Dilemmas of the Week - GW9 (26/27)

Mercifully, there haven't been many new injuries in the League Cup ties this midweek. However - although at least there's no extra-time in these games - there is a danger of some psychological exhaustion for the teams who went through penalty shootouts (Liverpool and City), and even more so for those who lost in penalty shootouts (Brighton, Chelsea, and Arsenal!). And the 9 clubs who'd already been eliminated before this week's 'Round of 16' (Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Manchester United. Nottingham Forest, Spurs, Hull, Ipswich, Coventry) might enjoy a slight advantage from having had a full week of uninterrupted training without a match to worry about.

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 9?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

Riccardo Calafiori was suffering with a niggle at the end of last week's game against Everton (reportedly a hip issue), but has been back in training this week, and seems likely to be OK to start. Likewise, Declan Rice came off last weekend with a tight hamstring, but has also returned to training. Noni Madueke, who has picked up an ankle injury, might be more of a problem. And young Max Dowman (though never a regular starter anyway) has got himself banned.

Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson were left out of the Cup game against Bournemouth and were not spotted in training; Emery has hinted darkly that there were reasons other than just 'rest' for their midweek omission.

Rico Henry has been revealed to have been suffering with a thigh-muscle problem - although the poor chap never seems to have got anywhere near a start anywhere over the past year or more.

Chema Andres and Ferdi Kadioglu have both been struggling with hip issues, but Hurzeler seems optimistic that they will be available to start this weekend.

Maxence Lacroix picked up a hamstring injury in Wednesday's Cup defeat by Liverpool and will be out for a few weeks. Moises Caicedo and Malo Gusto also had muscle problems in that game, but it seems they're looking probably OK again for the weekend. Jorrel Hato has been ruled out for an unspecified issue - so Marco Palestra might finally get a start at left wing-back.

Jarrad Branthwaite was still missing the midweek Cup win over Newcastle under concussion protocols, after his collision with Emi Martinez two weeks ago. He should be in the clear for this weekend, but after such a long break from training, it seems doubtful he'll come straight back in, and Michael Keane will probably keep the start for at least one more week.

Matias Fernandez-Pardo missed last week's match against Palace and the midweek Cup defeat to Everton with an illness. He probably wouldn't have been expected to start over Will Osula, but the other forward is also now a doubt after coming off with an ankle knock in the Cup Game. Lewis Miley has also been missing for the past week with a muscle problem.

Dan Ndoye is a doubt for Forest because of a tight hamstring.

Nordi Mukiele had to come off last week against Leeds after taking a blow to the throat; doesn't seem that serious, but he's still a doubt....

James Maddison came off early in the second-half against Chelsea last week with a groin strain; but De Zerbi insists he's recovered. (Given the poor lad's injury record, I wouldn't be taking any chances on him with a muscle injury...)

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

Max Dowman is starting a 3-match 'violent conduct' ban for getting involved in a bit of argey-bargey towards the end of the Cup tie with Fleetwood.

Yegor Yarmolyuk, Ryan Sessegnon, and Rodrigo Bentancur are serving the last part of their 3-match bans this weekend.

Jack Grealish is in trouble with David Moyes for missing a training session this week (and you wonder if there's a story behind this; been out on the lash again, perhaps?), and so may face being dropped as a wrist-slap.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

Spurs are suddenly becoming popular again in FPL, as they are showing clear signs of improvement now under De Zerbi, and they have some supposedly 'better' fixtures ahead. In fact, they have fairly 'soft' opponents in their next three home games, but the rest of their fixtures through till the end of the year are fairly daunting; and although their overall play is much better, they're still struggling to score goals. I would be avoiding them for a while longer yet. Manchester United seem to be careening from bad to worse, and poor Michael Carrick seems increasingly certain to get the chop fairly soon - so, I wouldn't be going near any of their players either.

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

Cody Gakpo looks back to his best - although there may be some doubts about minutes-sharing when Munoz is available again, and he's not at his best if deployed off the right side. Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson have been looking must-have for a few weeks now; the FPL hordes are finally arriving late to the party, with nearly 300,000 coming in for Manzambi this week (the enthusiasm perhaps dimmed somewhat by a slight injury concern) and 1.7 million acquiring Jackson (thereby bestowing on him the curse of being the week's 'Most Transferred-In' player - an almost infallible guarantee that he'll draw a blank this week!), comfortably beating out Alexander Isak as the most preferred replacement for short-term absentee Joao Pedro.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!

Dilemmas of the Week - GW8 (26/27)

Not that many new injuries this week, thank heavens - but a couple of BIG ONES!!

I'll try to update this evening, if any further news of note emerges in Friday's press conferences.

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 8?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

The big news of the week, of course, is that Bukayo Saka (17% owned) went down with a quad injury just 10 minutes into Wednesday's clash with Bayern Munich.

Johan Manzambi came off 20 minutes from the end against Newcastle last week after suffering a knock (although some reports later described his problem as a calf-strain), and he missed the midweek game against Viking; but Emery has since been making light of the issue, implying that he could be available again this weekend. Aaron Wan-Bissaka also had to come off against Newcastle with an apparent hamstring problem, which might keep him out for the next 3 or 4 weeks.

Emi Martinez had to come off last weekend after a heavy collision with Branthwaite, which would probably have kept him out for a week or two under concussion protocols; but apparently he's needed surgery on a fractured jaw, so could be missing for a month or so. Presumably the Belgian Mike Penders will deputise for him.

Jorgen Strand Larsen went off in yesterday's Europa League match against Besiktas with an Achilles problem. Luckily Jean-Philippe Mateta came back from injury at last with a goal against Besiktas on Thursday; hopefully his fitness will be good enough to survive two starts in succession. However, he was pulled off on the hour in the European game; and Nketiah is still doubtful after only just returning to training. Quinten Timber picked up a hamstring problem in training earlier in the week, leaving the team a bit thinly stretched at the back too.

Hull's French forward Robinio Vaz had to come off with an Achilles problem at the end of the Fulham game last Saturday, though apparently scans showed no serious damage, and he has returned to training late this week.

Jeremie Frimpong came on for the second-half against Brentford last week, but lasted barely 5 minutes before going down with what looked like a pretty serious hamstring issue. Victor Munoz also had to come off after taking a heavy knock, and was subsequently missing from the midweek Champions League game against Villareal. A third casualty in that game was Dominik Szoboszlai, troubled again by his sore hamstring; Iraola has been giving slightly mixed signals on that, suggesting that it is "not serious" but needs to be "dealt with patiently".

Leeds's usual front three are all apparently in doubt: Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Anton Stach have been suffering with knocks and Noah Okafor has a muscle issue.

The other major new absentee is Antoine Semenyo, (15% owned at the start of the week, but there's already been a big sell-off), who had to be withdrawn near the end of last week's Ipswich game, after coming on as a late substitute, with what appeared to be a thigh-strain - although subsequent reports have suggested it may be a problem with his knee. Maresca has said he expects him to be missing for about 2 months. Matheus Nunes, Nico O'Reilly, and Mateo Kovacic all missed Tuesday's game in Athens after apparently picking up problems in that Ipswich game.

Marcus Rashford missed the midweek debacle in Como with a hip issue.

Lukas Bergvall missed Monday's game against Coventry with a knee problem picked up the previous week, and Savio was a last-minute dropout with a muscle injury which is expected to sideline him for some weeks.

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

Vitaly Janelt is banned this week after receiving 2 yellow cards against Liverpool, while teammate Yegor Yarmolyuk is starting a 3-match ban for committing a "headbutt motion" (rather than an actual headbutt) on Jeremy Jacquet.

Sunderland's Kevin Danso is also serving a 1-match ban for his clumsy 'denial of a goalscoring' opportunity offence early on against Bournemouth.

Ryan Sessegnon begins a 3-match ban for his sending-off for a high challenge on Vaz last week.

Rodrigo Bentancur is serving the second leg of his 3-match 'violent conduct' ban.

There may also be some doubt about Bruno Fernandes getting dropped after he caused a bit of a ruckus in his post-match interview in Como on Wednesday night. It seems to me as though his remarks were quite measured and reasonable, and inflammatory pundits in search of clickbait have been blowing it out of all proportion; but... it is probably inappropriate for the club captain to suggest that there may have been problems with the coach's tactical decisions, and if Carrick is feeling prickly, he might get sent to the 'naughty seat' for a match. I suspect, though, that he's too important to be dropped, and that he and his manager will probably just kiss-and-make-up behind closed doors. The bigger worry than possible 'disciplinary action' would be if he's got so disillusioned with the coaching staff and the team's performances that he's starting to feel demoralized and demotivated; that does seem a serious possibility. I said before the start of the season that Bruno couldn't possibly reproduce his massive returns of last year, and that, even if he could come somwhere close, that still wouldn't be enough to justify his ludicrously excessive price-tag this time. And since the one-off freak of that monster-haul against Ipswich in Gameweek 2, he's done absolutely nothing; it is remarkable - and inappropriate - that anyone at all still owns him.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

Sunderland and Nottingham Forest are in a dangerous slump at the moment, and Fulham and Spurs, despite somewhat fortuitous wins last week, aren't yet showing any real signs of recovery. Crystal Palace are also in the mire, not helped by a spiralling injury crisis. I wouldn't be touching any of these bottom-end teams. Bournemouth and Coventry, though, are both much better than their current position suggests, posing a lot of attacking threat - even when their defences let them down; so I might consider one or two options from them; but not from the rest of the current bottom-of-the-table crowd.

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

Um, NO - it was a thoroughly drab set of games last week! The only new prospect that does intrigue me a bit is Jack Hinshelwood, back from injury at last: he scored in a 20-minute cameo off the bench last week - but, of course, it remains to be seen if he'll get a regular start again (with Gomez, Ayari, De Cuyper, and Rutter - and soon, perhaps, Mitoma and Minteh again too - all competing for spots in the creative trident behind the striker)

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!

Dilemmas of the Week - GW7 (26/27)

There have been quite a few further injuries this week - although, thankfully, not many to 'major' FPL assets.

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 7?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi apparently both picked up ankle problems just ahead of the midweek Champions League game against Lille (although neither of them seemed likely to get many Premier League minutes at the moment anyway).

Villa's new left-back Matteo Ruggeri had to come off against Brentford last week, and apparently has a moderately serious hamstring strain that could keep him out for a month or so. With Ian Maatsen still out with an ankle problem, Aaron Wan-Bissaka will presumably have to switch sides to cover for him. Ross Barkley, getting a rare start against Fenerbahce in midweek, had to come off with a knock, and looks likely to be sidelined for a week or so.

Jannik Schuster and Kevin Schade both had to come off against Villa last week, the former with an aggravation of a longstanding niggle in his ankle and the latter with a shoulder injury; both are doubtful starters for this week - Schade obviously the bigger problem for FPL, since he'd been the 9nth most popular midfielder with nearly 17% ownership.

Pascal Struijk managed to get his sending-off against Sunderland overturned, but pulled a hamstring in training this week.

Jarrad Branthwaite is struggling with a dead leg picked up against Hull last week.

Hull defender Nobel Mendy has picked up a groin strain and is set to be out for a couple of weeks.

Dominik Szoboszlai was a late drop-out from the City game last week with a sore hamstring.

Kobbie Mainoo missed the midweek game against Atleti after picking up a knock in training.

Igor Jesus has picked up a calf strain which is expected to keep him out for a few weeks; it will be interesting to see if Liam Delap can now make any impact with a regular guaranteed start. Morgan Gibbs-White is also a doubt this week after picking up a muscle strain against Palace last Sunday.

Wilson Isidor has picked up a knock during the week - although Brian Brobbey might be ready to return in his stead. Veteran Belgian full-back Thomas Meunier, outstanding against Brighton last week, had to come off in that game with a hamstring strain.

Enzo Maresca made an alarming comment this week about Erling Haaland needing a rest 'soon'. That might be just 'mind-games'; and you suspect that 'soon' might mean next week's Champions League clash against relatively un-scary AEK... But still, it's a worry - especially for all those (possibly some millions??) who'd been planning to use their Triple Captain chip on him this weekend.

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

Rodrigo Bentancur is beginning a three-match ban for his 'headbutt' on Luke Shaw last week. Axel Disasi is serving the last part of his three-match ban this weekend. Ryan Gravenberch misses this week after receiving two yellow cards against City last Sunday.

Pascal Struijk managed to get last week's 'denial of a goalscoring opportunity' red card overturned (the review panel accepting the argument that the through-ball to Isidor was running past him too fast for him to have retained possession - a little bit of a 50/50 proposition, for me) - but is now injured anyway.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

I warned last week against the crazy enthusiasm for Fulham having supposedly 'easy' fixtures against the promoted clubs (who've all looked much better than Fulham so far this season!); and some FPL managers are already repenting after their defeat by Ipswich last week. 65,000 have baled on their toothless striker, Goncalo Garcia, while between 10,000 and 20,000 have jettisoned their next most popular picks, Josh King, Antonee Robinson, Timothy Castagne, and Bernd Leno (I would have thought it would have been more, far more).

Liverpool are still looking terribly flakey under Iraola (a comfortable Champions League win against LASK in midweek counts for nothing), and while Isak, Gakpo, Ekitike, and Szoboszlai are missing - I wouldn't go near any of the rest of them.

A lot of folks online are making a case for Spurs now, particularly Solanke and Savio - surely they're just having a laugh???

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

Johan Manzambi had another good game for Villa last week, and Nico Jackson is starting to look like a strong contender for the 3rd forward spot. However, Coventry's Guinean youngster (he doesn't turn 20 for another couple of months!), Sidiki Cherif, was outstanding last week, and could be an interesting budget option up-front at just 5.0-million pounds. Of course, the surprise standout of last weekend was Jordan Henderson (most of us didn't even know he'd recovered from his broken wrist, and didn't think he'd be likely to get anywhere near a start anyway...); with Reece James now ruled out for at least 3 months after a knee surgery, and the perpetually injured Romeo Lavia seemingly not trusted, Henderson could in fact be in for an extended run in the side; and at only 4.9-million, he could tempt many as a 'budget-enabler' (although I always feel you shouldn't scrimp like that on your crucial 5th midfielder; it doesn't seem likely that he'll be producing goals every week... but who knows?). Around 60,000 have piled in for him already.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!

Dilemmas of the Week - GW6 (26/27)

Although I often say that international breaks don't usually produce many injuries, it was always quite likely that this latest, unprecedentedly extended one - 1.5x as long as any in the past, with 2x as many games! - might turn out to be an exception to that encouraging general rule. And so it has proven to be. We have had a fair old welter of 'injury flags' raised against some of our top FPL players over the last few weeks. 

At least the great majority of them have been yellow flags only, so... we might yet get away with it. But in many ways this is even worse: the uncertainty over whether players may yet make a miraculous recovery, pass a 'last-minute fitness test' and appear this weekend after all, or over whether they may only miss this one gameweek and we should probably try to find some way of hanging on to them (rather than shedding some squad-value with a quick sell-and-buy-back), all of this makes this week's selection decisions all the more perplexing. And we probably can't rely on managers to have been completely forthcoming about everyone's availability prospects in Friday's press conferences either.

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 6?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

The following suffered injuries during or immediately prior to our last batch of league games on the weekend of 19th/20th September: Declan Rice, Patrick Kluivert, Lewis Dunk, Pascal Struijk, Reece James, Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer, Milan van Ewijk, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Matt Targett, Harry Wilson, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford, Benjamin Sesko, Amar Dedic, Tino Livramento, Lewis Miley, Jacob Ramsey, and Pedro Porro.

And the following apparently suffered injuries while on international duty: Max Dowman, Kai Havertz, Ezri Konsa, Christos Tzolis, Matty Cash, David Brooks, Alex Scott, Mikkel Damsgaard, Jamie Gittens, Vitaly Mykolenko, Anan Khalaili, Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak, Jeremy Jacquet, Nico O'Reilly, Antoine Semenyo, Patrick Dorgu, Noussair Mazraoui, Dan Ballard, Brian Brobbey, Micky van de Ven and Jan-Paul van Hecke. Meanwhile, Dango Ouattara, Yasin Ayari, and Neco Williams have apparently been suffering with illness. Nikola Milenkovic and Igor Jesus have also joined Forest's injury list in the last few days.

Erling Haaland also signalled that he needed to come off with 25 minutes left in Monday's rematch against Portugal. This was apparently due to 'extreme fatigue' rather than any particular injury - but that might still be a concern going into Sunday's match at Anfield.

On the face of it, this looks pretty catastrophic. But one suspects that many of the pre-break problems were probably exaggerated - if not entirely concocted - to excuse players from international duty, and will have completely disappeared this weekend. Most of the problems that arose during the Nations League games were catalogued as 'unspecified' or 'minor', and appear to be listed so far as only 'yellow flag' issues. However, Dorgu, Brobbey, and Ballard appeared to have suffered significant hamstring injuries, Havertz a serious thigh-muscle strain, and Damsgaard and Gakpo quite heavy ankle knocks - so, they're probably the most serious concerns.

I drafted this roundup yesterday, before all the press conference news was out - although most of that wasn't ultimately very helpful. Max Dowman, David Brooks, and Milan van Ewijk are apparently OK, and Cole Palmer is rumoured to be; several others might yet feature after a 'late fitness test'. But this weekend, we're really going into the Great Unknown.

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

Taiwo Awoniyi is starting a three-match 'violent conduct' ban for throwing an elbow at De Cuyper in Coventry's last game. Phil Foden similarly starts a three-match ban for his rather less severe or clearcut 'retaliation' to Bruno Fernandes. Axel Disasi serves for the second instalment of a three-match ban for his high challenge on Ipswich's Jack Clarke.

Abdul Fatawu is serving a one-match ban for picking up two yellow cards in the last game against Everton.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

There's a reason why Spurs, Fulham, and Coventry are anchored at the bottom of the table at the moment, and, while they may have the potential to turn things around slightly (curiously, I'd currently fancy Coventry to have the strongest chance of starting to achieve some better success, because they at least seem to pose some attacking threat), I wouldn't go near any of them with a bargepole for a while yet. Fulham are - bizarrely - the 'darlings of the week' in FPL-land (with some folks even blowing their Wildcards to treble-up on them!!), because naive managers believe the FDR assessments that the three promoted teams up next should be 'easy games' for them; they won't be - on recent form, Fulham aren't going to have any 'easy' games this season; and I can see them losing all three of these. Crystal Palace, I'm sorry to say, look the worst of the rest, and I wouldn't be touching any of their players either.

A lot of folks online have been speculating that Manchester City may suffer a collapse in morale in the wake of the announcement of the League's verdicts against the club on its multiple charges of financial deceptions in the first half of the Mansour era. As I discussed in detail yesterday, I think it's still pretty unlikely that any sanctions can be implemented against the club this season; and if City's owners choose to fight the case through the civil courts, we might not get any final resolution of the controversy this decade. For now, players, coaches, and fans seem to be accepting the club's official position that the charges are unfair, the verdicts incorrect, and that they are confident they will eventually be exonerated. That may seem far-fetched to many football fans; but, unfortunately, the League's case doesn't look at all watertight, and I doubt if it will hold up in a proper court. So,... I don't envisage any immediate panic within the City camp which might have a detrimental impact in performances on the pitch.

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

Well, after such a long break from full team training with their clubs, early season form is out of the window: we can't really say with confidence how anyone is going to perform this weekend, or maybe over the next gameweek or two either; we're essentially starting the season from scratch again (but without even the benefit of any pre-season training to get the players used to the club's tactical systems, or friendly matches to give us an inkling of who might be looking likely to most thrive in those systems).

So, I wouldn't be making any elective transfers this week. Some of the 'minor' injuries we take a chance on this week may prove to be more long-term. Some injuries may not even be disclosed before the FPL deadline. And.... I fear there's a grave danger that unregarded 'niggles' or fatigue issues picked up on international duty, combined with the shock of the much greater intensity of Premier League football and training, may lead to a rash of further injuries over the next week or two. (This is why I counselled that it was a bad idea to play the Wildcard over the break in Gameweek 6, because we just wouldn't know who was going to be playing well at this point, who was going to be fit, or who was going to stay fit during this tricky first week or two back in club football.) Thus, I think there's a strong argument for rolling transfers (and saving up the Wildcard, if you still have it) this week, in anticipation of likely greater problems a little way ahead. 

That may mean we have to take a lot of chances on injury-flagged players, and possibly end up without a full starting eleven this week. Not the end of the world; these things happen. Almost everyone's in the same boat (even some of those who played their Wildcards: they're caught between the players they really wanted having yellow-flags against them this week and the players they might get instead being probably very inferior alternatives if the prime picks are available to play again next week!).

The one player who did get my covetous juices flowing in Gameweek 5 (but then, I'd been coveting him since the World Cup, I knew that he was likely to be one of the hottest new arrivals in the league this year) is Villa's Johan Manzambi, who was immediately outstanding on his first league start for them.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!

Dilemmas of the Week - GW5 (26/27)

 

Another fairly busy midweek schedule, with Thursday night games for Bournemouth and Palace (Europa League) and Manchester City (League Cup), and Liverpool, Spurs, Ipswich, Arsenal, Fulham, Manchester United, Brighton, Coventry, Aston Villa, and Everton (albeit most of them putting out largely 'reserve' sides!) in the remainder of the League Cup 3rd Round ties over Tuesday and Wedneday; but once again, we seem to have got off fairly lightly with new injuries.  [I'll try to update later, if I pick up any major developments from today's press conferences!]

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 5?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

The dominant conversation over the last couple of days has been about the announcement of a 'minor issue' for Joao Pedro (vying with Haaland for top spot in the most-owned ranking with around 73%!!); the problem was initially unspecified, but now some Brazilian reports have apparently identified it as some swelling around his medial collateral ligament. And Alonso seems to have said the other day that he'd probably play on Friday anyway. It's 'sore', and he could do with a few weeks' rest; but it sounds like just one of these faked-up pretexts that clubs like to use to get their players excused from international duty (it would be taking the piss-taking to new level, though, if Chelsea are really taking the attitude that 'He needs three weeks of complete rest; but we're still going to start him this Friday night.'). It sounds like he's a minutes-risk for this gameweek - but should not be any sort of a problem going forward after the international break.

Ben White, who'd already been moving awkwardly at the end of the Champions League game a few days earlier, apparently felt some discomfort in his groin, and had to be withdrawn at half-time against Sunderland last week. Fortunately, Jurrien Timber is just back from injury, and looks likely to slot straight back in at right-back. (This is the second fortuitously-timed injury in quick succession which has gifted Ezri Konsa the chance of an uninterrupted run in the side; people who gambled on him as soon as he transferred to Arsenal have been treated rather kindly by the Fates!!)

Marco Bizot had to come off at half-time with a back problem in Villa's League Cup win over Coventry on Wednesday; he's only the stand-in keeper anyway, unlikely to threaten Suzuki's start; presumably James Wright will step up to the bench slot. Holding midfielder Joao Gomes, who's only just finished a three-match ban, also had to go off in that game with a calf strain. Left-back Ian Maatsen hurt his ankle against Forest last Saturday, and will be out for a few weeks.

Palace keeper Dean Henderson (fairly few people own him this year) missed last week's match against Ipswich with an ankle problem which has been troubling him for some time, and he will now be on the sidelines until at least the start of October. Back-up Walter Benitez will presumably continue to deputise for him.

Ryan Sessegnon was unavailable for last week's game against Liverpool because of a groin strain, and remains a doubt. Kenny Tete took a powerful shot in the face, and had to be omitted from the League Cup squad this week over concussion issues; availability this weekend will depend on further concussion checks today.

Hull's outstanding left-back Nobel Mendy is also likely to miss out this week under 'concussion protocols', after suffering a heavy clash of heads with Joao Pedro last week. (Guess how many of this week's 'walking wounded' are in my squad....)  Matt Targett is also doubtful after twisting an ankle in training.

Ipswich striker Emersonn is another one likely to miss out this week after spraining his ankle; although one wonders if new signing Zian Flemming, a goalscorer last week, might have forced him out of the side anyway.

Anthony Elanga was a late omission for Newcastle on Monday night after apparently suffering a 'potentially serious' injury in training; further details still awaited on that. The stampede away from him began quickly: he had been Newcastle's most popular FPL pick, at around 8% ownership, but more than 430,000 have baled on him in the last few days. Multiple woes for Newcastle, as Nico Gonzalez had to go off in that Leeds match after being slammed in the face by the ball, and has already been ruled out for this weekend under 'concussion protocols', while Jacob Ramsey had to drop out of the lineup after suffering a thigh-strain in the warm-up.

Forest centre-backs Nikola Milenkovic and Jair Cunha both dropped out ahead of last week's win over Villa with hamstring problems; Ola Aina and Ousmane Diomande are again likely to deputise for them in the back-three.

Sandro Tonali missed Wednesday night's League Cup defeat to Liverpool with a 'knock'. (I wonder if he might not just have 'downed tools'. He has been really struggling with De Zerbi's tactical ideas, and I suspect he may already have fallen out with his new manager.)

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

Coventry's Taiwo Awoniyi and Palace's Axel Disasi are both starting three-match bans for 'violent conduct' fouls last week. So too is Phil Foden - although his offence was much less clearcut!

Sunderland left-back Reinildo misses this weekend after picking up two yellow cards against Arsenal last week.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

Coventry players are inevitably being treated as 'toxic assets' after their trouncing by Brighton last week; although not many of them were at all significant in FPL anyway. Milan van Ewijk, by far their most popular pick at 10%, has shed 85,000 owners this week. I would say Palace are very nearly as bad, and Fulham, Everton, and Spurs still so poor as to be rigorously avoided.

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

Kevin Schade (belatedly) has attracted attention with his brace against Bournemouth; but he's only the sixth most popular transfer of the week so far, so may escape The Curse of the Sheep.

Liam Delap has also garnered some interest with his absolute pinger of a goal from nearly 30 yards out for Forest against Villa - picking up nearly 125,000 transfers in so far this week.

A lot of people are getting stupidly over-excited about Maxim De Cuyper again, just because he scored another goal against a half-strength Manchester United in the League Cup the other night. It was a good finish, but a very untypical one (box-crashing after coming on as a late substitute, when United were starting to collapse, poaching from the six-yard line... on the right-hand side??!!). And come on, they've got Arsenal next! If I were going to risk going for a Brighton player - over what now looks quite an extended run of tough fixtures - it would be Ayari or Gross. Well, no, actually it would be Bart Verbruggen - who kept his side in the game last week with one of the most outstanding goalkeeping performances we've seen all season.

Though, as I said this morning, I wouldn't be using any transfers this week (unless absolutely forced to by an injury crisis); we're much more likely to need them after the international break.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!

Dilemmas of the Week - GW4 (26/27)

Remarkably, despite a heavy midweek schedule (Bournemouth, Palace, Sunderland, Hull, Newcastle, Chelsea and Leeds involved in League Cup ties; Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Aston Villa in the Champions League), we seem to have suffered hardly any new injuries this week - so this can be a very short roundup! [I'll try to update later, if there's an expected flood of bad news at today's press conferences!]

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 4?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

The most consequential injury of the week is a thigh strain for Cody Gakpo, which kept him out of Wednesday's Champions League win over Atleti. Iraola hasn't been drawn yet on how serious it is, and the FPL injury flag so far rates him as having a '75% chance' of turning out against Fulham this weekend; but the rumours suggest he could be sidelined for at least 3-4 weeks. After his excellent start to the season (3 assists and a goal in the opening 3 games), over 600,000 people had transferred him in this week; since news of the injury broke, nearly 300,000 have transferred him out! Gakpo's absence facilitated an immediate start for Bradley Barcola on the left wing on Wednesday night (but he didn't exactly cover himself in glory - fluffing an excellent one-on-one chance; as, unfortunately, is his wont).

Ben White was limping at the end of Wednesday's Napoli game, but Arteta has claimed he has no ongoing problem. If he were unable to start against Sunderland, Hincapie might come into the centre allowing Konsa to move out to the right; or - preferable, I would think - Hincapie might play at left-back with Calafiori switching to the right. With Saliba still a long way off returning, Timber only just back in training, and Mosquera still limping with a muscle problem, Arsenal are stretched a bit thin at the back.

Matty Cash missed Villa's trip to Bruges on Tuesday with 'muscle soreness': doesn't sound too bad, but he's a slight doubt for this weekend.

Nathan Collins had to come off against Sunderland last week with a calf problem, and is expected to be out for a month. The young Austrian, Jannik Schuster, newly signed from RB Salzburg, is his likely replacement.

Nico O'Reilly was a late withdrawal from last week's game against Coventry (handing an 'unexpected' immediate start to Enzo Fernandez), complaining of a back problem in the warm-up. Maresca seems hopeful he could be available again this weekend; but a regular start for him must now be in doubt anyway, with the arrival of Fernandez and Bouaddi in central midfield, and Gvardiol looking likely to again become the favoured left-back.

Luke Shaw was rested in the Champions League in midweek, apparently suffering from a muscle problem of some sort.

Newcastle's impressive Bosnian right-back Amar Dedic felt a hamstring problem in Tuesday's League Cup tie against Milwall and was withdrawn at half-time. He was another player riding a wave of FPL popularity, with over 425,000 transfers in this week - but has now quickly seen 125,000 transfers out. With Tino Livramento only just back in training after a long lay-off, it seems likely Lewis Miley would have to fill in for Dedic if he's unable to start.

It's just been revealed that Sunderland's Romaine Mundle has recently had to undergo knee surgery, and will be out for some months.

Mykhailo Mudryk has picked up an ankle injury - but only around 7,000 people own him anyway (I'm surprised it's that many!!).

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

Villa's Joao Gomes is completing his three-match ban this week, and will be available again next weekend.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

There were signs of improvement from Coventry, Spurs, and Villa last week - but I still wouldn't consider going near any of them for FPL picks (with one possible exception: see below). I can't think of any individual players who were worryingly awful last week - but, as I just mentioned above, Nico O'Reilly seems likely to be squeezed out of a regular start at City now by a combination of Gvardiol, Fernandez, and Bouaddi; Phil Foden might be under similar rotation - or exclusion - pressure because of the form of Cherki, Ndiaye, and Semenyo.

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

There's been a bit of a reaction against Newcastle players in FPL this week, after their disappointing home performance against Bournemouth; but I think Anthony Elanga, Yoane Wissa, and Harvey Barnes are still looking very promising attacking options (pick one, not all three).

Alexander Isak was starting to look back to his best with two slick finishes last week - but both were set up by Cody Gakpo, who's now injured, so there might still be some doubts about how consistent his returns will be in this rebuilding Liverpool side.

Although Villa are still struggling a little bit, their new Japanese keeper Zion Suzuki has looked extremely impressive.

Despite the almost inevitable loss to Arsenal last week, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, and Joao Pedro continue to look like consistent attacking threats (and again in Wednesday's League Cup thrashing of Leeds); but I'd go for just one, or at most two of these; many folks are rashly rushing in for all three!

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!

Dilemmas of the Week - GW3 (26/27)

 

Only a few new injury issues this week, it seems. We have been remarkably fortunate so far - compared to most recent seasons. (There have been two or three occasions when I've been forced to use my Wildcard only a few weeks in because I'd lost so many players to early injuries!!) 

The closing of the transfer window throws us a few additional curveballs this week - which of the new arrivals might start, which incumbents might get displaced? And with the Champions League proper kicking off this week (City and Villa playing on Tuesday), there is a possibility of rotations or restricted minutes for some top players from the clubs involved.

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 3?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

Brentford's Matthias Jensen missed the game against Leeds last week because of a minor knock picked up in training, and still seems to be a doubt. Ditto Yasin Ayari of Brighton.

Jean-Philippe Mateta has injured a hamstring, and is set to be out for at least a month.

Joe Rodon had to come off against Brentford with a hamstring problem which appears to be quite serious and could sideline him for 2-3 months (probably meaning that new signing Nico Elvedi will get an immediate start).

Sunderland's Habib Diarra became yet another hamstring victim against Fulham last week, and it's projected he will miss 6-8 weeks.

Spurs's new signing Savinho made a brief appearance for them in the League Cup win over Charlton last week, but was then unable to feature against Newcastle at the weekend because of 'muscle soreness'; didn't sound too bad, so he might be available again to face Forest this weekend.

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

Villa's Joao Gomes is serving the second part of a three-match 'violent conduct' ban for getting himself sent off in the opening game.

It seems unlikely that very late signings who've changed clubs this week - most notably, perhaps, Illiman Ndiaye and Daniel Munoz - will get an immediate start; although I suspect that Jack Grealish and Enzo Fernandez might.

I did a rundown yesterday of the most interesting moves in this year's transfer window.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

Spurs are looking an absolute shit-show, and all of their players have to be avoided until further notice.

Coventry, Fulham, and Palace aren't much better at the moment (although at least Palace managed to hang on to Adam Wharton, so perhaps their prospects this season won't be that grim).

The Christos Tzolis 'bubble' has dramatically burst this week, after his disappointing Monday night performance and half-time benching against Villa. Nearly 475,000 managers have baled on him this week. That seems a harsh overreaction to me. I never thought he was worth having in the first place (he's the same price as Odegaard, for heaven's sake!); but if you did, you shouldn't lose faith in him after one game!

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

Bruno Fernandes, of course, produced what might be the biggest FPL haul of the entire season last week against unlucky Ipswich; but that sort of outcome is always a one-off freak kind of event, and we shouldn't be expecting him to repeat returns like that very often - perhaps ever. Interestingly, he's only enjoyed a fairly small net rise in ownership this week; a remarkable 265,000 FPL managers have transferred him out! Probably most of them had decided to do that beforehand, after United's dismal opening display against Hull, and were just waiting until they got a second transfer so that they could redistribute the money from his sale more effectively; it is even possible that many of them went ahead with the transfer as soon as the gameweek deadline passed, before Bruno played his game on Sunday - and might now be suffering some seller's remorse. I said before the season started that I thought it would be impossible for Bruno to justify his price-tag this year, however well he played: there's no way he can score 1.5x as many points as the next best midfielder, or 2x as many as the best cheap midfield options. However, it is very hard to walk away from a player who's just delivered 23 points!!

Cole Palmer had a fairly subdued game against Brighton, but still managed to pop up for another outstanding goal. Joao Pedro and Morgan Rogers are looking in very dangerous form, and are attracting a lot of transfer attention (well, Pedro not so much - because everyone owns him already!). Some might hesitate to bring any of these in this week, though, since they're facing Arsenal.

Rayan Cherki has become the week's most transferred-in player, by some distance, after scoring what will probably become the 'Goal of the Season' against Palace. It is unfortunate that this 'most popular transfer' distinction almost invariably dooms a player to a poor return in the next gameweek! Moreover, there were already doubts about whether Cherki might share minutes with Phil Foden; and the arrival of Enzo Fernandez might now create further competition for that slot in the lineup.

Alex Scott of Bournemouth also had an absolutely outstanding game against Everton, and has attracted 47,000 new owners so far this week as a result; but, good as he is, he's not really the profile of midfielder to be very attractive for FPL; Rayan and Tavernier (and maybe Kluivert?) surely remain the likelier midfield picks from that club.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!

Dilemmas of the Week - GW 2 (26/27)

Thankfully, we have not - so far - suffered the slew of training injuries that are usually so common early in the season. And it seems that even 2nd Round games in the League Cup and Brighton's Europa Conference League play-off return leg against Tromso have failed to produce any further casualties in midweek. So, it looks like there are only a few minor concerns this week.

To keep these posts more manageable, I'm 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. 

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 2?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

Brighton's Giorginho Rutter and Jack Hinshelwood both apparently picked up a 'knock' in training early in the week and had to miss yesterday's Conference League tie against Tromso. Hinshelwood has been one of the week's most popular acquisitions with 135,000 new owners piling in for him after his brace against Villa.

Liverpool's Federico Chiesa, very rarely a starter anyway, has picked up another muscle injury this week, once again ruling him out of contention altogether for a while.

Amad Diallo was a late omission against Hull last week because of a 'niggle'; no word yet on whether that continues to keep him out of the action.

Newcastle striker Will Osula suffered a foot injury in the Liverpool game last week, and could be out for a while.

James Maddison, only just back from his long ACL injury, hurt his shoulder against Brentford last week, and might be doubtful for this week's game against Newcastle.

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

Villa's new central midfielder Joao Gomes is starting a three-match ban after getting himself sent off for a retaliatory kick in his debut last weekend.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

Robert Sanchez was so bad in goal for Chelsea on Monday night that there must be a serious risk of him being dropped (and who would really have wanted him in their Fantasy squads anyway?). Emi Martinez is said to be joining the club from Villa, but that might not get sorted in time for him to appear for them this weekend.

The Ollie Watkins transfer to Al Hillal is said to be very nearly finalized, so it seems he won't be turning out for them this weekend. But Villa and Spurs were both so awful in their opening games that all their FPL assets have surely become toxic for the time being anyway. With Ismaila Sarr, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Daniel Munoz, and Adam Wharton all said to be on the brink of departure, Crystal Palace are likely to be in severe disarray also, and are surely best avoided.

Savinho and Omar Marmoush could become more attractive prospects in FPL after their moves to Spurs from City (Marmoush only on loan; presumably he would be recalled the instant there's any sign of an injury problem for Haaland... or Semenyo); but they'll need time to settle in; and Spurs evidently need time to find their feet again under De Zerbi.

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

As I said yesterday, Cole Palmer was absolutely sensational against Fulham on Monday - and is perhaps the one player who might be worth using an early transfer on. Joao Pedro and Morgan Rogers were also very good in that game, but they were heavily owned by the start of the season already, and they surely weren't quite 'good enough' to convince anyone to revise their initial squad selections. Fulham's Josh King was also outstanding in that match, and could be worth keeping an eye on as cheap 5th-midfielder option. 

As I noted this morning, I think the sudden enthusiasm for Maxim De Cuyper and Mamadou Sangaré is excessive; De Cuyper might have been a smart pre-season pick, but doesn't justify using an early transfer on now, while Sangaré is still probably only the 5th or 6th most tempting pick.... from the Brentford mifield! I might have been tempted by Brighton's Jack Hinshelwood (well, I was tempted by him for my initial squad, but decided against him), but he's now struggling with a knock. 

Arsenal's new Greek left-winger, Christos Tzolis, is also looking a very lively prospect at just 6.5-million, but as with De Cuyper, is heavily owned already, and probably not worth using a transfer on this week; in any case, Martin Odegaard, also priced at only 6.5 this year, is currently looking even better (and Bukayo Saka better still - though it's really difficult to afford his 9.5 million asking price without giving up on Haaland and/or Fernandes!). The 'must-haves' from Arsenal for the start of the season, though, are looking like Riccardo Calafiori and/or Ben White.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!

Dilemmas of the Week - GW 38 (25/26)

 

And so we face the final curtain..... Gameweek 38 is always a bit of a lottery, as there are so many 'dead rubbers'. The title race is decided, and the relegation places very nearly so; Arsenal and Aston Villa might be a bit tired after celebrating their trophy wins this week, while City might be feeling a bit deflated about letting their title challenge fizzle - and about the imminent departure of their superstar manager. Arsenal and Palace have European finals coming up, so might be giving managed minutes to some of their star players. And with the World Cup just around the corner, a nervousness about possible last-minute injuries might take the edge off some players' games. One wonders also how Friday's announcement of the England squad may affect some players: will Palmer, Gibbs-White, Bowen and Calvert-Lewin be depressed at their - unexpected, possibly unfair - omission, or will they have a chip on their shoulder about it and be fired up to show that Tuchel was wrong about them?  It's very, very difficult to anticipate what team line-ups are going to be, or how well anyone's going to play.

However, the exceptionally tight midfield pack we've seen all season means that there's still quite a tussle going on for the European places. Even Everton and Newcastle in 11th and 12th were very nearly still in contention (to have a chance, they would have needed all three of the teams above them to lose their final match, and that can't happen as Sunderland and Chelsea are drawn against each other): all the positions from 4th to 10th could yet change. And of course Premier League survival is riding on the outcome of the Spurs v Everton and West Ham v Leeds games.

But there are fairly few new injuries this week, so this can be a quick last roundup of the year!

I have been 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.]

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 38?

Does anybody need to be moved out because of injury?

Emi Martinez apparently played through Wednesday's Europa League Final with a dislocated finger, so will probably give way to Marco Bizot on Sunday.

Malo Gusto missed last week's game against Spurs with a training knock, and is a doubt again for this week. However, Joao Pedro, who was also absent last week with a tight hamstring, has apparently been back in training at the end of the week and is expected to be available.

Chris Richards suffered ligament damage to his ankle against Brentford last week, so will be out for quite a while; this leaves Palace seriously short at the back.

Brenden Aaronson came off with a knock against Brighton last week; it didn't seem too serious, but there's been no further word on whether he's recovered.

Jeremie Frimpong and Alexander Isak were missing last week with minor injuries, but might possibly be available again for the final game, at least off the bench.

Sandro Tonali came off last week with a hamstring problem; Eddie Howe had initially thought that would certainly rule him out, but it seems the issue isn't too serious and he might possibly be able to make a return.

Omar Alderete came off with a knock against Everton last week, and looks unlikely to be available for the Chelsea game.

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

Ryan Christie, Joachim Andersen, and Dan Ballard are still serving out three-match bans.

Max Dowman is unlikely to be involved for Arsenal this weekend, as he's in the middle of his GCSEs.

And it has been decided that last week's home game at Old Trafford would be Casemiro's last appearance for the club.

Did anyone give other cause to consider dropping them?

There is much agitation in the FPL community about the prospect of Arsenal and Manchester City, in particular, possibly indulging in mass rotations this week. It's also a concern with Crystal Palace, who have their Europa Conference League Final in Leipzig this Wednesday against Rayo Vallecano - although they perhaps don't have that much scope for rotation, due to a limited squad and a lot of injuries at present. My feeling is that Arteta is proud and a perfectionist, and that he will thus want to end the season as strongly as possible (and will probably want to treat the Palace game as a valuable warm-up for next Saturday's clash with PSG). And Pep will also want to go out on a high note; and several of his players may perhaps be additionally inspired to produce goals to give him a happy send-off. But, of course, Pep Roulette is always a hazard, and since City have two elevens of almost equal ability, it is very hard to know who will get the start this week. I have a hunch that Khusanov and O'Reilly could make way for the longer established Dias and Gvardiol, and that perhaps Marmoush might get a start over Doku or Semenyo.

Many FPL managers are also fancying a punt on one or both of the relegation battlers, Spurs and West Ham. But there's a reason why they're in that predicament, and I fancy they'll both wilt under the pressure and lose quite badly - with Spurs staying up by the skin of their teeth, only because West Ham suddenly faltered again in the last few games.

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

If I were going to bring in one player from the relegation candidates, it would be West Ham's Taty Castellanos, who should be buzzed after scoring what might be the 'Goal of the Season' last week. However, among the thus-far unregarded forwards, Newcastle's Will Osula has been in even better form of late.

BEST OF LUCK, EVERYONE!