Marcos Alonso is a last-minute withdrawal for Chelsea’s clash with Manchester United due to illness, Victor Valdes and Fabio da Silva are concerns ahead of Middlesbrough’s Double Gameweek 33, while John Stones is sidelined for Manchester City’s stroll at St Mary’s.
Here’s the news on the latest batch of concerns ahead of Gameweek 34…
Marcos Alonso, Thibaut Courtois
Initially named on the Chelsea teamsheet to face United, Marcos Alonso – the top scoring defender in Fantasy Premier League – was a last-minute withdrawal due to illness, as Antonio Conte confirmed:
“Marcos Alonso tried before the game but a virus hit him during the night. He tried but it was impossible to play for him. For this reason we adapted another solution.”
Bearing in mind that Chelsea’s rescheduled Gameweek 34 home match against Southampton takes place on Tuesday, April 25, the Spaniard has plenty of time to recover as the Blues attempt to bounce back from a second loss in the last four league fixtures.
But with double Gameweek 34 next on our agendas, over 26,000 FPL managers have already swapped out the Chelsea wing-back – second only to West Brom’s Gareth McAuley (31,000+) for defenders.
Chelsea’s run of ten Gameweeks without a clean sheet is a cause for concern, although Alonso’s goal threat remains second to none – since being handed a first start in Gameweek 7, he has registered more efforts on goal than any FPL defender.
The Blues lead has now been whittled down to just four points, so there seems far less chance that Conte will be able to rotate for the run-in now, which boosts the prospects of Chelsea’s key men ahead of a double Gameweek 37 against West Brom and Watford.
With Southampton, Middlesbrough and Sunderland also still to visit the Bridge, the 15%-owned Alonso still looks to have a prominent part to play in our thinking.
Chelsea were also devoid of their first-choice stopper, Thibaut Courtois, for the 2-0 defeat. Conte offered a brief explanation ahead of next weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against Spurs, refusing to confirm rumours that the Belgian sustained the injury while playing basketball on commercial duties:
“During the week he had an injury in his ankle and he didn’t recover for this game. I hope [he misses] only this game..It’s not important to understand the way he had this injury”.
An ever-present prior to Sunday’s loss, Courtois boasts a 14% FPL ownership and sits second only to Burnley’s Tom Heaton in the keepers’ standings. Yet that recent lack of shut-outs has earned him just 21 points in the previous nine league outings, with the goal threat of Alonso and Gary Cahill the preferred routes into Conte’s rearguard.
Victor Valdes, Fabio da Silva
The Middlesbrough keeper is an early doubt for the first match of their double Gameweek 34 against Bournemouth on Saturday after missing last night’s loss to Arsenal. Steve Agnew also confirmed that Fabio da Silva is a concern after being forced off early against the Gunners:
“Victor had a rib injury yesterday morning, he got a knock against Burnley last week so has been sore and couldn’t get through the training session yesterday. We’ll have to assess it – along with Fabio’s sore knee.”
Having served up 16 points – including two clean sheets – in his previous three appearances, the 6%-owned Valdes has already been acquired by over 8,000 FPL managers in the Gameweek, with the Teesside team also set to face Sunderland over their pair of fixtures.
A potential absence could see Brad Guzan – at just 4.2 in FPL – set to benefit, though the fixtures following the double suggest that few will be looking to keep Boro players over the run-in, with clashes against Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool in three of the final four Gameweeks.
George Friend – who replaced Fabio in the first-half -could now be in line to deputise, while Agnew also has concerns over Grant Leadbitter, who sustained a hamstring problem during last night’s defeat.
Shkodran Mustafi and Danny Welbeck
Shkodran Mustafi (thigh) and Danny Welbeck (toe) both missed Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Middlesbrough last night due to injuries.
Despite the return of Laurent Koscielny, Mustafi’s absence, allied with Arsene Wenger’s decision to switch to a three-man defence, handed Gabriel a third straight start – priced at 4.8, the Brazilian looks one to monitor ahead of the Gunners’ double Gameweeks 36 and 37.
Having started each of the previous five Gameweeks, Welbeck’s absence allowed Olivier Giroud to also stake a claim for consideration as the lone striker, with Wenger handing Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil central support roles behind the Frenchman in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Handed 90 minutes for the first time since Gameweek 20, Giroud is owned by just 2% of FPL managers as the Gunners prepare to play seven times in the final five rounds of fixtures.
John Stones
The City centre-half missed Saturday’s trip to Southampton with “a small problem”, according to Pep Guardiola.
Stones had started 13 of the previous 14 fixtures across all competitions and seemed to have finally established himself as the most secure route into his side’s defence after an indifferent first few months at the Etihad.
Although he’s yet to find the net this season, the former Everton man has upped his goal threat considerably of late – a total of eight attempts, all inside the box, over his last four appearances is better than any defender on both counts.
If he can shrug off that knock, then, a relatively kind price tag of 4.7 may yet see the 16.2%-owned Stones find a way into more wildcard teams.
The schedule certainly smiles kindly on Pep Guardiola’s side once next week’s derby with United is out of the way. They face Middlesbrough and Palace, have double Gameweek 37 home matches against Leicester and West Brom and then finish the season with a final-day trip to Watford.
The Rest…
Leicester skipper Wes Morgan has recovered from a back problem and has been named in the starting line-up for tonight’s Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid. Meanwhile, Andy King and Yohan Benalouane have also been passed fit – both were withdrawn against Palace at the weekend but returned to training yesterday. Islam Slimani misses out, though, due to the recurrence of an ongoing groin problem.
Forced off against Spurs with less than an hour on the clock, Bournemouth’s Jack Wilshere is set to undergo tests after suffering a recurrence of an ankle problem.
Scott Arfield missed Burnley’s 3-1 loss at Everton with a minor knee injury sustained in training. The Clarets’ Sam Vokes was withdrawn midway through the second-half at Goodison due to a tight hamstring.
Sunderland’s Billy Jones was stretchered off with concussion during the 2-2 draw with West Ham. The defender was taken to hospital as a precaution but has undergone tests and “is fine”, according to David Moyes. With 11 days between the Hammers clash and the Gameweek 34 encounter against Middlesbrough on Wednesday, April 26, Jones looks likely to be back in contention.
Craig Cathcart sustained a knee problem in training prior to Watford’s 1-0 defeat of Swansea in which the Hornets earned a third successive home clean sheet.
Ragnar Klavan missed Liverpool’s trip to West Brom due to a knee problem. Lucas Leiva came in alongside Joel Matip to help Jurgen Klopp’s side secure a first clean sheet in eight attempts thanks to a 1-0 win at The Hawthorns.
