From Anthony Martial (£6.5m) to Hugo Lloris (£5.5m), we’re rounding up what we know on the team news front ahead of Gameweek 23 in 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.
WEST HAM UNITED V CHELSEA
Kurt Zouma (hip), Gianluca Scamacca (knee) and Maxwel Cornet (calf) were injuries that we already knew about before West Ham’s draw at Newcastle but joining them on the sidelines for that game was Alphonse Areola (hamstring). Thilo Kehrer was substituted at half-time on Tyneside with an unspecified issue.
Denis Zakaria (thigh), Armando Broja (ACL), Christian Pulisic (knee), Mateo Kovacic (calf), Edouard Mendy (finger) and N’Golo Kante (hamstring) remain out for the Blues but Joao Felix is back from suspension and Wesley Fofana (knee) has returned to training and could be nearing a playing comeback.
ARSENAL V BRENTFORD
This is the first of two Arsenal matches in this Double Gameweek.
Mohamed Elneny looks set for a long spell on the sidelines with a “significant” knee injury, while we await further news on the thigh problem that kept Emile Smith Rowe out of Gameweek 22; the suggestions are that it’s not serious. Gabriel Jesus (knee) is back running at London Colney but reports maintain that a playing return in March looks likelier, while Reiss Nelson (muscle) is also back in training.
Pontus Jansson (hamstring) and Frank Onyeka (hamstring) were the only Brentford players officially declared injured for the win over Southampton, although even they were closing in on a comeback. Shandon Baptiste could make a return to the Bees’ matchday squad, having built up his fitness in January after a couple of months on the sidelines.
CRYSTAL PALACE V BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Wilfried Zaha (hamstring) will remain out for Palace if the original prognosis on his recovery is correct, while Joachim Andersen (calf) has been missing for the best part of four weeks and Nathan Ferguson and James McArthur weren’t match-fit enough to feature in Gameweek 22 despite returns to training.
Levi Colwill (muscle) and Jakub Moder (knee) remain out and the game may come too soon for Adam Lallana (muscle) but Alexis Mac Allister is back from suspension and Evan Ferguson (knee) is hoping to return to training after fears of a serious injury subsided.
FULHAM V NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Everyone bar long-term absentee Neeskens Kebano (Achilles) was fit for the trip to Chelsea and the midweek cup clash with Sunderland, with no obvious fresh injuries emerging from either game.
Dean Henderson (thigh), Omar Richards (leg), Giulian Biancone (ACL), Moussa Niakhate (hamstring), Cheikhou Kouyate (hamstring), Taiwo Awoniyi (groin), Ryan Yates (illness) and new boy Jonjo Shelvey (calf) were all on the Forest injury list ahead of the win over Leeds, with few – if any – expected back for Gameweek 22.
LEICESTER CITY V TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
James Justin (Achilles) and Sammy Braybrooke (knee) won’t feature but Wilfred Ndidi (personal issue) should return and Jonny Evans (calf) and Boubakary Soumaré (hamstring) were scheduled to rejoin training this week. Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) will play for the under-21s in a bid to build up match fitness.
Spurs pretty much had a fully fit senior squad for the visit of Manchester City but have lost Cristian Romero to suspension after his red card last Sunday. There are now strong murmurings that goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has been ruled out for between six and eight weeks with a knee injury, which would give £3.9m-rated FPL goalkeeper Fraser Forster a run of starts until the March international break.
SOUTHAMPTON V WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Kyle Walker-Peters (hamstring), Tino Livramento (knee), Stuart Armstrong (groin) and Juan Larios (muscle) sat out the defeat to Brentford, with news awaited on their recoveries.
Julen Lopetegui will again be without Boubacar Traore (hamstring), Chiquinho (knee) and Sasa Kalajdzic (knee) in Gameweek 23 but Pedro Neto (ankle) is nearing a return after a long lay-off and has an outside chance of featuring. Hwang Hee-chan now looks set for “weeks” on the sidelines, too.
BOURNEMOUTH V NEWCASTLE UNITED
David Brooks (hamstring), Ryan Fredericks (unknown), Junior Stanislas (unknown), Dominic Solanke (knee), Lewis Cook (knee) and Marcus Tavernier (hamstring) all remained sidelined for Gameweek 22, although Solanke and Tavernier has been “back on the grass” ahead of that game. Lloyd Kelly and Jack Stephens are new additions to the injury list, having sat out the Brighton defeat with calf problems.
Matt Targett (heel), Javier Manquillo (knee) and Emil Krafth (knee) remain out, as does the suspended Bruno Guimaraes. Alexander Isak should be back, however, having missed Gameweek 22 due to the concussion protocols.
LEEDS UNITED V MANCHESTER UNITED
Rodrigo Moreno (ankle) and Stuart Dallas (knee) remain out but in his final presser as Leeds boss, Jesse Marsch told us that Archie Gray (ankle), Sonny Perkins (ankle) and Adam Forshaw (hip) were all closing in on a return. None of them featured at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Robin Koch returned from suspension in midweek but Liam Cooper and Marc Roca missed out with “knocks”, while Pascal Struijk came off with a concussion and Luis Sinisterra limped off very early on.
Scott McTominay (unspecified issue), Christian Eriksen (ankle) and Donny van de Beek (knee) remain out, while Casemiro is suspended after being sent off for violent conduct against Crystal Palace last weekend. The availability of Anthony Martial and Antony for Gameweek 23 is in doubt after Erik ten Hag ruled the pair out of the midweek clash against Leeds, a match that Aaron Wan-Bissaka also missed due to “illness”.
“At the minute, it is his hip. So we do everything and Anthony Martial is doing everything. I think Anthony Martial is the player who has spent the most hours at Carrington this season, to return to recover, to get back, it is really so a pity for him that he is disappointed.” – Erik ten Hag on Anthony Martial’s latest setback
“I don’t know. I don’t think it is a long time but we have to see how it develops in the coming days. It is in his leg, but I can’t specify as we don’t understand that.”
– ten Hag on Antony’s return date
MANCHESTER CITY V ASTON VILLA
Pep Guardiola’s side are also playing twice, starting with Aston Villa at home.
John Stones (hamstring) remains sidelined but Phil Foden should be back – he was on the cusp of a return from a foot injury but took ill ahead of the Spurs game and missed out.
Diego Carlos (Achilles) and Bertrand Traore (unspecified) were the only Villa players on the sidelines for the visit of Leicester, with John McGinn (hamstring) and Lucas Digne (shoulder) returning to the matchday squad at the weekend.
LIVERPOOL V EVERTON
Virgil van Dijk (hamstring), Arthur (muscle), Diogo Jota (hamstring), Luis Diaz (knee) and Roberto Firmino (calf) are nearing returns but this game may come too soon, with Jota ahead of the others in terms of training. Ibrahima Konate (muscle) joined them on the sidelines ahead of Gameweek 22, while Fabinho missed out due to illness.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be assessed after complaining of a tight hamstring in Saturday’s win over Arsenal, a match that James Garner (back), Michael Keane (knee) and Nathan Patterson (knee) missed through injury – although Keane had been back in training ahead of it.
