With West Brom and City set to play out the Gameweek tonight, the injuries have largely been kept to a minimum in this opening round of fixtures. Arsenal’s in-form right-back is expected to return imminently, though Everton are set to be without Leighton Baines after the England defender’s ankle injury played up again.
Arsenal
Hector Bellerin missed Arsenal’s home defeat by West Ham yesterday but is likely to return by the weekend, according to Arsene Wenger:
“Bellerin has a slight muscular injury, it’s only a question of days.”
The club’s official twitter account rolled out an update on Olivier Giroud after the Frenchman sustained a head knock in the 2-0 defeat. Arsenal have moved to deny reports that Giroud was knocked unconscious, with the forward returning home as normal after the encounter.
Everton
The Toffees are set to be without Leighton Baines for a period of time after the left-back suffered a recurrence of the ankle injury that forced him to miss the end of last season. Roberto Martinez issued the following update:
“Everything had been perfect in Leighton’s programme and he worked extremely hard in pre-season. He looked refreshed, he looked strong and he look at a really, really good level. Then, in training, he blocks a ball and it hits him exactly in the same area where he had surgery, with the unfortunate result that he’s going to be out for a while. It’s one of those tough moments that you have to take as a player but he knows we’re going to help him immensely, everyone will support him and we have to make the most of his other role, which is to be part of the group and be a leader while he’s getting back to full fitness.”
Martinez also went on to discuss Kevin Mirallas’ fitness after the Belgian was subbed off in the second period, having picked up a knock in a challenge with Watford’s Valon Behrami:
“He wanted to stay on the pitch, clearly. But he had a really nasty tackle and we’re going to be assessing him in the next 48 hours. He tried to stay on, he couldn’t and now we’ll see what the extent of the injury is.”
Leicester
Claudio Ranieri eased fears over an injury to Ritchie de Laet after the Foxes weekend win over Sunderland. Post-match, the Italian confirmed the right-back was withdrawn due to cramp, rather than injury.
Man United
Phil Jones missed United’s home win over Spurs due to blood clotting. The centre-half is expected to be sidelined for a minimum of three weeks.
Newcastle
Steve McClaren suggested that Vurnon Anita’s back injury may not be as bad as first feared after the midfielder was stretchered off against Southampton yesterday:
“Vurnon is ok and he’s walking around normally. We will assess it this week.”
Stoke City
Mark Hughes confirmed he had to replace left-back Erik Pieters at the break against Liverpool yesterday due to illness:
“Erik was ill at half-time and wasn’t able to come back out for the second half. That is something that will resolve itself very quickly I’m sure, but I haven’t had an update from the medical staff yet. Touch wood he will be ok to join in training with the rest of the guys early next week.”
The Potters boss went on to admit that Bojan Krkic is still around a fortnight away from making a top-flight return. The Spaniard continues to step up his fitness after being sidelined since January with a knee injury:
“He definitely needs another couple of weeks because he isn’t quite up to speed for Premier League football just yet. He would have loved to have been involved I’m sure, but we want to make sure he is fit and ready when we do bring him back into the squad. I’m sure it won’t be long until he is ready and available to go again.”
Swansea
Ki Sung-Yeung is a slight doubt after picking up a hamstring problem towards the end of the first-half of Saturday’s draw at Chelsea. Garry Monk remains optimistic on his prospects of making the Gameweek 2 home clash with Newcastle:
“Ki has a slight twinge in his hamstring, but it is nothing serious and hopefully he will be ready for the next game”.
The Swans have also confirmed that Jefferson Montero was withdrawn due to cramp in the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge after tormenting Branislav Ivanovic for much of the match.
Tottenham
Danny Rose was unavailable for the trip to Old Trafford after sustaining a “slight quad injury”, allowing Ben Davies to start at left-back.
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