The dust has barely settled on Gameweek 17 but we’ve got two more Gameweek deadlines to prepare for over the next five days, with the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team news already starting to emerge for Gameweek 18.
If you’re a seasoned FPL veteran you’ll know that press conferences are a bit of a lottery at this time of year, so getting the latest injury updates can be tricky.
Some managers stage their post-match press conferences and pre-match pressers in one fell swoop, for instance.
In this case, six Premier League head coaches fulfilled their Gameweek 18 media duties immediately after full-time in Gameweek 17, so there’ll be embargoed quotes from that lot to come at some point in the coming days.
Five bosses took questions on Wednesday or Thursday, while the other nine managers will face reporters on Friday.
WHEN DO THE PREMIER LEAGUE MANAGERS STAGE THEIR GAMEWEEK 18 PRESS CONFERENCES?
| Straight after GW17 (GW18 section embargoed till later) | Wednesday 28 December | Thursday 29 December | Friday 30 December |
| Vieira Emery Jones Potter ten Hag Marsch | Rodgers | Cooper Klopp Frank Moyes | Howe Lampard Guardiola Lopetegui O’Neil De Zerbi Silva Conte Arteta |
CHELSEA
We’ve yet to hear the embargoed quotes from Graham Potter but Chelsea issued a statement on Wednesday to confirm the extent of the knee injury that Reece James suffered on Boxing Day.
“Defender Reece James underwent assessment earlier today after being substituted during the second half of last night’s 2-0 Premier League victory over AFC Bournemouth due to a knee injury.
“Scan results have regrettably confirmed a setback for the 23-year-old, with Reece now set to be ruled out for up to a month.” – Chelsea club statement
The Blues also confirmed that Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech have returned to training after the World Cup break.
LIVERPOOL
New signing Cody Gakpo won’t be eligible to play in Gameweek 18, while an appearance in Gameweek 19 also looks unlikely.
“What I heard now, we are obviously very early, which is good, but there might be a chance for Brentford – but I think not really, to be honest. Because obviously the first of January is a Bank Holiday and then all the papers, which we don’t have to sign but some other people, will have to be signed on the 2nd until 12 lunchtime. I’m not too positive that that will happen but we will not rush it anyway. So, probably Wolves [in the FA Cup].” – Jurgen Klopp on Cody Gakpo
Jurgen Klopp said that his squad had emerged unscathed from the Boxing Day victory at Villa Park, while Ibrahima Konate is available again after his post-World Cup break.
Curtis Jones (match fitness), Roberto Firmino (calf) and James Milner (hamstring) look set to miss out again, however, alongside medium-to-long-term absentees Arthur (muscle), Diogo Jota (hamstring) and Luis Diaz (knee).
“No new injury problems after the [Aston Villa] game, not that a lot would come back for the [Leicester] game apart from Ibou.
“He is now training with us, he will be available now as well. So, positive for this moment but we know it will be a tough game.” – Jurgen Klopp
LEICESTER CITY
James Maddison (knee) will not be in action any time soon, while his replacement on the right flank in the defeat to Newcastle United, Dennis Praet (rib/hip/abdomen), is also set to miss out on Friday.
“[Maddison] won’t be available for the game. He was with Mark [Waller], our doctor, getting some special advice in London today so I’ll wait to hear from them later on.
“He hasn’t trained with the squad. He was clearly getting treatment out [in Qatar] and he and the medical team deemed him okay to train. He was available for games (for England). He’s come back here, looked to do some work, and then felt a pain in a different part of his knee.
“The medical team have assessed that. He tried to go out and do some multidirectional work and he was getting a pain from that. The medical team and the Club have gone down to London to get another opinion on it and to see where he’s at. That’s where we’re up to at this moment in time.
“[Praet] won’t be available either. He’s still sore and struggling with his side so we’ll look to see where he’s at.” – Brendan Rodgers
James Justin (Achilles), Ryan Bertrand (knee) and Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) all remain absent, while Jonny Evans (calf) has recently joined them on the injury list.
WEST HAM UNITED
Gianluca Scamacca could make his return from an ankle injury on Friday but the Brentford game might come too soon for Nayed Aguerd, who was affected by injury and illness while away with Morocco at the World Cup.
Kurt Zouma (knee) and Maxwel Cornet (calf) remain out.
“Gianluca has done a little bit of training, so we’ll see how he is and monitor him. He is probably lacking a little bit of match fitness, which would be my biggest worry, but he has done a bit of training so hopefully he will be okay.
“Nayef is still coming back from illness, which we are trying to get him over. He’s had a few days training, which is helping him, but he has lost a bit of weight from the World Cup so we’re trying to build him back up. If I can get Nayef involved I will, but I’ll make a decision tomorrow. But, if you’re asking me if he’s ready, I don’t believe he’s quite ready yet.” – David Moyes
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Jesse Lingard (hamstring) is the newest injury concern for Nottingham Forest, with Steve Cooper waiting to find out whether the midfielder was merely suffering from muscular fatigue in the defeat to Manchester United or if he sustained something more serious.
Morgan Gibbs-White (calf) is still a significant concern and Forest remain without long-term absentees Omar Richards (leg), Giulian Biancone (ACL), Moussa Niakhate (hamstring) and Cheikhou Kouyate (hamstring).
“We’re working with him hard and we’re trying to push him without risk of further damage, because that wouldn’t be good at all. It’s a little bit ongoing, in terms of getting him back.
“We’ve got a game in a few days, but we’ve also got a busy period after that. We have to bear all of those things in mind.
“Jesse walked off the other night and we’re still waiting for that to settle down, in terms of the exact damage, if any at all. We’ll give everybody – those two boys, plus some other kicks and knocks from the game – the best chance we can to get them available for Chelsea.” – Steve Cooper
BRENTFORD
Aaron Hickey (ankle), Kristoffer Ajer (knee), Shandon Baptiste (muscle) and Frank Onyeka (hamstring) look set to miss out again but Thomas Strakosha (ankle) could be back on the bench against West Ham after several months out.
“Ajer trained fully with us today, so it was very nice to have him in the training group. Hickey is getting closer to full training with us, so they’re progressing well and are ahead of schedule, so that’s positive.
“I think we can hope for some minutes against West Ham in the FA Cup but that will still be tough to make. Kristoffer is more likely to be ready for the FA Cup game.” – Thomas Frank
