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 on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the press conference round-ups on Thursday and Friday superseding it.
ARSENAL
Kieran Tierney (knee) and Thomas Partey (thigh) look set to miss Gameweek 35 and potentially the rest of the season, while it remains to be seen if Bukayo Saka (knock) is fit enough to face West Ham United at the weekend.
Mikel Arteta said that Saka had been “struggling” to even start the win over Manchester United with a “big knock” and was one of a “four of five” Arsenal players who had “difficulties” going into Gameweek 34 – but he was at least pictured in training on Thursday.
ASTON VILLA
Lucas Digne (collarbone) will miss the visit of Norwich City and only has an “outside chance” of recovering before the end of the season, while Kortney Hause (abdomen) has had a number of setbacks over the last few months and remains out.
Bertrand Traore (groin) and Morgan Sanson (knock) were also sidelined for Saturday’s goalless draw with Leicester City but local media reported that the pair could make a return this weekend.
BRENTFORD
Ethan Pinnock (hamstring), Sergi Canos (hamstring), Zanka (muscle) and Frank Onyeka (ankle) all remain on the sidelines but Christian Norgaard (shin) and Kristoffer Ajer (head) should be fit; the former only just missed out against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday while the latter will have served his concussion protocol in time for Gameweek 35.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Jakub Moder remains out for the long term with a serious knee injury but Yves Bissouma returns from suspension in Gameweek 35, while Tariq Lamptey could be back involved after Graham Potter downplayed the severity of the knee issue that forced the wing-back out of Sunday’s draw with Southampton.
BURNLEY
Ben Mee (knee) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (calf) all sat out the win over Wolves and likely won’t be back for Gameweek 35, while Ashley Westwood has a season-ending ankle injury.
Two fresh injuries emerged from the weekend: Maxwel Cornet missed out on Sunday with a “grumble on his knee” while Jay Rodriguez was hampered by a calf issue.
Cornet should be back by the end of the week, with Erik Pieters (knee) a possibility to return to training from a medium-term problem too.
CHELSEA
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Achilles/back), Ben Chilwell (knee) and Mateo Kovacic (ankle) will all miss the clash with Manchester United on Thursday but Antonio Rudiger (groin), Andreas Christensen (stomach bug) and Reece James could all make a swift return to first-team contention after sitting out the win over West Ham United.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Nathan Ferguson (muscle) remains out, while it remains to be seen if Tyrick Mitchell recovers from the injury that left him “not 100%” for the draw with Leeds. Luka Milivojevic (hamstring) is back in training.
EVERTON
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is facing a race against time to recover from a quad injury ahead of the Chelsea game, while Donny van de Beek (groin) and Andre Gomes (knock) missed out with supposedly minor injuries in Gameweek 34 and may also be in contention.
Andros Townsend (knee) and Nathan Patterson (ankle) are long-term absentees, while assessment continues on the thigh issue that Ben Godfrey picked up shortly before kick-off on Sunday; Frank Lampard was hoping the injury was “minor”.
LEEDS UNITED
Adam Forshaw (knee) and Tyler Roberts (hamstring) are out for the season but Patrick Bamford (foot) was scheduled to return to outside training this week so might not be too far away from a return to play for the final two Gameweeks.
LEICESTER CITY
Wilfred Ndidi (knee) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) remain out for the long term but Jamie Vardy (knee) made a long-awaited return to playing action as a substitute in Gameweek 34.
Boubakary Soumare is back after injury and personal reasons kept him out since the March international break.
LIVERPOOL
Jurgen Klopp had an almost fully-fit squad going into Sunday’s win over Everton, with Roberto Firmino the only absentee because of a minor foot problem.
Klopp had previously said that Firmino would be available after the Merseyside derby if he did not make the game itself, so the Brazilian ought to be in contention for Saturday’s away match on Tyneside.
MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola faced the media on Monday and said that Kyle Walker (ankle) and John Stones (muscle) were big doubts for the Champions League tie against Real Madrid in midweek, having not trained in some time.
Walker indeed missed out in that game and while Stones recovered to start, he was forced off before half-time.
Guardiola had earlier revealed that Kevin De Bruyne was playing with some “disturbing niggles” in his ankle and that his withdrawal in the win over Watford was made with the Real and Leeds games in mind. The Belgian lasted 90 minutes in midweek.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Paul Pogba (calf), Fred (hip), Edinson Cavani (calf) and Luke Shaw (leg) were all on the sidelines for Double Gameweek 34 but Fred and Cavani could potentially be involved against Brentford on Monday, having returned to training ahead of that game. Jadon Sancho (tonsillitis) and Harry Magure (knee) were absentees against Chelsea, with news awaited on whether they could recover in time from Gameweek 35. Aaron Wan-Bissaka was also a doubt for Thursday’s match with an unspecified issue.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Eddie Howe isn’t expecting Kieran Trippier (foot), Callum Wilson (calf) or Ryan Fraser (hamstring) back for the visit of Liverpool but the first two of those aren’t too far away from a return.
NORWICH CITY
Ozan Kabak (hamstring), Adam Idah (ankle/knee) and Andrew Omobamidele (back) are all likely out for the season but Josh Sargent (ankle) should be back in contention for Gameweek 35 after his protective boot was removed last week.
Lukas Rupp had been ruled out of the visit of Newcastle after complaining of knee pain and we don’t yet have a timeframe on the midfielder’s return.
SOUTHAMPTON
There were no known concerns with the Saints going into Gameweek 34, with only match fitness preventing Alex McCarthy from featuring recently after his recovery from a hamstring problem.
However, Tino Livramento (knee) was stretchered off in the two-all draw with Brighton and Hove Albion and has since been ruled out for the rest of 2022.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Matt Doherty (knee) and Japhet Tanganga (knee) are out until the end of the season and there is every chance that we might not see Oliver Skipp (groin) again in 2021/22, with the midfielder suffering setback after setback in his recovery.
WATFORD
Cucho Hernandez (hamstring) remains unavailable ahead of the six-pointer against Burnley and faces a race against time to be back before the end of the season.
Samuel Kalu (ankle) and Francisco Sierralta (calf) had been back in training ahead of the Manchester City game but missed out, meanwhile.
Kiko Femenia and Juraj Kucka only sat out that thrashing at the Etihad with “minor knocks”, so they too may be in contention to return for Saturday’s must-win game.
WEST HAM UNITED
West Ham’s crisis at centre-half has deepened ahead of the Arsenal game; already without the injured Angelo Ogbonna (knee), Kurt Zouma (ankle) Issa Diop, who all could be out for the season, they will be missing Craig Dawson in Gameweek 35 due to the stopper’s red card against Chelsea.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Ruben Neves (knee), Max Kilman (muscle) and Daniel Podence (foot) were all ruled out of Wolves’ trip to Burnley but Neves had been earmarked for a return to training ahead of next weekend’s clash with Brighton.
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