Daily Update - 28th August 2008
Gerrard ruled out for two weeksLiverpool's Steven Gerrard has been ruled out for the next two weeks as he undergoes crucial surgery on a groin problem. The Liverpool captain looks set to miss the trip to Aston Villa and the game against Manchester United on September 13th. Gerrard has been Liverpool's top fantasy performer this season scoring the sides late winner against Middlesbrough last week. After the Reds' terrible performance against Standard Liege last night and with Gerrard sidelined it is certainly advised to avoid Liverpool players for the next few weeks. On a positive note, Ryan Babel came back to play a cameo role towards the end of Wednesday night's crucial game setting up the winning goal for fellow Dutchman Dirk Kuyt. Babel could be an interesting pick once Liverpool face easier opposition.
Fabregas returns to the frame
Arsenal playmaker Cesc Fabregas returned to the field of play last night with an impresario performance against Dutch side FC Twente in the Champions League. The young Spaniard has been sidelined for the start of the Premiership season through injury but now looks set to start at the weekend against Newcastle. The talismanic creative player was the key to Arsenal's early surge for the Premiership title last year and ended the season withthe highest number of assists - his return to action should not be overlooked in spite of Arsenal's dismal start to their campaign. Also to note was the return to action of defensive midfielder Alexandre Song during Arsenal's 4-0 victory.
Summer Transfers IN & OUT
Updated: 27th August 2008
MAJOR TRANSFERS IN
| ||
| Aston Villa |
| Carlos Cuellar (£7.8m) Curtis Davies (undisc.) Brad Friedel (undisc.) Brad Guzan (undisc.) Nicky Shorey (undisc.) Steve Sidwell (£5m) Luke Young (£6m) |
| Blackburn Rovers |
| Vince Grella (undisc.) Paul Robinson (£3.5m) Julio Santa Cruz (undisc.) Danny Simpson (loan) Carlos Villanueva (loan) |
| Bolton Wanderers |
| Johan Elmander (undisc.) Fabrice Muamba (undisc.) Riga Mustapha (undisc.) Danny Shittu (undisc.) |
| Chelsea |
| Jose Bosingwa (£16.1m) Deco (£8m) |
| Everton |
| Lars Jacobsen (free) |
| Hull City |
| George Boateng (£1m) Craig Fagan (undisc.) Anthony Gardner (£2.5m) Geovanni (free) Peter Halmosi (undisc.) Bernard Mendy (free) Mark Oxley (£150,000) Tony Warner (free) Marlon King (loan) |
| Liverpool |
| Diego Cavalieri (undisc.) Philipp Degen (free) Andrea Dossena (undisc.) Robbie Keane (£19m) David Ngog (undisc.) |
| Manchester City |
| Tal Ben Haim (undisc.) Jo (undisc.) Vincent Kompany (undisc.) |
| Manchester United |
| None. |
| Middlesbrough |
| Didier Digard (£4m) Marvin Emnes (£3.2m) Justin Hoyte (£3m) |
| Newcastle United |
| Sebastien Bassong (undisc.) Fabricio Coloccini (undisc.) Danny Guthrie (undisc.) Jonas Gutierrez (undisc.) |
| Portsmouth |
| Peter Crouch (undisc.) Younes Kaboul (undisc.) Omar Koroma (undisc.) Glen Little (free) Ben Sahar (loan) Jerome Thomas (undisc.) Armand Traore(loan) |
| Stoke City |
| Andrew Davies (undisc.) Abdoulaye Faye (£2.25m) Amdy Faye (undisc.) Dave Kitson (£5.5m) Seyi Olofinjana (£3m) Thomas Sorensen (free) Abdoulaye Faye (£2.25million) |
| Tottenham Hotspur |
| David Bentley (£15m) John Bostock (£700,000) Giovani dos Santos (£4.7m) Heurelho Gomes (undisc.) Luka Modric (£16.6m) Cesar Sanchez (undisc.) |
| West Ham |
| Valon Behrami (£5million) Jan Lastuvka (loan) |
| Wigan Athletic |
| Lee Cattermole (undisc.) Daniel De Ridder (free) Olivier Kapo (£2.5m) Amr Zaki (loan) |
MAJOR TRANSFERS OUT
Premiership Injuries
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Premiership Disciplinary Charts
Blackburn's Tugay is top of the player charts after his red card against Man City a few weeks back but the Turk has only one game to his name so we must focus our attentions elsewhere. One surprise is to see Aston Villa's John Carew with a huge 20 fouls committed - I guess he really is getting in the face of defenders but you don't really want a foul happy striker in your team do you? The usual hard men make up the rest of the positions - I can't imagine Shaun Wright-Phillips popping up anywhere. A small pattern I have noticed: There are no Liverpool players in the list, make of this what you want but I personally feel that it reflects the fact that they probably have the World's best possession winning midfield and they calmed down Momo Sissoko a bit.Player Disciplinary Table
| Player | Team | GP | Fouls | Yellows | Reds | Disc Points |
| Tugay | Blackburn Rovers | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10.0 |
| Diop | Portsmouth | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7.0 |
| Carvalho | Chelsea | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Long | Reading | 4 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Savage | Blackburn Rovers | 5 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 4.6 |
| Carew | Aston Villa | 5 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 4.6 |
| Cisse | Reading | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4.5 |
| Kitson | Reading | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4.5 |
| Davis | Portsmouth | 6 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 4.3 |
| Zamora | West Ham United | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 4.3 |
| Smith | Newcastle United | 5 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 4.2 |
| Pedersen | Blackburn Rovers | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Howard | Derby County | 6 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Drogba | Chelsea | 5 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Gravesen | Everton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Shevchenko | Chelsea | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Vassell | Manchester City | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Etuhu | Sunderland | 6 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 3.8 |
| Butt | Newcastle United | 5 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3.8 |
| Jaidi | Birmingham City | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 3.7 |
| Barry | Aston Villa | 5 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 3.6 |
| Senderos | Arsenal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.5 |
| Bocanegra | Fulham | 6 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 3.5 |
| Wheater | Middlesbrough | 6 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 3.5 |
| Samba | Blackburn Rovers | 5 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3.4 |
| Ronaldo | Manchester United | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.3 |
| Kapo | Birmingham City | 6 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 3.3 |
| Rochemback | Middlesbrough | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3.3 |
| Sidwell | Chelsea | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3.3 |
| Muntari | Portsmouth | 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3.2 |
| Hamann | Manchester City | 6 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3.2 |
| Bentley | Blackburn Rovers | 5 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3.2 |
| Reo-Coker | Aston Villa | 5 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3.2 |
| Berbatov | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 3.2 |
| Kilbane | Wigan Athletic | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3.0 |
| Kamara | Fulham | 6 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Tuncay | Middlesbrough | 6 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Boateng | Middlesbrough | 6 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Brown | Wigan Athletic | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Mido | Middlesbrough | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Oakley | Derby County | 6 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Eduardo | Arsenal | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Helguson | Bolton Wanderers | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Jihai | Manchester City | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Kanu | Portsmouth | 5 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Seol | Reading | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Skoko | Wigan Athletic | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Nelsen | Blackburn Rovers | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2.8 |
| Brown | Manchester United | 6 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2.8 |
| Flamini | Arsenal | 5 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2.8 |
| N'Zogbia | Newcastle United | 5 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2.8 |
| Fagan | Derby County | 5 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2.8 |
| Hunt | Bolton Wanderers | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2.7 |
| Jenas | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2.7 |
| Ridgewell | Birmingham City | 6 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2.7 |
| Larsson | Birmingham City | 6 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 2.7 |
| Huddlestone | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2.6 |
Team Disciplinary Charts
We can see from the team charts that Chelsea are kicking their way to the top whilst Arsenal have decided, as usual, to not get involved too much in the hacking game. Tottenham, menawhile, could be interpreted as not kicking enough crap...
| Team | GP | Fouls | Yellows | Reds | Disc Pts | Disc Pts/game |
| Blackburn Rovers | 5 | 96 | 15 | 2 | 153 | 30.6 |
| Chelsea | 6 | 95 | 15 | 0 | 140 | 23.3 |
| Aston Villa | 5 | 77 | 12 | 0 | 113 | 22.6 |
| Middlesbrough | 6 | 87 | 16 | 0 | 135 | 22.5 |
| Reading | 6 | 88 | 10 | 2 | 130 | 21.7 |
| Fulham | 6 | 92 | 10 | 1 | 128 | 21.3 |
| Birmingham City | 6 | 95 | 11 | 0 | 128 | 21.3 |
| Portsmouth | 6 | 89 | 10 | 1 | 125 | 20.8 |
| Newcastle United | 5 | 72 | 9 | 0 | 99 | 19.8 |
| Derby County | 6 | 86 | 9 | 0 | 113 | 18.8 |
| Liverpool | 5 | 63 | 9 | 0 | 90 | 18.0 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 6 | 77 | 10 | 0 | 107 | 17.8 |
| Wigan Athletic | 6 | 79 | 7 | 1 | 106 | 17.7 |
| West Ham United | 5 | 70 | 6 | 0 | 88 | 17.6 |
| Sunderland | 6 | 78 | 8 | 0 | 102 | 17.0 |
| Everton | 6 | 78 | 7 | 0 | 99 | 16.5 |
| Manchester United | 6 | 68 | 8 | 1 | 98 | 16.3 |
| Manchester City | 6 | 59 | 11 | 1 | 98 | 16.3 |
| Arsenal | 5 | 51 | 8 | 1 | 81 | 16.2 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | 71 | 8 | 0 | 95 | 15.8 |
OPTA Team of the Week
There are some interesting players featuring in OPTA's team of the week as well as some you would expect. Man Utd's Nemanja Vidic partners John Terry at the back after his late winning goal against the impressing and very resilient Everton team. Man of the moment Cesc Fabregas gets a spot in midfield after a wonderful display vs his North London counterparts this weekend. What is interesting to note is the inclusion of West Ham's Lee Bowyer who put in an impressive display against Middlesbrough and helped West Ham to quietly move up the table.| Brad Friedel | | ||
| Blackburn Rovers | |||
| (v Chelsea) | |||
| Wes Brown | Nemanja Vidic | John Terry | Javier Garrido |
| Manchester United | Manchester United | Chelsea | Manchester City |
| (v Everton) | (v Everton) | (v Blackburn Rovers) | (v Aston Villa) |
| Lee Bowyer | Cesc Fabregas | Michael Johnson | Olivier Kapo |
| West Ham United | Arsenal | Manchester City | Birmingham City |
| (v Middlesbrough) | (v Tottenham Hotspur) | (v Aston Villa) | (v Bolton Wanderers) |
| Emmanuel Adebayor | Clint Dempsey | ||
| Arsenal | Fulham | ||
| (v Tottenham Hotspur) | (v Wigan Athletic) |
Discipline Tables - Round 1 & 2
For All Major Live Scores Click Here!!!Everton maybe top of the Premiership today but they currently lie last in the disciplinary charts with an average of 8.5 negative points a game. Aston Villa are top of the pile after hacking their way into Liverpool (with little success I may point out). A flurry of red cards has certainly made for interesting reading with, er, Reading heading the cards table with 5 yellows and 2 reds - suspensions will take their toll sooner or later... Meanwhile, the players table is shaping up nicely with a mixture of Reading, Fulham, Aston Villa and Boro' players occupying this weeks top 20. Readings Kalifa Cisse tops the chart but he will get some time to think about his lack of discipline due to his suspension. As with the teams you will find Everton players at the bottom of the rankings with Yobo, Hibbert and Lescott all with only 0.5 points each and Stubbs on zero. If you don't want to lose points in fantasy then these are your men. Other notables with good records include Man City's Corluka, Sunderland's McShane and Wigan's Granqvist who are also just on 0.5 pts after two games.
Team Disciplinary Points
| Team | MP | Fouls | Yellows | Reds | Disciplinary Points | Disc. Points/Match |
| Aston Villa | 1 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 32.0 |
| Fulham | 2 | 41 | 7 | 0 | 62 | 31.0 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 1 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 30 | 30.0 |
| Reading | 2 | 32 | 5 | 2 | 59 | 29.5 |
| Middlesbrough | 2 | 41 | 6 | 0 | 59 | 29.5 |
| Chelsea | 2 | 31 | 7 | 0 | 52 | 26.0 |
| Manchester City | 2 | 27 | 7 | 0 | 48 | 24.0 |
| Portsmouth | 2 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 45 | 22.5 |
| Birmingham City | 2 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 20.5 |
| Liverpool | 1 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 20.0 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 19.5 |
| Derby County | 2 | 31 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 18.5 |
| Newcastle United | 1 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 18.0 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 2 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 17.0 |
| Sunderland | 2 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 15.5 |
| West Ham United | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 15.0 |
| Wigan Athletic | 2 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 14.5 |
| Manchester United | 2 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 11.5 |
| Arsenal | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 10.0 |
| Everton | 2 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 8.5 |
Player Disciplinary Points (Top 20)
| Player | Team | Games | Fouls | Yellow Cards | Red Cards | Disciplinary Points |
| Cissé | Reading | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8.0 |
| Bocanegra | Fulham | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 7.0 |
| Long | Reading | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7.0 |
| Savage | Blackburn | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7.0 |
| Zamora | West Ham | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 |
| Barry | Aston Villa | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 |
| Oakley | Derby County | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 |
| Samba | Blackburn | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 |
| Muntari | Portsmouth | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5.0 |
| Boateng | Middlesbrough | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Davis | Fulham | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Howard | Derby County | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Larsson | Birmingham City | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Carew | Aston Villa | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Etuhu | Sunderland | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4.5 |
| Tuncay | Middlesbrough | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4.5 |
| Wheater | Middlesbrough | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4.5 |
| Arca | Middlesbrough | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Bouma | Aston Villa | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 |
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