Mohamed Salah looks set to be available for Liverpool’s crunch meeting with Manchester City, while Marko Arnautovic should return for West Ham’s trip to Huddersfield Town.
Jamie Vardy is back for Leicester’s Stamford Bridge visit and Aaron Ramsey will return to the Arsenal squad at Bournemouth following a spell on the sidelines.
Here’s our summary of the key team news so far, with a whole host of big-name press conferences still to come later today.
After being rested for the goalless draw against Arsenal in the EFL Cup, Gary Cahill and Tiemoue Bakayoko are expected to be recalled for Chelsea’s home meeting with Leicester City.
As for the Foxes, they will have Jamie Vardy available for the trip to Stamford Bridge, with the forward recovering from a groin injury. But Wes Morgan and Danny Simpson are both ruled out.
Crystal Palace pair Jeffrey Schlupp and Andros Townsend were forced off with injuries in the 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup and are expected to be sidelined for the home fixture against Burnley. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is still a doubt, so Bakary Sako could push for a start having scored in the FA Cup tie at Brighton.
Stephen Ward and Chris Wood will both miss the trip to Selhurst Park. Manager Sean Dyche expects defensive trio James Tarkowski (broken hand), Ben Mee and Kevin Long (both knocks) to be in contention. Scott Arfield (hamstring) is rated as “touch and go”, though, while Georges-Kevin Nkoudou is poised to make his debut after joining on loan from Tottenham Hotspur.
Chris Lowe and Collin Quaner have been ruled out for Huddersfield Town’s home clash against West Ham United. The latter should be back in contention at Stoke next weekend, however, according to David Wagner.
Marko Arnautovic is back in training and according to David Moyes’ Evening Standard column – back and available to return for the trip to the John Smith’s Stadium, while Michail Antonio remains sidelined with an ongoing groin injury. Moyes has an array of injury worries in defence though this morning’s column also revealed that Aaron Cresswell and James Collins are set to be in contention, with Winston Reid the only real doubt.
Jamaal Lascelles, Florian Lejeune and Chancel Mbemba are all injury concerns for Rafa Benitez ahead of the home clash against Swansea City. Rob Elliot is back in training, although he may be return to the bench with Karl Darlow retained in goal.
Renato Sanches (hamstring) and Tammy Abraham (abdominal injury) appear unlikely to be available for the trip to St James’ Park, while Angel Rangel is ruled out and Kyle Naughton remains suspended. Youngster Connor Roberts could start at right-back.
Kiko Femenia and Will Hughes remain likely to miss out again for Watford’s home fixture with Southampton. Troy Deeney returned from suspension with a goal in the 3-0 win over Bristol City in the FA Cup, and may lead the line for the Hornets.
Cedric Soares and Wesley Hoedt have both returned to training ahead of the trip to Vicarage Road, but Mauricio Pellegrino revealed a decision on their availability will be made on the pair after today’s training session. Jeremy Pied (knock) will also be subject to a late assessment.
Alan Pardew will have to check on Kieran Gibbs (muscle problem), Jonny Evans (foot) and Matt Phillips (hamstring) ahead of the home fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Izzy Brown has returned to parent club Chelsea after suffering a serious knee injury but, apart from Steve Sidwell, manager Chris Hughton has a clean bill of health ahead of the trip to The Hawthorns.
Harry Winks is a doubt ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s home encounter with Everton due to an ankle injury, while Danny Rose is likely to remain sidelined with a knee complaint.
Sam Allardyce has confirmed that new signing Cenk Tosun will be in the squad for the trip to Wembley, but Michael Keane misses out with a foot injury.
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe revealed that both Josh King and Junior Stanislas have returned to training ahead of the visit of Arsenal to the Vitality Stadium, although a late decision will be made on whether they can feature.
Arsene Wenger stated earlier this morning that Aaron Ramsey is available for the trip to the south coast, while Jack Wilshere has a chance of recovering from an ankle sprain to feature on Sunday. Mesut Ozil is rated as 50/50, but Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal remain out and Sead Kolasinac has a “little chance” of making a return.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been handed a boost after Mohamed Salah returned to full training ahead of Sunday’s showdown with Manchester City. Alberto Moreno and Daniel Sturridge are also edging back into contention, but Jordan Henderson remains sidelined.
Vincent Kompany remains a doubt for the leaders ahead of the trip to Anfield, while Ilkay Gundogan will be on standby to start if David Silva isn’t able to feature due to personal reasons.
Manchester United right-back Antonio Valencia is on course to return for Monday night’s home clash against Stoke City, having missed the last four matches with a hamstring complaint. Ashley Young serves the final game of his three-match ban, so Luke Shaw is expected to continue at left-back. Romelu Lukaku is set to start in attack after returning from a head injury in the 2-0 win over Derby County in the FA Cup.
Stoke Under 18s manager Kevin Russell helmed yesterday’s press conference and revealed Erik Pieters and Bruno Martins Indi both returned to training on Thursday, although the pair still need to prove their fitness ahead of the trip to Old Trafford. Ryan Shawcross is unlikely to recover from a calf injury in time to feature against his former club.
All this and more has now been updated in the Team News section ahead of tomorrow’s 2.00pm deadline. Keep an eye on our official Twitter account 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.
