By
Dave McArdle
Champions
League
Undoubtedly the story of this week in
football has been Celtic’s heroics in Europe. The Scottish side qualified for
the knockout stages of the Champions League in dramatic fashion on Wednesday
night. Kris Commons’ late penalty on Wednesday ensured the Bhoys will be in the
draw for the last 16 and will play European football at the highest level after
Christmas for the first time since the inception of the Champions League.
Perhaps even more importantly for Neil Lennon’s side is the financial windfall
the club will receive as a result of their qualification. The Glasgow side are
set to pocket upwards of £20 million – a significant sum in terms of investing
in the playing squad and building the club into the future.
For Chelsea, however, the Champions League
dream is over. Rafa Benitez enjoyed his first win as Chelsea manager as his
side hammered Nordsjaelland 6-1 but Juventus’ result in Donetsk meant that the
Blues attained the unwanted record of becoming the first Champions League
holders not to make it out of the group stages. Benitez can instead look
forward to another crack at winning the Europa League after Christmas.
Celtic will enter the draw in just under
two weeks time knowing that a tough draw awaits them. The Hoops are in Pot 2
having finished in second place in Group G where they stand alongside some of
the most illustrious names in European football with FC Porto, Arsenal, AC
Milan, Real Madrid, Shaktar Donetsk, Valencia and Galatasaray all represented.
These teams will be matched up against the sides who topped their groups in the
last 16 draw – and the group winners comprise of PSG, Schalke, Malaga, Borussia
Dortmund, Juventus, Bayern Munich , Barcelona and Manchester United.
The Champions League draw for the last 16
takes place in Nyon on Thursday the 20th of December.
Premier
League Preview
Arsenal
v West Brom (Saturday 3pm)
Arsene Wenger will be hoping to arrest a
run of form which has seen them fail to win in their last four in all
competitions. Steve Clarke’s West Brom side travel to the Emirates five points
ahead of the Gunners and they will be looking to return to form after
back-to-back defeats against Swansea and Stoke in their last two games. Arsenal
will be without Andre Santos, Abou Diaby, Laurent Koscielny, Lukas Podolski and
Theo Walcott while Bacary Sagna is a major doubt for the game. Steve Clarke,
meanwhile, has virtually a full squad to choose from with Ben Foster the only
major absentee.
Aston
Villa v Stoke City (Saturday 3pm)
Aston Villa welcome Stoke City to Villa
Park on Saturday hoping to stretch their unbeaten run to four. They will be up
against a stubborn Stoke side who have won their last three on the bounce. Paul
Lambert is again expected to be without Joe Bennett, Richard Dunne and Gary
Gardner while there are serious doubts over the fitness of Ron Vlaar and Enda
Stevens. Lambert has confirmed, however, that Darren Bent will be in the
matchday squad but it is likely that he will have to settle for a place on the
bench. Stoke City will definitely be without Marc Wilson, Charlie Adam and Rory
Delap while Peter Crouch, Cameron Jerome and Michael Owen are doubtful.
Southampton
v Reading (Saturday 3pm)
Two of the bottom three in the Premier
League square up in a crucial encounter at St.Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.
Nigel Adkins has doubts over Frazer Richardson, Richard Chaplow and Danny Fox
but the Saints will be boosted by the return of record signing Gaston Ramirez.
Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny Guthrie could return for Reading but Brian McDermott
will have to do without the services of Jem Karacan, Jimmy Kebe and Alex
McCarthy.
Sunderland
v Chelsea (Saturday 3pm – Live on Setanta Ireland)
Rafa Benitez will travel to the Stadium of
Light still searching for his first Premier League victory as Chelsea manager.
Benitez will be buoyed by the fact that Chelsea have won 14 of their last 15
against Sunderland. Martin O’Neill’s men will be looking to stay out of the
relegation zone with the Mackems in a seriously poor run of form stretching
back to last season which has seen them win only 2 of their last 22 matches.
John O’Shea and Steven Fletcher should be fit enough to feature for the home
side while Wes Brown and Lee Cattermole will miss out. Chelsea captain John
Terry will be absent along with striker Daniel Sturridge while John Obi-Mikel
begins a three match ban. However, Frank Lampard is expected to feature for the
Blues after recovering from a calf problem.
Swansea
v Norwich (Saturday 3pm)
Two of the most in-form sides in the
Premier League go head to head on Saturday with Swansea unbeaten in six and
Norwich unbeaten in eight. Neil Taylor remains sidelined for the Swans while
the game is expected to come too soon for Michel Vorm. Michael Laudrup also has
doubts over the fitness of Wayne Routledge, Pablo Hernandez and Danny Graham.
John Ruddy joins Michael Turner on the sidelines for Chris Hughton’s side after
undergoing surgery which is expected to keep him out for up to three months.
The Canaries will be boosted though as Sebastien Bassong should be ok to
feature after suffering a knock last time out.
Wigan
v QPR (Saturday 3pm)
Harry Redknapp travels to the DW on
Saturday and he will be hoping for a first victory as QPR manager against a
Wigan side who have lost four of their last five games. Roberto Martinez has
plenty to worry about on the injury front as he is set to be without four
defenders and four midfielders – with Antolin Alcaraz, Gary Caldwell, Maynor
Figueroa, Ivan Ramis, Shaun Maloney, Ben Watson, Albert Crusat and Ryo Miyaichi
all expected to miss out for the Latics. Harry Redknapp will have to do without
strikers Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora once more while the game could come
too soon for goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
Man
City v Man United (Sunday 1:30 pm – Live on Sky
Sports 1)
The game of the weekend sees the top two in
the Premier League square up in another mouth-watering Manchester derby. Man City are still unbeaten in the league
this season but they go into the game trailing their rivals by three points.
City are unbeaten at home in 2 years and Sir Alex Ferguson will have to shore
up a leaky United defence if that record is to be overturned on Sunday. City
will definitely be without Alexander Kolarov and Micah Richards while there are
doubts over the fitness of Gael Clichy, James Milner and Jack Rodwell. Roberto
Mancini will be hoping that David Silva can shake off a knock after being left
out against Borussia Dortmund in midweek. Sir Alex Ferguson will be without
Antonio Valencia, Anderson and Nani while Nemanja Vidic and Shinji Kagawa are
unlikely to be fit enough to feature. Nick Powell and Tom Cleverly are also
doubtful for the Red Devils but Robin Van Persie and Patrice Evra should return
after being rested in midweek.
Everton
v Tottenham (Sunday 3pm)
Two sides with European places firmly in
their sides will meet on Sunday at Goodison Park. Everton have not won in three to see them
drop out of the Champions League places while Tottenham have been victorious
their last three which has seen them climb into fourth place. Club captain Phil
Neville remains on the injured list for Everton while Seamus Coleman, Kevin
Mirallas and Victor Anichebe are also expected to miss out for the Toffees.
Gareth Bale joins Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Younes Kaboul and Scott Parker on the
sidelines for Spurs while Michael Dawson is also rated as seriously doubtful
for Andre Villas-Boas’ side.
West
Ham v Liverpool (Sunday 4pm – Live on Sky Sports 1)
West Ham welcome Liverpool to Upton Park in
confident mood after an impressive 3-1 victory over Chelsea last time out. The
Hammers sit 3 points and 3 places above the Merseysiders and will be hoping to
build on the 22 points they have accrued so far. Andy Carroll will miss out for
the Hammers through injury but even if he had been fit he would have been
ineligible to feature under the terms of his loan deal. Sam Allardyce will also
have to do without Alou Diarra, Jack Collison and Ricardo Vaz Te. Liverpool
have been dealt a major blow as talisman Luis Suarez picked up his fifth
booking of the season last time out and will sit out the game through
suspension. Steven Gerrard and Jonjo Shelvey are the men most likely to feature
up front in place of Suarez for the Reds. Brendan Rodgers has no fresh injury
concerns with Martin Kelly and Fabio Borini still on the long-term injury list.
Fulham
v Newcastle (Monday 8pm – Live on Sky Sports 1)
Fulham host Newcastle on Monday evening
with the two sides separated only by goal difference in the league table. Both
sides have been in poor form of late and they have both lost 3 of their last 4
games in the league. Bryan Ruiz will definitely miss out for the Cottagers
while Simon Davies and Sascha Riether also doubtful for Martin Jol’s side.
Steven Taylor, Ryan Taylor, Dan Gosling, Haris Vuckic and Johan Cabaye will all
miss out for Newcastle while Alan Pardew has a host of doubts with the
participation of Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jonas Gutierrez, Cheick Tiote,
Gabriel Obertan and Demba Ba all uncertain.
Fantasy
Football
Gameweek 16 seems a tricky week for us
fantasy managers as lots of sides with similar ability face up to one another.
There should be little to chose between the sides (and thus clean sheets are
difficult to predict) in fixtures such as Man City v Man United, Everton v
Tottenham, Fulham v Newcastle, Swansea v Norwich and Southampton v Reading.
Even Arsenal and Liverpool are far from guaranteed victories in games against
in-form West Brom and West Ham, respectively. Add injuries to high profile
players such as Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale, along with the suspension of Luis
Suarez, into the mix and fantasy managers are left with a real predicament this
week.
However, Gameweek 16 also throws up an
intriguing double gameweek for both Sunderland and Reading. Reading face
Southampton away while Sunderland have Chelsea at home and the sides will also
play each other, with Sunderland having home advantage. While Sunderland are
unlikely to keep a clean sheet against Chelsea, a clean sheet against Reading
looks a real possibility and investment in Carlos Cuellar on Simon Mignolet
could prove profitable. Further up the pitch for Sunderland and Stephane
Sessegnon and Steven Fletcher look the best options and should be strongly
considered for the captains armband while for those of you with budget
restrictions, someone like Craig Gardner could be a worthwhile addition to your
squad. For Reading, it is hard to see clean sheets but even without clean
sheets Adam Federici could be worthwhile with save points while Nicky Shorey
and Sean Morrison have attacking potential which could prove profitable. Jobi
MacAnuff and Hal Robson-Kanu are budget options in midfield for Reading but
undoubtedly the main man to consider for the Royals is Adam LeFondre. LeFondre
is in form, takes penalties and has scored 24 points over the last four game
weeks and he should be seriously considered for those looking to profit on the
double gameweek.
Back to players who have only a single
fixture and the main contenders for the armband are probably Michu (home to
Norwich) and Fellaini (home to Tottenham). Both players have been in lethal
form this season and home games against similarly-rated opposition should hold
little fear. Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez should not be
overlooked merely because they feature in the Manchester derby - players of this calibre can produce the
points in any fixture. Some other possible contenders for the armband include
Dimitar Berbatov (home to Newcastle), Santi Cazorla (home to West Brom) and
Arouna Kone (home to QPR).
Enjoy the weekend and the Manchester derby
and I’ll be back next week with more of the stories and news from the beautiful
game.
You can follow Dave McArdle on Twitter
@DaveMidlands103
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