Jamie Vardy plays down fears of a hamstring injury ahead of Leicester’s trip to Chelsea. Arsenal are sweating on the results of Danny Welbeck’s knee scan, Pedro misses Chelsea’s trip to Sunderland with a knock, whilst Anthony Martial looks set to remain sidelined for United’s clash with West Ham tomorrow night.
Arsenal
Arsene Wenger confirmed that Mesut Ozil missed Arsenal’s road tie against Manchester City with a minor hip problem but is expected to be passed fit for Aston Villa’s visit in the final Gameweek:
“It’s a hip problem for Ozil and he didn’t travel. I don’t think it’s serious, a question of days but he was unable to move properly.”
Elsewhere in the Gunners’ camp, Danny Welbeck was withdrawn at the 24-minute mark with a serious-looking knee injury. The former Manchester United marksman is set to undergo scans, which Wenger going on to say:
“Danny Welbeck has a knee problem and I hope it is not too bad. We have to wait for a scan. I hope it is not bad news, that it is not a meniscus. He has a little sign of that. Let’s hope we have good news tomorrow from the scan. Good news is that he will not be out for the Euros and bad news is that he is out for the Euros, but I don’t know. I don’t know if it is a lateral meniscus.”
In the likely event that Welbeck is ruled out for Arsenal’s concluding match-up, Olivier Giroud comes onto our radar as a guaranteed starter against the league’s most obliging defence. Aside from bagging a goal and two assists in his previous two starts, the Frenchman charted top among all forwards for key passes (five) during that period and managed more shots inside the box (two) than any Arsenal player at the Etihad, suggesting he could offer a double-up option along with Alexis Sanchez as the Gunners look to clinch second spot at Tottenham’s expense.
Chelsea
Pedro was omitted from Chelsea’s matchday squad at Sunderland because of an unspecified knock.
Snapped up by over 5,500 FPL managers ahead of the Blues’ double Gameweek, the Spaniard’s availability now looks in question ahead of the midweek trip to Liverpool. Pedro’s weekend absence allowed Cesc Fabregas to move into the attacking midfield three slots and those holding the latter may now chose to hold for the final day’s home encounter with a Robert Huth-less Leicester.
Crystal Palace
Joe Ledley (calf) and Yohan Cabaye (knock) were both subbed off against Stoke City because of minor complaints, yet Alan Pardew anticipates that both men will be fit for the FA Cup final:
“I think Yohan is okay, he kept getting bashed today as usual and he took a bash too far. Joe Ledley is a little bit more of a worry so he’s probably sweating for the final but he’s a strong boy. My experience of a cup final is three days before the final everybody is fit, and I expect Joe to be fit.”
Leicester City
Jamie Vardy eased concerns over his fitness after he pulled up in the dying embers against Everton, asserting that he probably just suffered a bout of cramp:
“Hopefully it’s just cramp. It just completely seized up so I told (Leighton) Baines I wasn’t going anywhere at the corner. It’ll be fine. A bit of TLC needed, I think.”
In the wake of a six-match barren streak from Gameweek 27, Vardy has notched five goals in three starts, positioning himself one goal shy of Harry Kane’s total (25) in the race for the Golden Boot. With that in mind, the 7.4-priced forward will be relishing the prospect of facing a Chelsea defence that shipped nine goals in their last four outings – perhaps convincing a portion of non-owners to re-invest as the Foxes square up to a defence with one clean sheet in 12 league outings.
Liverpool
Liverpool’s stand-in keeper, Danny Ward, was ruled out for the rest of the season due to a minor knee problem, increasing the likelihood that Simon Mignolet starts in the Reds’ final two league fixtures.
Man City
Samir Nasri was a notable absentee for City’s home match with former club Arsenal at the weekend. Quizzed by the local press on the Frenchman’s omission, Manuel Pellegrini denied he was injured or left out for tactical reasons before going on to say:
“For different reasons Samir Nasri didn’t work the complete week so he was not able to play this game. He was sick two days during the week so was not able to play.”
With Nasri out of contention, Pellegrini opted for Kelechi Iheanacho in the central role behind Sergio Aguero, with Kevin de Bruyne and Jesus Navas stationed on the left and right respectively. Despite excelling in the support berth in recent outings, De Bruyne still managed to find the net in the 2-2 stalemate and with City’s chances of fourth still very much up in the air, the Belgian – who has started two of the previous five prior to the Gunners’ visit – looks poised to retain his role in the first XI for the vital trip to Swansea on Sunday. Should Nasri remain sidelined, the 4.8-priced Iheanacho – who has now started the last three – could appeal as a Gameweek 38 differential for those willing to gamble on Pellegrini’s final team sheet in charge of the Etihad side.
Manchester United
Anthony Martial tweaked his hamstring during the warm-ups at Carrow Road, forcing him to sit out Man United’s 1-0 win over Norwich City. Louis van Gaal said that the club will monitor the tightness of his muscle ahead of the Red Devils’ midweek clash against West Ham United:
“Anthony felt something and I’m a manager who is not taking risks. Especially not in his situation and I said this to Anthony because he has played most of all the matches, like Daley Blind and Chris Smalling. When a player says he feels something, he shall not play. I think you have to be fit – especially in this weather as that is a big difference. We have to see tomorrow (Sunday) if the muscle is tight.”
Earlier today, reports indicate that Martial has been ruled out of tomorrow’s match.
Van Gaal also detailed his reasoning behind resting Marcus Rashford for the Canaries showdown:
“You see in the games, Marcus is not doing the things he did in his first match or second match anymore. You want to deny that at first and you say it to him but then you see maybe it is tiredness. So I hope that these two days give him again the stimulus to be in the line-up in the next game because we have to play West Ham and it’s not an easy game. I wouldn’t have rested him for the match [if there wasn’t another one on Tuesday] but now we only have two days’ recuperation and recovery. That is too short for these players.”
Finally, the Dutch manager stated that Matteo Darmian – who received a kick on the ankle and was replaced in the first half – has a chance of being in contention for the Irons fixture:
“We have to wait and see. Darmian has a kick on the ankle so we will have to see the reaction tomorrow (Sunday). It is too early to say. Now he is walking in a brace but, tomorrow, it can be good again because a kick is a kick.”
Martial and Rashford’s absences allowed Wayne Rooney a rare foray up front for the trip to Carrow Road. Shifted out of his new central midfield berth, the Red Devils skipper bagged the assist for Juan Mata’s winner on Saturday lunchtime but, judging by Van Gaal’s words on Rashford, the latter looks likely to return at Upton Park in midweek, allowing Rooney to move back into the centre of the park as United look for the win that would take them above City into fourth spot. With Martial out, Van Gaal could shift Jesse Lingard onto the flank at the expense of Memphis Depay tomorrow night.
Norwich
Alex Neil conceded that Jonny Howson will be out for the remainder of the campaign following the knee injury he sustained against Man United:
“It will be a real blow for us, Jon. He’s opened his knee up, so he’s not going to play for the rest of the season. It’s part of the game, we just need to get on with it.”
Southampton
Ronald Koeman revealed the ailments that prompted him to withdraw Sadio Mane and Jordy Clasie in the second half of Southampton’s victory at White Hart Lane:
“Jordy had a problem with his groin and Sadio was not feeling well.”
Assuming we receive positive news regarding Mane’s health by the weekend, the Senegalese winger is likely to attract significant investment as Saints prepare to host a Crystal Palace outfit that has one eye firmly planted on the FA Cup final. Mane bagged five goals in three starts prior to the Spurs match-up and charts top among midfielders for shots on target (seven) across his previous quartet of starts. Should he be ruled out, though Dusan Tadic- with two goals and five assists in the last three – looks a very viable alternative at a price of just 6.6.
Sunderland
There have been mixed messages over the fitness of centre-half Lamine Kone. According to the Black Cats’ website, he was replaced on 55 minutes of the 3-2 win over Chelsea due to injury, but in his post-match press conference, Sam Allardyce insisted that his decision to sub off the winter signing was more to do with tactics:
“It was tactical more than injury. I think the size and the pressure of playing every single game since he’s been here made him look a little jaded to me. I wanted the experience of John O’Shea to secure our defensive frailties. They were there a little more than I’ve seen for quite a while, so John coming on and using his experience to block that end worked and of course more importantly at the other end were Fabio (Borini) and Jermain’s (Defoe) goals.”
In today’s press conference, however, the Sunderland manager confirmed that Kone suffered a minor thigh problem but has since been passed fit to face Everton on Wednesday.
Swansea
Lukasz Fabianski is set to be rested for Swansea’s home encounter with Man City on Sunday.
Speaking to the local press, the keeper confirmed that Francesco Guidolin will omit him from the weekend line-up in light of his upcoming Euro 2016 tournament with Poland:
“I was asked if I wanted to play (at West Ham) or not, but I had trained all week so I said I did. It was not really about staying sharp ahead of the Euros — West Ham is a great stadium and I just wanted to play. “I will go away now and have a break. Other players wanted a rest (before West Ham), but I wanted to wait. I will go away now and then prepare for the summer.”
West Brom
Darren Fletcher (knock) and Jonny Evans (groin) are expected to recover from problems picked up in the 1-1 draw at Bournemouth last Saturday. Stephane Sessegnon missed the trip to Dean Court due to illness.
