The Tipster: Matchday 4
Monday, October 21, 2002
Article summary
With injuries affecting leading players, the Tipster advises managers to select with care.
Article body
With so many injuries affecting leading players, the Tipster advises managers to select their teams with care this week as the UEFA Champions League returns following a three-week break. The leading group of players are packed with attackers or midfield players, so the Tipster suggests this is where the points are to be won yet again.
Van Nistelrooij missing
On Wednesday, Manchester United FC travel to Olympiakos Piraeus FC, the team they beat 4-0 at Old Trafford on Matchday Three, but will have to look beyond their main striker, Ruud van Nistelrooij who is injured. Paul Scholes, who has been finding the net of late in a new advanced role may be the one to include as he is categorised as a midfield player and therefore earns extra points for a goal.
Cassano to come in
AS Roma's Francisco Totti has sustained another injury and is likely to be replaced by Antonio Cassano for the match against KRC Genk. Meanwhile, Pierre van Hooijdonk, who has been in fine goalscoring form, will miss Feyenoord's next three Champions League matches and should probably be replaced.
Aimar sidelined
Arsenal FC's Dennis Bergkamp is unlikely to feature in the home match against AJ Auxerre because of his achilles injury, and, should Arsenal win and therefore progress, he will probably have little say in the rest of Group Stage 1 given his fear of flying and Arsene Wenger's reluctance for him to travel to away games by car. Valencia CF's Pablo Aimar, the top midfield player in Fantasy Football and in second place overall, is another key player to miss out on the action this week. A shoulder injury has ruled him out of the trip to FC Basel.
Pires returns
The Tipster advises replacing one of these fallen stars with Robert Pires, the Arsenal midfield player who is returning to full fitness and may play a part this week. Those who are fit and firing include Juventus' Alessandro Del Piero, a scorer at the weekend, Internazionale FC's Christian Vieri and Rivaldo, who has settled in well at AC Milan and also hit the target on Saturday.
