Boxing Day team news: Foden, Grealish, Vardy and Smith Rowe all benched

Gameweek 19 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) gets underway this afternoon, with four Premier League matches kicking off at 3pm GMT.

The fixtures in question are Manchester City v Leicester City, Norwich City v Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace and West Ham United v Southampton.

Pep Guardiola makes two changes from the side that beat Newcastle United 4-0 last weekend, with Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho coming into the team for the benched Gabriel Jesus and the absent Rodri.

Phil Foden and Jack Grealish are again only among the substitutes.

Brendan Rodgers has made six alterations with Jannik Vestergaard, Marc Albrighton, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ayoze Perez, Daniel Amartey and Ademola Lookman brought in.

Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu and Patson Daka are all missing, while Wilfried Ndidi, Boubakary Soumare and Jamie Vardy – who himself suffered a hamstring strain in midweek – drop to the bench.

West Ham have made four changes from Wednesday’s Carabao Cup defeat by Spurs, with Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal, Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma in for Alphonse Areola, Ben Johnson, Harrison Ashby and Manuel Lanzini.

Michail Antonio is only among the substitutes after his recovery from Covid-19.

Southampton have also made four alterations from their last match 11 days ago, with Fraser Forster, Jan Bednarek, Theo Walcott and Mohamed Elyanoussi replacing Willy Caballero, Lyanco, Nathan Tella and Will Smallbone.

Mikel Arteta makes just one change from last week’s win at Leeds, with a Covid-hit Takehiro Tomiyasu missing out and Rob Holding recalled. Emile Smith Rowe is on the bench, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing again.

Norwich make three changes from their last game, with Angus Gunn in for Tim Krul – who has tested positive for coronavirus – in goal. Kieran Dowell and Josh Sargent return to the line-up, with Todd Cantwell and Jacob Sorensen dropping down to the bench.

Antonio Conte has made five changes from Gameweek 18, as Ben Davies, Ryan Sessegnon, Dele Alli, Harry Winks and Tanguy Ndombele drop out and Sergio Reguilon, Japhet Tanganga, Oliver Skipp, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Lucas Moura come in.

Crystal Palace’s Covid outbreak hasn’t really affected Patrick Vieira’s team selection too much, with Joachim Andersen in for Marc Guehi the only change.

GAMEWEEK 19 LINE-UPS

Man City XI: Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Bernardo, Sterling, De Bruyne, Mahrez

Subs: Steffen, Carson, Ake, Jesus, Grealish, Kayky, Foden, Mbete, Palmer.

Leicester XI: Schmeichel, Albrighton, Vestergaard, Thomas, Amartey, Tielemans, Maddison, Dewsbury-Hall, Perez, Iheanacho, Lookman

Subs: Jakupovic, Bertrand, Vardy, Choudhury, Ndidi, Castagne, Soumare, Nelson McAteer.

Norwich City XI: Gunn, Aarons, Kabak, Gibson, Williams, Dowell, Gilmour, McLean, Placheta, Sargent, Pukki.

Subs: McGovern, Byram, Cantwell, Tzolis, Sorensen, Lees-Melou, Mumba, Giannoulis, Idah.

Arsenal XI: Ramsdale, White, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney, Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Lacazette.

Subs: Leno, Smith Rowe, Pepe, Tavares, Mari, Sambi Lokonga, Elneny, Nketiah, Patino.

Tottenham Hotspur XI: Lloris, Reguilon, Sanchez, Dier, Royal, Tanganga, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Moura, Son, Kane

Subs: Gollini, Doherty, Winks, Gil, Rodon, Alli, Bergwijn, Ndombele, Davies

Crystal Palace XI: Butland, Ward, Tomkins, Andersen, Mitchell, Gallagher, Hughes, Kouyate, J Ayew, Edouard, Zaha

Subs: Matthews, Guehi, Mateta, Schlupp, Kelly, Ferguson, Riedewald

West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Masuaku; Soucek, Rice, Fornals; Bernrahma, Vlasic, Bowen.

Subs: Areola, Yarmolenko, Antoniio, Lanzini, Noble, Fredericks, Johnson, Kral, Ashby

Southampton XI: Forster; Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Salisu, Livramento; Romeu; Ward-Prowse; Redmond, Elyanoussi, Walcott; Broja

Subs: Caballero, Long, Adams, A. Armstrong, Perraud, S.Armstrong, Diallo, Simeu, Valery