The Team News tab remains the most-visited page on the Fantasy Football Scout site even when the next Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline is several days or weeks away, with the Injuries and Bans section not far behind.
The pre-match press conferences on Thursday and Friday are where we get the bulk of our information for the upcoming Gameweek, and it’s after the Premier League managers have faced the media that we properly update the tab and finalise our predicted XIs. We also bring you a round-up of the pressers in article form on those days.
But given the aforementioned demand, and for those Fantasy managers thinking of making early transfers or wanting to hear the latest in advance of the end-of-the-week pressers, we’re going to start bringing you this earlier summary straight after the weekend’s action.
It’ll also be updated after the matches at home and abroad on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the press conference round-ups on Thursday and Friday superseding it.
Off we go, then, with this club-by-club guide…
ARSENAL
Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf) sat out Monday’s defeat to Crystal Palace despite positive pre-match comments from Mikel Arteta about his recovery. He’ll now not be back until after the trip to Southampton at the earliest, which is the first match of Arsenal’s Double Gameweek 33. Nicolas Pepe (illness) and Kieran Tierney (knee) were also absent at Palace, with the Gunners boss saying that the left-back’s injury “does not look good”. A club update later confirmed that the Scotland international would be sidelined for some time. Arteta added that Thomas Partey‘s thigh injury was also a “concern” after the Ghanaian midfielder limped out of the loss at Selhurst Park.
ASTON VILLA
Steven Gerrard confirmed after the defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday that Lucas Digne was only suffering from a stomach complaint when being substituted, allaying fears that he may have tweaked his hamstring. Danny Ings only missed out because his partner had given birth, meanwhile, so may return this weekend. Marvelous Nakamba got game-time for the under-23s last week after returning from a long-term injury so could be in the frame for a first-team comeback.
BRENTFORD
Josh Dasilva (hamstring) was the only Brentford player who missed the win over Chelsea, although his injury was described as “minor” by his manager. There were no known fresh concerns from the victory at Stamford Bridge.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Adam Webster (groin) and Moises Caicedo (illness) were absent from the draw with Norwich City at the weekend but could return this week, with Graham Potter previously saying that Webster “wasn’t too far away”. Jakub Moder suffered a serious knee injury in the stalemate at the Amex, however, and looks set for a long spell on the sidelines.
BURNLEY
Erik Pieters (knee), Ben Mee (knee) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (calf) remain out ahead of the weekend but Matej Vydra and Nathan Collins returned from injury and suspension in midweek.
CHELSEA
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Achilles/back) and Ben Chilwell (knee) were the only injury-related absentees for the visit of Brentford, although Christian Pulisic (fatigue) wasn’t considered for selection after a late return from international duty and Trevoh Chalobah was a tactical omission from the matchday squad. Hudson-Odoi and Chilwell remained out for the Champions League clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Wilfried Zaha (hamstring) returned from injury for the visit of Arsenal on Monday but Michael Olise (foot) wasn’t part of the Palace squad, having failed to recover from an injury picked up over the international break. No timeframe has been put on his return as yet but Patrick Vieira doubts that he’ll be back for Gameweek 32.
EVERTON
Yerry Mina (thigh), Andros Townsend (knee), Nathan Patterson (ankle), Donny van de Beek (thigh), Michael Keane (suspended) and Allan (suspended) all missed the midweek trip to Burnley but Seamus Coleman (illness) and Fabian Delph (thigh) returned to the squad. Van de Beek will miss out through ineligibility in Gameweek 32 and the injured players will remain sidelined but Allan and Keane will be back from suspension.
LEEDS UNITED
Patrick Bamford (foot), Jamie Shackleton (calf), Leo Hjelde (knee), Junior Firpo (knee) and Tyler Roberts (hamstring) were on the sidelines for the draw with Southampton, although Hjelde and Firpo are homing in on a playing comeback. Joe Gelhardt picked up what is reported to be a dead leg in an under-23s match on Monday, meanwhile, with the budget forward set to be assessed.
LEICESTER CITY
Wilfred Ndidi (knee), Danny Ward (knee) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) remain out for the long term, while Jamie Vardy (knee) is still feeling discomfort in training. Luke Thomas (hamstring) is fit, however. Jonny Evans left the field at Old Trafford on Saturday with a tight calf, meanwhile, although that withdrawal appeared to be more precautionary in nature.
LIVERPOOL
Curtis Jones, Joel Matip and Naby Keita all recovered from minor issues to face Benfica in midweek, with Jurgen Klopp blessed with a fully fit squad. Trent Alexander-Arnold started in Portugal after being an unused substitute in Gameweek 31.
MANCHESTER CITY
Ruben Dias (hamstring) and Cole Palmer (foot) were the only two players that Pep Guardiola ruled out of the trip to Burnley on Saturday, with neither player thought to be back in contention for the visit of Liverpool. Pep Guardiola didn’t reveal any fresh team news information in his pre-match press conference ahead of the UEFA Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid, a game in which no new concerns were reported.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Edinson Cavani (calf) remains out, while we await news on whether Luke Shaw has recovered after Ralf Rangnick confirmed that the left-back had suffered a recurrence of an old leg injury in the draw with Leicester City. Cristiano Ronaldo and Jesse Lingard should return this weekend, however, after missing Gameweek 31 through illness.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Kieran Trippier (foot) and Callum Wilson (calf) remain on the injury list, with Eddie Howe confirming after the loss at Spurs that Trippier’s foot hasn’t healed as well as the Magpies would have liked and that he will remain sidelined until the tail-end of the campaign. There weren’t any fresh issues from the game in north London itself, although Miguel Almiron was absent after a late return from South America.
NORWICH CITY
Ozan Kabak (hamstring), Josh Sargent (ankle), Adam Idah (ankle/knee) and Andrew Omobamidele (back) are all on the injury list, while it remains to be seen if Max Aarons (hamstring/illness), Lukas Rupp (hamstring) and Przemyslaw Placheta (ankle) are anyway nearer a recovery by the time Burnley come calling for Saturday’s six-pointer in east Anglia. Brandon Williams (ankle) should be close to a comeback, however, having rejoined training ahead of Gameweek 31.
SOUTHAMPTON
Lyanco (thigh) remains on the sidelines for the visit of Chelsea, a match that loanee Armando Broja will miss as he is ineligible to face his parent club. Alex McCarthy (hamstring) was back on the grass last week after an absence of almost four months, too, although was only in light training so didn’t feature against Leeds.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Japhet Tanganga (knee) will be out until the end of the season but Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) and Oliver Skipp (groin) are possible returnees at Villa Park, with Antonio Conte saying that he was expecting the injured pair to make a return to training ahead of Gameweek 32. More news is awaited on the severity of the injury that forced Sergio Reguilon to miss the thrashing of Newcastle United, meanwhile.
WATFORD
Kwadwo Baah (ankle) was the only player who was declared unavailable for the hard-fought loss at Anfield, with Nicolas Nkoulou passed match-fit after his own lengthy lay-off but not involved in the matchday squad.
WEST HAM UNITED
Angelo Ogbonna (knee) remains on the sidelines but Ben Johnson (hamstring) might be back this weekend – and even before then, in Europe on Thursday. Despite being described as “OK” by his manager ahead of Gameweek 31 after emerging “sore” but mostly unscathed from a car crash, Manuel Lanzini missed the win over Everton. He has since returned to training.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Ruben Neves (knee), Raul Jimenez (suspended) and Ki-Jana Hoever (hamstring) will all miss the trip to Newcastle but there were no obvious signs of any fresh injuries after the win over Aston Villa, with Pedro Neto (foot) and Nelson Semedo (hamstring) returning to the matchday squad as substitutes.
