There’s nothing we Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers can do with any fresh team news information for Gameweek 17 but there were some notable quotes to come out of Wednesday’s final round of pre-match press conferences.
The half-dozen teams in question – Liverpool, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Everton, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur – are all in action on Thursday night, Covid-permitting.
LIVERPOOL
Divock Origi (knee) seems set to join Harvey Elliott (ankle), Adrian (calf) and Nat Phillips (cheekbone) on the sidelines for the visit of Newcastle but Curtis Jones (eye) and Roberto Firmino (hamstring) have been back in training and could come into contention this Thursday.
“I really don’t like to talk about it because always when I say something like, ‘It looks really good’, then I get a call, but it looks OK in the moment. No new injuries.
“Bobby is back in full training, Curtis yesterday in big parts of training. That leaves Harvey out obviously long term and Divock has a little issue, and Adrian obviously. So the rest should be fine.” – Jurgen Klopp
CHELSEA
Ben Chilwell (knee) and Mateo Kovacic (Covid-19) remain sidelined for the visit of Everton but N’Golo Kante (knee) and Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring) have returned to training and will be in the squad on Thursday, with Thomas Tuchel confirming that the Frenchman would be on the bench against the Toffees.
“N’Golo will be back on the bench tomorrow, he did the last two training sessions. Trevoh Chalobah did the last two training sessions, will also be back in the squad. It’s Mateo Kovacic and Ben Chilwell out.
“Mateo is released [from self-isolation] the day after tomorrow, then we need to see. He’s been out seven or eight weeks in summary with injury and Covid. It’s one thing to have NG and Mateo back [but] is this really NG? Is this really Mateo? I doubt this. It will take a while [for them to recover their best].”
Tuchel was asked about Romelu Lukaku‘s fitness and hinted at a possible start on Thursday:
“I think he can play 70+ [minutes] but it depends on how the game goes.”
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Antonio Conte reveals that Spurs were training with only 13-14 senior players on Sunday but today that number stands at 16.
The Lilywhites boss added that even those now free of Covid-19 won’t be in the “right physical condition” to face Leicester, saying that a request for the game to be postponed was rejected by the Premier League.
“The situation has not changed so much. Players are back in training and other players are continuing to be isolated. Those players who are back in training, they need time to be fit and find again a good physical condition.
“The Covid is not only 10 days and many times brings with this virus a situation that you make your body not so strong. For this reason you have players injured after Covid.” – Antonio Conte
Cristian Romero is out with a hamstring injury but the identities of those players affected by coronavirus haven’t been officially confirmed.
LEICESTER CITY
Brendan Rodgers echoed Conte’s comments above, saying that the Foxes too had submitted a rebuffed request to the Premier League for the match to be called off.
Rodgers revealed that Jonny Evans (hamstring) and Caglar Soyuncu (hamstring) have joined Wesley Fofana (leg) and James Justin (knee) on the Leicester injury list and added that only Daniel Amartey of his illness-affected group of players would be back for Thursday’s fixture, so Ademola Lookman, Hamza Choudhury, Kelechi Iheanacho, Jannik Vestergaard, Ayoze Perez, Filip Benkovic and Vontae Daley-Campbell all look set to remain sidelined. Even Amartey, though, won’t be ready to start.
“It’s a similar group of players that have been out that will continue to be out. Daniel Amartey is back. He’s only just returned after a period of time out, so we can’t consider him to start the game, but apart from that, it will be the same squad minus Jonny and Çağs.
“[Evans] is not as bad as first feared. The scan’s come through as best as we probably could have hoped for, but of course he’ll struggle for tomorrow’s game and we’ll see where he’s at for the weekend. It’s still a possibility [for the weekend].
“We’ll see how [Soyuncu’s] recovery goes over the next few days. It could be up to a week or so, between that and seven to 11 days. It all depends on the individual and how they recover. If you watch the game back, you’ll see it’s right towards the end of the game.” – Brendan Rodgers
EVERTON
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (thigh/toe), Tom Davies (knee) and Yerry Mina (calf) remain on the sidelines for Gameweek 17, while Lucas Digne (illness), Richarlison (calf) and Andros Townsend (foot) are fresh additions to the injury list and Seamus Coleman is being assessed for bone bruising and tissue damage ahead of Thursday.
“Andros [Townsend] has a broken bone, so that will take some time. We need to see what the specialists say. Seamus [Coleman] has a swollen foot but he’s pushing. We will assess him then decide about tomorrow. [Digne] was [originally] in the 11 starters and today he said that he was ill, and he’s not available for tomorrow.” – Rafael Benitez
Allan (adductor) looks set to recover, however.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Federico Fernandez (thigh) has joined Paul Dummett (calf) on the injury list ahead of the trip to Liverpool but there were no other fitness concerns reported in Eddie Howe’s pre-match presser.
“We have Paul Dummett out long-term – he’s making good progress, so we’re hopeful of getting him back at some stage soon, although he’s not trained with the group yet.
“We’ve lost Federico Fernández due to an injury – we’re not sure as to the extent of that injury yet but he’ll certainly miss this game and probably the majority of the games over the festive period, I think.” – Eddie Howe
