By Dave McArdle
Friday 30/11/2012
Another week has come and gone in the world of football –
Mark Clattenburg returned to refereeing in the hot-bed of the Premier League,
Rafa Benitez’s Chelsea flattered to deceive yet again and Robin Van Persie
delivered the fastest goal scored in the league this season.
The midweek action saw Manchester United and Aston Villa
both 1-0 win at home. QPR and Fulham both earned a point a piece away at
Sunderland and Chelsea respectively. Tottenham and Stoke both enjoyed fine 2-1
victories at home to Arsenal and Newcastle. Swansea won well at the Liberty
against a West Brom side who had been flying high while Manchester City were
the only away side to win – Mario Balotelli and James Milner providing the
goals in a 2-0 win against Wigan.
The action continues to come thick and fast across the
water and between now and Monday all 20 sides will participate in another round
of mouth-watering fixtures.
Premier League
Preview
West Ham v Chelsea
(Saturday 12:45 – Live on Sky Sports 2)
After 180 minutes without a goal, interim boss Rafa
Benitez will be hoping his Chelsea side can get back to winning ways against a
stubborn West Ham side who will be no pushovers at Upton Park. Benitez will be
hoping that Fernando Torres can provide the spark and with a record of six
goals in six games against the Hammers Torres should be confident that he can
return to goal-scoring form. Sam Allardyce will have Mark Noble back from
suspension but he will continue to be without Alou Diarra, Jack Collison and
Ricardo Vaz Te while there are doubts over the fitness George McCartney and
Andy Carroll. Yossi Benayoun is ineligible for the Hammers as the terms of his
loan deal prevent him from playing against his parent club. Rafa Benitez will
be without John Terry (knee), Frank Lampard (calf) and David Luiz (suspension)
but Juan Mata should start after being rested last time out.
Arsenal v Swansea (Saturday
3pm)
Arsenal will be keen to secure a victory at the Emirates
after drawing their last two games while Swansea will travel to London in
confident mood after an impressive win over West Brom last time out. Arsene
Wenger definitely will be without Andre Santos and Abou Diaby. There are
serious doubts over the fitness of Laurent Koscielny and Bacary Sagna while
Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski are slight doubts for the Gunners. Michael
Laudrup will once more be without Michel Vorm, Neil Taylor and Alan Tate while
Pablo Hernandez and Danny Graham are doubts for the Swans.
Fulham v Tottenham
(Saturday 3pm)
Former Tottenham manager Martin Jol will welcome former
Fulham players Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele to Craven Cottage as the
Cottagers seek to build on their scoreless draw at Stamford Bridge last time
out. Fulham captain Brede Hangeland will miss out as he serves the last game of
his suspension. Martin Jol will also be without Bryan Ruiz and Alex Kacaniklic
while Kieron Richardson could be fit enough to play a part. For Spurs, Emmanuel
Adebayor also completes the third game of a suspension while Andre Villas-Boas
will have to do without Scott Parker as well as defensive duo Younes Kaboul and
Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
West Brom v Stoke (Saturday
3pm)
Stoke City travel to the Hawthorns on Saturday and they
will be hoping to build on their impressive comeback against Newcastle in
midweek. Steve Clarke’s side will continue to be without goalkeeper Ben Foster
and there are doubts over the participation of Hungarian midfielder Zoltan Gera
and Swedish defender Jonas Olsson. Tony Pulis will be unable to call upon
long-term absentees Marc Wilson and Rory Delap but Andy Wilkinson and Michael
Owen could return to the fold. Pulis will also be without Peter Crouch after
the beanpole striker lost three teeth on Wednesday after a challenge with
Fabriccio Coloccini.
Liverpool v
Southampton (Saturday 3pm)
Brendan Rodgers’ side welcome Southampton to Anfield
hoping for a valuable three points which would push them up the table. Martin
Kelly and Fabio Borini will miss out once more for the hosts while Brendan
Rodgers will be pleased to be able to call upon Andre Wisdom, Joe Cole and
Lucas Leiva once again. Danny Fox should be ok to feature for the Saints while
Frazer Richardson and Richard Chaplow are close to full fitness for Nigel
Adkins’ side.
QPR v Aston Villa (Saturday
3pm)
Harry Redknapp will take charge of QPR at Loftus Road for
the first time as they welcome an Aston Villa side who will be buoyed by a late
victory over Reading last time out. QPR remain rooted to the foot of the
Premier League table and defeat against fellow strugglers Villa would pile
further pressure on the R’s. Bobby
Zamora and Andrew Johnson will miss out for QPR while Julio Cesar is a serious
doubt for Redknapp’s side. Villa boss Paul Lambert has a raft of defensive injuries
with Joe Bennett, Enda Stevens and Richard Dunne unavailable while Ron Vlaar is
also expected to miss out. Villa will also have to make do without midfield duo
Gary Gardner and Charles N’Zogbia for the trip to Loftus Road.
Man City v Everton
(Saturday 3pm – Live on Setanta Ireland)
Manchester City welcome Everton to the Etihad hoping for
a victory which would – at least temporarily – return them to the top of the
table. After six draws in their last eight games, Everton will nonetheless be
confident on their trip to Manchester as they were the last side to record a
victory at the Etihad in December 2010. Roberto Mancini will be without Micah
Richards, Gael Clichy and James Milner while Jack Rodwell is not yet ready to
return for the home side. Everton captain Phil Neville will continue to be
sidelined for the Toffees while David Moyes also has serious fitness concerns
over Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman along with forward trio Nikica Jelavic,
Kevin Mirallas and victor Anichebe.
Reading v Man
United (Saturday 5:30 – Live on ESPN)
Reading welcome league leaders Manchester United to the
Madejski and they will hope to produce another upset after taking the scalp of
Everton in their last home game. United, on the other hand, will aim to
maintain their lead over rivals Man City ahead of next week’s Manchester derby.
Alex McCarthy, Jem Karacan and Jimmy Kebe continue to be sidelined for the
Royals but Brian McDermott may be boosted by the return of Danny Guthrie as he
edges closer to full fitness. Sir Alex Ferguson will once more be unable to
call upon Nemanja Vidic, Shinji Kagawa, Nani and Antonio Valencia while the Red
Devils will be buoyed by the return of veteran duo Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs
– who have a combined age of 77 years.
Norwich v Sunderland
(Sunday 4pm – Live on Sky Sports 1)
Norwich City welcome Sunderland to Carrow Road on Sunday
with both sides in contrasting form. The Canaries will be looking to extend a
run of form which has them unbeaten in seven while the Mackems will be looking
to arrest a slide down the table which could see them in the relegation places
if results go against them on Saturday. John Ruddy and Michael Turner will miss
out for the home side while Chris Hughton has concerns over the fitness of
Russell Martin and Harry Kane. Sunderland will be without captain Lee
Cattermole and long-term absentee Wes Brown while there is a serious doubt over
the participation of Republic of Ireland international John O’Shea after he
picked up a calf injury last weekend.
Newcastle v Wigan (Monday
8pm – Live on Sky Sports 1)
Newcastle face Wigan on Monday night at St.James’ Park
looking to arrest a terrible run of form that has seen them lose their last
four games on the bounce. Alan Pardew’s side have been decimated by injuries in
recent weeks and they are expected to be without Steven Taylor, Ryan Taylor,
James Perch, Johan Cabaye, Gabriel Obertan, Dan Gosling, Haris Vuckic and Shola
Ameobi. The only chink of light for the Toon is that influential midfielder
Hatem Ben Arfa is closing in on a return to full fitness. For Roberto Martinez’
side, things are looking slightly better on the injury front and the Wigan boss
may be able to welcome back as many as five players for Monday night’s game
with Gary Caldwell, Ivan Ramis, Ryo Miyaichi, Shaun Maloney and David Jones all
closing in on full fitness. However, Antolin Alcaraz, Albert Crusat and Ben
Watson are expected to remain on the sidelines for the Latics.
CCFL Preview
Unfortunately, I could not attend the intriguing looking
cup tie of St.Peters against Willow Park last weekend as the game was postponed
due to bad weather. However, this week (weather permitting) I will be in Clara
as home side Clara Town – who now top the Senior Division – face up to a
Killavilla side who will be looking to get back to winning ways after a couple
of disappointing results. The Senior Division has proven to be particularly
exciting this season as several teams battle for top spot and with two of those
sides in action on Sunday afternoon, Stanley O’Hara Park should host an
exciting match. There are two more
games in the Senior Division on Sunday as Mullingar Athletic travel to
St.Peters while Melville Utd host Monksland Utd.
On Saturday, Killavilla, Edenderry Town and Tullamore
Town are all in action in the Umbro FAI Youths Cup while Grange Utd face
Horseleap Utd in the John Farrell Combined Counties Cup. Also on Saturday,
Derry Rovers will be looking to keep up with Premier Division leaders CK Utd as
they host Abbeyleix Athletic at Brians Park. Sunday afternoon sees plenty of
action in the John Farrell Combined Counties Cup as Moate Celtic host
Portlaoise, Birr Town welcome Newtown to Frank O’Connell Park, Clonmore Utd
host Noreside Celtic while CK Utd travel to St.James’.
Also on Sunday in the Premier Division, Mullingar
Athletic B host Stradbally Town and Willow Park B face Mullingar Town. In
Division 1 on Sunday, the pick of the games include league leaders Templevilla
against third-placed Gracefield Athletic and second-placed Shinrone travelling
to fourth-placed Clonaslee. The top game in Division 2 this weekend sees table-toppers
Killeigh Ramblers host second-placed Dynamo Town. In Division 3A, Raheen face
Brosna in a relegation battle while in Division 3B it’s first against third as
Clara Town B host Banagher Utd and it’s also second against fourth as Frankford
Utd square up to Melville Celtic B. There is a top of the table clash in Division
4A as Abbeyleix Athletic B host Portarlington Town whilst the pick of the
action in Division 4B sees Monksland B host Clara Town C. In the women’s
Division, there is only one game to be played as third-placed Tullamore Town
host fifth-placed Clara Town.
For full information on fixtures, results and tables
visit: www.ccfl.ie
Fantasy
Football
Finally, after two barren gameweeks, Robin Van Persie
came good for me in midweek. His goal after 31 seconds was enough to win the
game for United and deliver the 3 bonus pints for Van Persie. Looking ahead to
Gameweek 15 this weekend and it’s pretty hard to ignore the potential of Van
Persie once again up against a Reading side that have been shipping plenty of
goals this season. However, this week RVP has a serious rival for the captain’s
armband in Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan has been in lethal form this season and a
home game against a Southampton side - who have shipped more goals than anyone
else in the league to date - looks an appealing prospect. Some other contenders
for the captain’s pick this weekend include Santi Cazorla/Olivier Giroud
(Arsenal play Swansea at home), Demba Ba/Papiss Cisse (Newcastle are at home to
Wigan) and Carlos Tevez/Sergio Aguero (Man City face Everton at home).
In terms of clean sheets this week, the above teams also
look the most appealing with the fixtures they have – Liverpool and Arsenal at
home should be looking to produce shutouts while Man United at Reading should
be winning comfortably. Newcastle and Man City are also traditionally strong at
home but both have found things more difficult defensively this season and clean
sheets in these games are perhaps less likely.
In relation to who to transfer in this week, an Arsenal
defender could be a good shout – they have four home games (against Swansea,
West Brom, West Ham and Newcastle) and two away games (against Reading and
Wigan) in their next six and even the notoriously attack-minded Arsenal should
be able to produce some clean sheets (and some real attacking hauls) in this
period. Per Mertesacker (5.3 million) and Carl Jenkinson (4.6) look the best
value in the defence but buying Jenkinson comes with the risk that his game
time could be severely restricted by the return of Bacary Sagna. Santi Cazorla
is the main contender for attacking points and for those of you looking for
more of a gamble, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud should also be considered.
Another team whose next six fixtures are good is
Liverpool – home games against Southampton, Aston Villa and Fulham along with
away games against West Ham, Stoke and QPR should hold little fear for Brendan
Rodgers’ men. Obviously, the main man to consider here is Luis Suarez but Jose
Enrique has emerged as a really intriguing option recently – his role as part
of a front three, along with his FPL classification as a defender, means he
could pick up both defensive and attacking returns. Andre Wisdom and Raheem
Sterling are strong budget options also.
Enjoy the weekend and I’ll be back next week with a
review of all the weekend’s action.
You can follow Dave
McArdle on Twitter @DaveMidlands103
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