Vardy cleared for EFL Cup semi-final action ahead of Gameweek 25

Jamie Vardy‘s (£9.9m) chances of involvement in Gameweek 25 continue to increase as Brendan Rodgers gave an update on Monday afternoon.

The Leicester City manager was delivering his pre-match press conference for Tuesday’s EFL Cup semi-final second-leg against Aston Villa and explained that Vardy has a good chance of involvement.

While Rodgers is not confident the centre-forward will start at Villa Park, he is confident of including Vardy on the bench at least. All fo that points towards heavy involvement when Chelsea come to the King Power Stadium on Sunday – particularly ominous in the wake of 375,000+ transfers out ahead of Gameweek 25.

“He’s in the squad. He’s worked very hard. We’ll give it another day and we’ll see if he can start. If you’re asking me if he’s 100 per cent, he might be 80 per cent. It’s about the further risk of injury, but I’m confident he will play some part.” – Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers also confirmed that Nampalys Mendy (£4.3m) and Wes Morgan (£4.1m) will miss the trip to Aston Villa.

Those who opted to cover West Ham’s Double Gameweek with Robert Snodgrass (£5.2m) or Arthur Masuaku (£4.2m) will indeed be sweating over David Moyes’ next press conference.

That’s because both players missed out on the Hammers’ FA Cup exit to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

However, Angelo Ogbonna (£4.5m), who was assessed for a back problem ahead of the meeting with the Baggies, was involved, featuring as a second-half substitute for Fabian Balbuena (£4.3m).

John Lundstram (£5.1m) owners may have further cause for concern after Sheffield United’s 2-0 win at Millwall on Saturday afternoon.

Having lost his place for the Gameweek 24 defeat to Manchester City, Lundstram was once again named on the bench for the FA Cup fourth round.

Furthermore, his replacement Muhamed Bešić (£4.4m) was arguably the man of the match and capped off his impressive performance with a wonderful goal, curling an effort from the edge of the box into the top corner.

Meanwhile, Frank Lampard confirmed after FA Cup action over the weekend that Tammy Abraham (£7.7m) does not have a fracture but also revealed he did not know much of the detail surrounding the forward’s injury.

“He has been getting lightly into the water and all these things. I said yesterday that there’s no fracture but other than that there is still some swelling so I don’t know. I don’t know much of the detail.” – Frank Lampard

Amid transfer speculation linking him with Aston Villa, Olivier Giroud (£6.6m) was absent from the Chelsea team that beat Hull on Saturday evening – but Lampard has confirmed the Frenchman’s absence was injury-related.

“He had a tiny, tiny feeling in his groin yesterday. It was my choice for him not to travel.” – Frank Lampard

Aymeric Laporte (£6.3m) was not involved as Manchester City thrashed Fulham 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium but Pep Guardiola was quick to allay any features of further injury, insisting that the player is just being eased back into regular action.

“He had some fatigue, which is normal after 4 or 5 months. We are not going to take risks. Until we feel he is ready, he won’t play. If he can play against United, he can play.” – Pep Guardiola

However, Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m) and Joao Cancelo (£5.2m) will be assessed after their involvement against Fulham.

“Riyad recovered well from his kick and Joao had a big kick with some injury on his ankle. We will see how they recover in the next days.” – Pep Guardiola

Todd Cantwell (£5.0m) was one of three Norwich players to miss their win at Burnley through injury.

With Ben Godfrey (£4.4m) suspended, the attacking midfielder was joined in the physio room by Emi Buendía (£6.0m) and Ibraham Amadou (£4.5m).

“(Cantwell) got some hamstring problems after Tottenham. Nothing too serious but this turnaround is too quick.” – Daniel Farke

Fantasy managers in possession of Cantwell will certainly need to pay close attention to Daniel Farke’s next press conference considering the number of injuries to key FPL midfielders right now.

Sean Dyche also did not risk any of his players recently affected by injuries, Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£5.9m), Ben Gibson (£3.9m) and Phil Bardsley (£4.3m) all absent from Burnley’s defeat to Norwich.

Jan Bednarek (£4.4m) returned to full fitness for Southampton’s 1-1 draw with Spurs while Jannik Vestergaard (£4.6m) missed out with a concussion.

Danny Ings (£7.0m) played the full 90 minutes but Shane Long (£4.6m) and Cédric Soares (£4.8m) were both out with knee injuries of varying severity.

Also, Stuart Armstrong (£5.2m) joined the injury list for the Saints on Saturday, forced off with a muscle problem in the 44th minute. Moussa Djenepo (£5.2m) was his replacement, and the most likely to claim Armstrong’s place if he is not fit in time for Gameweek 25.

“(Armstrong) had a problem with the hips. I hope it’s not that bad but he’ll have a scan tomorrow and then we’ll know more.” – Ralph Hasenhüttl

Newcastle’s 0-0 draw with Oxford saw new loan signing Nabil Bentaleb (£5.0m) make his debut although Valentino Lazaro, who joined from Inter Milan, was not registered in time to play.

Bentaleb looked a little rusty in his first outing although displayed some glimpses of the skill he has been brought to Newcastle for.

Meanwhile, Allan Saint-Maximin (£5.4m) was back in the Magpies’ side after missing Gameweek 24 and was one of Steve Bruce’s better performers.

Joelinton (£5.5m) and DeAndre Yedlin (£4.4m) overcame their respective flags and both played 90 minutes at St. James’ Park.

Nigel Pearson revealed last week that Danny Welbeck (£5.8m) could play a part for Watford in Gameweek 25 while Tom Cleverley (£4.8m) and Will Hughes (£5.3m) are also making progress.

It will be interesting to see what impact these players have on the first-team at Vicarage Road as they continue their upturn in form under Pearson.

However, those still invested in Ismaïla Sarr (£6.2m) may have another transfer on their hands as there was a less than positive update on the winger.

“I don’t think he will be ready for next week, but we’ll see.” – Nigel Pearson

We will bring you the latest implications of the FA Cup fourth round results, replays and fifth-round draw on Tuesday.