News in Brief: 21st Sep 12

Here are some football news for 20th Sep which might affect your fantasy lineup, starting with the the Europa League matches:

- It was the Young Boys against the young boys of Liverpool, as Brendan Rodgers fielded an entirely different 1st 11 from the Sunderland game. These players, such as Jose Enrique, Stewart Downing & Jordan Henderson, looks unlikely to be facing Man Utd on Sunday.

- Similarly, Newcastle fielded mostly squad players in the 0-0 draw against Maritimo. Alan Padrew dismissed rumours that he was angry at Demba Ba, though it's kinda odd that he'll blurt out on Ba's release clause again. 

- In contrast, only Tottenham took the Big Vase seriously, as AVB fielded a strong 1st team against Lazio. There are rumours that Kyle Naughton left the game in a protected cast due to a right foot injury sustained in the game, which might lead to Jan Vertonghen shifting to leftback and Steven Caulker being called upon in central defence.

- Wojciech Szczesny has been ruled out for “two to three weeks” by Arsene Wenger, with Vito Mannone set to be handed the starting role between the sticks for Arsenal.

- Chelsea's Oscar shook off the knock picked up in the midweek Champions League draw with Juventus, and will be in the squad against Stoke.

- Besides the confirmed absentees of Darren Gibson & Nikica Jelavic, Everton's manager David Moyes states that Tony Hibbert is doubtful as well. 

- Martin Jol has revealed Kieran Richardson, Mahamadou Diarra, Simon Davies, Karim Frei, Philippe Senderos and Ashkan Dejagah are all unavailable. With Brian Ruiz & Mladen Petric returning, there might be less gametime for Alex Kacaniklic...

- Sergio Aguero is fit and available, though Samir Nasri is unlikely to feature against his former side due to a hamstring problem. Mancini has also denies any bust up with Mario Balotelli.

- Wayne Rooney will not lead the Manchester United line at Liverpool on Sunday, while Ashley Young is also set to be unavailable for both United and England until mid-October with a knee injury.

- Papiss Cisse is suffering from illness, while Cheik Tiote has been out since the opening day of the season with a calf injury, but both were expected to train on Friday and could be included.

- Anton Ferdinand, Fabio and Armand Traore, Samba Diakite and Stephane Mbia will miss out, while Adel Taarabt is a doubt having sustained a setback in training.

- Swansea is facing a mini-crisis with Ashley Williams, Leon Britton, Jonathan de Guzman and Danny Graham doubtful, while Kemy Agustien joins a lengthy list of absentees including Neil Taylor, Chico Flores, Kyle Bartley and Garry Monk.

News in Brief: 20th Sep 12

Here are some football news for 20th Sep which might affect your fantasy lineup, starting with the Champions League matches:

- At Old Trafford, De Gea, Evans & Evra started in place of Lindegaard, Rio Ferdinand & pick-of-last-week Buttner, while Darren Fletcher came on the pitch on the 79th minute. Michael Carrick scored the only goal of the game after being fed by Shinji Kagawa, while the scoreline could have been greater had Nani put away the penalty.

Ferguson took the blame for not assigning a penalty taker prior to the match. He quoted in the post-match conference

To be honest with you, I had no idea. I think Nani just ran and grabbed the ball. I thought Robin should have taken it. I think we will have to decide before the game – that was my fault, I should have done that.

 Until Rooney returns from injury, it looks like the penalty duties will be handled by RVP.

- Fernando Torres was the only recognizable striker in Chelsea's lineup, as Daniel Sturridge was out with a hamstring injury. However, the star of the night belongs to Oscar. Handed a starting role against European giants Juventus, he had a dream debut by scoring both Chelsea's goals in the 2-2 draw. (Assists by Hazard & A.Cole)

However, he was subbed out late in the game due to a nasty ankle injury, so do not jump on his bandwagon till Chelsea assesses his injury situation.

- Plenty of injury news to worry about:

• A Hamstring injury rules out Tottenham's Emmanueal Adebayor for tonight's Europa League clash against Lazio. Defoe's the likely beneficiary if Adebayor doesn't recover for the weekend matches.
• Everton's striker Nikica Jelavic will be out for at least 2 weeks due to his clash with the goalpost during the game against Newcastle. Kevin Mirallas or Victor Anichebe looks set to replace him in the starting 11.
• Martin O’Neill expects Carlos Cuellar to miss this weekend’s game at West Ham with a hamstring injury, and is likely to remain doubtful for the next few weeks. MON also mentioned that the timetable for Adam Johnson's return remains uncertain.
• Roberto Martinez admitted that Antolin Alcaraz is doubtful ahead of this weekend’s Barclays Premier League clash with Fulham at the DW Stadium.
• WBA's manager Clarke revealed Steven Reid is continuing his rehab work on his hamstring problem but described new boy Goran Popov’s chances of playing as ‘very doubtful’.  Liam Ridgewell & Gareth McAuley (& Billy Jones) owners can breathe a short sigh of relief as their places in the first team looks secured this weekend.
• ADDITIONAL NEWS: Martin Jol state that Fulham's Bryan Ruiz is back from injury, and Mladen Petric is available for selection.

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News in Brief: 19th Sep 12

Here are some football news which might affect your fantasy lineup:

- In this morning Champions League match, Arsenal claimed a 2-1 victory over Montpellier, with Lukas Podolski (6.6) & Gervinho (6.0) getting on the scoresheet, assisted by Olivier Giroud (6.9) & Carl Jenkinson (4.0). Abou Diaby (3.9) made his return from injury, and was rewarded with a yellow card within the 1st minute of the game. Do note that Gervinho was deployed in a right-wing position for the game.

- Although Man City scored 2 goals too, but they were on a losing end of a 2-3 defeat to Real Madrid. Edin Dzeko (7.0) & Aleksandar Kolarov (4.7) scored, while an assist was given to Yaya Toure (4.8). Man City's lineup sprung a few surprises: Matija Nastasic (4.6) was selected ahead of Lescott and Kolo Toure, while Gael Clichy (4.9) was selected ahead of Kolarov, though he was substituted in the 1st half for an injured Samir Nasri (5.1). Keep an eye on his injury status during the week. There are rumours that he might miss the weekend clash against his former club, Arsenal.

Tempers flared after the game, as Joe Hart was critical of his teammates in a post-match interview after the game. This led to a stern rebuke from manager Roberto Mancini:

Joe Hart should stay in goal and make saves. If anyone should criticise the team it should be me, not Joe Hart. I am the judge, not Joe Hart.

Joe Hart's position in the team should be safe, but this might not bode well in their preparation for the big clash against Arsenal.

- Alex Ferguson revealed that he WILL rotate both De Gea (4.5) & Lindegaard (4.4). Speaking in the pre-CL match conference yesterday:

“The most important thing I’m trying to do is give both of them experience in the English game. Neither is as experienced as Edwin van der Sar or Peter Schmeichel. Alternating isn’t a problem for me. They’re both equally very good goalkeepers. That’s the policy we’ve adopted this season and last season, although De Gea played most of last season after Lindegaard was injured. I’m comfortable with this situation.”

It's time for fantasy managers to drop both Man Utd keepers out of their team & banish from your shortlist. Unless there's a lengthy injury to either keeper, you're likely to be "Fergified" come matchday.

- In other Man Utd news, Wayne Rooney (8.0) is said to be back in training from his thigh injury, and might even be featured in the Champions League clash against Galatasaray. Let's keep a close eye on whether the Fatman & Robin partnership will be reunited again this weekend.

- Just when the Demba Ba's (6.4) bandwagon heats up with his double over the weekend., his agent poured cold water with the following statement:

Since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, Demba doesn't understand the management. If he continues to be a substitute all season, we'll look at other solutions. How could you put your best striker with full confidence on the left wing?  The choice to put Demba on the left last season was good for the club, because Cisse scored 13 goals. But there was a lack of recognition for Demba. It is more difficult to play well when you don't have the confidence of your staff 'Demba is happy at Newcastle. He is playing in the Premier League, with lot of fellow French speakers and he loves the club's supporters. He would like to start every game but he respects the choice of the coach, even if he does not always understand or agree.

There's no response from neither the player nor the Newcastle management about the statement from Ba's agent, but Padrew will definitely be addressing the press during the pre-Europa League match conference soon. 

- Reading's goalkeeper Adam Federici (2.9) was dropped for the past game due to his poor performance, and his girlfriend went on a Twitter rant:

Football has left me feeling totally numb and empty inside! For once I have NO explanation! #noloyalty #absolutejoke.
Unbelievable!!! You need thick skin for success!!

Even though Brian McDermott have mentioned that he has no problem with the tweets, but it doesn't make it any easier for Federici to win back his starting spot from Alex McCarthy (2.9).

- Highly unlikely that your team might contain Stoke's Andy Wilkinson (3.5), but if you do, you might want to note that the FA have charged him for an off-the-ball incident, and he might be faced with a 3-match ban.