Romelu Lukaku and Leighton Baines are back in the mix as Everton travel to Man City. Mauricio Pochettino and Claudio Ranieri hints at rotation as the schedule steps up pace, whilst Aaron Cresswell is passed fit for West Ham’s clash with Palace.
Romelu Lukaku has recovered from a minor thigh problem in time for Everton’s trip to the Etihad. Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka and Darron Gibson are also available, though Aaron Lennon and James McCarthy are doubtful.
Mauricio Pochettino discussed the upcoming schedule and hinted at freshening up his squad. The Spurs boss – who confirmed Moussa Dembele is doubtful due to a foot injury – went on to say:
“We have seven games in 23 days and after the international duty the players that played a lot, or that have come back from injury like Danny Rose or Eric Dier, or [Erik] Lamela, who arrived yesterday, or [Heung-Min] Son from Asia, we need to be clever in how we prepare for the game and the decisions that we shall take to be ready to compete in Germany, Bournemouth, Liverpool”.
Francis Coquelin in back in contention for Arsenal’s clash with Swansea, though Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey will both remain on the sidelines. Arsene Wenger also confirmed that Mesut Ozil has assured him he is fully fit, allaying any fears of injury after the playmaker was withdrawn early for Germany in midweek.
Aaron Cresswell is in West Ham’s squad for the trip to Selhurst Park, Slaven Bilic has confirmed. The left-back has recovered from a knee injury and returned to full training along with Jonathan Calleri and Havard Nordtveit. Sam Byram has undergone surgery on his injured hamstring, whilst Gokhan Tore is out for four-to-six weeks with a thigh problem.
New Swansea boss Bob Bradley has confirmed that Fernando Llorente and Jefferson Montero are doubts for the trip to Arsenal. Nathan Dyer remains sidelined with an ankle problem.
Valon Behrami and Miguel Britos are expected to be available for Watford’s trip to Middlesbrough. Craig Cathcart is likely to miss out, though Isaac Success has recovered from a leg problem.
Mark Hughes remains hopeful that Joe Allen will recover from a hamstring problem in time for Stoke’s clash with Sunderland. Glen Johnson has been ruled out for three-to-four weeks with a thigh problem sustained in training.
Claudio Ranieri has given an early heads-up that he is likely to rotate his team over the next few days. Leicester head to Chelsea this weekend and also face a Champions League clash with FC Copenhagen in midweek.
Danny Drinkwater is available for the Foxes trio to Stamford Bridge after shrugging off a groin problem, though Nampalys Mendy misses out with an ankle complaint. When referring to those returning from internationals, Ranieri also went on to say “everybody is ok”, which means that Shinji Okazaki has recovered from an ankle knock sustained on duty for Japan.
Eddie Howe has conceded that “one or two” international players came back with knocks ahead of Bournemouth’s clash against Hull but refused to name names.
Scott Dann is still sidelined for Palace’s clash with West Ham due to a thigh problem. Alan Pardew expects him to be available for next week’s encounter with Leicester.
Salomon Rondon will be assessed after arriving back late from international duties with Venezuela ahead of West Brom’s match against Spurs.
Michael Dawson misses out for Hull tomorrow and will instead turn out for the reserves to improve his match fitness. Dieumerci Mbokani is sidelined after sustaining an injury whilst on international duty.
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 for breaking news – as the day unfolds, we will issue updates from Friday’s press conferences and refresh our Team News tab accordingly to keep you informed.
