Thursday and Friday’s manager press conferences offered up the usual mix of non-committal, straight-bat answers and enlightening soundbites that could influence our thinking ahead of the Gameweek 3 deadline on Saturday morning.
The headline news perhaps came at Chelsea, with Maurizio Sarri’s comments about Eden Hazard sure to increase interest in the Belgian midfielder a week before the Blues embark on a double-header of home fixtures against Bournemouth and Cardiff City.
Sarri stated that Hazard and recent signing Mateo Kovacic were ready to start and play “50 or 60 minutes” at Newcastle United on Sunday, though doubted that the Belgian international could last the full 90 minutes.
The quotes about Hazard would potentially spell bad news for owners of Willian, who would appear most at risk from Hazard’s re-introduction given Pedro‘s early-season purple patch.
Ross Barkley, meanwhile, could be the makeweight for Kovacic’s path into the first team, which could still be a week or two away despite his head coach’s comments.
Jose Mourinho revealed that Nemanja Matic, Alexis Sanchez and Antonio Valencia are back in training with the first-team squad after injury, although with United not playing until Monday evening Mourinho has two more days of training with which to make a decision on his returning trio’s involvement against Spurs. Diogo Dalot might not be too far away from coming into contention either, though Monday’s game will come too soon for the Portuguese full-back.
Luke Shaw (foot injury) is a minor doubt for the visit of Mauricio Pochettino’s side, though wasn’t mentioned by name in Mourinho’s typically terse press conference.
While all was quiet on the injury front at Arsenal (other than updates on their long-term absentees), Unai Emery did have something to say on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
The Spanish coach’s words, however, have perhaps been distorted online, with his aversion to playing two up front not necessarily meaning Aubameyang and Lacazette won’t take to the field together at the Emirates on Saturday: Aubameyang, of course, has regularly switched to the left flank to accommodate Lacazette centrally.
Whether Emery would be willing to drop left-winger Alex Iwobi after his promising performance against Chelsea, however, remains to be seen.
Little of note came from Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino’s press conferences, a source of frustration for those FPL managers seeking clues as to the possible formation and personnel employed by Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.
Dejan Lovren‘s ongoing pelvic injury was the only real stand-out story from Jurgen Klopp’s press conference, with the Croatian centre-back joining Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the treatment room.
Elsewhere, Chris Hughton refused to rule out Lewis Dunk for the Seagulls’ trip to Anfield, but the Brighton centre-back seems very likely to sit out this weekend after injuring his ankle in the win over Manchester United.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka will miss Crystal Palace’s trip to Vicarage Road this weekend through suspension, while Roy Hodgson revealed that recent signing Max Meyer is “ready to start” – a situation that could put Jeffrey Schlupp or James McArthur at risk.
Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes are still not ready to feature for Everton this weekend, but Bernard could come into contention and Kurt Zouma will press Mason Holgate for a start at centre-back.
Denis Odoi returns from suspension to offer Slavisa Jokanovic another option at centre-half, with the Fulham boss still without the services of Tim Ream and the almost-fit Alfie Mawson.
DeAndre Yedlin looks set to solve Rafael Benitez’s troubles at right-back after making a swift return from a knee injury.
Jannik Vestergaard has returned from illness to boost Mark Hughes’ preparations for the visit of Leicester, though winger Mohamed Elyounoussi is still a doubt with a hamstring problem. For the visitors, Shinji Okazaki may feature after building up his match fitness.
Mark Noble‘s back problem could keep him out of West Ham’s trip to the Emirates, which adds to the quandary Manuel Pellegrini faces over whether to switch back to a 4-3-3 from last weekend’s 4-4-2 experiment.
Eddie Howe and Nuno Espirito Santo teased the prospect of Jefferson Lerma and Leander Dendoncker featuring for their sides respectively, while David Wagner was happy to report that Huddersfield Town now have a fully-fit squad after their injury problems of last weekend.
Aron Gunnarsson was ruled out by Neil Warnock, who floated the idea of using all of Kenneth Zohore, Gary Madine and Danny Ward up front over the next few matches – while confirming that he sees Bobby Reid‘s future in a more withdrawn role.
Burnley have had less than 72 hours to recover from their Europa League exploits, while Javi Gracia has confirmed that Nathaniel Chalobah and Gerard Deulofeu remain out for Watford – who could well be unchanged for the third match running.
Check out the Team News tab for our predictions of the 20 Premier League clubs’ line-ups this weekend and a more detailed assessment of the press conferences over the last 48 hours.
