We’ll be bringing you live team news updates from all the pre-match press conferences ahead of Gameweek 10 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
A total of 13 top-flight bosses will face the media on Friday, following on from the smattering of managers who took questions on Thursday. You can read the key lines from those five pressers here.
The embargoed section of Erik ten Hag’s post-Europa League press conference, held on Thursday evening, was also released today.
It remains to be seen whether we hear from Antonio Conte ahead of Saturday’s deadline, however. The Tottenham Hotspur coach had been due to face the media on Thursday but his presser was cancelled after news broke that Spurs fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone had passed away. Conte wasn’t among the managers scheduled to speak on Friday, either.
KEY UPDATES
- Fulham: Mitrovic a doubt
- Chelsea: Fofana’s injury not as serious as feared
- Manchester City: Walker out for “weeks”
- Liverpool: Robertson “close” but still set to miss out
- Arsenal: Arteta: “We’ll know more tomorrow”
- Manchester United: Ten Hag hopeful on Varane
- Newcastle United: Isak out, Saint-Maximin on cusp of return
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: Neto out until after World Cup
- Crystal Palace: Andersen back in training
- Everton: Calvert-Lewin in contention
- Leeds United: Sinisterra banned
- West Ham United: Cornet out
- Brighton and Hove Albion: Caicedo should be fit
- Nottingham Forest: Still to come
VIDEO SUMMARY
FULHAM
Marco Silva says that Aleksandar Mitrovic (foot) is “still a doubt” for the West Ham game on Sunday, although the Serbian striker has been doing work outside and is “getting better.”
The forward will be further assessed tomorrow.
“Still a doubt. He was outside this morning doing some work, getting better, but he is still a doubt for the match. We will have to assess again him tomorrow, do what we should with him, and after, take the decision for the match.
“It was the injury he got from the first game with the international team, he got a kick in his feet, damage a little bit his feet. He played the second game after the first international match, played the 90 minutes. Of course when he comes here, was small damage in his feet. We are doing some treatment with him to get him as ready as quick as we can.
“It’s in the ligament of his feet. It’s a situation that is not really, really serious but we have to get him in the best condition that we can.
“Can be ready for Sunday, can be ready for the next week. Will be day after day that we have to decide and analyse him. He was outside doing some individual work this morning. Tomorrow we will assess him again to see how he reacted from the work.
“Let’s see if he can be [ready] for Sunday, against West Ham. Of course if I’m saying he’s doubtful for the game against West Ham, of course will be ready for the World Cup, will be ready for Bournemouth, for sure, we hope.” – Marco Silva on Aleksandar Mitrovic
Silva said he had other doubts, too, but was hopeful that Kenny Tete could return.
CHELSEA
Wesley Fofana‘s knee injury isn’t as serious as first feared, with Graham Potter hopeful that the centre-half will play again before the World Cup.
“Not as bad as we thought, so that was good. After the game, of course, you are concerned. It’ll be a few weeks, I think, but considerably better than it could be.
“[A comeback before the World Cup] is a possibility, it depends on how his rehab goes. Wouldn’t want to put too much of a timecale on it but there’s a chance of that.” – Graham Potter on Wesley Fofana’s knee injury
N’Golo Kante (match fitness) is doing “more and more integration with the team” but is still not ready to feature this weekend.
After missing Gameweek 9 and sitting on the bench in midweek, Marc Cucurella is now fully recovered from illness.
“Fully recovered now, he needed the time. He was on the bench against Milan so he’s had more time, more recovery, so he’ll be involved tomorrow.”
MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola couldn’t offer anything new on Kyle Walker‘s groin injury, something that forced the full-back to undergo surgery this week.
“The same as the doctor said, I think, he’s out for a few weeks.” – Pep Guardiola on Kyle Walker
John Stones (hamstring) and Kalvin Phillips (shoulder) are also still out.
LIVERPOOL
Arthur Melo (muscle) is the latest Liverpool player to pick up an injury and will sit out the Arsenal game on Sunday.
Andrew Robertson (knee) is “close” to a return but looks set to miss out, while Naby Keita (muscle) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring) are further behind in their recoveries.
Jurgen Klopp said on Thursday that Curtis Jones (leg) was the closest of his injured players to a comeback, having rejoined training on Thursday.
“Curtis Jones was in training yesterday, looked good. He’s probably the closest.
“Naby and Ox still a little bit away. The one new injury is Arthur Melo, in the last session before the Rangers game. A normal situation, he just injured a muscle. We have to wat for further assessment to know how long it will be but he’s out.
“Robbo is running a lot, looks like he’s close. Probably Curtis now the closest, then Robbo, then the other two. Step by step.” – Jurgen Klopp
Klopp also discussed the new 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 set-up that he plumped for in the Reds’ 2-0 win over Rangers on Tuesday:
“For us, it’s much more important that we become unpredictable again. We need different systems for that as well. This is not the only system we can play. It was now a 4-4-2. Always when you name systems, it’s ‘Is it 4-3-3 or is it 4-5-1? Is it 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1?’ We don’t want to make it more complicated than it is but there are obviously different systems for us available and we have to choose from now on which one is the best for the next opponent or the best for us in the moment. We have to be more unpredictable, definitely.” – Jurgen Klopp
ARSENAL
Mikel Arteta gave his usual straight-bat answer when asked about the latest Arsenal team news in his pre-match press conference.
“No. We will have more tomorrow, we have another training session and we’ll know more tomorrow.” – Mikel Arteta when asked if he had any team news
Emile Smith Rowe (groin) and Mohamed Elneny (hamstring) are the only players we know of who are definitely out of the Liverpool game, with Cedric Soares returning from injury last night.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was the only other name of note who was absent from the matchday squad in the Europa League on Thursday, with Arsenal journalist Charles Watts reporting that the Ukraine international had also missed training earlier in the week.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Raphael Varane could recover from an ankle injury in time to face Everton but Harry Maguire (hamstring), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (unspecified) and Donny van de Beek (muscle) remain out.
“It’s difficult to say. Raphael Varane makes progress, and I hope he’s available, but I think it will be close.
“From the other players, Harry Maguire [is] not [available] and then it’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Donny van de Beek, both not [fit].” – Erik ten Hag
Ten Hag also said he’d be careful over Anthony Martial‘s game-time, despite the Frenchman scoring three goals in two substitute appearances this week.
“I want to do it really careful because he had a good pre-season and then the last 10 minutes against Atletico Madrid he fell out [injured] and then he returned against Liverpool, and so another injury from far back. I cannot force it. I have to do it with a plan and I’m trying to do it at the moment but it’s quite clear I’m happy with his performance. All the subs had a really good impact and that’s what I expect from players on the bench. You’re not playing with XI, we can sub five so every sub has to be ready. Tonight, was the best example you can get.” – Erik ten Hag on Anthony Martial
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Karl Darlow (ankle), Emil Krafth (knee), Jonjo Shelvey (hamstring) and Alexander Isak (ankle) remain out, while Eddie Howe didn’t 100% give the all-clear on Allan Saint-Maximin (match fitness) despite his return to training.
“He’s doing OK. He’s trained well this week and we’re pleased with him. He’s making good progress. There’s a chance [he could be in the squad tomorrow].” – Eddie Howe on Allan Saint-Maximin
“Unknown at the moment. He’s presenting very well. He’s running on grass and increasing his speed so he’s in a good place. The medical team are just holding him back slightly from any more than that, hopefully it wont be too long.
“He suffered a muscle problem to his thigh. The scan wasn’t overly bad but again, the medical team are just being cautious with him at this moment.” – Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak’s length of absence
“It’s going very well. He’s ahead of schedule and he’s hopefully going to be involved with us today in training for the first time. There will still be a bit of caution from me and the medical team as to when he’s ready to play but he’s making positive strides at the moment.” – Eddie Howe on Jonjo Shelvey
Joelinton and Matt Targett have trained all week after injury and illness (at least partly) influenced their benchings in Gameweek 9.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Pedro Neto will be out until after the World Cup after undergoing surgery on an ankle ligament injury he picked up last weekend.
He joins Sasa Kalajdzic (knee), Chiquinho (knee) and Raul Jimenez (groin) on the injury list, while Ruben Neves and Nathan Collins are both suspended.
Hwang Hee-chan is at least back in training.
“Pedro sustained an ankle injury against West Ham on Saturday where he strained the lateral ligaments.
“Following further evaluation and a specialist opinion this week, it is planned for him to undergo surgery. This means that, unfortunately, he will not be fit for the upcoming World Cup.
“Hee Chan has made good progress this week and has rejoined team training.” – Wolves medical team bulletin
CRYSTAL PALACE
Patrick Vieira confirmed that Joachim Andersen (calf) has trained in the last couple of days, with the Palace boss adding that it was “looking good” for the Leeds game.
Jack Butland (hand) has also been on the grass this week after missing the start of 2022/23.
Even the lesser-spotted Nathan Ferguson (foot) is back in training today and is said to be “progressing” but James McArthur (groin) remains out and Nathaniel Clyne sustained an ankle injury last weekend and will be out for a couple of weeks.
EVERTON
Nathan Patterson (knee), Andros Townsend (knee) and Ben Godfrey (leg) are all on the sidelines ahead of the visit of Manchester United, while Mason Holgate (knee) and Yerry Mina (ankle) have only just returned to training this week; Sunday’s game definitely comes too soon for Holgate but Frank Lampard didn’t completely rule Mina out.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (match fitness) is also in “contention” after being declared injury-free by Lampard on Friday.
LEEDS UNITED
Luis Sinisterra serves a one-match ban after his sending off in Gameweek 9, while Adam Forshaw (ankle) and Leo Hjelde (appendix) have both undergone surgery this weekend to join Stuart Dallas (knee) and Archie Gray (toe) on the sidelines.
WEST HAM UNITED
Maxwel Cornet will miss the visit of Fulham with a minor calf strain that will keep him out for a “couple of days”.
David Moyes otherwise reported only the usual “knocks and niggles” from last night’s win over Anderlecht.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Long-term absentee Jakub Moder (knee) remains sidelined and Enock Mwepu (illness) is not expected to be involved against Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, while Moises Caicedo is being assessed after missing training on Thursday.
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi was confident of Caicedo recovering in time for Saturday’s match, however.
“Moises Caicedo didn’t work with the team yesterday. We will be looking at the situation today, but I don’t think there will be a problem.” – Roberto De Zerbi
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2 years, 1 month ago
If Brighton switched to a back 4, Estupinan would be pretty nailed, right? Who else would play LB (in a 4, so presumably not Trossard)?