Fantasy EPL Injury and Suspension Analysis: Late Fitness Check

Here we go again with yet another two match week where fantasy managers will likely pull their hair out between this weekend and next weekend depending on how their two-gamers do this weekend. In order to list things in the order that you're likely interested, we'll start out with the news on Liverpool and Swansea and then provide the highlights for the one-match teams. If you'd like to see a consolidated list of Team News then you can click through to the SoccerNet list.

Liverpool:

Daniel Sturridge - The news on Daniel Sturridge is hardly definitive. I'm definitely keeping him at a strong discount (I have him at 8.53) but the closer you have him to his current retail price of 14.82 the bigger risk he becomes for you. Regardless, he seems likely to get the second match and his price isn't SO high that you'll be miserable if you only have him for one. It isn't like there is a Swansea forward you'll want to substitute in for him.

Raheem Sterling - The news is more definitive here - he'll be available. The downside is that his chances of starting are only so-so. If Sturridge misses out and Coutinho (see next item) isn't ready then there's a better chance he'll start with Luis Suarez reverting to a more central role. The bottom line is that Sterling is a big risk.

Philippe Coutinho - As of today's team news he has trained once and the news release says he "...may require more time." That might mean that he'll get a substitute appearance on Monday and a start next weekend in the second match. It may mean that he gets no run this weekend and a substitute appearance next weekend. Another one for whom the bottom line is that selecting him is a big risk.

Swansea:

Michel Vorm - He will face the dreaded "late fitness test" which undermines his value as a potential two-gamer and, given the time between matches, means that Tremmel has even less value as Vorm will almost certainly start the second match.

Leon Britton - I don't think there are many fantasy managers who would consider Britton strongly at full health. As it is, he is doubtful so there's even less reason to consider him.

The Rest:

Emmanuel Adebayor - His status on return from the ACN is uncertain. It seems unlikely that many are going to buy him but his presence in the line-up might bump everyone's favorite cheap midfielder - Lewis Holtby - to a substitute role. He still may be worth keeping to enable Luis Suarez and others but expectations for his performance may have to be modulated. As expected, Jermain Defoe is out - likely until the end of the month.

John Terry - Terry is out due to a knee inflammation leaving two possibilities - 1) David Luiz, who is healthy again, will slide in to partner Gary Cahill; or 2) Branislav Ivanovic will slide inside and partner Cahill with Cesar Azpilicueta reverting to the starting line-up. Cahill, Ashley Cole, and Ivanovic are almost definitely going to start. The rest is at least in some question (although I'd bet on option 2 above being the answer). Oh, and Eden Hazard is back from suspension.

Dimitar Berbatov - Fulham's talisman is a question mark and the team news seems to imply that new boy Urby Emanuelson's chances of starting are tied to Berbatov's health. Given that Fulham are on the road I'd stay away from both of them.

Brek Shea - He's eligible but team news doesn't leave you super-confident that he'll be starting. Certainly not enough to give him a start over a two-gamer.

Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny - Verm is definitely out and Kos is facing a late fitness test which means Big Per will definitely start with a major question as to who his partner might be if Koscielny isn't available. Ultimately this devalues Wojciech Szczesny and Nacho Monreal in my eyes and increases the value of Sunderland's attack slightly.

Loic Remy - The team news calls it "touch and go" which screams "stay away" to me.

Yaya Toure - Unlike most of the other ACN participants returning after quarter final losses, Toure appears to be back in time to start against a depleted Southampton side.

Marouane Fellaini - It sounds like he'll recover from his hip injury that kept him from Belgium's midweek match.

Good luck with your final roster choices and we hope to see you all on the Barn Door Live chats tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday.