Dilemmas of the Week - GW10 (26/27)

Again, we seem to have had remarkably few new injuries this week - hooray! (Uncannily prompt vindication for my advice at the start of the week that the fear of midweek injuries is massively exaggerated.)

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. 

The Fantasy Premier League site itself now has a 'Player Availability' page (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.

I've recently discovered this additional resource, the weekly Predicted Lineups from Fantasy Football Edits. My longtime standby for this sort of news, Fantasy Footall Scout, does usually provide some explanatory commentary on its predictions, even including reminders of the key injury concerns, and sometimes also some discussion of possible alternate selections; so, if you like a bit more detail with your 'probable lineups' for the week, that could still be the preferable roundup to look at. But because FPL Edits is so stripped-down, it's rather more straightforwardly accessible, easier to scan through quickly; and I think it's also perhaps a tad more reliable with its expected formations and lineups, and a little quicker to update.

So, what are the conundrums we face ahead of Gameweek 10?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

Ezri Konsa is the biggest potential absentee this week, after coming off in midweek against Slavia Prague with an apparent knee problem. (He's above 23% owned now; and even if people might not necessarily be starting him every week, an awful lot are being tempted to play the Bench Boost on this weekend's appealing combination of fixtures.)

Jorrel Hato was a late omission against Manchester United last Saturday; his issue has still nto been specified.

Coventry's Frank Onyeka also missed last week's game with a groin strain, and remains a doubtful starter this weekend.

Jarrad Branthwaite was suffering cramps after last week's game, and his physical condition is being 'managed' carefully, after extended injury problems over the past season.

Fulham's Tom Cairney missed the game against Newcastle last week with a knee problem.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has apparently been struggling for a while with a slight foot problem, which might rule him out this week. (He has been edged out of his position as most preferred 3rd forward anyway by the recent form of Evanilson anyway, and the likes of Barry and Kostoulas are also eating into his ownership.)

Ryan Gravenberch is struggling with a heel problem, which forced him to miss Wednesday night's defeat against Fenerbahce.

Carlos Baleba had to come off in Tuesday's win over Roma with a hamstring problem.

Joelinton, only just back from an injury absence, had to come off against Everton last week with another muscle problem - which is 'still being assessed', but doesn't sound good.

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

Young Max Dowman is serving the second part of his three-match ban for getting sent off in the League Cup against Fleetwood. 

Jean-Philippe Mateta is beginning a three-match ban for his red card against Spurs on Monday night. (Very harsh in my view: the challenge was clumsy but innocuous, and - so early in the game - not deserving more than a yellow; and certainly not 'endangering the opponent'.)  Whereas... Lisandro Martinez and Jacob Ramsey are both astonishingly lucky that their much worse fouls only received second yellows rather than straight reds, and thus face only a one-match suspension.

Sunderland's Omar Alderete is also suspended for one match after receiving two yellow cards against Coventry last weekend.

Matty Cash and Hull's Matt Crooks have become the first players this season to earn a one-match suspension for reaching 5 yellow cards.

Jack Grealish seems to be still in the doghouse with David Moyes, over his missing a training session last week. In fact, there's been a statement that he is not considered 'match fit' for this Friday's game - which may hint that he's been on the lash again, has compromised his fitness with a drinking binge.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

No, I don't think anyone stunk the place up last week. Coventry, Ipswich, and Palace (who nearly got something against Spurs, despite having to play almost the entire game with 10 men) are showing considerable improvement. Spurs and Manchester United are looking better too, though still struggling to score. Forest, Fulham, and Sunderland are in a very rocky place right now, but look as if they should have the quality to turn things around soon.

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

Evanilson has certainly been looking in very good form the past few weeks (and is this week's 'Most Transferred In' player, with nearly 700,000 new managers acquiring him) - but I just don't see him as an obviously preferable alternative to whoever you might have as your (rarely to be used...) third forward already. The Sheep have also been rushing in for Luka Vuskovic and Jan-Paul Van Hecke - just because they picked up freak goals last week?? Ridiculous.

With a particularly appealing set of apparent fixture mismatches this week (City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Bournemouth all facing notably weak opponents; and Arsenal, Villa, Newcastle, Everton, and Leeds also likely to be strongly fancied for potentially good wins), many people are contemplating using their Triple Captain or Bench Boost chips. I'd be tempted, but.... I'm carrying crocked Joao Pedro on my bench and have one or two other slight doubts, so I don't really have a bench to wager. Doing a multiple coin toss to choose between Haaland, Palmer, Manzambi, Cherki, and Jackson for the Triple Captain is overwhelmingly tempting, though.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!