Alex Livesey/Getty ImagesSamir Nasri and Wayne Rooney are two of the main characters in Sunday's Manchester Derby

There is one more game than usual this week, a makeup match between Sunderland and Reading Tuesday that was postponed in August. For comments on this click here:

The match of the week and perhaps the season will be Sunday between Manchester City and Manchester United.

Saturday, December 8

Arsenal-WBA: The Gunners (5-6-4, 10th) are in a nosedive and have scored one goal in three matches. Laurent Koscielny is out injured. Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain bring more fantasy potential than points. Jack Wilshere is a fantasy bust. Arsene Wenger rested Santi Cazorla and others in the Champions League loss in Greece. The Baggies (8-2-5, 5th) come off a disappointing loss, but are having a splendid season. Shane Long and Romelu Lukaku each have five goals, Long has four assists.

- Tactics & Analysis: Mediocre Manchesters?

Aston Villa-Stoke City: Villa (3-5-7, 17th) has few fantasy players of value. Christian Benteke has three of AV’s 12 goals. Darren Bent had two early season goals but is rotting in oblivion courtesy of Paul Lambert. Stoke City (5-7-3, 9th) are rock solid for fantasy defenders. Asmir Begovic, Robert Huth, Ryan Shawcross, etc. have only given up 12 goals in 15 matches. Charlie Adam is suspended for five YCs, Peter Crouch may return.

Southampton-Reading: The ‘Aints (3-3-9, 18th) have been bombarded with 32 goals, but have 21 themselves. This could be a high-scoring fantasy affair between teams locked in relegation muck. Reading (1-6-7, 19th) showed scoring spunk against Manchester United but have seen 27 balls fill their nets.

Sunderland-Chelsea: The Black Cats (2-7-5, 17th) host the Man of La Bridge and his Impossible Nightmare. Sunderland’s own manager is on shaky ground. Steven Fletcher is out with an injury—an awful blow to their meager offense. Chelsea (7-5-3, 3rd) will get David Luiz back from suspension. Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge could return. Juan Manuel Mata is fantasy fabulous and he and Fernando Torres were great against a bad NSJ team on Wednesday when Chelsea got knocked out of UCL.

Swansea City-Norwich City: The Swans (6-5-4, 7th) and Canaries (4-7-4, 12th) are doing well in their second PL season. Michu is a fantasy-scoring monster. Wayne Routledge is out.

Wigan-QPR: Latics (4-2-9) are without suspended Maynor Figueroa and Gary Caldwell while Ali Al-Habsi’s form in goal has struggled. Shaun Maloney’s return will help. Arouna Kone and Ronnie Stam were impressive last weekend. QPR (0-5-9, 20th) has only 11 goals and has been drilled for 27. Julio Cesar is out injured. This will be ugly.

Sunday, December 9

Manchester City-Manchester United: Undefeated City (9-6-0, 2nd) hosts top-of-the-table MU (12-0-3) in the juicy early match featuring teams that have a combined 65 goals. SAF’s lads have given up 21 goals while City has surrendered a league-low 11. Anderson is out, Luis Valencia and Shinji Kagawa may be in and Nemanja Vidic, who is desperately needed and close to returning but will not play in the Derby.
For City, Aleksandar Kolarov and James Milner are injury doubts but Davd Silva is in. Sir John no longer has any City players, so no agonizing over who The Scarf will start among Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko. City was humiliated in Champions League play and missed Europa selection.

Everton-Tottenham: The Blues (5-8-2, 6th) host in-form Spurs (8-2-5, 4th) and feature big fantasy point player Marouane Fellaini. Jermain Defoe is Spurs' fantasy favorite. Tottenham (8-2-5, 4th) scores a lot (28 goals) and concedes plenty (23) and will be without injured Gareth Bale but brings Emmanuel Adebayor back from suspension.

West Ham-Liverpool: Big Sam’s Hammers (6-4-5, 8th), fresh off dismantling Chelsea face Liverpool (4-7-4, 12th) who must go without suspended Luis Suarez and maybe without Steven Gerrard who was ill during the week. Getting Lucas back is key. West Ham's Andy Carroll is out for two months, but the team functions better without him. Goals from Mohamed Diame and Modibo Maiga suggest more to come.

Monday, December 10

Fulham-Newcastle: The Cottagers (4-5-6, 11th) welcome back Brede Hangeland from a three-game suspension. Bryan Ruiz is out. Dimitar Berbatov has gone four straight games without a goal. Disappointing Newcastle (4-5-6, 14th) is sweating about injured Demba Ba, who has 10 goals but was hurt against Sunderland. Late fitness tests await Hatem Ben Arfa, Davide Santon and Cheik Tiote.

Tuesday, December 11


Sunderland-Reading: The week’s extra game brings the teams together for their 16th match of the season.

 

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