Team news, injury updates and predicted line-ups for FPL Gameweek 3

Gameweek 3 is upon us and we’ve got all the important team news information in our weekly press conference summary below.

For more detailed information, check out our Predicted Line-ups page and Injuries and Bans feed plus Az and Neale’s video below:

Man City vs Arsenal

Kevin De Bruyne (ankle) and Phil Foden (foot) remain unavailable, while off-the-field issues involving Benjamin Mendy means he is also out of the equation for the visit of Arsenal. 

“He’s getting better but still is not fit.” – Pep Guardiola on Kevin De Bruyne

Thomas Partey (ankle) and Eddie Nketiah (ankle) are still out, while Mikel Arteta’s press conference comments intimated that Ben White (illness) would remain sidelined as he has yet to return to training despite described as “asymptomatic”.

There are concerns beyond this trio, too, with Willian building up match fitness after his own spell in self-isolation and Gabriel (knee) only just back in training after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Hector Bellerin (thigh), Bukayo Saka (knock), Alex Runarsson (illness) and Kieran Tierney (thigh) have all now returned to full training, however, and are available for selection. 

Aston Villa vs Brentford

Bertrand Traore (hamstring), Morgan Sanson (match fitness), Leon Bailey (hamstring), Trezeguet (knee) and Keinan Davis (unspecified) will all miss the visit of Brentford but we could see a return for Ollie Watkins (knee), who will be available for selection should he have come through Friday’s final training session unscathed. 

Mads Sorensen (knee) is set for a long spell on the sidelines but Ethan Pinnock has recovered from the ankle knock he sustained in the EFL Cup tie against Forest Green in midweek, while Shandon Baptiste (ankle) and Mathias Jensen (foot) will be assessed after returns to training to see if they can be involved in the matchday squad.

There was no word on Tariq Fosu (knock) or Charlie Goode (knock) in Thomas Frank’s pre-match press conference but the Brentford boss did say that “everyone from the Crystal Palace game should be available”, which could mean that the pair are no longer blighted by the fitness issues that they picked up in the interim.

Brighton vs Everton

The Everton website reported late on Friday night that “Rafael Benitez is waiting to make a decision on the involvement of Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Brighton, with the striker’s training programme still restricted by a toe problem”.

Moise Kean starts a three-match ban, meanwhile, but Benitez was coy about Everton’s other team news on Friday, saying only that Fabian Delph (shoulder) was set to miss the trip to Brighton and refusing to elaborate further.

He had been more loose-tongued when speaking to club media the day before, however, confirming that Alex Iwobi had complained of tightness in his quad following the midweek win over Huddersfield – although the winger has been sighted in training since.

Ben Godfrey and James Rodriguez are both now out of their quarantine periods following positive Covid-19 tests, meanwhile, although no sight of the former in training ground images (despite travelling to that EFL Cup in a watching capacity) and doubts over Rodriguez’s future means that their involvement at the Amex is still in question.

Tariq Lamptey (hamstring), Dan Burn (knee) and Joel Veltman (self-isolating) all look set to miss the visit of Everton but Graham Potter did provide relatively positive updates on another trio of players, with injuries to Enock Mwepu (knock) and Neal Maupay (shoulder) not as serious as first feared and Danny Welbeck (hamstring) in line for a return on the bench this weekend.

There is still some doubt over whether Mwepu and Maupay will feature: the former was described as only having an “outside chance” of involvement but the latter has trained and Potter said he was “hopeful”, although stressed that he would continue to be monitored “as we get closer to the game”.

Newcastle vs Southampton

Martin Dubravka (foot), Jonjo Shelvey (calf) and Karl Darlow (illness) will all miss the visit of Southampton, while Isaac Hayden (knee) remains “touch and go”.

Paul Dummett is back in contention after a calf problem, however, while Allan Saint-Maximin is expected to brush off a knock that he picked up in Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie against Burnley

Will Smallbone (knee) and Stuart Armstrong (calf) are Southampton’s only confirmed injury-related absentees.

Norwich vs Leicester

Jannik Vestergaard (knee), Jonny Evans (foot), James Justin (knee) and Wesley Fofana (leg) will all miss the trip to Norwich City.

Ryan Bertrand is available after recovering from Covid-19, meanwhile, although Brendan Rodgers’ comments about “seeing where he’s at, in terms of game time” suggests a start is still in doubt.

The biq team news question is over who gets the nod in place of the suspended Ayoze Perez and whether it elicits a change in system. When asked about Perez’s replacement in Thursday’s presser, Rodgers said that he was looking for “someone who can penetrate with or without the ball, someone who can deliver quality and someone who can press the game when we don’t have the ball.”

Przemyslaw Placheta (illness), Bali Mumba (knee) and Sam Byram (hamstring) are all sidelined for the Canaries while Josh Sargent (glute) and Christos Tzolis (calf) are doubts after picking up problems in midweek. Sargent is a “minor question mark” according to Daniel Farke but Tzolis is a bigger doubt, and faces assessment over the next 24 hours to see if he can feature.

West Ham vs Crystal Palace

Arthur Masuaku (match fitness) looks likelier to return on the other side of the international break but West Ham are otherwise in fine fettle, with David Moyes only reporting his usual weekly “knocks” but adding that “most of us are okay”. 

Eberechi Eze (Achilles), Michael Olise (back), Nathan Ferguson (Achilles) and Luka Milivojevic (match fitness) remain unavailable but Patrick Vieira said his squad had come through the midweek EFL Cup defeat to Watford unscathed, so there are no fresh concerns.

Liverpool vs Chelsea

Fabinho and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain returned to training this week after missing Gameweek 2 for personal reasons and Andrew Robertson is back in contention for a start after making the bench against Burnley last weekend, leaving only James Milner (knock) on the sidelines for the visit of Chelsea.

“Robbo trained the whole week, of course he [is] in contention, no doubt about that. Millie will not be ready – I think that’s it pretty much. All the rest trained and looked good and sharp.” – Jurgen Klopp

Christian Pulisic (illness) and the West Ham-bound Kurt Zouma (personal reasons) are the only absentees we know of ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Liverpool, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek making a return to training following a spell in self-isolation.

Burnley vs Leeds

Marcelo Bielsa told the media on Friday that Robin Koch (pelvis) was making progress in his recovery from injury but “not completely healthy”, so the Germany international looks set to miss out on the trip to Burnley.

The Leeds boss was otherwise coy on the team news front but there are no other known issues to report, with Diego Llorente and Adam Forshaw back involved in the EFL Cup in midweek. Bielsa indeed said in his pre-Gameweek 3 press conference that he thought Llorente was ready for 90 minutes.

Kevin Long (Achilles) and Dale Stephens (ankle) are Burnley’s only two confirmed absentees, with Ashley Westwood (toe) and Matej Vydra (knock) both back in training and hopeful of inclusion on Sunday. 

Spurs vs Watford

Nuno Espirito Santo confirmed on Friday that an out-in-the-cold Tanguy Ndombele will again not be considered for selection despite the lack of injury, while Joe Rodon (unspecified) and Cameron Carter-Vickers (ankle) are still on the injury list.

The return of Thursday’s two-goal hero Harry Kane to the Lilywhites’ starting XI looms large, with the Spurs head coach perhaps hinting at a first league start of 2021/22 for the England international when saying that “he is still improving but playing is the best way for all players to improve”.

Joao Pedro (knee), Ben Foster (hamstring), Ozan Tufan (unavailable) and Dan Gosling (illness) will miss the trip to Spurs, while Nathaniel Chalobah (illness) is still working on match fitness with the Watford medical team and Juraj Kucka (thigh) had only been involved in light training as of Friday. 

Wolves vs Man Utd

Scott McTominay (groin), Dean Henderson (illness), Alex Telles (ankle), Phil Jones (knee) and Marcus Rashford (shoulder) are Manchester United’s absentees for the clash with Wolves.

“He is working really hard. When I asked him if he was ready to play, we had a behind-closed-doors [game] against Burnley and he felt: ‘No, I need to suffer on the training field first.

“He needs to work because you know he had his holidays, he came in, said his goodbyes at Real Madrid, then he didn’t train with them, then he was waiting for his visa, then he came here, had his isolation. 

“He’s had a good couple weeks of training and he’s looking impressive.” – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Raphael Varane

Long-term injury victims Jonny (knee) and Pedro Neto (knee) remain sidelined for Wolves but Willy Boly and Yerson Mosquera have returned to training after hamstring injuries and will be assessed ahead of the visit of Manchester United.