Dilemmas of the Week - Gameweek 5 (25/26)

 

I'm trying to streamline these weekly round-ups a bit from last year, restricting myself for the most part to just the injuries etc. affecting players that are likely to have a major significance in FPL; and also, of course, only to new injuries - I figure everyone should be aware of players who've already been ruled out for some time!  

[For some years, I have found the 'Injuries & Bans' summary on Fantasy Football Scout the most reliable resource for this kind of information; although this site, Premier League Injuries, is a very good alternative (often a little quicker to update, I think - though it did go through a bit of a glitchy period for a while last year).  Go check these out for more comprehensive coverage. 

I see the Fantasy Premier League site has added an improved 'Player Availability' page this year (though hidden under 'The Scout' tab?!). That also seems to be reasonably comprehensive and up-to-date, but god knows how it's supposed to be 'organised' - maybe by 'date of injury'? Obviously, arranging it by club and alphabetical order would be more sensible; but the denizens of FPL Towers seem to have a deep aversion to the sensible.]

So, what are the conundrums we face ahead of Gameweek 5 of the new season?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

Martin Odegaard looks likely to miss this week's clash against City after injuring his shoulder again in a fall against Forest last week.

Youri Tielemans picked up a minor calf injury last week, and is expected to be missing for a week or two.

Bafode Diakite was a late omission last week with some kind of muscle soreness, and continues to be a doubt this week (with the French Serbian Stephen Milosavljevic likely to deputise for him).

Brentford's Igor Thiago was widely reported as an injury doubt, after being omitted from the midweek League Cup tie against Villa with a knock; but apparently he's good to go.

Jack Hinshelwood turned his ankle over badly in the game against Bournemouth last week, and has apparently suffered some ligament damage which is likely to keep him out for several weeks at least. Maxim De Cuyper suffered a heavy knock to his left knee in a collision with the advertising hoardings; not too serious, but likely to keep him out this week (Kadioglu his likely replacement). [De Cuyper, remarkably, is still the 35th most-owned defender at 3.6% - despite having bled owners steadily since GW1, and more heavily this week...]

Burnley's Jacob Bruun Larsen was omitted last week with a training knock, but it's hoped he might be available again this time.

Maresca says Cole Palmer is OK, despite appearing to suffer some discomfort in his groin at the end of this week's Champions League game against Bayern. And Romeo Lavia is finally close to a possible return, though probably not this week.

Leeds's Dan James (abdominal injury) and Wilfried Gnonto (calf strain) are both likely to miss this week's game against Wolves.

Kieran Trippier picked up a knock against Barcelona in midweek, and Fabian Schar had to withdraw after feeling woozy some time after taking a fierce Marcus Rashford shot into the side of his face (so, will surely be excluded by 'concussion protocols', even if he's otherwise fine) - both very doubtful for this weekend. Trippier's absence might open up a chance for Lewis Hall to finally make a start at left-back, while new signing Malick Thiaw, rather than Sven Botman, might deputise for Schar.

Murillo suffered a heavy knock on the shin against Arsenal last week and has been out of team training since, though Postecoglou has hopes he might be able to take part against Burnley.

Sunderland's promising winger Enzo Le Fée missed last week's game against Palace with a minor training injury, but should be back this week.

Wolves defender Ki-Jana Hoever had to come off against Bournemouth last week with a knee injury; not too serious, but going to keep him out for a week or two. Jorgen Strand Larsen, though, is reportedly recovered from his Achilles strain, and Pereira is hopeful he can contribute minutes against Leeds.

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

Tomas Soucek is starting a three-match ban, after getting sent off for a high challenge last week.

Lesley Ugochukwu has a one-match ban for receiving two yellow cards against Liverpool (lucky it wasn't a straight red for the first one, which was pretty much identical to Soucek's foul!!).

And Anthony Gordon is serving the last instalment of his three-match ban.

You'd expect that Senne Lammens would soon replace the chaotic Altay Bayindir in the Manchester United goal, but Amorim now seems to have a knee-jerk aversion to doing anything sensible. And who, really, would take any United defensive player - or any United player - with the form they're showing at the moment??

Jean-Philippe Mateta hasn't been looking very sharp lately (missed an absolute sitter in the final minute of their League cup clash with Milwall the other night!), and is possibly carrying some sort of problem; Oliver Glasner recently said that he "needs a rest". So, with Eddie Nketiah finally fit again, maybe he will drop to the bench this week?  That woud be quite a blow in FPL, as he is the 8th most popular forward pick, with over 12% ownership.

And at Spurs, Djed Spence seems likely to lose his start now that Destiny Udogie is ready to play again.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

Aston Villa and West Ham players look like poison at the moment.

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

Phil Foden looked very impressive on his comeback last week; though there are, unfortunately, always doubts about how long his confidence will hold up when Pep constantly rotates him out of the starting lineup or plays him out of position on one of the flanks. Cole Palmer also looked back to his best in his second-half outing against Brentford, and against Bayern in midweek, where he lasted the whole game (scoring fine goals in both, and having a second against Bayern unluckily ruled out for a tight offside). Bryan Mbeumo and Leny Yoro were the only bright spots in Manchester United's lame performance last week - but you probably wouldn't want to gamble on any United players just at the moment. Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye have looked consistently good in every game so far, and I fancy them to give Liverpool a tough time in the Merseyside derby. I also thought Brentford's new centre-forward Igor Thiago looked very impressive against Chelsea last week.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!