We’ve got all the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) injury updates, team news and key manager quotes from the Premier League press conferences being held today – and there are a whopping 16 of them happening in all.
We may also get some embargoed quotes from Brendan Rodgers and Erik ten Hag, as they fulfilled their Gameweek 6 media duties in the aftermath of the Leicester City v Manchester United game last night.
The pressers of Leeds United’s Jesse Marsch and Nottingham Forest’s Steve Cooper were held on Thursday, with the key takeaways for FPL managers – including a prognosis on Rodrigo Moreno (£6.4m) – available to read here.
KEY UPDATES
- Manchester City: Pep on Haaland
- Chelsea: James and Loftus-Cheek fit
- Arsenal: Ramsdale/Odegaard being assessed; Zinchenko still a doubt
- Liverpool: Darwin back; Henderson out
- Tottenham Hotspur: Bentancur and Romero fit
- Newcastle United: Isak “should be fine”; Bruno/Saint-Maximin doubts
- West Ham United: Scamacca and Cresswell to be assessed
- Aston Villa: Dendoncker a doubt
- Everton: Maupay and Gueye in squad
- Crystal Palace: No new injuries
- Southampton: Lavia out for six weeks
- Brighton and Hove Albion: Veltman “fine”
- Brentford: Norgaard injured, Jansson returns
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: No fresh concerns
- Fulham: Willian in the squad
- Bournemouth: Pearson and Rothwell still out
PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES:
MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola delivered some encouraging words to owners of Erling Haaland ahead of Gameweek 6, when asked if he would have to handle the Norwegian carefully during this busy period of games.
“He’s 22 years old, so recovers well, quick. When you’re 32, it’s more difficult. But 22, it’s not a problem”. – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland
Guardiola also revealed that Jack Grealish (knee) and Nathan Ake (groin) were “close” to a comeback after returning to training but more assessment will be needed on the pair ahead of Saturday’s match.
Aymeric Laporte (knee) remains at least a month away from a return, while Kalvin Phillips (shoulder) has yet to return to training.
CHELSEA
Reece James (illness) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (hamstring) are both fit and available but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang won’t be considered for selection as he needs a mask fitted for a jaw injury.
“They are back in training and both available. At the moment it’s only N’Golo out, everybody else is in training.” – Thomas Tuchel on Reece James and Ruben Loftus-Cheek
“At the moment he cannot train. We need to provide him a mask to protect his jaw and then we can start to try with the mask from next week.” – Thomas Tuchel on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
ARSENAL
Mikel Arteta said that Aaron Ramsdale (muscle) and Martin Odegaard (knock) would “hopefully” be available for the trip to Manchester United but added that further assessment would be needed on the pair tomorrow.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (knee) remains a big doubt, while Reiss Nelson (muscle), Thomas Partey (thigh) and Mohamed Elneny (hamstring) are injured.
“Those two [Ramsdale and Odegaard] have been assessed, we will see more tomorrow – hopefully they will be available to train with the team.
“Unfortunately with Alex, still not the case, he has missed two games and hasn’t been able to train with the team yet.” – Mikel Arteta
LIVERPOOL
Jordan Henderson (hamstring) has joined Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring), Ibrahima Konate (muscle), Naby Keita (muscle), Calvin Ramsay (muscle) and Thiago Alcantara (hamstring) on the sidelines for the Merseyside derby, while new signing Arthur Melo likely won’t be given international clearance in time.
Darwin Nunez returns from suspension, however, while Diogo Jota (thigh) is back in training and could be involved on Saturday.
“Nothing yet [on Henderson]. We are still waiting for the result, to be honest. It was now only 12.30 or so; I asked before I came here and [we] didn’t get a result yet. He is definitely out, he is injured, but the extent I don’t know.”
“Diogo probably will be in as well, he trained yesterday with the team first time. He will train today. I have to make a decision, does it make sense that we involve him already or not? But if, it is the first time we have five attackers – sounds like Christmas!”
“My information is it will not happen until tomorrow, the international clearance [for Arthur Melo]. We all hope he will be fine for Napoli.
“It’s a muscle injury [for Keita]. For him a muscle injury, Ox is a muscle injury and they will be out for a while. Hendo, we don’t know yet. Calvin Ramsay is still out but really getting closer and closer. For him it was something with his back, something to do with age and growing and these kind of things. He didn’t train now properly with us, but he gets closer. Thiago is the closest from all [of them]. I think the start of the week, next week, he will be in team training. Ibou, in and around the international break he will be back in training.” – Jurgen Klopp
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Cristian Romero (adductor) and Rodrigo Bentancur (head) have been passed fit for the visit of Fulham but Lucas Moura (tendon) remains “in the gym” and unavailable for Gameweek 6.
“Cuti Romero is in the squad. He had the training session with us after the game against West Ham and is in the squad.
“Lucas Moura and Gil are still not available for game against Fulham.
“Bentancur is ok and he has recovered 100%” – Antonio Conte
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Eddie Howe says that he “hopes” Alexander Isak will recover from the dead leg he picked up in the midweek defeat to Liverpool but positional rival Callum Wilson (hamstring) will miss out again.
Howe added that Allan Saint-Maximin (hamstring) and Bruno Guimaraes (hamstring) were “close” to recovery but Emil Krafth (knee) and Jonjo Shelvey (hamstring) miss out.
“Callum’s slightly behind the other two, I’d say. Bruno and Maxi are close. Not serious injuries. We’ll wait and see whether they’re fit for this week.” – Eddie Howe
“I certainly hope so.” – Eddie Howe on whether Alexander Isak will be fit
WEST HAM UNITED
David Moyes has confirmed that Ben Johnson (knock) is not available, while the Hammers are “still waiting” to see how Gianluca Scamacca (illness) and Aaron Cresswell (muscle) are – a late decision will be made on both players.
“Ben Johnson is not available and we’re still waiting to see how Gianluca is and how Aaron Cresswell is. It’ll be a late decision for both of them.” – David Moyes
“Settling in is always going to be difficult for any player. His English is very limited, that’s one of the issues we have got at the moment. Overall, he is in and trained yesterday. We want to get him involved, you can see the impact he had, but also we want to be fair and we don’t want to be expecting something special right away. We want to give him a chance to get to know the players and how we play, and getting to know the Premier League is probably the biggest thing.” – David Moyes on Lucas Paqueta
ASTON VILLA
Leander Dendoncker made the move to Aston Villa from Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday but his involvement in Gameweek 6 is in a little doubt, with the Belgian midfielder suffering from a sore throat.
There were no other fitness concerns reported in the weekly Villa medical bulletin, although Diego Carlos (Achilles) remains a long-term absentee.
EVERTON
Frank Lampard confirmed that new signings Idrissa Gana Gueye and Neal Maupay will be in the squad for the Merseyside derby.
Abdoulaye Doucoure (hamstring) is back training today as he steps up his recovery from injury but Mason Holgate (knee), Andros Townsend (knee), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (knee), Yerry Mina (ankle) and Ben Godfrey (leg) remain out.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Patrick Vieira says there are no new injuries for the trip to Newcastle.
Will Hughes trained this morning after missing out in midweek, while Vieira said everyone else – presumably bar Nathan Ferguson (foot), James McArthur (groin), Jack Butland (hand) and James Tomkins (calf) – is fit and will travel to Tyneside for the game tomorrow.
SOUTHAMPTON
Romeo Lavia has joined Valentino Livramento (knee) on the sidelines for Saints, with the midfielder out until Gameweek 11 at the very least.
“He will be out for longer [than this weekend], how long we will see. I expect a minimum six weeks.” – Ralph Hasenhuttl on Romeo Lavia
Of the deadline-day signings, only Duje Caleta-Car won’t be able to face Wolves due to work permit issues.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Adam Lallana (calf) remains out but Jeremy Sarmiento (knee) is back in training and Joel Veltman is “fine”, having been a doubt for Gameweek 5 because of a neck problem.
BRENTFORD
Christian Norgaard will miss Brentford’s game against Leeds with an Achilles injury and is set to be out for “weeks”, according to Thomas Frank.
Pontus Jansson is fit again after a minor foot issue, while Kristoffer Ajer is “knocking on the door” after building up match fitness with a run-out for the B-team in midweek.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Bruno Lage confirms that there is “nothing new” on the team news front for Wolves, which means that only Chiquinho (knee) is missing for the visit of Southampton.
FULHAM
Marco Silva revealed that Willian would be in the squad to face Spurs at the weekend, with the veteran Brazilian having trained with the Cottagers for the last two weeks.
Manor Solomon and Harry Wilson are long-term absentees due to knee injuries.
BOURNEMOUTH
Caretaker Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil confimed that Ben Pearson (knee) won’t be available for the trip to Nottingham Forest, while Joe Rothwell (thigh) is also still out.
There was no word on Junior Stanislas, who has been absent recently with a groin problem.
David Brooks (match fitness) made a welcome return to playing action with a run-out for the development squad in midweek, while the Cherries have no fresh concerns from Gameweek 5.
