Fantasy Football NEWS

THE FRIDAY FEATURE : Weekend preview ? injuries, suspensions etc.

Published by Robert Nolan on February 20, 2009

In what will become a regular feature on Fridays, here we will preview the forthcoming Premier League action. As a fantasy football manager, it?s important to have all the latest news on who will play and who won?t. You don?t want players still in your team that aren?t going to play and therefore losing you possible points. So in this piece we aim to give you the latest injury and suspension news, as well as previewing the games and giving you a ?man to watch? for each match, who might gain you a few extra points.

Arsenal vs. Sunderland, Saturday 21st February, 3pm
Arsenal: Injuries ? Adebayor, Eduardo, Fabregas, Rosicky, Walcott, doubts over Diaby and Silvestre.
Sunderland: Injuries ? doubts over McShane, Nosworthy and Tainio.
Suspensions ? Bardsley (1 match ban).
Arsenal would be expected to win this one. But nothing is ever clear-cut with Arsene Wenger?s team. Injury to Eduardo is another blow to their attacking options but they should have enough to defeat the Black Cats.
Man to watch: Robin Van Persie (Arsenal).

Aston Villa vs. Chelsea, Saturday 21st February, 12:45pm
Aston Villa: Injuries ? Laursen, Bouma, doubts over Heskey, Milner, Cuellar and Reo-Coker.
Chelsea: Injuries ? J Cole, Essien, doubts over Carvalho and Alex.
Suspensions ? A Cole (1 match).
Arguably the pick of the weekend?s clashes. Villa had a tough UEFA Cup clash in midweek so tiredness may work in Chelsea?s favour. I?d make Chelsea slight favourites.
Man to watch: Ricardo Quaresma (Chelsea).

Bolton Wanderers vs. West Ham United, Saturday 21st February, 3pm
Bolton: Injuries ? O?Brien, Vaz Te, doubts over Hunt, Elmander, McCann and Cohen.
West Ham: Injuries ? Cole, Ashton, Gabbidon.
Suspensions ? Neill (1 match).
West Ham had been on a good run until Manchester United beat them last time out. Their star player this season, Carlton Cole, will miss this one and Bolton have players coming back, so make the home team favourites to win this one, narrowly.
Man to watch: Gretar Steinsson (Bolton).

Manchester United vs. Blackburn Rovers, Saturday 21st February, 5:30pm
Man Utd: Injuries ? Neville, Hargreaves, Anderson.
Blackburn: Injuries ? Emerton, Reid.
Suspensions ? Samba (1 match), Simpson (ineligible to play against his parent club).
United are flying at the moment, and in current form I can?t see anyone stopping them, let alone struggling Rovers. Expect an easy home win and a 15th consecutive clean sheet for the Red Devils.
Man to watch: Wayne Rooney (Man Utd).

Middlesbrough vs. Wigan Athletic, Saturday 21st February, 3pm
Middlesbrough: Injuries ? Riggott, Taylor, doubts over Alves and Aliadiere.
Suspensions ? King (ineligible to play against his parent club).
Wigan: Injuries ? Valencia, doubt over de Ridder.
Suspensions ? Mido (ineligible to play against his parent club).
Middlesbrough are really struggling, and if they are without Afonso Alves and Jeremie Aliadiere as well as Marlon King, I can only see them struggling in this game too. Wigan are enjoying a great season, they?ll miss the pace, skill and width of Antonio Valencia but still see them triumphing in this one.
Man to watch: Amr Zaki (Wigan).

Stoke City vs. Portsmouth, Saturday 21st February, 3pm
Stoke: Injuries ? Fuller, doubts over Kelly, Higginbotham, Sidibe, Shawcross and Wilkinson.
Suspensions ? Delap (2nd match of 3 game ban) and Etherington (1st game of 3 match ban).
Portsmouth: Injuries ? Diop, Hughes, doubts over Pele, Kaboul and Traore.
Battle of two teams at the bottom. Stoke have a decent home record while Pompey are still without a manager. Could go either way this one, but don?t see it being a game of many goals.
Man to watch: Glen Johnson (Portsmouth).

Fulham vs. West Bromwich Albion, Sunday 22nd February, 1:30pm
Fulham: Injuries ? Etuhu, Kamara, doubts over Johnson and Konchesky.
West Brom: Injuries ? Beattie, Clement, Greening, Miller, Olsson, doubts over Simpson and Morrison.
Fulham have been a surprise package this season but the Baggies are struggling rock bottom. Both team struggle for goal scoring, so I see defences coming out on top. Fulham to win by the odd goal in a low scoring affair.
Man to watch: Simon Davies (Fulham).

Liverpool vs. Manchester City, Sunday 22nd February, 3pm
Liverpool: Injuries ? Degan, doubts over Gerrard and Insua.
Suspensions ? Alonso (1 match).
Man City: Injuries ? Ball, Benjani, Bojinov, Hamann, Johnson, Petrov, doubts over Vassell and Sturridge.
Suspensions ? Wright-Phillips (2nd game of 3 match ban).
Liverpool haven?t had a game for a couple of weeks so should be nice and fresh and keen to keep their title challenge alive. Should be helped by City?s European trip to Denmark on Thursday. City?s away record is poor, so can?t see past a comfortable home victory.
Man to watch: Albert Riera (Liverpool).

Newcastle United vs. Everton, Sunday 22nd February, 4pm
Newcastle: Injuries ? Barton, Beye, Carroll, Gonzalez, Guthrie, Owen, Xisco, doubt over Martins.
Everton: Injuries ? Vaughan, Yakubu, doubts over Saha, Pienaar, Osman and Fellaini.
Suspensions ? Cahill (1 match) and Hibbert (1 match).
Newcastle?s injury list never ceases to amaze. How do they pick up all these injuries? Missing key players like Michael Owen again and Mark Viduka might feature. Everton continue to impress despite playing most of the season striker-less! Jo should play for the Toffees. Could be a close game but I see the blues edging it, maybe a few goals to be had though.
Man to watch: Jo (Everton).

Hull City vs. Tottenham Hotspur, Monday 23rd February, 8pm
Hull: Injuries ? Boateng, Bullard and doubt over Cousin.
Tottenham: Injuries ? Defoe, Hutton, doubts over Bale, King, Lennon and O?Hara.
Hull have been having a terrible time but last time out held Chelsea at Stamford Bridge which will surely give them a confidence boost. Tottenham have only won 1 in their last 9 Premier League outings and suffered a UEFA Cup loss on Thursday to boot. Harry Redknapp?s eyes may be focused more on the upcoming Carling Cup final next Sunday. I expect a hard fought game probably ending in a score draw,
Man to watch: Dean Marney (Hull).

Have a great weekend, enjoy all the football, and more importantly the best of luck with your fantasy football.

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