Muniesa was the favoured partner for Philipp Wollscheid in central defence. Charlie Adam left the field of play in extra time with a knock.

The Scout Says: Considering that Stoke posted blanks in their previous two league ties, Hughes will have been delighted to see Arnautovic back on the scoresheet before a trip to Manchester United. The Staffordshire outfit were pitiable in the final third at Leicester last Gameweek – notching a paltry three attempts and two shots on target – so will be desperate to give a better account of themselves against a Red Devils outfit that’s registered just one victory in five home encounters. That being said, no side has conceded fewer goals (five) or shots inside the box (56) on familiar soil than Louis van Gaal’s unit, which suggests that Stoke could be set for another frustrating afternoon. The Austrian’s return to form will frustrate the 84,000+ FPL managers who have parted company since the weekend – no other player has been subject to more transfers out.

Jenkinson Blow for Hammers

West Ham look set to be without the on-loan Carl Jenkinson for the rest of the season. The right-back sustained knee ligament damage during Saturday’s home draw with Man City and is likely to return to his parent club Arsenal prior to undergoing any required surgery.

The Scout Says: Now that Jenkinson’s out of the picture, there’s a two-way tussle for supremacy at the right-back berth, with James Tomkins – who returned to training on Tuesday following a knock – and newcomer Sam Byram in the mix. The former has been stationed there since Gameweek 15, but the latter made an impressive debut against Manchester City, potentially lining him up for further starts. From a Fantasy perspective, Byram is the one that piques our interest by virtue of his attacking threat: he was has frequently deployed on the right wing at Leeds and racked up three goals last month. In terms of the Hammers’ clean-sheet prospects, their schedule throws up a quartet of favourable match-ups (AVL, sou, nor, SUN), with Aston Villa – who rank bottom for goals scored (18) – first on the agenda.

Kompany Close to City Comeback

During yesterday’s press conference, Manuel Pellegrini discredited claims that Vincent Kompany has suffered another injury setback, asserting that the Sky Blues skipper is likely to be back in contention in a fortnight’s time:

“I don’t think Vincent will be out for six weeks – he will return in a couple of weeks. As I said in the last press conference, it’s very important how he improves in the next weeks. Be sure we are doing all we can to review Vincent in different places with different doctors. For him also, he’s very sad not to play, I hope that now when he comes back he will be fit until the end of the season.”

The Scout Says: Notwithstanding Manchester City’s relative success at the back in recent Gameweeks (three clean sheets and three goals conceded in the last five), the errors committed by their centre-backs at the Boleyn Ground highlighted the paramount importance of Kompany to their defensive resolve. The Sky Blues recorded clean sheets in all but one of the eight league ties that Kompany started and finished, while they’ve mustered just three in 15 without the Belgium international’s commanding presence. In light of his absence and Pellegrini’s decision to begin rotating at the full-back positions as the schedule pocks up pace, we’ve been restricted to Nicolas Otamendi in our search for a stable route into the defence. Although the 6.5-priced Argentinian is a decent shout ahead of a trip to Sunderland, Man City’s subsequent home clashes against Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur look less conducive to shut-outs, with Kompany perhaps more likely to be fit in time for the Gameweek 27 trip to Newcastle.

Mirallas and Besic out for Toffees

Roberto Martinez revealed that Muhamed Besic (hamstring) and Kevin Mirallas (knee) will sit out Everton’s Capital One Cup tie against Man City this evening and have undergone further assessments to ascertain the extent of their respective injuries:

“As we expected, Mo Besic and Kevin Mirallas won’t be available tomorrow. We will have a bit more detail [about their injuries] today when both players will be reassessed.”

The Scout Says: Prior to being forced off against Swansea on Sunday, Mirallas had muscled himself back into contention on the Toffees’ flanks. Indeed, last weekend was the first time he had started back-to-back league matches this season, with Martinez rewarding the Belgian for his goal against Chelsea in Gameweek 22 – his second strike in three league outings. Frustratingly, this comes at a time when Gerard Deulofeu’s pitch time on the Toffees’ right flank has been somewhat marginalised, with the young Spaniard failing to start consecutive league matches since Gameweek 17 as Martinez starts to rotate more. Given that Ross Barkley has blanked in seven of the last nine, our in-form options in the Everton midfield look slim-to-none right now.

Fit-again King returns for Cherries reserves

Juan Iturbe bagged a hat-trick as Bournemouth’s U21 outfit ran out 4-3 victors over Gillingham yesterday. Joshua King scored on his return to action for the Cherries, while Tommy Elphick also ramped up his rehabilitation with an hour of pitch time at the Canford Park Arena.

The Scout Says: Yesterday’s match will certainly give Eddie Howe food for though on the flanks. Although the Bournemouth boss is sweating over a knee injury to Junior Stanislas, Iturbe’s performance, allied with King’s return, strengthens his options out wide. Iturbe has played just 41 minutes since arriving at Dean Court earlier this months but his display will surely boost his chances of greater pitch time. King, meanwhile, may have to settle for a role out wide, given the recent output of new signing Benike Afobe. The former Wolves man has scored twice in three league outings and looks to have ended King’s prospects of returning to the lone striker role, leaving him to battle it out for a spot out wide in Howe’s 4-1-4-1 set-up. At the other end of the pitch, Elphick’s return could trigger a chain of events, with Simon Francis returning to right-back and Adam Smith dropping to the bench. Alternatively, Steve Cook could make way for the Cherries’ captain. Regardless, Charlie Daniels – who’s converted two penalties in seven outings – represents the choice route into the south-coast club’s defence ahead of a mixed batch of fixtures (cry, ARS, STO, wat).