Ahead of the Gameweek 18 deadline on Saturday, we round up the headline injury news from around the grounds.
Fantasy managers could see Sergio Aguero (groin) back in Premier League action soon, with Pep Guardiola providing positive comments in his pre-match press conference.
The Manchester City boss said of Aguero, John Stones (muscle) and David Silva (knock):
Both [Aguero and Stones] had training sessions, they made two training sessions with the team. David Silva, no.
Brendan Rodgers confirmed that he has no fresh injuries in his squad ahead of the trip to the Etihad, with Matty James back in training but not match-fit.
Frank Lampard has a near-fully fit squad ahead of Chelsea’s visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Speaking on Friday, Lampard said:
[Loftus-Cheek] is making good progress but nowhere near contention for match-play yet.
Other than that we’re all pretty good, we’ve got a fit squad. Ross [Barkley] is fine. Tomori is fine. Giroud is fine. They’re all fine, I think.
Spurs report that Tanguy Ndombele (groin) and Michel Vorm (calf) are back in training with the rest of the squad.
Ben Davies (ankle), Erik Lamela (hamstring) and Hugo Lloris (elbow) are continuing rehabilitation and remain out, however.
Already without Joel Ward (knee), Jeffrey Schlupp (muscle), Mamadou Sakho (suspended), Andros Townsend (unspecified) and Gary Cahill (unspecified) for the match against Newcastle, Roy Hodgson was dealt a further blow on Friday when Scott Dann sustained an injury in training.
Patrick van Aanholt (hamstring) could make a swift return, at least, having returned to training.
Hodgson said in his pre-match presser:
Patrick van Aanholt has started training with us again, so that’s very positive. We will see if he can play tomorrow. But if he can that will be a major boost because that’s been a problem position for us during the time he has been out.
We suffered a setback in training this morning with Scott Dann, who is going to have a scan this afternoon. It might just be a little scare that you sometimes get in training sessions.
Hodgson’s opposite number on Saturday, Steve Bruce, said of Newcastle’s fitness latest:
Almiron and Shelvey have a chance. They trained yesterday, so as we speak we haven’t seen them [today] but they both seemed OK yesterday. The risk would have been last week, so I let them recover. We think they’ve done enough to make sure they are OK.
Matt Ritchie (ankle), Jamaal Lascelles (leg), Allan Saint-Maximin (hamstring), Ciaran Clark (calf) and Ki Sung-yueng (unknown) remain unavailable, however.
Manchester United look likely to be without Paul Pogba (ankle) again this Sunday, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer providing the latest on the Frenchman earlier today:
He’s training but he’s not been training with us for long. That’s a step forward for us. I hope [he will play before the end of the year]. Let’s see how he feels. I’m not going to push him. We need him to be 100% fit.
Eric Bailly (knee) and Timothy Fosu-Mensah (knee) remain sidelined despite a return to training, while Diogo Dalot will continue to build up match fitness with a run-out for the under-19s on Friday.
Nigel Pearson commented on Watford’s fitness situation yesterday:
Masina and Pereyra have trained, been out on the field. We’ll assess them as we go. Holebas won’t be available.
And then the long-termers (Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck, Sebastian Prödl, Daryl Janmaat) there is no change there. They are making good progress, so we are pleased with how that’s developing.
Eddie Howe has fresh concerns over Josh King (ankle) and Andrew Surman (calf) ahead of the visit of Burnley.
The Bournemouth boss said:
We have got concerns on a few players and we’ll make very late calls on them. Have we got anyone returning from injury from the previous weeks? No, I don’t think so, we’re pretty much as we were.
Josh King went off last week with a twisted ankle so we’ll see how he is. Andrew Surman picked up a calf problem from the game, so we’ll see how he is.
Sean Dyche said of Burnley’s injury situation, meanwhile:
Woody has been carrying a bit of a knock on his Achilles, so we’ll see how he is. He wasn’t on the grass today so we’ll see. Westy wasn’t on the grass today either, with a tight groin, so we’ll see.
Charlie Taylor has trained all week, Kevin Long has trained all week.
Gibbo had a niggly groin last Friday, we had to pull him out of the game in the warm-up. We’ve got to make sure that’s settled. Although I don’t think it’s a serious one, I doubt he’ll be fit for the weekend.
Johann got through 60 minutes on his recovery in a reserve game. Fortunately, we have got an under-23 game on Saturday, so he’ll get more minutes in that – hopefully, 90 if that goes well.
Graham Potter welcomes Dale Stephens back from suspension ahead of Brighton’s match against Sheffield United.
The Seagulls manager also had positive news on Aaron Connolly (dead leg), saying on Thursday:
He should be [fit], he’s trained this week, so he’s available.
We have no further problems from the game against Crystal Palace, so pretty much the same squad, but obviously Aaron is available for selection.
It’s only Solly March and Jose Izquierdo that are out at the moment.
Chris Wilder didn’t report any fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to the Amex but John Fleck will miss out through suspension.
The Sheffield United manager said on Thursday:
We’re in good nick, we’re fit, we’re healthy. Yeah we’ve got a couple of players that are close to suspension but hasn’t everyone else?
Obviously missing John Fleck is a blow for us on Saturday but we’ve got options, we can go through two or three ways.
Interim Everton boss Duncan Ferguson didn’t name names in his media gathering but said of Everton’s injury situation:
There’s one or two been training lightly, there’s still some sickness in the camp. I’m hopeful that there’ll be a few added to the squad.
Lucas Digne suffered a recurrence of his groin injury last weekend, while Djibril Sidibe and Gyfli Sigurdsson missed out through illness.
Arsenal appointed Mikel Arteta as manager on Friday but the former Manchester City number two won’t be in charge of the Gunners this weekend.
Arsenal earlier confirmed that Hector Bellerin (hamstring), Rob Holding (knee) and Mesut Ozil (foot) are all being assessed ahead of the trip to Goodison Park.
Dani Ceballos (hamstring) is aiming to return to training next week, while Sead Kolasinac (ankle) and Kieran Tierney (shoulder) are out.
Granit Xhaka is available after a head injury, however.
When asked if everyone was fit for the trip to Norwich, Nuno Espirito Santo said:
With the exception of Boly, Morgan [Gibbs-White] and Bruno Jordao, yes.
Santo said of Adama Traore‘s shoulder, meanwhile:
It was dislocated [against Spurs], fortunately the medic was able to put it [right] again, and he’s recovering and improving.
Tim Godfrey (ACL) has joined Josip Drmic (muscle) and Timm Klose (knee) on Norwich’s long-term injury list, with the centre-half out until February.
Grant Hanley (groin) has been back in training and could feature, however.
Ralph Hasenhüttl ruled Moussa Djenepo (hamstring) and Yan Valery (virus) out of Gameweek 18 in his Thursday press conference, while Sofiane Boufal continues to struggle with his toe injury.
The Saints are up against Aston Villa this weekend, with Villans boss Dean Smith reporting on Friday:
Jed Steer has just come out a [protective] boot. Keinan Davis is back running, probably not 100% yet but he should be soon. Tyrone Mings is pain-free and running as well but only at 50% at the moment.
Predicted line-ups and more detailed information are found in the Team News tab, which is being updated this evening.
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