Spurs remain hopeful on Harry Kane’s chances of making Sunday’s trip to Arsenal, with the Gunners optimistic on Theo Walcott and Hector Bellerin’s prospects of figuring in Sunday’s clash. Elsewhere, Jose Mourinho’s back four struggles continue, while James Milner is in line to return to Liverpool’s defence for their Anfield meeting with Watford. Here’s the latest on the new arrivals and updates from the Premier League treatment rooms.
Harry Kane, Toby Alderweireld, Erik Lamela
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that both Harry Kane and Toby Alderweireld remain ruled out of tomorrow night’s Champions League clash against Bayer Leverkusen.
But the Argentine was hopeful that Kane may be able to play a part against Arsenal on Sunday:
“Tomorrow Harry will not be available, no. He will not be on the bench. It’s good to see him do the warm-up with the team, and be involved. He made half a training session. Then it was a specific training session for him, and for Toby it was the same. We expect maybe Thursday Harry can do full training. Toby, maybe, but he has some other problem.”
A possible return for Kane would further diminish Son Heung-min’s chances of leading the line. The Korean was fielded on the flank against Leicester City last weekend after Vincent Janssen got the nod up top and has now failed to score in four successive outings. Over 68,000 FPL managers have already parted company this week, making him the second most transferred out midfielder ahead of the Emirates clash.
The outlook doesn’t look so positive for Alderweireld, who appears to have less chance of being able to feature in the north London derby.
Erik Lamela missed Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Leicester City due to illness, and has now picked up a hip problem in training:
“Lamela had a problem today during the training session which means he is maybe out for the game tomorrow. It was a small problem in his hip during the session. We’re not sure if he will be involved tomorrow.”
The Argentine international will need to be monitored later this week then, with his status uncertain for Gameweek 11.
Hector Bellerin, Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla, Nacho Monreal
Hector Bellerin, Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal were all omitted from the Arsenal squad that travelled to Bulgaria yesterday ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash against Ludogorets.
But Wenger’s comments suggested that the former two, in particular, stand a very good chance of being able to feature in Sunday’s north London derby:
“Who did not travel is Monreal, Cazorla and Bellerin, Walcott – both are more or less injuries. Some of them being very close, like Walcott, Bellerin had a little incident in the last minute of training so they are not here.”
Sitting in 27% and 17% of sides, the news offers growing hope for Bellerin and Walcott owners, with the next international break almost upon us.
The pair sit fourth for defenders and midfielders respectively in FPL, though over 100,000 have already parted company with the Gunners wide man, whose absence allowed Alexis Sanchez to hog the headlines with a brace at Sunderland on Saturday.
Walcott headed into Gameweek 10 ahead of the Chilean in the overall standings, though, and a return to fitness could persuade many to flock back to the 8.0-priced wide man, who racked up four goals and two assists in his previous five league outings.
Andrew Surman, Junior Stanislas
Surman was forced off with a hamstring problem during Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Middlesbrough, with Cherries boss Eddie Howe’s post-match comments indicating the midfielder is likely to miss out this weekend:
“It looks like a hamstring strain… It’s come out of the blue, really. We’ll assess the damage and, hopefully, it won’t be too long. When you see players go off with hamstring injuries, you are looking at weeks rather than days. The international break could come at a good time for him.”
Dan Gosling, who started in Surman’s absence in the 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 9, looks the obvious replacement in the middle of the park for the visit of Sunderland to the Vitality Stadium.
Junior Stanislas’ status still looks uncertain for this weekend, though, with the wide man still struggling to overcome a calf injury:
“We just felt it was too early for Junior. We’ll look again next week. We’ll see how his calf responds.”
Having recorded three goals and as many assists in his last three league appearances, there’s no doubt that Stanislas has been sorely missed – the weekend loss means that Bournemouth have now failed to score in each of the last two without their in-form winger on board.
Stephen Ward, Steven Defour
Burnley manager Sean Dyche revealed that Defour wasn’t risked against Man United last weekend as he didn’t want to rush the Belgian back into action following his hamstring injury:
“It would have been a risk and we considered it was too much for him. We felt it was better to give him four or five days’ hard training as I still think he is adapting to what the levels of the Premier League are.”
Should Defour come through training unscathed this week, then, he should be in contention to return for Saturday’s home encounter against Crystal Palace.
Dyche rolled out a 4-4-2 at United to accommodate the suspension-free Andre Gray alongside Sam Vokes up top, though Defour could be utilised in a central support berth if the Clarets boss opts for one up top against Alan Pardew’s side.
Left-back Stephen Ward will need to be assessed ahead of Gameweek 11 after he picked up a hamstring injury at Old Trafford.
Jon Flanagan replaced the Republic of Ireland international on Saturday, and could be in line to make his first league start for the Clarets against Palace.
Maarten Stekelenburg, Phil Jagielka
Stekelenburg missed Sunday’s 2-0 win over West Ham United due to a foot injury, but Everton manager Ronald Koeman has said the problem is “not very serious,” and that he expects the Dutch goalkeeper to be available to return against Chelsea on Saturday.
Phil Jagielka was also left out against the Hammers, with Koeman later citing the need to manage the 34-year-old’s fitness, while also being able to hand Ramiro Funes Mori an opportunity to impress:
“Sometimes with Jag it is a fitness question… I like to protect Jag. November, December and January will be very tough for everybody, and sometimes you need to give players the opportunity to show. That was the reason finally that I changed and gave the opportunity to Funes Mori to start.”
That comment will come as a bit of a concern for Jagielka’s 6.6% ownership in FPL ahead of the busy festive period, then, although it appears he’s likely to return in place of Funes Mori against Chelsea this weekend.
James Milner
Milner was left out for Saturday’s 4-2 win at Crystal Palace after being struck down with a virus, but he has now returned to full fitness, and was expected to take part in training today ahead of Sunday’s home fixture against Watford.
Alberto Moreno deputised at left-back for the Reds last weekend, but Milner, much to the delight of his 6.1% ownership in FPL, looks set to earn a recall in place of the Spaniard when the Hornets visit Anfield.
Despite being stationed in defence, Milner’s spot-kick duties have ensured he remains a viable option in midfield – he’s level with Sadio Mane on 48 points after scoring four converted spot-kicks in the opening seven matches.
Antonio Valencia
The Man United right-back has undergone surgery after breaking his arm during last week’s 1-0 win over Man City in the EFL Cup.
While United are yet to confirm how long Valencia will be out for, the Ecuadorian’s stint on the sidelines should allow Matteo Darmian – who deputised for Valencia last weekend – the chance to hold onto a starting berth for the time being.
With Eric Bailly sidelined till around Christmas and Chris Smalling also unavailable right now, Jose Mourinho could be without three of his first-choice back-four ahead of a schedule that pits United against Arsenal, West Ham, Everton and Spurs in the upcoming five Gameweeks.
Islam Slimani
The Algerian forward missed Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur due to a minor groin injury and remains a big doubt for tomorrow night’s Champions League tie against FC Copenhagen.
As the schedule picks up pace, we’ve recently witnessed Claudio Ranieri’s rotation policy come to fruition, with Slimani and Jamie Vardy benched in Gameweek 8 and 9 respectively. Given that he also has Shinji Okazaki and Ahmed Musa at his disposal, the Italian is unlikely to take any chances with the frontman’s fitness.
Encouragingly, Slimani has bagged 20 points in three appearances in front of his own fans since arriving at the King Power.
Should he recover in time, he could be in line to profit from a very favourable schedule that hands the champions home encounters with West Brom and Middlesbrough in addition to trips to Watford and Sunderland over the next four Gameweeks.
Daniel Ayala, Marten de Roon, Cristhian Stuani
Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka revealed after Saturday’s 2-0 win over Bournemouth that Daniel Ayala, Marten de Roon and Cristhian Stuani all missed out against the Cherries due to minor injuries.
With the trio left out as a precaution, they should all be in contention to return against Man City this weekend, with de Roon the most likely of the three to force his way back into a side that registered a first home win of the campaign last time out.
Xherdan Shaqiri
The Swiss midfielder was taken off as a precaution during last night’s 3-1 win over Swansea City due to a tight hamstring, so he may have a chance of being able to feature against West Ham on Saturday.
But with the short turnaround, and given Shaqiri’s history of muscular problems, he looks a major doubt for the Gameweek 11 clash.
After an impressive outing off the bench last night, Ramadan Sobhi looks likely to deputise should Shaqiri be ruled out. The Potters also have Marko Arnautovic suspended, meaning they could head into the weekend without two of their three preferred attacking midfielders.
Joe Allen’s 73,000+ new owners will hope this doesn’t lessen his prospect of points, after last night’s pair of assists took his into sixth spot in the FPL midfield standings.
John O’Shea
The Sunderland defender was forced off during the first-half of Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to Arsenal with a hamstring injury, and will be assessd further this week.
There is positive news for David Moyes ahead of this weekend’s trip to Bournemouth though, with Jason Denayer, a possible replacement for O’Shea, and midfielders Lee Cattermole and Jan Kirchhoff in with a chance of returning against the Cherries.
Sebastian Prodl
The Watford defender limped off during Saturday’s 1-0 win against Hull City with a groin problem, and is now a doubt for Sunday’s trip to Anfield.
The Austrian international was replaced by Christian Kabasele against the Tigers, and it’s the Belgian who looks the likely replacement should Prodl be ruled out of the Gameweek 11 clash.
Kyle Naughton
Naughton was forced off during the first-half of last night’s 3-1 defeat to Stoke City reportedly due to illness.
The Swans defender should have a chance of being fit to start against Man United on Sunday then, with Angel Rangel likely to deputise at right-back for Bob Bradley’s side should Naughton be unavailable.
Cedric Soares
The Southampton right-back has missed the last three Premier League outings with an ankle injury and remains a major doubt for the Gameweek 11 trip to Hull City.
The Portuguese full-back posted an update on social media last night, showing him undergoing recuperation exercises.
That would indicate that he is still some way from a return to full training and, with the international break looming, it would seem likely that Claude Puel would be reluctant to re-introduce Soares for the visit to Humberside.
Cuco Martina may well remain at right-back for the KCOM stadium clash, then.
