We continue our coverage of the pre-Gameweek 29 press conferences, with headline injury updates from all Premier League managers whose teams are in action this weekend.
Our Thursday round-up brought updates from Brighton and Hove Albion, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
For much more detailed information, check out our Predicted Line-ups page and Injuries and Bans feed.
For other help and advice from our weekly Scout Picks to team reveals, head to our complete Gameweek 29 guide here.
LIVERPOOL
Roberto Firmino (muscle) is back for Jurgen Klopp, although he then referred to a few Covid cases amongst unknown players and staff. Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Thiago Alcantara were absent from training ground images on Thursday but there has been no confirmation that this trio is affected.
“[Firmino] is back. We had a few little things but so far, nobody is out of training. We have, on top of that however, Covid is not over. These kind of things we have as well – or had, we will see how that’s going on. So far I didn’t get any news, injury-wise. I think they all should be ready.”
CHELSEA
There are mixed reports on the length of Reece James‘ latest injury setback but it wasn’t mentioned by Thomas Tuchel after the midweek win over Norwich City. Both Cesar Azpilicueta and Christian Pulisic have picked up illnesses in midweek but Hakim Ziyech was an unused substitute at Carrow Road.
The availability of Marcos Alonso (Covid) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (Achilles) wasn’t touched upon but we know Ben Chilwell‘s season is over because of his knee injury.
“Azpi [Azpilicueta] did not feel well. He had stomach problems and looked very pale so we decided to take him out, did not feel good. Christian [Pulisic] did not feel well. He had two bad nights, felt ill.” – Thomas Tuchel
WEST HAM UNITED
David Moyes has confirmed that Jarrod Bowen will not face Aston Villa at the weekend, with uncertainty over the seriousness and timescale of his Achilles injury.
“I have no idea at the moment [when Bowen will return]. We are still trying to clear up exactly the injury, in all the scans, it does not look too bad but his action coming off the pitch made it look more serious than we thought.”
Declan Rice recovered from illness to play in Seville last night but there is still no Vladimir Coufal (hernia), Angelo Ogbonna (knee) or Ukraine international Andriy Yarmolenko (personal reasons).
MANCHESTER UNITED
Cristiano Ronaldo missed the Manchester derby with a hip problem but is back in training and expected to feature against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, as is Edinson Cavani (groin). Raphael Varane has recovered from Covid but Luke Shaw now has it and will therefore be absent. There are also doubts over Scott McTominay regarding a calf issue.
“Cristiano [Ronaldo] resumed training yesterday. He trained for the whole session and I expect him to be in training today as well. He trained well, like the rest of the group, so I would have thought that he’s available for tomorrow. We will still miss out Luke Shaw. He’s, until yesterday, still being tested positive with Covid. Scotty [McTominay] is a question mark, he had some problems with his calf so we have to wait and see until after training today.” – Ralf Rangnick
NEWCASTLE UNITED
No press conference from ‘Manager of the Month’ Eddie Howe but his post-match quotes from Thursday night indicates that it’s just cramp that affected Bruno Guimaraes and Emil Krafth. For the game against Chelsea, there are doubts over Allan Saint-Maximin (illness), Fabian Schar (groin) and Joelinton (groin), whilst Kieran Trippier (foot), Callum Wilson (calf) and Federico Fernandez (muscle) remain sidelined.
However, Matt Ritchie (knee) is now back in proceedings.
“I think everyone in our squad is in contention to play. We’ll let the dust settle from this game and see how we are physically. There are some very tired bodies in the changing room and a bit of cramp in the squad.”
ARSENAL
Just the two injury updates from Mikel Arteta, who will decide the best way to ease Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf) back into the team but at least he is likely to have Emile Smith Rowe back from Covid.
“Tomiyasu we are still assessing him because we have been taking some time to try and protect him and get him in the best, safest possible way so he can help the team. Emile [Smith Rowe] looks like he is going to be available.”
EVERTON
The reason for Michael Keane‘s half-time removal at Spurs was illness, which has affected him for weeks according to Frank Lampard. However, he is able to welcome Demarai Gray (illness) and Ben Godfrey (hamstring) back into proceedings in an attempt to stabilise the Toffees’ slide into relegation worries. Lampard still can’t call on injured thigh trio Yerry Mina, Fabian Delph and Tom Davies.
“We have players back that are now available that haven’t been, they are big players for us: Ben Godfrey and Demarai Gray. I haven’t really been able to call on them but now I can.”
LEICESTER CITY
There will be late checks on Ricardo Pereira (hamstring) and James Justin (fatigue), whilst Jamie Vardy will miss the next few weeks because of a knee injury. Wesley Fofana was set to make a comeback against Rennes but pulled out due to Covid. Still out are Timothy Castagne (thigh), Jonny Evans (hamstring) and Ryan Bertrand (knee).
“We’ll have another check on Ricardo [Pereira] and Justin played 60 minutes, so we’ll check on him. Fofana is very much a doubt but we’ll hopefully have him back next week. He’s worked hard to get back and will hopefully be back very soon.” – Brendan Rodgers
ASTON VILLA
Very quiet on the injury front for Steven Gerrard, with just Marvelous Nakamba (knee) unavailable. FPL managers were happy to see Lucas Digne (Covid) return to action at Leeds United and bag a clean sheet.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Following last night’s comfortable 4-0 win over Watford, Bruno Lage didn’t report any injuries to add to right-backs Nelson Semedo (hamstring) and Ki-Jana Hoever (thigh). However, he did give reason to the surprise resting of Max Kilman.
“Sometimes it’s a moment for a player to recover a little bit. I trust a lot in Max [Kilman]. I like, sometimes, to change some players and he’s played more than 30 games in a row, so sometimes you need to step back, recover and relax the pressure on your shoulders. He’ll return to the team for sure.”
WATFORD
Opponents Watford lost Kiko Femenia after half an hour and Josh King went off at half-time. No word on the severity of these problems, or if Joao Pedro will return from Covid at the weekend.
“Kiko [Femenia] took himself off with an injury, and Joshua [King] took himself off as well because he was suffering with his neck and had to see the physio. We did manage to get Peter [Etebo] on for 15 minutes though, which was a positive.” – Roy Hodgson
Nicolas Nkoulou (hamstring), Ismaila Sarr (hamstring) and William Troost-Ekong (hamstring) are still out.
LEEDS UNITED
New head coach Jesse Marsch spoke about Junior Firpo‘s knee injury in the aftermath of his side’s 3-0 home defeat to Aston Villa.
“I hate speculating on injuries, but I would guess that this one’s going to keep him out a while. So we’ll see, it looks like something on the inside of the knee like an MCL strain. So hopefully it’s not too bad.”
Tyler Roberts has had successful surgery on his hamstring but his season is over, with Kalvin Phillips (hamstring), Liam Cooper (hamstring) and Leo Fuhr Hjelde (knee) still out.
SOUTHAMPTON
Nathan Tella (groin) could make the match against Watford but Lyanco and Alex McCarthy are both still hampered by hamstring problems.
BRENTFORD
Josh Dasilva will serve the second of his three-match suspension against Burnley but Thomas Frank is able to report that Christian Norgaard and Kristoffer Ajer – both removed during the win at Norwich – are fine to play.
NORWICH CITY
Loanee Billy Gilmour couldn’t face parent club Chelsea, so will return for the big match against Leeds. Still out are Adam Idah (knee) and Andrew Omobamidele (back), whereas Sam Byram has been suffering from fatigue.
“He is a little bit fatigued. I am hopeful he will be okay. All the lads that played last night’s game, came through it. We should have them available for Sunday.” – Dean Smith on Sam Byram
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