Dilemmas of the Week - GW21

Still nothing much happening in the winter 'transfer window', but that must surely change soon - probably not for this midweek gameweek, but very possibly for GW22 at the weekend, or GW23 the gameweek after. We might imminently see some new players coming into the league (City and Arsenal, and probably also Manchester United are surely looking for a couple of key signings). But the loss of existing players, and the potential disruption ensuing from uncertainty and bad feeling around potential moves, could have even more impact than exciting new arrivals.. We've seen a number of times in recent years that when negotiations around a possible move get tense, managers often prefer to remove the player in question from their squads; that is a big hazard to watch out for over the coming month. There may also be some psychological knock-on effects elsewhere; if Gyokeres really is finally headed to Arsenal, for example, there could be a danger that the likes of Jesus, Trossard, or Havertz could be distracted, disaffected by concerns about what that might mean for their prospects of a regular start.

So, we have still a particularly tricky month ahead, which - quite apart from any other considerations (like all the much more useful, necessary, things you might have to use it for later in the season) - makes this week, or any time this month, a very bad time to play the 2nd Wildcard.

So, what are the conundrums we face ahead of Gameweek 21?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

Oops - perhaps Mikel Arteta was right to be so cautious about playing Ethan Nwaneri, because when the youngster was given a start in the last game against Brighton, he developed a leg muscle problem and had to come off at half-time, and he's expected to be out for at least a few weeks. And Arsenal suffered a raft of further injury worries in Sunday's FA Cup game against Manchester United: Riccardo Calafiori missed the game with a leg-muscle problem, while Jorginho, Jurrien Timber, and Gabriel Jesus all had to exit the game - Jesus looking like he might have quite a serious knee injury.

Rodrigo Betancur will be out for a while, after his mysterious collapse in the League Cup Semi-Final against Liverpool last week. The club are citing 'concussion protocols', because he bashed his face pretty hard on the ground when he fell; but he appeared to have already lost consciousness in mid-air as he dived for a header, so I would think he'd have to undergo a lot of tests to determine if he suffered some sort of seizure or a transient heart arrhythmia.

Bournemouth have been particularly unlucky this past week, losing both their main striker Evanilson (a broken metatarsal that needed surgery, so will probably sideline him for a couple of months) and his back-up Enes Unal (with an ACL tear that will rule him out till next season) in quick succesion. This may be good news for Dango Ouattara, who put in an excellent display as the central striker in the FA Cup demolition of West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Problems at Villa too, where Jaden Philogene and Diego Carlos had to pull out of the last match against Leicester with training knocks, while John McGinn again tweaked his hamstring in that game and had to come off, then Emi Martinez missed the Cup game against West Ham with a 'small' training injury, and Ross Barkley had to come off in that one with a calf strain. (These are probably not players that anyone owns; but still, that big a dent in their squad is likely to impair their form, and make assets like Watkins or Rogers a bit more dubious over the next few weeks...)

There's been a fair old rash of ankle injuries in the past week as well: Joao Pedro, Sammie Szmodics, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and Armando Broja - hopefully not too serious, but all doubts for this week.

Rodrigo Muniz is also a doubt, after coming off in the Cup tie against Watford with a back-muscle problem.

Harvey Barnes could be out for around a month, after coming off in the weekend's Cup tie with a tight hamstring.

Ipswich's Omari Hutchinson (groin strain) and Conor Chaplin (knee injury) are also likely to be out for at least a couple of weeks.

West Ham full-back Emerson missed the last game against City with a knock picked up in training, and Crysencio Summerville and Niklas Fullkrug both had to come off in Friday's cup tie at Villa; Fullkrug's problem apparently looks quite serious - which leaves the Hammers without any forward players.

Craig Dawson and Nelson Semedo picked up muscle problems in training at the start of the month, causing them to miss the last game against Forest, and this weekend's Cup tie against Bristol City - but they might be available again for this gameweek. No further word on Matheus Cunha's injury at the end of last year, but presumablly no news is good news.....

Do we have any players who are dropped, or not looking likely to get the starts we hoped for?

Liverpool and Everton, having had their derby fixture at Goodison postponed due to bad weather a month ago, hadn't yet reached the 19-game cut-off point for totting-up suspensions: and poor Darwin Nunez managed to pick up a fifth booking in Gameweek 20 - the only new suspension this week.

Oh... and Diogo Dalot will be suspended, after getting sent off for two yellow-card fouls in the Cup tie against Arsenal yesterday.

Kepa, on loan with Bournemouth, is ineligible to face parent club Chelsea. Odsonne Edouard, now on loan with Leicester, is similarly ineligible to play Crystal Palace.

And Fraser Forster seems to have been displaced in the Spurs goal by their new Czech arrival Antonin Kinsky.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

Kyle Walker is said to have requested a move away from City, so now seems very likely to be dropped (he hasn't been playing well, anyway!).

And people are having doubts about Trent Alexander-Arnold, after his very poor display against Manchester United (although Slot gave him a vote of confidence by making him captain in the Cup on Saturday - and he scored in that one; so, I imagine his FPL owners will mostly remain loyal at least a bit longer). My main concern with him is the possibility of an immediate transfer to Real.

Did anyone play so well, you have to consider bringing them in immediately?

No particular standouts come to mind from the last round of games, but.... if Manchester United have perhaps now turned a corner under Ruben Amorim, Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo become very attractive possibilities for Thursday night's game against Southampton.

Oh, and Bryan Mbeumo! Not just for his predictable demolition of Southampton last time out; he's been on fire again for four or five games now. And Brentford's pacey counter-attacking could maximally exploit City's present defensive weaknesses.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!

And DON'T FORGET The Boycott:

#QuitFPLinGW23         #DownWithTheNewChip