Late Fitness Check - GW17
My favourite time of the season – games coming thick & fast – rotation, fatigue, suspension and injury are enough to keep the most vigilant fantasy manager on their toes over the holiday period so make sure you follow the experts @Rotoworld_PL who will be working tirelessly throughout to ensure you don’t need to! Lots of key match-ups in GW17 with Brendan Rodgers feeling the pressure at Liverpool – the Reds entertain Arsenal at Anfield without Mario Balotelli [suspension]. Manchester United will be looking to make it seven wins-in-a-row against a depleted Villa side – recent history suggests Paul Lamberts’ men will be in for a torrid afternoon while the wheels are slowly coming off the Southampton bandwagon on the back of five straight defeats. The Saints have a number of absences – particularly in midfield – and will do well to hold out at St Marys’ against an improving Everton team. Good luck and a very Merry Christmas to one & all ……..
Manchester City – vs – Crystal Palace
Manuel Pellegrini confirms Sergio Aguero, Stevan Jovetic & Edin Dzeko will not be in Saturdays' squad "three of them are out tomorrow" while captain "Vincent [Kompany] is recovering from his [hamstring] injury but he is not fit.” David Silva or James Milner could play in an advanced role although the young Spanish striker Pozo is an option. Nastasic [thigh] is not expected to be fit.
Marouane Chamakh will be out for a few weeks “at least” after the Eagles striker tweaked his hamstring during last weekends’ draw with Stoke – Fraizer Campbell and Dwight Gayle come into the reckoning. Adrian Mariappa has returned to full training having recovered from a knee ligament problem and will face a late fitness test – Joe Ledley is managing an ongoing hip problem which could mean the midfielder misses out but James McArthur [groin] should be okay. Wilfried Zaha will be included following a minor knock.
Aston Villa – vs – Manchester United
Paul Lambert has a number of concerns ahead of the game with United and the Villains boss will include at least 1/2 youngsters in Saturdays’ squad – Tom Cleverley, Kieran Richardson and Alan Hutton are all suspended while Philippe Senderos, Nathan Baker, Ashley Westwood and Joe Cole remain sidelined. On a brighter note Ron Vlaar and Fabian Delph will be available following their return from the bench last weekend.
Louis van Gaal confirms Angel di Maria is approaching full fitness and "might be on the bench" while Falcao "could start" at Villa Park on Saturday. Marcos Rojo [thigh] had a scan on Thursday and if it comes back all clear then the Argentine defender also has a chance of featuring. Rafael, Jesse Lingard and Anderson are injury-free but lacking fitness while Luke Shaw [ankle] is targeting a return over Christmas. Daley Blind [knee] is progressing as hoped but is still a “few weeks away.” Chris Smalling [groin] is closing in on a return.
Hull City – vs – Swansea City
Hatem Ben Arfa has played his last game for Hull City, the on-loan outcast from Newcastle is currently AWOL in France but his agreement will end on December 31st. A specialist has confirmed Mo Diame [knee] won’t train again until the New Year while defender Michael Dawson [hamstring] will be out for at least a month after suffering a grade two tear. Tom Huddlestone begins a four game ban.
No fresh injury concerns for Garry Monk who will welcome back Lukas Fabianski after completing a one game ban - Frederico Fernandez [calf] is close to a return with Kyle Bartley at risk of dropping out.
Queens Park Rangers – vs – West Brom
Harry Redknapp confirms "We're pretty much as we were with injuries" but Mauricio Isla will miss out as he returns home [Chile] to attend the birth of his child. Charlie Austin is included after completing a one match ban but it remains to be seen whether Steven Caulker will make the match-day squad. Sandro and Adel Taarabt remain out while the latter has expressed his wish to return to Italy during the January transfer window.
Jonas Olsson [Achilles] is the only definite absentee for the Baggies while Victor Anichebe battles an ongoing groin problem – the striker will be assessed ahead of the game – Saido Berahino or Ideye Brown will benefit should he miss out. Captain Chris Brunt is available after recovering from the hamstring strain which forced him out of the West Ham match more than two weeks ago and Georgios Samaras [compassionate leave] will return from Greece on Friday but is expected to miss out.
Southampton – vs – Everton
Major problems for Ronald Koeman as Jake Hesketh [knee], Jack Cork [ankle], Dusan Tadic and Sam Gallagher [knee] are all ruled out through injury while Morgan Schneiderlin, Victor Wanyama and Florin Gardos are suspended. Graziano Pelle and Steven Davis will both have a late fitness test and are said to struggling with fatigue-related problems. Due to the number of absences Harrison Reed could get the nod with James Ward-Prowse in line for his first Premier League start since September.
Kevin Mirallas [ankle] is not as bad as originally feared but the winger will not be available for trip to St Marys’ – Martinez is confident he should be available for Boxing Day. John Stones returned to the squad on Monday ahead of schedule but the England defender won’t be rushed back into action. James McCarthy and Darron Gibson are rated as 50/50 while Leon Osman and Tony Hibbert are likely to miss out. Gareth Barry returns from suspension but Christian Atsu [hamstring] is ruled out.
Tottenham – vs – Burnley
Mauricio Pochettino has the luxury of a fully fit squad for the visit of Burnley on Saturday - Ben Davies, Ryan Mason and Kyle Walker all come into consideration after being rested for the Capital One Cup victory over Newcastle on Wednesday night. Emmanuel Adebayor [personal reasons] has trained this week and Eric Dier [toe] is fully recovered.
Matty Taylor is still recovering from Achilles surgery with a return in January realistic while Stephen Ward is out – the defender had an Op to pin his ankle. Michael Duff [calf] suffered a recurrence "but he's going well now” so may be back over Christmas but Sam Vokes will continue his rehab by playing for the under-21s – Sean Dyche is reluctant to give any time frame on his return although the striker is close. Ben Mee has recovered from illness which forced his early withdrawal during the win over Southampton.
West Ham – vs – Leicester City
Mark Noble is still struggling with an Achilles problem which is expected to keep the midfielder out for one more game but other than that Sam Allardyce has a fairly healthy squad. Enner Valencia may have to be content with a place on the bench again as Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho look set to lead the line.
Matthew Upson is close but Nigel Pearson won’t risk his veteran defender just yet – David Nugent [ankle] returned to training on Thursday after missing the home defeat to Manchester City with Jamie Vardy the man who could make way. Dean Hammond will be hoping for some game time after he was an unused substitute last week and Richie de Laet is available following illness. Ben Hamer will continue to deputise in goal as Kasper Schmeichel continues his recovery – fractured metatarsal - from surgery.
Newcastle United – vs – Sunderland
Alan Pardew has confirmed "Jak Alnwick is fine” while Papiss Cisse [illness] and Steven Taylor were both able to train on Friday. Cheick Tiote and Sammy Ameobi will be assessed further when they train on Saturday – Daryl Janmaat missed the defeat at White Hart Lane through suspension in the Capital One but will return for the derby. Newcastle have a host of long-term absentees to contend with – Rob Elliot, Tim Krul, Davide Santon, Curtis Good, Rolando Aarons, Gabriel Obertan and Siem de Jong are all out. Mehdi Abeid [toe] is close but could miss out while Moussa Sissoko is fit and available.
Emanuele Giaccherini will return to the squad after more than three months out but Billy Jones [hamstring] is at least another week away. No wholesale changes for from Poyet – Steven Fletcher for Jozy Altidore would be the only obvious switch. Patrick van Aanholt remains sidelined.
Liverpool – vs – Arsenal
Brendan Rodgers confirms Brad Jones will continue in goal with Simon Mignolet out for an “indefinite period.” Mario Balotelli has been handed a one game ban following his now ‘infamous’ social media post but the striker was a doubt anyway because of a muscular problem. Dejan Lovren will face a late fitness test having injured his groin during Wednesday nights’ Capital One Cup win over Bournemouth. Glen Johnson is expected to miss at least a month but Jon Flanagan and Suso are closing in on a return following long-term injury.
Theo Walcott & Nacho Monreal have a “small chance” of returning on Sunday, the duo will be assessed on Saturday along with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain [groin]. David Ospina is training fully while Tomas Rosicky is closing in on his comeback - Boxing Day is realistic. Laurent Koscielny, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere, Serge Gnabry and Abou Diaby all remain out but they are “progressing as expected.” Calum Chambers completes a one game ban.
Stoke City – vs – Chelsea
A hip injury is not expected to keep Bojan Krkic out, the ex-Barcelona attacker returned to training on Thursday while a “bang on the knee” shouldn’t prevent Stephen Ireland from making the game against Chelsea. Marc Muniesa [hamstring] will come back into Mark Hughes’ thoughts but Victor Moses, Steve Sidwell, Dionatan Teixeira and Peter Odemwingie are all out.
Kurt Zouma [head] "is fine" following his sickening clash with Petr Cech in the Carling Cup midweek – the defender will be available for the Stoke game while Mourinho expects Didier Drogba [ankle] "to be recovered in time." Thibaut Courtois [groin] should okay with Nathan Ake [hamstring] close to a return. Cesc Fabregas has completed his one game suspension.
