Ralph Hasenhuttl and Marcelo Bielsa revealed key team news ahead of two fixtures for their teams in Double Gameweek 25.
The Leeds manager announced that talisman Kalvin Phillips (£4.9m) would not be available for their first game against Wolves, which could have an impact on their fortunes against Wolves at least.
“(Mateusz) Klich (£5.2m) and (Diego) Llorente (£4.4m) are available, Phillips and Rodrigo (£5,7m) are not. “
Marcelo Bielsa
Bielsa was also unable to confirm if the pair would be available for their second match of Double Gameweek 25 against Southampton.
“I could not give you a sure answer. If I tell you ‘no they won’t play’, one could make it for one of those games. If I tell you ‘yes’, I can’t say with certainty.”
Marcelo Bielsa
With Phillips such a key player in Leeds and Bielsa’s system, it remains to be seen if this will affect the number of FPL managers bringing in their assets for Double Gameweek 25.
Southampton will be without Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.7m), with manager Ralph Hasenhuttl ruling him out for a “few weeks”.
“With Kyle Walker-Peters we have another guy who is out definitely for the game, for a few weeks maybe, and that hurts us because he was important when we had that good run and he was not there when we had a bad run. This is the never-ending story of the season that we have problems with injuries.”
Ralph Hassenhuttl
Ibrahima Diallo (£4.5m) and Theo Walcott (£5.8m) remain long-term absentees, which could force one of Southampton’s central defenders to play at right-back.
Burnley are likely to be missing several first team players for their match against West Brom, according to Sean Dyche.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£5.4m) and Robbie Brady (£5.0m) limped off against Fulham, and both are unlikely to be involved at the weekend.
“I’ll find out news by tomorrow morning but it doesn’t look great with Johann and Robbie going off. We’ll probably get them scanned, just as a precaution. (Gudmundsson’s) will probably need a settling down period.”
Sean Dyche
But there was better news on club captain Ben Mee (£5.1m), who went off against Crystal Palace with a head injury.
“Ben Mee comes back. Matej Vydra (£4.8m), so long as he comes through training today, should be back in and around it. I don’t think Dale Stephens (£4.2m) will be available. Erik Pieters (£4.3m), doubt it as well, we’ll see. Woody (Chris Wood £6.2m), a close one, but yet again I’m having to make judgements on these players
Sean Dyche
Both Daniel Podence (£5.3m) and Willy Boly (£5.4m) will miss Wolves’ game with Leeds, manager Nuno Espirito Santo confirmed.
Nuno also gave fans some positive news on striker Raul Jimenez (£8.2m), who is recovering from a fractured skull.
“He (Jimenez) is training, he has been able to integrate into some of the training sessions and he is improving and doing well. We have to be very careful and follow the protocols but keep positive because he is doing well. We are delighted, but know it’ll take time. He is going in the right direction. He will keep improving his fitness, follow the protocols and do consultations with the neurosurgeon. It requires patience but it’s moving in the right direction.”
Nuno Espirito Santo
Crystal Palace will once again be without star player Wilfried Zaha (£7.1m) for their match with rivals Brighton.
Worryingly for Eagles fans, with the team scoring no goals without him in the side, manager Roy Hodgson was unable to give a timeframe for Zaha’s return.
One positive for Palace fans was news of James McCarthy (£4.3m) returning to training.
“James McCarthy trained today which is positive. A few other knocks to keep an eye on for the weekend but not much change on injuries.”
Roy Hodgson
Brighton manager Graham Potter confirmed FPL favourite Tariq Lamptey (£4.6m) will be back in training last week after suffering from a long-term injury.
Both striker Danny Welbeck (£5.5m) and Alireza Jahanbakhsh (£5.4m) are both available after recently recovering from injury.
Centre-back Adam Webster (£4.4m) is still being assessed but has been deemed “unlikely” to play.
