Dejan Lovren limps out of Liverpool’s clash with West Brom. Graziano Pelle is set to undergo knee injections to alleviate an ongoing problem, Xherdan Shaqiri misses Stoke’s trip to West Ham with a hamstring complaint, whilst Jesse Lingard adds to United’s injury woes.
Arsenal
Arsene Wenger has conceded that he expects Alexis Sanchez to be ruled out of Arsenal’s home tie against Manchester City next Gameweek, though admits the Chilean’s never-say-die attitude means he could yet be in with a chance:
“The closest to having a chance is Alexis. Medically, we think – my people think, he will not be ready [for Manchester City] but Alexis being Alexis, you never know.”
Bournemouth
Match-winner Joshua King was replaced early in the second-half after picking up a hamstring problem, according to the local press.
Everton
John Stones rolled his ankle during the warm up for Everton’s meeting with Norwich City at Carrow Road but persevered and lasted the full 90 minutes. Roberto Martinez praised the centre-back for his maturity and insisted that the injury isn’t serious enough to sideline him for Leicester’s visit next weekend:
“John twisted his ankle in the warm up but didn’t want to come off to get it strapped up. I thought he was magnificent not just in the manner that he performed but in the way that he showed incredible maturity to deal with that situation. He took another knock in the corner as well and he is developing such a responsible nature in the way he played. He is a leader and I was delighted with his attitude and his performance. He was very unfortunate not to finish in a victorious team today. He seems okay. No scan will be needed. Structurally the ligament is a little bit damaged but maybe three or four days and he should be back ready for for next week.”
Liverpool
Dejan Lovren was subbed off at the 79-minute mark in Liverpool’s home clash against West Bromwich Albion after suffering a gash on his knee from a Craig Gardener challenge. Jurgen Klopp said the Croatia international will undergo a scan to determine the extent of the damage:
“We don’t know too much about it. It’s a cut, as everybody could see in the dressing room. We hope it’s not too serious, but we have to wait for the scan. We have to wait overnight to see if it becomes swollen or not. I spoke to him and he felt not too bad. I saw the situation and anything could happen in that situation. Hopefully we’ll have a little bit more luck than in previous situations like this – but we have to wait.”
Klopp could be set to call upon the services of Mamadou Sakho for the weekend trip to Watford, though, after the defender stepped up his injury recovery:
“Mama has trained now. He had his first session with the team yesterday and if nothing happens, he has to go on and carry on with training. That’s what he needs now.There are no more issues with the knee and everything is okay, now he has to work to be a real option for us. Next week for sure, he will be available if nothing more happens.”
Elsewhere in the Reds camp, Daniel Sturridge has returned to cardio training as he attempts to achieve a higher baseline of fitness during his rehabilitation program:
“We have to train with him and make sessions with him as soon as he’s prepared for them. At this moment, he trains aerobically and it’s very important to give him a better base than he had before and that he can work on this. I said before Southampton with the last injury: that is the history and the situation with players who have been injured for a long time. We have to train, that’s all, and to give him more resistance for the intensity of football. That’s what we’ll do together with him.”
Manchester United
Paddy McNair and Jesse Lingard were both substituted during the Red Devils’ 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth. Post-match, Louis van Gaal explained the duo’s withdrawal:
“McNair had cramp; he hasn’t played much this season. With Lingard, it is a second occurrence in a short space of time so we will have to see.”
Norwich City
Andrew Wisdom was replaced by Ryan Bennett – who served up the assist for Norwich’s goal – at half time against Everton by virtue of a hamstring problem.
Tottenham Hotspur
Clinton N’jie was ruled out of Spurs’ home encounter against Newcastle after injuring his knee in a midweek win over Monaco:
Southampton
Ronald Koeman provided a squad-fitness update following Saints’ 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, revealing that Maarten Stekelenburg received an injection for a toe injury, whilst Graziano Pelle is contending with a minor knee injury and wasn’t deemed fit enough to make the starting XI. The Italian is set to receive injections ahead of the weekend visit of Spurs:
“Maarten, it was his toe injury. He got it Thursday and he tried everything. He got an injection this morning, but it was still too painful to play and Graziano was the second player. He was not really fit, he did not really [have] a good session the last few days and that was the reason he wasn’t in the starting line-up. He is struggling several weeks now with a knee injury. He will get an injection this Monday and takes him out for two days then. Then we hope we have resolved the problem. He wasn’t training the last few days, not at the intensity of the rest and not the whole sessions, and he was not ready for 90 minutes. That was the reason why he didn’t start.”
Stoke City
Mark Hughes shed some slight on Xherdan Shaqiri’s omission last weekend, revealing that the Swiss midfielder is nursing a hamstring issue he didn’t want to risk aggravating. Geoff Cameron was forced off at the 68-minute mark against West Ham United with a similar complaint:
“He’s (Shaqiri) had a bit of a discomfort in his hamstring for a number of weeks now. He’s trained this week, but was still causing a little bit of concern and so had a scan which showed a bit of damage right down the bottom of the hamstring. We erred on the side of safety because we have got a big period coming up.”
Swansea City
Jonjo Shelvey sat out Swansea City’s home match-up against West Ham due to a slight calf strain.
Sunderland
Younes Kaboul was sidelined this Gameweek through illness. Sam Allardyce admitted that the Frenchman’s presence was sorely missed at the heart of the Black Cats’ defence:
“I could have changed the whole system today because Younes is ill, but I felt that might have thrown the lads completely. I didn’t think it was the system, I just thought the individuals weren’t playing well. In the end, second half, we dominated more and more. I could have done without Younes being ill today.”
West Bromwich Albion
West Brom confirmed that Claudio Yacob has been afforded leave to return to Argentina on the grounds of family bereavement. Jonny Evans was stationed in the centre of the park for the second successive Gameweek – he played in midfield in the previous league match as Yacob was serving a one-match suspension.
