Friday is usually ‘team news day’ and although there’s no Fantasy Premier League (FPL) this weekend, yesterday was no exception.
The FA Cup fourth round takes place over the coming days, with 11 Premier League teams in action.
All of the managers from these clubs have held pre-match press conferences as a result, with the most notable quotes and updates covered below.
Two of the sides, Arsenal and Manchester City, faced each other on Friday, and there is one new injury apiece to report from the title rivals.
FULHAM
Aleksandar Mitrovic (ankle) has been passed fit to face Sunderland in the FA Cup this weekend, although Marco Silva may still opt to rest the Serbian and a few other regulars.
“Yes, yes [he’s OK]. He’s ready.” – Marco Silva on Aleksandar Mitrovic
“Some players are deserving their chance, definitely. For me, it makes sense. Of course, like I said before, it is a really important competition for us.
“We rotated the players against Hull away from home, and some players performed well, some players got that chance, and probably again it’s a moment for us to see some performances, see some pop up.
“Some are deserving more minutes as well, and it will be a moment for some of them to start the game.” – Marco Silva
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
New signing Arnaut Danjuma could be handed his Spurs bow this weekend, while the Lilywhites otherwise have a near-fully fit squad to choose from.
Don’t be surprised if Harry Kane, who Antonio Conte revealed had played through a fever in Monday’s win over Fulham, has his minutes managed or is rested altogether.
“Arnaut Danjuma is available, he is a player we can use tomorrow in the game. We have only one problem, with Harry [Kane], because he played the last game full of illness. He didn’t train during the week, he trained this morning, but he wants to come with us and be available. We know very well that Harry wants to play every game, so we are happy that Harry is involved in the game, but the only situation we have to take care is this.” – Cristian Stellini
Lucas Moura (tendon) featured for the under-23s on Friday in his bid to build up match fitness.
MANCHESTER UNITED
A sick Luke Shaw could miss Manchester United’s FA Cup tie against Reading on Saturday evening but with a week to go until Gameweek 22 gets underway, an illness won’t be concerning too many of his owners in FPL.
Diogo Dalot (muscle) and long-term absentee Donny van de Beek (knee) remain out this weekend, while there was no fresh update on Anthony Martial (leg) – earlier this week, Erik ten Hag had said Martial was “progressing”.
“Dalot is definitely out, and I think also Shaw [is] a question mark. We have to see after this training session, after this day, if he [Shaw] is available or not.” – Erik ten Hag
Jadon Sancho (match fitness), not seen since before the World Cup, is nearing a comeback.
“He is training with the team and we will see. He is improving, he is making steps, we will make the decision after the training.
“He’s on the way back, he’s making steps, so he’s back in team training and now we have to see when he is ready to go back into the games.” – Erik ten Hag on Jadon Sancho
LIVERPOOL
Virgil van Dijk (hamstring), Arthur (muscle), Diogo Jota (hamstring), Luis Diaz (knee) and Roberto Firmino (calf) will miss Liverpool’s trip to Brighton this weekend and it doesn’t look like any of them will feature in Gameweek 22, either.
“Luis takes longer but Diogo, Bobby and Virgil, a couple of weeks and [then they] can join training, and then we have to see how quick it goes from there.”
“I would say [Arthur’s recovery is going] pretty good, so he’s running a lot. Two or three weeks, I think, maybe until he can join team training. But it looks good for a while already. So it was now a long injury and he needs a proper build-up. He was not a part of team training or whatever.” – Jurgen Klopp
Fabio Carvalho also looks set to miss the FA Cup fourth-round tie at the Amex, while Nat Phillips (illness) is a doubt.
“Fabio Carvalho is obviously out. He has a little thing. Did anybody tell me that he can train today? I don’t think so, but maybe he can train today but he will not be 100 per cent ready for the weekend.
“Millie was not in training for one day but he’s fine – there was no injury reason. Nat has a proper, proper cold.” – Jurgen Klopp
MANCHESTER CITY
Phil Foden (foot), who sat out Gameweek 21, was the only concern for Manchester City ahead of Friday’s clash with Arsenal and the midfielder didn’t play a part in the 1-0 victory.
Ahead of the game, Pep Guardiola had given the following (brief) update on Foden:
“He’s getting better. Everyone else is good.” – Pep Guardiola
City’s win came at a cost, with John Stones limping off shortly before half-time with what seems to be a hamstring injury.
“Today he was not ready. I saw it in the first minutes. Maybe he was tired. Today was not ready and when that happens you get injured.” – Pep Guardiola on John Stones
ARSENAL
There were no new fitness concerns for Arsenal going into Friday’s game but the Gunners don’t appear to have come through the match unscathed.
Mikel Arteta revealed after full-time that Thomas Partey will have a scan on a rib injury picked up at the Etihad, an issue that forced him off at the interval.
“Yeah, he felt something and we didn’t want to take any risks, so he could not continue.
“He had some discomfort and it was getting worse and worse. He could not continue. He wasn’t comfortable to continue.
“Tomorrow or the day after we’ll have to have an MRI scan and see what he has.” – Mikel Arteta on Thomas Partey
Gabriel Jesus (knee), Reiss Nelson (muscle) and Mohamed Elneny (knee) remained sidelined for Friday’s match, with Jesus saying after last week’s north London derby that he expected to be out for another four to five weeks. That would put him on course for a return in either Gameweek 24 or 25.
LEEDS UNITED
Stuart Dallas (knee), Archie Gray (ankle), Crysencio Summerville (ankle) and Adam Forshaw (hip) remain out ahead of the clash with Accrington Stanley, with Summerville potentially in line for a Gameweek 22 return.
Liam Cooper (knock) and Tyler Adams (unknown) were described as “questionable” for the weekend.
“So Adam, Archie are still out but Archie has been active on the pitch, Adam is feeling better. Cree Summerville is on the pitch but not yet training with the team but he should be in team training by next week and be available for next weekend. So that’s a bonus. Stuart Dallas, still injured.
“Coops is a little bit questionable still and Tyler Adams is a little bit questionable for this weekend. So we’ll see, it’ll be more of a matchday decision with them.” – Jesse Marsch
Robin Koch is suspended in Gameweek 22 but free to play in the cup on Saturday.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Levi Colwill (quad) and Adam Lallana (muscle) are on the Brighton injury list ahead of their fourth-round clash with Liverpool, while new arrival Facundo Buonanotte is also out with a minor back problem.
Alexis Mac Allister is free to play this weekend but he’ll be suspended in Gameweek 22 as a result of yellow card accumulation.
“Yes, they are not able to play. “I think [Lallana] will be out for a couple of weeks. He is one of the most important players inside of the squad.” – Roberto De Zerbi on Adam Lallana and Levi Colwill
WEST HAM UNITED
Media reports earlier in the week suggested Danny Ings was set for “weeks” on the sidelines, and West Ham boss David Moyes indeed confirmed on Friday that his striker has a knee injury – although failed to place a timeline on the new signing’s recovery.
“Unfortunately, Danny [Ings] has picked up an injury which was in the first 15 or 20 seconds [after he came on for his debut against Everton]. We don’t think it’s that bad.
“He’d have been cup-tied this weekend anyway, so we have a little bit of grace with that and hopefully he’s not going to miss too much.
“He’s had an injection in his knee and hopefully, we will get himself ready to get back and ready to go quite quickly.” – David Moyes
Moyes also revealed that a hip injury sustained by Kurt Zouma last weekend is being assessed, while it may not be too long before we see Gianluca Scamacca (knee) and Maxwel Cornet (calf) back in action.
LEICESTER CITY
Having recovered James Maddison last weekend, there were further positive-sounding updates on a number of Leicester players ahead of their trip to Walsall.
Ayoze Pérez (muscle) has been passed fit and Dennis Praet (ankle) seems to have made a swift recovery, while Jonny Evans (calf), Wilfred Ndidi (muscle), Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) are all nearing a comeback.
James Justin (Achilles) is out for the season.
“It’s going well [for Evans]. He’s out on the grass with the rehab team. Hopefully, over a week to 10 days, he’ll be close to joining the group again.
“Thankfully, [Praet’s injury], it’s not as bad [as first feared]. There’s was a lot of pain but no ligament damage. He trained well today.
“[Ndidi will] be out on the grass tomorrow (Friday). He won’t be available for the weekend but [we’ll approach it] with a view to joining the group next week.
“[Ricardo is] training well. It’s these early stages of him coming back, being with the group before we maybe stick him into an under-21s game. He’s getting his movements again. He actually looks very good in training, so it’ll be great once he’s fit.
“[Bertrand has] been out for a long time. He’s been working with the Under-21s team at the moment. He’s working his way back into the first team squad. He’s been out for so long, and with the intensity of the first team group, we need to stage it, so he’s done very well.” – Brendan Rodgers
SOUTHAMPTON
Nathan Jones gave a vague update on “a few” returning players ahead of the cup game against Blackpool but he is likely referring to Alex McCarthy (ankle), Stuart Armstrong (groin) and/or Armel Bella-Kotchap (knee), the Saints thought to be nearest to a return. McCarthy has already been seen back in training, while Jones talked of “days” in terms of Armstrong and Bella-Kotchap’s recoveries when asked earlier this week.
Juan Larios (muscle) and Tino Livramento (knee) remain out, while Duje Caleta-Car serves a one-match ban here.
“There will be a few coming back, there will be a few we’ll be able to include that we weren’t on Tuesday night which is a positive and a good thing going into the second half of the season.” – Nathan Jones
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Nine Premier League clubs will enjoy a breather this weekend, thanks to elimination in the FA Cup third round, but we do have some bits and bobs to round up from this group of teams.
Morgan Gibbs-White (ankle) is a fresh concern for Nottingham Forest after limping out of the midweek EFL Cup defeat to Manchester United.
“He’s got an ankle injury. I don’t know the extent of it – whether it’s a kick or something else. We’ll see in the next couple of days.
“The look he gave would just have been Morgan coming off the pitch; he hates not playing every minute of every game. It would just be his natural disappointment of coming off.” – Steve Cooper
Lucas Digne (shoulder) has resumed training for Aston Villa, while Raheem Sterling (hamstring) has done likewise for Chelsea; the Blues had already welcomed back Reece James (knee) and Ben Chilwell (hamstring) to training last week.
London World report that Wilfried Zaha (hamstring) is facing a race against time to be fit for Gameweek 22, meanwhile.
