Kevin De Bruyne is set for a spell on the sidelines after limping out of City’s win at Swansea with a hamstring injury. Spurs receive positive news on Harry Kane’s ankle injury, while Wilfried Zaha and Leighton Baines remain doubtful for Everton’s clash with Palace on Friday night. Here’s the current crop of new casualties currently prone on the Treatment Table…
Kevin de Bruyne
Earlier this evening, Man City manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that the hamstring injury suffered by Kevin de Bruyne during the 3-1 win at Swansea is not as bad as first feared:
“Kevin De Bruyne is not a big injury. In two and a half, three weeks maybe he will be ready”.
With an international break just around the corner, then, there’s even a possibility he could be fit for the Gameweek 8 home clash against Everton on October 15.
The Telegraph have stated that the Belgian accompanied his compatriot, Vincent Kompany, for specialist treatment in Barcelona.
Speaking after Saturday’s match, Guardiola stated the need for other players to step up in De Bruyne’s absence, and his belief that his side can maintain their winning form without the star midfielder:
“I’m so happy today the minutes that Fernando, Pablo Zabaleta and Jesus Navas played [and] how they played today. Fernando, for example, in the last game was amazing. Today he played 30 minutes, it was 30 minutes all the game in that position… That is a good thing because today is OK, so Kevin is not going to play the next games, and we need to keep going and we need to win the games without him, and we are going to do that. We have to do that.”
David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan are expected to be Guardiola’s first choice centre midfield partnership in De Bruyne’s absence, but Fernando and Fernandinho offer alternatives, along with Fabian Delph providing he shakes off a knock during the international break.
De Bruyne is currently the second most transferred out player in FPL this week, losing over 121,000 owners, and the sales look set to continue ahead of this week’s trip to Spurs in light of tonight’s confirmation.
Harry Kane, Moussa Sissoko
Mauricio Pochettino was handed some encouraging news regarding the ankle injury suffered by Harry Kane is the 1-0 victory over Sunderland earlier this month.
Further scans have revealed the injury he suffered to his ankle ligaments may only rule the forward out for a couple of weeks, something which was a huge boost to the Tottenham boss:
“Just half an hour ago, we received the information about the scan and it’s much, much better than we expected and maybe we can reduce the time… It was very positive, the scan, and we are very happy. Still we cannot give a time on how long it will be to recover, but it is sure we are happy because this scan was much better. It’s difficult to say one, two, three weeks. But it’s true it is much better than we expected and very, very positive.”
The news isn’t so optimistic on Moussa Sissoko, though, with the midfielder not part of the travelling squad for tonight’s trip to CSKA Moscow in the Champions League. The France international suffered a head injury during the 2-1 win at Middlesbrough, with Pochettino conceding:
“We can’t rule out concussion and so we are treating it this way.”
With only the match against Man City on Sunday to come before the international break, Spurs may decide not take any risks with Sissoko, with the likes of Erik Lamela, Heung-Min Son, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli all fully fit and capable of filling the attacking midfield positions.
Speaking
about Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele and Danny Rose, Pochettino suggested they may be available to face the league leaders on Sunday:
“They are OK, but we don’t want to take a risk. We have a lot of games ahead, a difficult period and then the international break. We will not take a risk with them. Dier and Danny Rose are at the same level. We will see with Mousa (Dembele). But why take a risk when it’s only one or two days after we played against Middlesbrough? It makes no sense to take risks.”
Francis Coquelin, Olivier Giroud
The Arsenal midfielder was forced off during the first half of the Gunners 3-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday with a knee injury, and initial reports did suggest he would be set for around two months on the sidelines.
But Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger today revealed he hopes Coquelin will be sidelined for less than a month:
“He is out for the game tomorrow, but it should be a short-term injury because the scan was quite positive and I think it will be three weeks out.”
Wenger does have plenty of alternatives in midfield, with Granit Xhaka set to deputise for Coquelin against Basel tomorrow night, while the Swiss international could also start at Burnley on Sunday. Mohamed Elneny offers another option alongside Santi Cazorla in central midfield for the Gunners.
Giroud – who is suspended for tomorrow’s clash – is also rated doubtful for the weekend, despite returning from a toe injury to play 12 minutes as a substitute in the 3-0 victory over Chelsea. In all likelihood, a place on the bench looks the best bet, given the form of Alexis Sanchez in the central attacking role.
Adam Smith
The Bournemouth right-back suffered a nasty facial injury after coming off second best in an aerial challenge with Everton’s Ashley Williams last weekend.
Smith was able to complete the match, though, suggesting he should be in contention to line up against Watford on Saturday.
The likes of Nathan Ake, Marc Wilson and Brad Smith offer cover in the Cherries defence in the event Smith is ruled out for the trip to Vicarage Road, with Simon Francis an option to shift over to right-back.
Wilfried Zaha
Zaha was ruled out for the trip to the Stadium of Light due to a slight hamstring strain, but while the injury isn’t thought to be serious, the short turnaround to Friday night’s match at Goodison Park is a concern regarding his availability.
The fact Zaha’s absence allowed Alan Pardew to hand a recall to Yohan Cabaye means the Crystal Palace boss may be happy to give Zaha the full international break to fully recover from the hamstring problem, particularly with his side coming away from the Stadium of Light with all three points.
Leighton Baines
The Toffees left-back was ruled out of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth due to a hamstring injury, and while Everton manager Ronald Koeman was initially hopeful the England international could be fit to return against Crystal Palace, the latest reports suggest he faces a race to be fit for Friday night’s match.
Bryan Oviedo filled in at left-back on the weekend, and would be expected to deputise once again should Baines be ruled out, with neither Ramiro Funes Mori nor Mason Holgate natural left-backs.
Baines is owned by 11.7% of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers, so this news will come as a significant blow ahead of what looks a favourable match-up at home to the Eagles.
Kasper Schmeichel
The Leicester goalkeeper missed the champions 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday due to a groin injury, but Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri revealed the Dane returned to training yesterday, and has a chance of starting against Porto in the Champions League tonight.
With Leicester not playing again until Sunday, when they host Southampton at the King Power Stadium, there looks to be every chance that Schmeichel will be fit to take over from Ron-Robert Zieler in goal against the Saints.
Dejan Lovren
The Liverpool centre-back missed Saturday’s 5-1 win over Hull City due to a viral infection, though reports earlier this afternoon confirmed he has now fully recovered ahead of Saturday’s match against Swansea City.
Ragnar Klavan deputised for the former Southampton defender last weekend and looks likely to drop out, with Lovren – who was interestingly brought in by over 58,000 FPL bosses ahead of the clash against Hull – favourite to partner Joel Matip in the heart of the back-four.
Steven Pienaar
The Sunderland midfielder was forced off just 15 minutes into Saturday’s match against Crystal Palace due to a hamstring injury, and looks a major doubt for this weekend’s home clash with West Brom.
Pienaar was replaced by Duncan Watmore against the Eagles, and it’s the England youngster who appears the most likely to replace the South African on the left wing against the Baggies. Lynden Gooch and Wahbi Khazri provide Sunderland manager David Moyes with further options.
Federico Fernandez
The Argentine reportedly missed the 3-1 defeat to Man City due to a groin strain, but having been struggling with his form during the opening weeks of the season, he was in any case only clinging onto his place in the starting XI by a thread.
Mike van der Hoorn stepped in for Fernandez alongside Jordi Amat in central defence for Swansea against the league leaders, and while the Welsh side did concede three goals on Saturday, the pair defended reasonably well, and may get another chance to start against Liverpool on Saturday, even if Fernandez is passed fit.
Saido Berahino, Brendan Galloway
Baggies boss Tony Pulis was handed a boost with the news that Saido Berahino, Brendan Galloway and Chris Brunt have stepped up their return to full fitness with outings for the club’s under-23 side last night.
Berahino and Brunt got on the scoresheet in the 2-1 win, with Berahino and Galloway playing all 90 minutes, while Brunt played 78 minutes before being substituted.
Galloway and Berahino missed Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Stoke due to a virus, but both players could return against Sunderland this weekend, with Galloway the more likely to come straight back into the side at left-back, having started the previous three matches.
Brunt is continuing to build up his match fitness following a serious knee injury, and it’s more likely he’ll push for a first-team return after the international break.
