According to quotes from Louis Saha, his season in Everton colours could well be over. The Everton striker was forced off late on against Fulham with an ankle injury on Saturday, having notched his tenth goal of the season in the second-half. That was his ninth strike since the turn of the year. Once again however, Saha’s momentum appears to have hit the skids thanks to an injury setback – the Frenchman landed awkwardly while contesting an aerial ball in the 2-1 win; the fear is that he may have damaged ankle ligaments.
Saha is apparently due to have scans on Friday but, in an interview with L’Equipe, the striker was more than a little pessimistic on his prospects…
“I am on crutches at the moment…I am not well. Am I going to be out for days, weeks, months? I do not know. But it will be difficult to play again by the end of the season.â€
Everton have yet to officially confirm the prognosis but we should expect more information by tomorrow. If Saha is indeed sidelined, it will leave David Moyes with just Jermaine Beckford available as a recognised striker. With Marouane Fellaini already out for the rest of the season and Mikel Arteta reportedly out until mid-April, Moyes’ resources are looking badly stretched.
For us Fantasy Managers the news of Saha’s absence will likely promote Tim Cahill in our thinking. The Aussie has himself only just returned from his own ankle problems but, having regained fitness, he will now likely face the burden of being asked to score the goals to continue Everton’s ascent up the table.
Moyes has already turned to Cahill to lead his attack earlier in the season. The Fantasy Premier League midfielder, priced at 8.9, has registered 9 goals and 4 assists to this point but has not completed 90 minutes since gameweek 27 – his last league goal was way back in December in the gameweek 18 win at Man City . Even so, the prospect of Cahill leading the line for the Toffees will spark further interest from Fantasy Managers, particularly as Everton are currently the league’s form side.
David Moyes’ outfit have won 4 of the last 6, scoring 12 goals in the process. Everton’s immediate run of opponents suggests that further returns could be in the offing – they take on a beleaguered Aston Villa in gameweek 31, followed by a trip to Wolves and another Goodison clash with Blackburn in gameweek 33. Goals will be expected to arrive across those three matches, with Cahill seemingly best placed to be amongst them.
Cahill is currently away with the Socceroos for their friendly in Germany on March 29. Fantasy Managers will want to see him return intact and in a timely manner in order to consider him for gameweek 31.
