The Lords of Discipline

The Great and Powerful Oz sorry FA met and handed down their wisdom. Collating the results and the fantasy implications:

Branislav Ivanovic given FA violent conduct charge
Ivanovic faces being banned for Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham on Sunday and the Premier League matches against Arsenal and QPR, which will be significant in their attempts to finish in the top four.

BBC Sport - Man City's Mario Balotelli avoids ban for Alex Song tackle
Manchester City's Mario Balotelli has escaped the prospect of an additional six-game ban for his tackle on Alex Song in the 1-0 defeat at Arsenal. Referee Martin Atkinson took no action in the match, but reported the incident had been seen, ruling out retrospective Football Association action.

Laurent Koscielny suspended
Arsenal will be without defender Laurent Koscielny for Wednesday's Barclays Premier League game at Wolves [and the home match against Wigan]. Koscielny serves a two-match ban for picking up his 10th yellow card of the season.

So, what can we as fantasy managers take from this...

With Ashley Cole still a doubt for the weekend, it could be a makeshift backline against Spurs. Might we see David Luiz on the right-side of defence? It wouldn't surprise me. I don't know that anyone is investing in Chelsea defenders right now - with their blank gameweek followed by a tough match against Arsenal, but maybe it speaks for Arsenal investment? Chelsea also have two huge matches against Barcelona to play.

And speaking of make-shift defences, Arsenal will have to make do with Johann Djourou and possibly Andre Santos against Wolves and Wigan. While that doesn't help their defensive solidity, it is interesting for fantasy managers are both players are under 6.

Super Mario will miss Manchester City's next three matches, despite avoiding a further ban. That starts tomorrow against West Brom, and then the matches at Norwich and at Wolves. It shouldn't be a huge miss for City as they should win these matches with or without him. But tomorrow's match should give us an idea of whether or not the suspension means Carlos Tevez is given a larger role in the run-in, or if Edin Dzeko gets the nod.

I'm guessing we won't see too much more of Sergio Aguero as a lone-forward after the defeat to Arsenal, but against lesser opposition (no offense)... maybe.