Luis Suarez is banned for at least three matches after accepting the FA’s charge of violent misconduct. Olivier Giroud is out for three after his appeal for wrongful dismissal against Fulham is rejected, Jermain Defoe is praised by Andre Villas-Boas, Gareth Bale admits he played through the pain barrier in Spurs’ win over City, while reports suggest Papiss Cisse is awaiting scans on a rib problem ahead of the visit of Liverpool:
Luis Suarez has accepted the FA’s charge of violent conduct for biting Branislav Ivanovic in Sunday’s draw with Chelsea at Anfield. According to a statement on the FA website, Suarez, however, “has denied The FA’s claim that the standard punishment of three matches is clearly insufficient for this offence”.
The Liverpool forward has already been slapped with a seven-match ban for a similar incident while playing for Ajax prior to arriving on Merseyside and there’d be no real surprise if the FA chose to sideline for the same period of time or even longer. An Independent Regulatory Commission is to meet later this afternoon to decide on the severity of his punishment – at present, then, he will definitely miss the next trio of fixtures (new, EVE, ful) and could return for the final game of the season if his ban is not extended. Daniel Sturridge finally gets the chance to lead the line, then, and, down to 6.6 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and with a 4% ownership, could be a decent differential, though with a double Gameweek 36 on the horizon, he could well be overlooked.
Arsenal were also dealt a blow yesterday after the FA decided to reject Olivier Giroud’s claim for wrongful dismissal in Saturday’s win over Fulham. The Frenchman is now set to miss the weekend showdown with United in addition games against QPR and Wigan, though will be available for the trip to Newcastle on the final day of the season. Theo Walcott or Lukas Podolski look the likeliest replacements to be selected as the lone forward for the Gunners – if Podolski gets the nod this weekend, the following two fixtures will certainly boost his short-term appeal though similar to Sturridge, the lack of a double Gameweek is likely to see would-be suitors look elsewhere.
Jermain Defoe is one such striker who has earned plenty interest this week. The Tottenham forward has acquired 29,000 new owners after climbing off the bench to fire a superb strike against City – he was the subject of Andre Villas-Boas’ praise yesterday:
“It was fantastic for him. He’s been waiting for that goal for some time. He has made strong contact in front of goal but goalkeepers have been making impossible saves. This time, he scored a fantastic goal, coming inside onto his right foot. It was excellent for him. Credit to the three players who came into the game, their impact was massive. That made all the difference. I think when players come in with this spirit from the bench, with great determination, that’s what you need.”
It remains to be seen whether Defoe has persuaded his manager he is worthy of a starting berth again, though. Just one of his last six appearances for the north London outfit have come courtesy of a place in the first XI, with Emmanuel Adebayor considered Villas-Boas’ preferred foil for Gareth Bale through the middle. If Defoe starts this weekend’s trip to Wigan, though, plenty more suitors will jump on board the bandwagon as we look to freshen up frontlines for the final four Gameweeks.
Still on the subject of Tottenham, Gareth Bale has admitted that he almost missed out at the weekend as he struggled to overcome the ankle injury that sidelined him from the previous league encounter with Everton.
“It was touch and go whether I was going to play – but thankfully I got through it okay. It was a bit sore in the first half but I got more confident in the second half. It hurts but it’s just about managing it and carrying on.”
Bale’s owners were treated to another substantial return after a move to the Tottenham right midway through the second-half enabled him to grab a goal and assist in the 3-1 win. The Welshman has now produced six double figure hauls in his last eight appearances and has already picked up more than 150,000 new owners in FPL this week – the fact that Stephane Sessegnon is the second most popular midfielder, with 28,000 transfers in, highlights the scale of the Bale bandwagon right now.
Reports suggest Newcastle are sweating over the fitness of Papiss Cisse as he struggles to overcome a rib problem. The forward flew to France earlier in the week to visit a specialist over an injury picked up in the recent Europa League quarter-final with Benfica – he has since undergone scans, with the club expecting the results later this week. After a poor first half of the season, Cisse has picked up since the departure of Demba Ba and has now scored or assisted in five of the last eight league games but with the Magpies not yet safe from the threat of relegation, Alan Pardew can ill-afford to do without his star forward right now. Pardew received some better news on the injury front yesterday, though. Cheick Tiote looks likely to be available for the weekend visit of Liverpool, while skipper Fabricio Coloccini is expected to return to training and could be fit for the Gameweek 36 trip to West Ham.
Wigan’s battle to beat the drop was dealt a blow yesterday after Antolin Alcaraz was ruled out with a hamstring injury. Latics boss Roberto Martinez conceded:
“We’ll treat him and see how quickly he responds to treatment, but obviously soft-tissue injuries of that type would usually take the best part of three weeks to heal. Antolin knows his body really well, and we are fortunate he managed to get off the field before he did himself some serious damage. Hopefully we can use this time to work on other aspects of his fitness to make sure he can return before the end of the season.”
Subbed off after just 15 minutes of last week’s defeat at West Ham, the Paraguayan now looks set to be ruled out of this weekend’s home clash with Spurs in addition to the upcoming double Gameweek. Wigan’s Gameweek 37 match with Arsenal takes place on Tuesday May 14 – three weeks yesterday – suggesting he may return in time for the last two fixtures if the initial prognosis is correct. Martinez’s side have been far more resilient in recent matches, conceding just three goals in Alcaraz’s four full appearances since returning from a long-term groin injury but will now rely on Gary Caldwell to bolster the backline instead.
