Eden Hazard limps out of Chelsea’s win at Palace. Arsene Wenger is hopeful that Alexis Sanchez could return for Arsenal’s FA Cup clash with Sunderland, Manuel Pellegrini talks up Sergio Auger’s match sharpness, whilst Jamie Vardy is set for minor groin surgery which may yet see him return for Gameweek 21. Here’s the latest injury round-up from the latest press conferences.
Arsenal
Arsene Wenger has suggested that Alexis Sanchez could feature for Arsenal in their FA Cup tie against Sunderland on Saturday if he negotiates a week of training unscathed:
“It’s a possibility [he could play]. Alexis Sanchez needs a good test over the next four days and afterwards we will make a decision.”
A return for Sanchez would boost Wenger’s options in attacking areas and, most significantly, give the Arsenal boss of deploying Theo Walcott as a central striker in rotation with Olivier Giroud. As mentioned in this week’s Scout Notes, the Frenchman is without a goal in his last three league starts.
Aston Villa
The problems continued to build for Villa, after Alan Hutton and Adama Traore were forced off with injuries during the weekend loss at Sunderland. Discussing the matters post-match, Remi Garde went on to reveal:
“I think he (Traore) got a kick on his foot. He tried to carry on but I had to get him off. Yes, he came off because he was injured.. I didn’t speak to the doctor but it (Hutton’s injury) looks like a hamstring.”
Chelsea
Guus Hiddink explained that Eden Hazard is set to undergo an MRI scan after the Belgian picked up a groin problem in the 17th minute of Chelsea’s trip to Crystal Palace:
“He slipped, spread his legs and he has a little problem with a muscle inside his groin. We’ll see tomorrow with the MRI scan how damaged it is.”
Hazard would seem unlikely to be risked in Chelsea’s third round FA Cup tie with Scunthorpe and, should he be ruled out of the Gameweek 21 meeting with West Brom on Wednesday, we would expect Pedro to earn a recall to the starting XI. The Spaniard replaced Hazard on 16 minutes at Selhurst Park.
Crystal Palace
Alan Pardew furnished us with a squad-fitness update after the Eagles’ 3-0 loss to Chelsea. The Palace boss revealed that Bakary Sako (who made the bench yesterday) will likely be ready for their FA Cup encounter against Southampton, while Connor Wickham is pencilled in to return against Villa in Gameweek 21:
“Fortunately for us, going into Southampton I think Sako will be up and ready to play and Yohan Cabaye will be back. Connor’s not too far away and he might be able to play at Villa. Those players are massive for us going forward.”
Sako would seem a likely starter in the Eagles Gameweek 21 trip to Villa Park should he come through the weekend Cup tie unscathed. Coupled with Wickham’s potential return, this will likely see Frazier Campbell and Lee Chung-yong slip back down the pecking order to bench roles at best.
Leicester City
Reports last night indicate that Jamie Vardy is scheduled to undergo groin surgery but will only be sidelined for one to two weeks.
Further reports now state that Vardy’s operation has been confirmed by the club but it’s thought that the minor procedure will keep him on the sidelines for 7-10 days. It’s speculated that this was deliberately timed to coincide with the Foxes third round tie with Spurs, a fixture that Ranieri will use to rest some first team assets.
There’s every possibility that Vardy may well be in contention to return for Gameweek 21 when Leicester face Spurs again at White Hart Lane. Having said that, there is clear doubt over the striker’s start in that game and, having notched just once in five outings, ongoing sales in the Fantasy Premier League are set to continue.
Vardy has, however, confirmed that a festive illness had a major impact on his recent form:
“The illness last week has all gone now. I couldn’t tell you what it was. I was deteriorating by the minute and bed-bound for a couple of days. It took the wind out of me completely. I couldn’t do anything apart from stay in bed.”
Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp spoke to the press earlier today head of Liverpool’s midweek Capital One Cup clash with Stoke. The Reds boss conceded that both Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge are still unavailable to feature for the Reds’ trip to the Britannia:
“[Henderson’s] foot is good. It’s painful but it’s good. In this moment there is blood around the heel, so at this moment it’s impossible to train and to play. We don’t really know, we have to wait each day, hour, minute…Daniel had some problems, not serious, but he couldn’t make the next session. It’s how a pre-season can be! I won’t hold him back, but in this moment, because he hasn’t had one session with the team, he’s not available. What Daniel has to do in this moment is to be prepared for the things we make in a football game. What we have to do now is to try and fill his body with energy. It would be easy for me to say ‘come on, let’s try.’ We have to be patient, we have to wait.”
Having been afforded a 30-minute run-out for Liverpool’s U21 outfit late last year, Jon Flanagan is poised to ramp up his rehabilitation with another 45-minute stint for the youth side.
Manchester City
Manuel Pellegrini hinted that Sergio Aguero is back to full fitness and will no longer find his minutes curtailed following his auspicious display against Watford:
“The goal is very important, the most important for the striker. Before the goal he made a lot of better movements than the last game so I hope that in the next game we are going to see a complete Sergio.”
Manchester United
Louis van Gaal gave an update on Phil Jones and Ashley Young’s fitness, after both were forced off during the 2-1 win over Swansea:
“(Phil Jones) is injured. It’s more or less the same injury he had last time. Ashley Young has played a lot of matches in a row and he is stiff and had to be changed. It was not voluntary. I changed because I had to change.”
Jones’ injury could open the way for Matteo Darmian to return to the United teamsheet ahead of Gameweek 21 after the right-back was again relegated to the bench against Swansea. Daley Blind will likely be forced into a central defensive role, with Ashley Young (if fit) moving to left-back, opening the way for Darmian’s return.
Newcastle United
Steve McClaren confirmed that Papiss Cisse will be sidelined for two to three months with the groin injury he suffered against Aston Villa in Gameweek 17:
“Unfortunately, at the present moment, (Emmanuel) Riviera is injured, or at least coming back from injury, and Papiss Cisse, who is a goalscorer, is injured for the next two or three months. We’ve got other goalscorers in there. We just need to step up to the plate and start scoring and doing our job.”
Elsewhere for the Magpies, Rolando Aarons was due to step up his injury recovery with a run out for the reserves this evening but the match has since been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
West Ham United
Manuel Lanzini lasted just 38 minutes against Liverpool before succumbing to a fresh complaint. West Ham co-chairman took to Twitter to suggest that the Argentine playmaker could be out of action for four to six weeks:
“We will know more about Manuel’s injury after the scan on Monday but it could be 4/6 weeks.”
Slaven Bilic, meanwhile, was more cautious, offering hope that Lanzini won’t be consigned to the treatment room such a lengthy period:
“They have told me a little bit and I will hear more tomorrow. It is not big. It is the same, it is not the hamstring or the muscle, it is some kind of abductor and the tendon. I hope it is going to be like they have said now, just a little bit [of time out].”
Dimitri Payet’s return goes a long way for compensating for the potential loss of Lanzini – the Frenchman emerged from the bench and looked lively in Saturday’s 2-0 victory and would seem likely to start Gameweek 21 at Bournemouth. Both Victor Moses and Winston Reid could be in contention for that clash, although given the form of both Michail Antonio and James Collins, Bilic will be in no hurry to push them into a first team return before they are fully fit.
