After a weekend that saw Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.9m) limp off with a foot injury, Kyle Walker (£5.1m) withdrawn in the first half of the Manchester derby and Pedro Neto (£5.1m) pick up what seems like a serious ankle problem, we’re rounding up what we know on the team news front ahead of Gameweek 10 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
The pre-match press conferences that will take place up and down the country later in the week will supersede this piece and help finalise our predicted line-ups but in the meantime, this article takes an early look at the injury situation across the top flight.
It will be updated through the week, too, after we’ve had more press conferences and action at home and abroad.
BOURNEMOUTH V LEICESTER CITY
Ryan Bertrand (knee) and Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) remain out but Leicester otherwise don’t have too many concerns ahead of the trip to Bournemouth.
Wilfred Ndidi (hamstring) was substituted as a precaution in the win over Nottingham Forest on Monday but Brendan Rodgers “thinks” the midfielder will be fine.
Lloyd Kelly (ankle) remains out for the Cherries with no timeframe placed on his return, while it’s unclear where David Brooks is at with his rehabilitation after he sustained a hamstring injury when playing for the academy side last month after a long-term lay-off.
The news is fairly positive elsewhere with Joe Rothwell (thigh) and Ben Pearson (knee) “much closer” to a return and Ryan Fredericks (unspecified) said to be making “big improvements”, although it isn’t abundantly clear if this weekend will come too soon.
CHELSEA v WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
At least three of the four players who missed the win over Crystal Palace will be in contention to return this weekend, as Edouard Mendy (knee) was passed fit to face AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday, and Marc Cucurella and Carney Chukwuemeka returned to training after illness.
Cucurella was on the bench in that game, while Jorginho and Kai Havertz shrugged off minor issues to feature.
N’Golo Kante (hamstring) is back in some form of training but doubts remain about his match fitness, while Wesley Fofana (knee) is a new concern after he limped off the field on Wednesday.
“N’Golo’s training more and more – not fully but getting closer so that’s really positive. It’s a case of building him up and then it won’t be a case of now he’s fit and now he can play 90 minutes every three days. We have to be careful with how we build his minutes so that’s the next challenge. It’s game time and how do you get games in the Premier League? Bit by bit I think, so we have to be patient with him but we’re under control with that and we’ll do our best.” – Graham Potter, speaking on Tuesday
Wolves’ Sasa Kalajdzic (knee) and Chiquinho (knee) are long-term absentees and Raul Jimenez (groin) is set to remain unavailable, while further news is awaited on Hwang Hee-chan after he returned from international duty with an adductor problem that the club described as “not too severe”.
Ruben Neves and Nathan Collins are both suspended, meanwhile, and the ankle injury that Pedro Neto picked up on Sunday was described as “bad” by now-departed boss Bruno Lage.
MANCHESTER CITY V SOUTHAMPTON
Kalvin Phillips (shoulder) is out and John Stones (hamstring) will still likely be a week away from a return when Southampton visit the Etihad, while Wednesday brought some bombshell news that Kyle Walker (muscle) could be missing until the World Cup break.
Rodri (leg) returned to the matchday squad in the Champions League in midweek.
There’s nothing new on the Southampton team news front that we’re aware of, with Tino Livramento (knee) out until 2023 and Romeo Lavia (muscle) still a few weeks away from a return.
NEWCASTLE UNITED V BRENTFORD
Karl Darlow (ankle), Emil Krafth (knee) and Jonjo Shelvey (hamstring) remain out, while it remains to be seen if the game comes too soon for Alexander Isak (ankle), who is at least back on the grass running.
Allan Saint-Maximin is set to return, however.
Christian Norgaard (Achilles) and Keane Lewis-Potter (ankle/foot) are on the sidelines, while Pontus Jansson looks unlikely to feature because of a hamstring issue.
Ethan Pinnock (match fitness) could return, however.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION V TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Emerson Royal begins a three-match ban and Lucas Moura (tendon) looks set to remain sidelined for some time, while Dejan Kulusevski (hamstring) will sit out the Champions League tie against Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday. Antonio Conte doesn’t know if the Swede will return in Gameweek 10 or beyond that point.
Ben Davies (knee) it fit, however.
“About Kulusevski, honestly I don’t know when he has the time to recover, I hope to recover him quickly, but I don’t know if for the next game, or for the game in the Champions League against Eintracht Frankfurt at home, I don’t know. I don’t know this. ” – Antonio Conte, speaking on Monday
Long-term absentee Jakub Moder (knee) and Enock Mwepu (illness) were absent for the Seagulls in Gameweek 9 and it remains to be seen if Mwepu is anywhere near a recovery after he was hospitalised while away with Zambia over the international break.
CRYSTAL PALACE V LEEDS UNITED
Nathan Ferguson (foot), James McArthur (groin) and Jack Butland (hand) remain out for Palace, while the problems are stacking up in defence.
Nathaniel Clyne went straight to hospital after sustaining what could be a serious ankle injury in the loss to Chelsea, a match that Joachim Andersen missed with a minor calf problem. Chris Richards was absent for that game, presumably with the injury that forced him out of the USA squad over the international break, while even Marc Guehi was playing through the pain barrier on Saturday with ankle trouble.
Luis Sinisterra (suspended), Stuart Dallas (knee) and Archie Gray (toe) are definitely out of the trip to Selhurst Park, while it remains to be seen if Adam Forshaw (ankle) is anywhere near a recovery after Jesse Marsch described his injury as “not so bad” last week.
WEST HAM UNITED V FULHAM
Aleksandar Mitrovic is being assessed after picking up a knock in the defeat to Newcastle, while Layvin Kurzawa was also forced off in Saturday’s match and will have to be checked on. Kenny Tete (unspecified) and Antonee Robinson (ankle) missed out on that game altogether, the latter suffering a setback in his recovery just as he was about to return.
“Too early, we have to assess him, of course.
“The situation with Mitro, [we didn’t know if he] will be or not in his best physical condition. Yesterday we assessed him and we was OK to play.
“He got a knock in the first game with the national team. It’s in the foot.” – Marco Silva on Aleksandar Mitrovic
Willian (calf), Manor Solomon (knee) and Harry Wilson (knee) remain sidelined and Nathaniel Chalobah is suspended but Joao Palhinha returns from a one-match ban.
For the Hammers, Nayef Aguerd (ankle) and Ben Johnson (hamstring) have been back on the grass in some capacity over the last fortnight, with Johnson the nearest to a return.
Maxwel Cornet faces further assessment on a calf injury he picked up in the win over Wolves in Gameweek 9.
ARSENAL V LIVERPOOL
Emile Smith Rowe (groin) and Mohamed Elneny (hamstring) remain out ahead of the visit of Liverpool and reports suggest that Cedric Soares (unspecified) will again be missing this weekend after a setback in his recovery over the September international break.
Curtis Jones (leg), Naby Keita (muscle) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring) are all out of this match, while Andrew Robertson (knee) remains a major doubt as he wasn’t even in training ahead of the Champions League tie against Rangers on Tuesday.
Ibrahima Konate, Calvin Ramsay and Caoimhin Kelleher are all now injury free but match fitness remains an issue.
EVERTON V MANCHESTER UNITED
Nathan Patterson (knee), Mason Holgate (knee), Andros Townsend (knee), Yerry Mina (ankle) and Ben Godfrey (leg) are all on the sidelines ahead of the visit of Manchester United.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (match fitness) wasn’t involved in the matchday squad at Southampton on Saturday amid reports that he had suffered a small setback in his recovery from injury.
Anthony Gordon‘s benching in Gameweek 9 was linked to an illness the winger had suffered in the days before the game, meanwhile.
Harry Maguire (hamstring) remains out ahead of the trip to Goodison Park but Raphael Varane could be fit after being withdrawn as a precaution in the Manchester derby on Sunday.
Erik ten Hag couldn’t offer much of a prognosis on Aaron Wan-Bissaka or Donny van de Beek in Wednesday’s pre-Europa League presser; both players missed training in midweek, along with Varane and Maguire.
“They are unavailable for tomorrow. Yes, in the case of Rapha, I have good hope [that he comes back soon]. Harry will take a little bit longer. The other two, I cannot give a prognosis.” – Erik ten Hag on the above four players, on Wednesday
Martin Dubravka (knock) didn’t feature at the Etihad, meanwhile, having picked up an injury over the international break.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST V ASTON VILLA
Diego Carlos (Achilles), Boubacar Kamara (knee) and Lucas Digne (knee) are all out of Aston Villa’s trip to Nottingham Forest, while Steven Gerrard said he “feared the worst” after Ludwig Augustinsson was taken off in Gameweek 9 with a hamstring injury.
Matty Cash (hamstring) is set to resume full training this week, however, while Calum Chambers also should be available after having an appendix operation.
Omar Richards (leg) remains out, while it remains to be seen if Moussa Niakhate (muscle) is anywhere near a full recovery after he was deemed fit enough to join up with Senegal over the international break, albeit in a non-playing capacity.
Last updated: October 5th
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