Liverpool cruise through in the Champions League, Man City’s midfield gets a boost or two and some possible Gameweek 31 differentials emerge.
Reds coach Jurgen Klopp declared pre-match that he would make only ‘two or three’ changes to his side for the visit of Porto in the Champions League.
He trotted out the usual ‘game not won yet’ and ‘owe it to the fans’ lines to justify his selections ahead of a Round of 16 second leg his team was leading 5-0.
And in the end, he was fairly true to his word.
He made five changes, with a rest for Mohamed Salah the main news.
The 60.9% of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers with the Egyptian in their teams would have been grateful ahead of Saturday’s Gameweek 30 trip to a defensively vulnerable Man United.
But Klopp then and went and brought his star man on for the final 16 minutes of a second leg that had been meandering to a goalless conclusion pretty much from the first whistle.
After the match, though, Klopp went on to suggest that Salah is set to have today free from training ahead of Saturday’s lunchtime encounter.
“It was clear if it was possible that we give him the last 20 or 15 minutes. If it was 15 then he has to train again tomorrow! No, I told him if he runs a lot, he doesn’t have to train tomorrow – I thought he was quite lively!”
In the end, there was no harm done to either Salah or his attacking partners Sadio Mane (9.1%) and Roberto Firmino (42.1%), who both started and played 74 and 62 minutes respectively.
With the big guns injury-free, if scoreless, Fantasy interest turned to the defence.
Klopp left Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench, while Andrew Robertson was left out after picking up a knock against Newcastle last weekend.
Post-match, the manager was optimistic on the left-back’s fitness ahead of the trip to Old Trafford.
“Robertson had an issue but not big”.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had started three straight league matches and produced assists from the last two of them, was another to watch from the sidelines.
Whether he will make it four consecutive Gameweek starts will depend on how Klopp sets up his central midfield against United, with Emre Can, Jordan Henderson and James Milner getting the nod last night.
Up front, Adam Lallana made his first start in two months and looked suitably rusty.
Skipper Henderson played from start to finish but was spotted with an ice pack on his thigh after the final whistle. Again, Klopp played down the injury:
“It was a dead leg. ‘Just’ I don’t know – it’s painful enough but it’s a dead leg and should not be a problem.
The Reds are the first English team into the hat for the Champions League quarter-finals draw, with the two ties to be played in early April.
The first leg sits between a Gameweek 32 trip to Crystal Palace and the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, the return following the Everton match and before a visit from Bournemouth in Gameweek 34.
Should Klopp choose to shuffle his pack to prioritise the Champions League, the fixtures before and after the two-legged tie look the more obvious rotation hot spots.
Pep talks of returns
Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho could conceivably be back in action tonight as Man City look to complete the Champions League job against Basel.
Pep Guardiola’s men lead 4-0 from the first leg, which should mean rotation of key players ahead of the Gameweek 30 trip to Stoke City.
Sterling has missed the last two league matches with a hamstring injury, losing more than 700,000 FPL managers as a result. He’s also top for transfers-out heading into this weekend, with a further 124,000+ getting rid.
Fernandinho is another to have sat out the last two fixtures with a hamstring issue.
Both are now nearing fitness again, according to Guardiola.
“Ferna is much much better, as is Sterling. Maybe tomorrow (against Basel) they won’t play, but they may be ready for Stoke City.”
How City line up tonight should tell us a lot more about the Stoke selections, with Bernardo Silva’s run of five successive league starts looking at risk if Sterling returns to contention.
Chelsea’s defensive boost
Fans of Chelsea clean sheets would have been heartened by the news that N’Golo Kante has been given the all clear after missing Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Man City.
The French midfielder fainted at the training ground prior to the weekend trip to the Etihad, but tests have revealed nothing sinister.
Chelsea have kept only one clean sheet in the four matches Kante has been absent this season, and have now managed just one shut-out in the past five Gameweeks.
They’ll seek to rectify that when Crystal Palace visit on Saturday.
Cynics might suggest the Blues’ defensive strength has also been boosted by the news that David Luiz will be sidelined for at least another month with knee and ankle issues.
The fact that the Brazilian has only managed three sets of clean sheets points from 10 league appearances this season would appear to back them up.
Mooy nearing fitness again
Those few FPL managers eagerly seeking a Huddersfield option for their Gameweek 31 sides will be pleased to hear that midfielder Aaron Mooy is back in training following a knee injury.
The Australian international has missed the last three matches, but is now hoping to be in contention for the crucial visits of Swansea City and Crystal Palace over the next two Gameweeks.
Huddersfield attacking assets have served few of us well this season, with Mooy a notable exception, with 94 points for a modest 5.3 outlay.
Yet with just two assists in his last nine league outings, he’s fallen behind fellow midfielders Rajiv van la Parra (two goals in the last three Gameweeks) and Alex Pritchard (one goal, two assists in the previous three) in our quest for Gameweek 31 differentials.
The Diouf is out…
Another side in Gameweek 31 action, Stoke City, will have to fulfil their fixture without striker Mame Diouf.
He picked up a shoulder injury in last weekend’s 0-0 draw at Southampton and will now miss the next two matches, at home to Man City and then Everton.
Midfielder Eric Choupo-Moting (3.5%) ended up as the lone striker at St Mary’s and would be a potential differential if he were to repeat the trick over the next two Gameweeks.
Potters boss Paul Lambert doesn’t have a wealth of forward options to choose from – the veteran Peter Crouch or the one-man goal drought that is Saido Berahino are his chief alternatives.
But Choupo-Moting’s last eight starts have produced just one assist, so he remains a massive punt.
…But a Toffee back in
Everton’s current defensive woes mean the return to fitness of centre-half Ramiro Funes Mori couldn’t be better timed.
The Toffees haven’t kept a clean sheet for nine matches and will be without Ashley Williams for three matches following his dismissal in the 2-1 loss at Burnley last weekend.
Funes Mori has been out for nearly a year with a knee injury, but came through a full 90 minutes in an U23 match on Monday and is now talking up his prospects ahead of clashes with Brighton and Stoke (in Gameweek 31).
“I’m fit, I’m ready to play. I’m feeling good – hopefully I get my chance and go on from there.”
