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Out: Fantasy-relevant players who have been confirmed out for the week, either through injury or suspension
Doubt: Players facing the dreaded fitness test, rotation concerns and those who are out of form/favor
In: The likeliest replacements for the Outs & Doubts or those returning from injury
Win: Fantasy player to watch / my hunch pick of the week
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Out: Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin, Tomas Rosicky, Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshire
Doubt: Mikel Arteta, Alexis Sanchez
In: N/A
Win: Mesut Ozil
The injury situation is improved, with the possibility of Mikel Arteta and Alexis Sanchez being available to play but both are more likely to feature in cameos from the bench. Of course, the game being on Monday helps with extra recovery time, so Sanchez could end up displacing Joel Campbell in the starting line-up. I don't expect too many fireworks from what should be a tight, combative game with Manchester City, but it would be difficult to bet on a clean sheet, so let's go with Mesut Ozil to keep up his fine form.
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Out: Jordan Amavi, Micah Richards
Doubt: Gary Gardner
In: N/A
Win: Alan Hutton
With Aston Villa looking utterly helpless, will Remi Garde continue with a stable line-up or look to shake things up by inserting veterans Gabby Agbonlahor and Carlos N'Zogbia? It probably won't matter at a resurgent Newcastle, but the best bet probably comes from the defensive end so let's go with wing back Alan Hutton.
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Out: Christian Atsu, Tommy Elphick, Max Gradel, Tyrone Mings, Callum Wilson
Doubt: Lee Tomlin
In: Mark Pugh or Glenn Murray
Win: Junior Stanislas
Bournemouth looks to continue its recent turnaround at West Brom with Joshua King shaking off last week's injury. The pick has to be young starlet Junior Stanislas.
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Out: Radamel Falcao
Doubt: Eden Hazard
In: N/A
Win: Thibaut Courtois
Miserable Mou is finally gone, but with the next manager not yet officially in place, everything looks more uncertain than usual. Will Gary Cahill and/or Baba Rahman start in place of John Terry and/or Branislav Ivanovic in back? Who among Oscar, Pedro, Ramires, Cesc Fabregas and injury doubt Hazard will line up in midfield? What about Diego Costa and Loic Remy up front? A home game against struggling Sunderland would usually be an easy win for the Blues, and while Chelsea should still grab the victory, it will likely come as more of the grinding variety. As such, I'd point to the defense more than the offense for fantasy spoils and keeper Courtois seems a safer bet to start than any of the defenders.
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Out: Dwight Gayle, Bakary Sako
Doubt: Mile Jedinak
In: N/A
Win: Joel Ward
Crystal Palace will look to continue its solid run of form and there should be no need for Alan Pardew to rotate the line-up. With goal shy, defensively stout Stoke City visiting, this game is probably the most likely to finish nil-nil, so I'll back Joel Ward who always offers a half-decent chance at bagging a goal even if he misses out on the clean sheet.
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Out: Tyias Browning, Tony Hibbert, Brian Oviedo
Doubt: Phil Jagielka, James McCarthy
In: N/A
Win: Romelu Lukaku
With Jamie Vardy's goal scoring streak starting up again at a mere one game, Lukaku is the current streaking star and you've got to back that continuing against visiting Leicester City in what hopes to be an exciting, 2-2 or 3-2 type affair.
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Leicester City
Out: Ritchie De Laet, Daniel Drinkwater, Robert Huth (suspension), Matty James, Jeffrey Schlupp
Doubt: N/A
In: Andy King; Marcin Wasilewski or Yohan Benalouane
Win: Riyad Mahrez
Everybody has been waiting for the pumpkin to meet the Cinderella of Leicester City, and this week's absences of Daniel Drinkwater and Robert Huth could provide that impetus along with a tricky fixture at Goodison Park. King will be expected to fill in for Drinkwater as he did during the Chelsea game, while Ranieri is considering Wasilewski and Benalouane for Huth's spot. The vital trio of Marc Albrighton/Riyad Mahrez/Jamie Vardy remains intact, so the Foxes will be up for the fight against a suspect Toffees defense.
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Out: John Flanagan, Joe Gomez, Danny Ings, Dejan Lovren, James Milner, Daniel Sturridge
Doubt: Mamadou Sakho
In: Lucas Leiva, Kolo Toure
Win: Christian Benteke
Injuries to Lovren and Milner will give Jurgen Klopp more avenues to tinker with the starting line-up. Reading the tea leaves may be difficult, especially on the offensive end where only Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson seem secure choices. Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney are a handful, but games at Watford tend to be low scoring, so I'll go with wing back Alberto Moreno who always offers a chance at offensive returns in addition to a clean sheet possibility.
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Manchester City
Out: Fernando, Vincent Kompany, Samir Nasri, Pablo Zabaleta
Doubt: Sergio Aguero
In: Kevin De Bruyne, Alexsandar Kolarov
Win: Yaya Toure
Aguero is more likely to start than fellow recently injured Arsenal counterpart Sanchez, but Pellegrini could continue with Wilfried Bony if Monday's game does not offer enough recovery time for Kun; whomever starts will likely make way for the other after about 60-65 minutes. After getting some rest last weekend, De Bruyne and Kolarov should return as City will look to field a strong squad given the importance of this fixture. However, a shaky backline continues as Vincent Kompany remains out, so let's go for glory on the offensive side with Yaya Toure who proved the impetus for last week's late game winner.
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Manchester United
Out: Marcos Rojo, Bastian Schweinsteiger (suspension), Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia
Doubt: Matteo Darmian, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young
In: Ander Herrera, Phil Jones, Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling
Win: David De Gea
After a recent rash of injuries, the woes ease for United. With Jones, Smalling and/or Young hopeful to feature, the Red Devils should be able to cobble together enough on the defensive end to support the brilliant De Gea.
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Newcastle
Out: Rolando Aarons, Tim Krul, Massadio Haidara, Gabriel Obertan, Emmanuel Riviere, Steven Taylor, Michael Williamson
Doubt: Cheik Tiote
In: N/A
Win: Georginio Wijnaldum
Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic were the heroes last week, but let's go with Wijnaldum to take the spoils against Villa.
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Out: Matt Jarvis, Andre Wisdom
Doubt: John Ruddy (off-field issues)
In: Ryan Bennett
Win: Declan Rudd
Norwich City will probably have difficulty scoring at Old Trafford, so you may want to look at keeper Declan Rudd (with John Ruddy likely to be on the bench again) or one of the defenders for fantasy returns as Manchester United's offense has remained mediocre at best. Ryan Bennett should start after replacing an injured Andre Wisdom last week.
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Out: Fraser Forster, Florin Gardos, Jay Rodriguez, Maarten Stekelenburg
Doubt: Shane Long (rotation)
In: Graziano Pelle
Win: Sadio Mane
Paulo Gazzaniga should continue in place for Stekelenburg, leaving the Saints with their third choice keeper against a dangerous Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and company angry after last week's letdown against Newcastle. So, how about we look toward the offensive end, then? Graziano Pelle offers a possibility on his return from injury, perhaps displacing Shane Long, but I could see Sadio Mane punishing a bad defensive error from Spurs.
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Stoke City
Out: Phil Bardsley, Geoff Cameron, Peter Crouch,
Doubt: Stephen Ireland, Xherdan Shaqiri
In: N/A
Win: Jack Butland
If recovered from injury, Shaqiri looks to take back his place in the starting line-up from Marco Van Ginkel, but Stoke is struggling to score with or without the Swiss maven. With Crystal Palace boasting a strong defense as well, I would look to both sides' keepers and defenders for fantasy returns. Butland is simply on another planet and gets the nod.
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Sunderland
Out: Lee Cattermole, Sebastian Larsson
Doubt: Sebastian Coates, DeAndre Yedlin (form)
In: Younes Kaboul
Win: John O'Shea
With Sebastian Coates an injury worry and DeAndre Yedlin getting yanked early last week, Younes Kaboul looks to start. Teams are not afraid of Chelsea even at Stamford Bridge this season, but with Cattermole and Larsson still out the Black Cats will not exactly feel overconfident. You're not looking at anyone on Sunderland for fantasy returns, so I'm not recommending O'Shea by any means. You could do worse, but not by much.
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Out: N/A
Doubt: Eder
In: Bafetimbi Gomis, Jonjo Shelvey
Win: Ashley Williams
Swansea's offensive line-up remains a weekly mystery amidst continued struggles. Gomis scored as a sub last week and Eder may not be able to return from injury just yet, so it would not be a surprise to see Ayew return to the wing with Gomis starting up front. Shelvey should start after missing out last week, leaving us to wonder who in the carousel of Jack Cork, Jefferson Montero, Gylffi Sigurdsson and Ki Sung-Yeung will join him. The home fixture against West Ham could go either way, but given the Swans' poor offensive form and West Ham's recent defensive stoutness, I'd point to the back end for hope.
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Out: Tom Carroll (rotation), Nacer Chadli, Clinton N'Jie, Ryan Mason
Doubt: Moussa Dembele
In: N/A
Win: Dele Alli
Losing at home at Newcastle? Really?! Maybe the wake-up call will bring a renewed focus against Southampton and Spurs can get back to the business of not losing, even if they're not winning as much as they should. Kane and Eriksen are far from consistent, so it may be prudent to go with a cheaper option such as Alli or Lamela.
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Out: Joel Ekstrand
Doubt: Valon Behrami, Sebastian Prodl
In: N/A
Win: Heurelho Gomes
Behrami and Prodl could feature here after recovering from injury, but why change it if it isn't broken, right? The Watford defense is usually a better pick than its offense at home so apologies to the always dangerous Ighalo and Deeney, but I'm going with keeper Gomes here.
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Out: Ben Foster, Claudio Yacob (personal reasons)
Doubt: Stephane Sessegnon
In: N/A
Win: Jonny Evans
With Yacob out again, Jonas Olsson should continue in back but you're probably not expecting another goal from him. Evans is a stronger pick for fantasy spoils in a home fixture that looked more attractive recently than it does now, what with Bournemouth's recent turnaround, as Albion will try to get back to notching clean sheets after a less than stellar defensive run.
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Out: Manuael Lanzini, Victor Moses, Dimitri Payet, Winston Reid, Diafra Sakho,
Doubt: Andy Carroll
In: Enner Valencia
Win: Adrian
Carroll will probably miss out, giving Enner Valencia an opportunity. Even so, with the combination of multiple absences on the offensive end, the away locale at Swansea and two straight nil-nil results, you should probably look to the other end, fantasy-wise.
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My fantasy teams (named Stallone Wall) at the moment:
Butland / Alderweireld, Cathcart, Ward / Ayew, Barkley, Delofeu, Mahrez (V) / Aguero, Lukaku (C), Vardy [Official BPL]
Hennessey / Baines, Dummett, Monreal / Ayew, Cabaye, Coutinho, De Bruyne, Mahrez / Lukaku, Vardy [Fantrax]
Butland / Ake, Dann, Johnson, Smalling / Barkley, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Ozil / Lukaku, Vardy [Togga Perfect XI]
How are your squads coming together?