Phil Jagielka is ruled out for Everton, though Romelu Lukaku returns. Davide Santon and Hatem Ben Arfa remain sidelined through injury. Arsenal welcome back Thomas Vermaelen and Mesut Ozil. Guy Demel emerges as a doubt for West Ham, whilst Sakho and Lucas return to training for Liverpool:
Roberto Martinez has confirmed that Phil Jagielka will miss the visit of West Ham after feeling his hamstring in the last couple of days. The injury is expected to see Jagielka ruled out for “a couple of weeks”. Antolin Alcaraz will vie with John Stones to replace Jagielka, with Roberto Martinez confirming the Paraguayan is fit and “working really well.” Elsewhere, Romelu Lukaku is available again to boost the Toffees’ striking options after being ineligible to face parent club Chelsea last week.
Newcastle will again be without the injured Davide Santon and Hatem Ben Arfa when they take on Hull at the weekend. The pair have knocks and won’t be available, though Sylvain Marveaux has returned and will be in contention for the Tigers clash.
Mesut Ozil is back in the squad for Arsenal’s trip to Stoke after missing last week with a thigh problem. Thomas Vermaelen also returns after injury, but Wenger has doubts over the fitness of left-backs Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs, with the former coming off against Sunderland with a foot injury.
Sam Allardyce has revealed that defender Guy Demel has been struggling with illness after contracting a severe case of tonsillitis earlier in the week. The Hammers boss remains hopeful that the right-back will be fit to face Everton, having now returned to training. Meanwhile Andy Carroll is back in the squad following suspension, though January signing Marco Borriello continues to struggle with a calf problem.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has received a double boost with news that Mamadou Sakho and Lucas Leiva have both returned to full training following injuries. The trip to St Mary’s will come too soon for Lucas, whilst summer signing Sakho will be assessed before a final decision is made on his availability.
Victor Wanyama and Jos Hooiveld are the Saints only doubts – both will be assessed prior to the match, Mauricio Pochettino confirmed earlier today.
In last night’s European matches, Ben Davies recovered from a calf injury to start in Swansea’s loss to Napoli last night. Alex Pozuelo emerged from the bench to cement his comeback from a brief hip problem in the 3-1 defeat to Rafa Benitez’ side. Elsewhere in the Europa League, Sandro returned from a calf complaint to play 76 minutes in Tottenham’s 3-1 win over FC Dnipro.
All this and more has now been updated in the Team News section ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. Keep an eye on our official Twitter Stream as breaking news unfolds.
