If you have any questions on something not covered here, or just want some specific advice for your team, I will again be participating in the Zeebox Live Fantasy A-League chat on Thursday (once again changed due to the Boxing Day game) at around 2pm Eastern, so click the link at the appropriate time and join the discussion! Otherwise you can use the comments section at the bottom of the page or contact me on Twitter. As I'm writing this on Tuesday, the official squad lists for all the games are not available, but again I've done the best I can to piece together (with help from Ben of course) which players are unlikely to play a part in the upcoming games.
Young Socceroos Squad
Adelaide United: Jake Barker-Daish, John Hall
Brisbane Roar: Corey Brown, James Donachie, Kwame Yeboah (he's off to Germany anyway)
Central Coast Mariners: (none)
Melbourne Heart: David Vrankovic
Melbourne Victory: Nick Ansell, Scott Galloway, Jason Geria, Connor Pain
Newcastle Jets: Josh Brillante, Connor Chapman, Andrew Hoole
Perth Glory: Jack Duncan, Ryan Edwards, Jamie Maclaren
Sydney FC: Hagi Gligor
Wellington Phoenix: Reece Caira
Western Sydney Wanderers: (none)
As you can see, there's quite a few of the popular cheapies picked in the squad, which will present another headache for most coaches thanks to the restrictive salary cap. So any cheap options that appear in the coming weeks need to be considered if you have any players listed above. Some cheap options do remain however, such as Cameron Edwards, Matthew Davies and Riley Woodcock at Perth, Jason Hicks at the Phoenix and Sam Gallaway at the Jets.
Adelaide United
Unavailable: Cassio (injured)
Captaincy options Round 12: Cirio
Captaincy options Round 13: Fabio Ferreira, Cirio
The Reds should have Daniel Bowles and Fabio Ferreira available this Sunday, while Cirio will likely return to the starting XI after an injury concern restricted him to the bench. Adelaide picked up their second consecutive clean sheet against Perth, and arguably are a chance to do so in their next two games as well. Unfortunately most Reds defenders are awkwardly priced, and two of the cheaper options (Bowles and Tarek Elrich) are probably in competition for one spot. I wouldn't expect to see Cameron Watson retained in the starting XI either. With Jeronimo likely to be benched again once Ferreira is fit, I'd suggest your best bet for an Adelaide captain over the two rounds is Cirio, as Ferreira may not be fit enough to start in Round 12, though he may be worth a shout in Round 13.
Brisbane Roar
Unavailable: Besart Berisha, Shane Stefanutto, George Lambadaridis (injured)
Captaincy options Round 12: Ivan Franjic, Henrique
Captaincy options Round 13: Ivan Franjic, Henrique
The big news is that Besart Berisha is out for up to 3 weeks with a hip injury, so if you own him he'll need to be traded (again). Kwame Yeboah has been sold to Borussia Monchengladbach so will need to be moved on if you still have him - even though the deal won't become official for another week, it is unlikely he'll play Thursday night. So this means Henrique will probably lead the line again. Owners of Corey Brown will be happy to see he gets another week as Shane Stefanutto continues to struggle with a hamstring problem; however, as mentioned above he will be missing for the Young Socceroos games. Ivan Franjic was a fantasy failure against the Jets, picking up a doughnut after being booked late on. His owners will be happy to know he scored against both of these sides last year. Thomas Broich continues to struggle for points though he remains a popular pick, owned by 22.1% of teams - perhaps an indication of the lack of strong midfield options. Hernandez or Hersi represent solid alternatives if you are losing faith in the German maestro.
Central Coast Mariners
Unavailable: Tom Slater, Adam Kwasnik (injured)
Captaincy options Round 12: Daniel McBreen, Michael McGlinchey, Marcos Flores
Captaincy options Round 13: Daniel McBreen, Michael McGlinchey, Marcos Flores
The big news for the Mariners is that Michael McGlinchey is leaving after Round 13, and will be replaced by Bernie Ibini in Round 14. The Mariners will also look to bring in an injury replacement player with Adam Kwasnik now ruled out for the season. With Marcos Flores continuing his slump McGlinchey represents a huge loss for the Mariners. It'll be interesting to see how the arrival of Ibini impacts their preferred line-up (and how much the Fox Sports administrators are going to price him at). Daniel McBreen is another key Mariner guilty of under performing, while Matt Simon's impact on return to the A-League has been negligible. At least Liam Reddy and Storm Roux have provided fantasy managers with two underpriced options. The two home games should produce two wins for the Gosford side, so hopefully McBreen and Flores can play themselves into form again and McGlinchey can go out with a bang, should you own him. Flores of course scored two penalties against the Heart in Round 2, while McBreen netted against both sides last season.
Melbourne Heart
Unavailable: Orlando Engelaar, Jonatan Germano (injured), Patrick Kisnorbo (suspended for Round 12)
Captaincy options Round 12: (none)
Captaincy options Round 13: (none)
What is left to say about the Heart? While they continue to struggle for wins on the field, their players aren't much use to fantasy coaches. That Wellington picked up their first win in difficult circumstances is no help to them either, as the New Zealand side will be feeling confident ahead of their match up on Friday night. Really the only Heart player you'd remotely consider at the moment is David Williams, and he's too erratic for his price tag - though he did score twice against the Mariners in Round 2.
Melbourne Victory
Unavailable: (none)
Captaincy options Round 12: Archie Thompson, Mitch Nichols, James Troisi
Captaincy options Round 13: Archie Thompson, Mitch Nichols, James Troisi
The big news for the Victory is that Cerezo Osaka have lodged a bid for star midfielder Mitch Nichols. Before panicking (if you have him), it's worth remembering that Victory are notorious for playing hardball with their transfers. So there's no guarantee he'll be leaving once the transfer window opens. However, should that happen, his owners can simply trade him out for his likely replacement, Gui Finkler. Despite making the most of his limited minutes off the bench, Finkler is finding it difficult to displace Nichols and top scorer James Troisi. Playing him deep in midfield alongside Mark Milligan is another option for Muscat, but one that will be far less profitable for fantasy coaches. As noted above, Victory will lose 3 of its cheapie defenders for Rounds 14 (when it doubles up), 15 and possibly 16, as well as Connor Pain. Archie Thompson frustratingly pulled out in the warm-up of Saturday's game, but unless we hear differently before Thursday I think it can be expected he'll play against the Wanderers. While playing their fourth and fifth straight home games the Wanderers and Roar should represent tough competition, but the Victory's main attackers (except Kosta Barbarouses) have showed they can be relied on for points. Troisi also netted the winner against the Roar in Round 3.
Newcastle Jets
Unavailable: Scott Neville (injured)
Captaincy options Round 12: Adam Taggart
Captaincy options Round 13: Adam Taggart
The big relief from the Young Socceroos announcement is that Adam Taggart has not been called up. Despite failing to find the net for the fourth straight round, Taggart will be looking to get back on track against the side he started his hot streak against at Coopers Stadium, before a home game against Perth - who he scored against last season - in Round 13. Andrew Hoole's owners would have been thrilled with his assist and clean sheet, which was almost rubbed out thanks to his substitution - fortunately falling on the right side of 60 minutes. However, he's off with the Young Socceroos soon, so he will have to be traded unless you have cover - perhaps to teammate Sam Gallaway. The Jets have signed Nick Ward as an injury replacement, however he's not really someone you should consider - unless he's playing 90 minutes every week and is priced very cheaply, in which case he may be serviceable bench cover - especially if listed as a defender. The status of Emile Heskey and Nathan Burns remains a concern, but you shouldn't be considering Heskey at the moment and Burns has only had one good round.
Perth Glory
Unavailable: Ryo Nagai, Shane Smeltz, William Gallas, Travis Dodd, Scott Jamieson, Josh Risdon (injured)
Captaincy options Round 12: (none)
Captaincy options Round 13: (none)
With the injuries mounting for Perth and a couple of tough road games over the holiday rounds, it's tough to recommend you bring in any of their players at the moment. Further adding to their headaches is that popular cheapies Ryan Edwards (who was dropped on Sunday) and Jamie Maclaren will be unavailable for Rounds 14, 15 and possibly 16 when they are off with the Young Socceroos. At least Sidnei has returned from injury, but given that he had to settle for a spot on the bench and the difficulty of Perth's next two matches I'd hold off, especially while they are trying to adjust to a new manager. Besides cheap options (including Riley Woodcock, Jack Clisby and Matthew Davies - one of whom will have to make way soon for William Gallas) and Sidnei, Perth doesn't have much to offer at the moment. Steven McGarry's return to the #10 role may see his points increase a little, but not enough to make coaches rush to bring him in. He did however score against the Jets last season.
Sydney FC
Unavailable: Terry Antonis, Rhyan Grant, Peter Triantis (injured)
Captaincy options Round 12: Alessandro Del Piero
Captaincy options Round 13: Alessandro Del Piero, Ranko Despotovic
The withdrawal of Alessandro Del Piero from Sunday's trip to Wellington would have had his owners tearing their hair out; however, by now they should understand it is going to be a regular issue, especially as he gets closer to 40. He (and fellow withdrawal Brett Emerton) should be available for the home clash against Brisbane on Boxing Day. Whether he backs up for Adelaide away is anyone's guess - a trip he also missed last season. He scored 4 goals against the Roar last season so if you have him then you should seriously consider him for captaincy in Round 12. Meanwhile, he's never scored against Adelaide. Ranko Despotovic failed to find the net on Sunday however he remains one of the few decent mid-priced forward options. Corey Gameiro also played a half for Sydney but it remains to be seen how far off a starting berth he is, and which role Farina prefers him to play. Joel Chianese's awful miss would have frustrated his owners to no end, though at least it shows he is still getting into positions to score despite playing wide.
Wellington Phoenix
Unavailable: Paul Ifill (injured)
Captaincy options Round 12: Carlos Hernandez, Stein Huysegems, Jeremy Brockie
Captaincy options Round 13: (none)
Paul Ifill's injury sees his season come to an end, a major blow for the Phoenix despite being limited to cameos off the bench for most of the season so far. Both Wellington fans and fantasy coaches will be hoping the Nix can bring in a quality playmaker as an injury replacement to give us another option. The drama surrounding Carlos Hernandez being sent home early last week appears to be a beat up, with the Costa Rican taking the field against Sydney FC on Sunday. With a lack of quality midfield options, Hernandez comes into reckoning now that he seems to be taking the penalties. Jeremy Brockie's woes continued in front of goal, however he faces a side in Round 12 that he put 3 past last season, and he's also scored against the Wanderers previously. Surely he won't get a better chance to get back into form than against the struggling Heart. Stein Huysegems scored the winner against Sydney after missing many chances in both games last round, so he too may be a decent chance to score against the wayward Heart. The Wanderers away however may be another matter, though the Nix already managed a draw there earlier this season. Kenny Cunningham also came off hurt against Sydney, so his owners will have a nervous wait for news ahead of Thursday's team announcements. His job security however improves with Ifill's injury.
Western Sydney Wanderers
Unavailable: Mark Bridge, Shannon Cole, Aaron Mooy (injured)???
Captaincy options Round 12: Shinji Ono, Tomi Juric, Youssouf Hersi
Captaincy options Round 13: Tomi Juric, Youssouf Hersi
Tomi Juric made an instant impact on his return to the Wanderers starting XI, grabbing a goal against the Mariners, while Youssouf Hersi also found the net. Juric perhaps represents an easy trade decision if you have Berisha, though the Victory in Melbourne represents a tough test. Shinji Ono - who grabbed an assist and 2 bonus points on Monday - has a great record against the Victory however, scoring 3 goals against them last season; he's also scored against Wellington last season. The late withdrawals of Mark Bridge and Aaron Mooy with injury would not have affected many, with Bridge only owned by 1.8% of coaches and Mooy by 4.4% - Mooy of course not representing much value while playing deep in midfield anyway. Shannon Cole also missed the game but he's not really an option unless Hersi is out. It remains to be seen whether the trio will be available for Round 12 or 13.