Early team news and injury updates for FPL Gameweek 33

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 posting this initial 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.

The club-by-club guide omits Aston Villa, Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, all of whom blank in Gameweek 33.

ARSENAL

Kieran Tierney (knee) and Thomas Partey (thigh) look set to miss the Gunners’ Double Gameweek 33 but Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf) has been earmarked for a return to training after the Southampton game this weekend, so may play a part against Chelsea next Wednesday – although don’t put any money on it given how many setbacks he has had this calendar year.

BRENTFORD

Frank Onyeka was ruled out for “weeks” by Thomas Frank last Friday but Josh Dasilva (hamstring) could make a return in Gameweek 33, having rejoined training. Pontus Jansson missed Sunday’s win over West Ham United with an illness so should be back this weekend.

BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION

Jakub Moder remains out for the long term with a serious knee injury but Albion have no other known concerns at the time of writing, with Adam Webster (groin) making a long-awaited return to action as a substitute in Saturday’s win over Arsenal.

BURNLEY

Erik Pieters (knee) and Ben Mee (knee) have an outside chance of returning for the trip to West Ham United but Johann Berg Gudmundsson (calf) is some way behind his two teammates in terms of recovery.

CHELSEA

The Blues have a Champions League quarter-final and an FA Cup semi-final to negotiate before they return to Premier League action, so there’s every chance that the injury situation could change considerably before they entertain Arsenal on April 20.

Callum Hudson-Odoi (Achilles/back) and Ben Chilwell (knee) remain on the injury list as of Monday, while Romelu Lukaku (Achilles) still wasn’t deemed fit enough for the rematch with Real Madrid. Cesar Azpilicueta returns for that European tie, having sat out Gameweek 32 after a positive Covid-19 test, but Ross Barkley is ill.

CRYSTAL PALACE

The Eagles provide the opposition in Chelsea’s aforementioned FA Cup semi-final and like the Blues, aren’t in Gameweek 33 action until next Wednesday.

Michael Olise (foot) wasn’t involved in Palace’s defeat at Leicester on Sunday, with Patrick Vieira revealing after the Friday deadline that the winger could return at Wembley. Nathan Ferguson (muscle) remains out, while Will Hughes (knock) and Tyrick Mitchell (calf) are fresh concerns from Sunday – Patrick Vieira revealing that Mitchell was taken off because he didn’t want to take “any risk”.

EVERTON

Of the 17 clubs who are in action in Gameweek 33, all but one of them will have pre-match press conferences before the deadline – albeit four of those clubs’ managers will be officially on FA Cup media duties.

The one exception is Everton, who don’t have another match until next Wednesday when they face Leicester City. Yerry Mina (thigh) could be back for that one, while Donny van de Beek (thigh) was also earmarked for a return then. Andros Townsend (knee) and Nathan Patterson (ankle) are long-term absentees, however.

LEICESTER CITY

Wilfred Ndidi (knee), Danny Ward (knee) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) remain out for the long term, while Jamie Vardy (knee) had an injection on Tuesday and will be assessed over the next week – so his involvement in the Foxes’ Double Gameweek 33 looks in some doubt. Boubakary Soumare (unspecified injury) and Ayoze Perez (illness) were close to being involved in the win over Crystal Palace so should be back in time for Sunday’s clash with Newcastle United.

LIVERPOOL

Jurgen Klopp had a fully-fit squad going into Gameweek 32 and there were no reported fresh issues from the four-goal thriller against Manchester City. As is the case with Chelsea, the Reds have cup ties at home and abroad to come before they face Manchester United in Gameweek 33 – so the injury situation could very well change by the time the Reds face their north-west neighbours next Tuesday.

MANCHESTER CITY

Ruben Dias (hamstring) and Cole Palmer (foot) were the only two players that Pep Guardiola ruled out of the aforementioned clash with their title rivals but Dias has since returned to training after a month on the sidelines and is ready to play. Palmer is also nearing a return.

Again, there were no obvious signs of anything new emerging from that 2-2 draw. City face Atletico Madrid on Wednesday and Liverpool in the FA Cup on Saturday in advance of their Gameweek 33 encounter with Brighton and Hove Albion.

MANCHESTER UNITED

Edinson Cavani (calf), Luke Shaw (leg), Raphael Varane (unspecified) and Scott McTominay (foot) all missed the trip to Everton, with Shaw and Cavani potentially sidelined until Gameweek 35; Shaw was ruled out for two to three weeks on Friday, while Ralf Rangnick had said at the beginning of April that Cavani may be out for a month or so. There was no timeline on the other two, while news is awaited on the severity of Fred‘s hip flexor injury after the Brazilian limped out of the defeat to Everton.

NEWCASTLE UNITED

Kieran Trippier (foot) and Callum Wilson (calf) remain on the injury list, with the pair probably sidelined until the tail-end of the campaign. Two semi-popular budget midfield options, Joe Willock (knee) and Ryan Fraser (hamstring), are big concerns going into Gameweek 33: Willock has had an injection in his knee and Howe would only cautiously say that he hoped the midfielder wouldn’t be out long-term, while even the lowest-grade hamstring injury would render Fraser a concern.

NORWICH CITY

Ozan Kabak (hamstring), Adam Idah (ankle/knee) and Andrew Omobamidele (back) are all likely out for the season, while we haven’t had an update on Przemyslaw Placheta (ankle) for a while. Josh Sargent (ankle) could be back in contention this week, however, while Billy Gilmour should also return after illness.

SOUTHAMPTON

Lyanco (thigh) and Alex McCarthy (hamstring) are both back in training after lengthy injuries and nearing a first-team comeback, while Shane Long (ankle) was in light training last week so may not be too far away. Armando Broja is back available after being ineligible to face Chelsea in Gameweek 32.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Media reports on Sunday and Monday suggest that the in-form Matt Doherty (knee) will join Japhet Tanganga (knee) on the sidelines until the end of the season, with the Irish wing-back having picked up a knock in Saturday’s win over Aston Villa.

WATFORD

Watford had a fully-fit squad going into the weekend but Cucho Hernandez, whose Fantasy stock had risen due to his decent form and budget price, is a new concern for the weekend. The forward limped out of the defeat to Leeds United before half-time, with Roy Hodgson saying that he had “no idea” as to the severity of the problem but adding that he was “concerned”.

WEST HAM UNITED

Angelo Ogbonna (knee) is still out, while David Moyes confirmed that Kurt Zouma twisted his ankle in Sunday’s defeat at Brentford; he’ll miss the Europa League tie against Lyon as further assessment continues this week. Mark Noble missed out in Gameweek 32 as a precaution because of illness, meanwhile.