Six Premier League managers staged their pre-match press conferences on Thursday afternoon and we’ll bring you the key injury news in this article.
Erik ten Hag and Mikel Arteta will also face the media after their respective sides’ UEFA Europa League ties tonight (the Gameweek 15 sections of each will be embargoed till tomorrow), while the other dozen top-flight bosses will host pressers on Friday.
For the latest on those 12 clubs, check out our ‘early’ team news article here.
Pep Guardiola will be one of the managers taking questions from reporters on Friday, hopefully bringing us the latest on Erling Haaland (£12.1m). The (hopefully) good news on that front was that the Norwegian was pictured with team-mates at the City training ground on Thursday, although how involved in the training he was is obviously unclear.
KEY UPDATES
- Brentford: Toney suspended
- Leeds United: Sinisterra out until after World Cup
- Leicester City: Evans to be assessed
- Fulham: Kebano out for months
- Nottingham Forest: Biancone to miss rest of season
- Bournemouth: No new concerns
THURSDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
Press Conference Times (Thursday – GMT) ⏰
🍒 O’Neil: 1pm
🌳 Cooper: 1.30pm
◻️ Silva: 1.30pm
🦊 Rodgers: 1.30pm
⚪️ Marsch: 1.30pm
🐝 Frank: 4pm
⭕️ Arteta: Post-UEL
👹 ten Hag: Post-UEL#FFScout | #FPL pic.twitter.com/l2AcCCleRJ— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) November 3, 2022
BRENTFORD
Ivan Toney is suspended for Brentford’s trip to Nottingham Forest, having picked up his fifth booking of the season in Gameweek 14.
Aaron Hickey (ankle), Thomas Strakosha (ankle) and Pontus Jansson (hamstring) are still out injured but Mathias Jensen has recovered from the dead leg he suffered in the draw with Wolves and even Christian Norgaard (Achilles) could be back from a two-month lay-off after a recent return to the training ground.
LEEDS UNITED
Long-term absentees Stuart Dallas (knee) and Adam Forshaw (ankle) remain out, while Luis Sinisterra (foot) looks set to join them on the sidelines until after the World Cup following Jesse Marsch’s latest team news update on Friday.
“Stuart (Dallas) and Adam (Forshaw), again are injured but making progress. Archie Gray will be, we think, on the pitch tomorrow, so starting getting closer to training with the full team. And then the only other update is Luis Sinisterra.
“Luis has a foot injury that it turns out to be more than what we originally thought it was. He wasn’t making the progress that we were hoping for him to make over the last 10 days. So they did another scan and then they had a specialist looked at it, and they start to worry about it being a Lisfranc injury.
“It’s a rare injury that controls the movement of the metatarsals and when that is ruptured, it can be a long recovery. We don’t believe it’s ruptured. We believe it’s partially torn, which puts him in a little bit of a grey area, but probably out until after the World Cup break. So we’ll know more about that today. And again, we’re hopeful that it’s a version that doesn’t take him out for long.” – Jesse Marsch
LEICESTER CITY
The long-absent Ryan Bertrand (knee) and Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) are still sidelined, while Jonny Evans (calf) will be assessed on Friday to see if he’s fit enough to face Everton.
“We’ll decide on that tomorrow, whether he’s going to be ready to have an impact, or whether it’ll be Tuesday [v Newport County in the Carabao Cup]. It’s been a little bit slower than we’d have hoped but he was out training with the squad today we’ll evaluate the risk on that and take it from there.” – Brendan Rodgers on Jonny Evans
Ricardo looks set to make a return to the first-team fold at the beginning of 2023.
“He’s doing very well. The target time for him is going to be around January time. He’s working very hard. Mentally, he’s in a really good place. He’s had a tough, tough time with long-term injuries but he’s coping very well, working very hard, and still well on schedule for coming back for the second half of the season.” – Brendan Rodgers on Ricardo Pereira
FULHAM
Manor Solomon (knee) has been joined on the sidelines by Neeskens Kebano, who is set for several months out after rupturing his Achilles.
Bobby DeCordova-Reid will also be absent in Gameweek 15 after picking up his fifth booking of the season last Saturday.
Layvin Kurzawa (calf) has been back in training all this week, at least.
“The Club can confirm that Neeskens Kebano has unfortunately suffered a ruptured Achilles in training this week.
“He will now undergo specialist consultation and will be out of action for several months.” – Fulham club statement
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Giulian Biancone is the latest addition to the Nottingham Forest injury list and he’ll probably be missing until next summer after he sustained a knee injury in training.
“Unfortunately Giulian Biancone picked up a serious knee injury which will rule him out for the season.
“It’s really difficult news for him and a blow for us as well. I know he’s a player who hasn’t featured too much but he is a player who was making good progress and that we really like. We’re gutted for him because it’s a serious injury and it’s a blow to the group as well.” – Steve Cooper
Omar Richards (leg), Moussa Niakhate (muscle) and Jack Colback (back) have been on the sidelines for months now, while Harry Toffolo has been missing since Gameweek 12 after picking up a hamstring injury.
Richards is back running and could return after the World Cup break but Niakhate and Toffolo’s recoveries are going to take longer.
BOURNEMOUTH
Murara Neto (leg), Lloyd Kelly (ankle) and David Brooks (hamstring) are all still absent for the trip to Leeds but caretaker boss Gary O’Neil has no new fitness concerns heading into Gameweek 15.
None of the above trio are expected back before the World Cup break.
“Neto will not play again before the World Cup. The World Cup break might come too soon for Lloyd. He’s doing well, he’s made some big strides, but the break might come too soon for him. We’ll have to see on that one. I think the same for David Brooks. I don’t think we’ll see him before the World Cup.” – Gary O’Neil
