Having finally concluded their entry into the league, UTCIAD can begin their assault on the championship in earnest; albeit 800points behind the leaders.
Last week proved solid rather than spectacular, though this was in-spite of, rather than due to the manager. Having sat out a high scoring weekend Joe Hart and Gareth Bale both look certain to come into the starting line-up.
One good weekend does not guarantee another however and a set of tricky fixtures have provided a range of selection headaches for the week ahead.
Sylvain Distin, Darren Bent and Abdoulaye Faye are in line to be dropped with Faye likely to be sold.
Faye did not have a particularly poor game against Tottenham Hotspurs but with Stoke City’s next match away to Chelsea and the potential to free up £4.9million for a replacement it seems unlikely he will feature going forward. Where this leaves UTCIAD is unclear.
Speculation regarding Faye’s replacement centres on Bolton’s Gary Cahill, though Manchester City’s Micah Richards is also reported to be a target.
The result of two Sunday fixtures look set to define the coming weekend as Sunderland take on Hart’s Manchester City and Stephen Ireland’s Aston Villa tackle Distin’s Everton.
Though there is little history of clean sheets in the fixture, Hart’s excellent early season form – when compared with the slow start of Sunderland – would point towards a favourable outcome for Manchester City. This is in sharp contrast to the form of UTCIAD’s other goalkeeper, Brad Friedel, who conceded six last week – resulting in the team being deducted points.
The inclusion of Hart would mean the dropping of Bent in favour of Shola Ameobi. Newcastle put six past a lack lustre Aston Villa last Saturday and though it was Andy Carroll, not Ameobi, who was the star of the show, the result suggests another good Newcastle performance in Wolverhampton.
As things stand one Villa player must feature, with Marc Albrighton currently the only possible replacement for Ireland in midfield. The past three meetings between Everton and Aston Villa resulted in score draws so it would appear unwise to expect a high number of defensive points to be scored. As a result Distin is likely to be benched with Ireland holding onto his place in the starting line-up.
Squad list (predicted) Goalkeeper: J. Hart Defence: P. Evra, G. Bale, G. Cahill, A. Cole. Midfield: F. Malouda, A. Arshavin, S. Ireland, A. Valencia Strikers: D. Drogba, S. Ameobi
