It’s a massive day on the Premier League press conference front, with 11 managers facing the media ahead of Double Gameweek 29.
As usual, we’ll be bringing you all the key quotes that you need for your Fantasy Premier League (FPL) teams.
For the updates from the press conferences of nine other managers whose teams are in Gameweek 29 action, check out our Thursday round-up.
KEY UPDATES FROM FRIDAY
- Manchester City: Pep on Haaland: “We will see”
- Manchester United: Ten Hag has “good hope” Rashford will be fit
- Newcastle United: Pope + Botman expected to be fit
- Chelsea: James + Havertz set to recover
- Arsenal: Saliba out
- Liverpool: Darwin in contention, Diaz not ready
- Brighton and Hove Albion: De Zerbi on his returning internationals
- West Ham United: Emerson ill
- Tottenham Hotspur: Perisic fit, Lloris in training
- Bournemouth: Tavernier + Lerma fit
- Southampton: Adams to be assessed
VIDEO ROUND-UP
MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola predictably told us nothing concrete on Erling Haaland‘s (groin) fitness, saying that his striker was “recovering” and that Friday’s training session would tell them more on his availability.
“Erling is recovering.
“We’ll see this afternoon, last training at 4 o’clock, we’ll see how he feels.
“Yesterday I spoke with him, he feels good, but we will see.” – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland
Phil Foden is definitely out after having appendix surgery over the break.
“The doctors tell me two or three weeks.” – Pep Guardiola on Phil Foden
MANCHESTER UNITED
Erik ten Hag is confident that Marcus Rashford (knock) will be fit to face Newcastle United this weekend,
“I have good hope. He trained but he had to do some treatment, he had to do some individual training and, today, he joined in the group. I think we have one more day so I have good hope he’s available. I think so.” – Erik ten Hag on Marcus Rashford
Casemiro (suspended), Christian Eriksen (ankle), Donny van de Beek (knee) and Alejandro Garnacho remain on the sidelines but Anthony Martial (hip) could return to the matchday squad.
“He’s training, for two weeks now. I think he can be in the squad for Sunday.” – Erik ten Hag on Anthony Martial
Erik ten Hag previously said that he expected Raphael Varane (knock) to be fit for Gameweek 29, meanwhile.
Marcel Sabitzer was an unused substitute for Austria on Monday night, amid concerns over his knee.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Emil Krafth (knee) and Miguel Almiron (thigh) remain out, while Eddie Howe wasn’t sure whether Anthony Gordon (ankle) would be fit for the Manchester United game after only doing a “very small part of training” on Wednesday.
The news was positive elsewhere, with Joelinton available after a two-game ban and Nick Pope (thigh) and Sven Botman (illness) back in training – Howe said the “signs are good” for Pope and that Botman “should be fine”.
“I think [the break] been good for some players. It gave us an opportunity to rest a couple who were carrying niggles, problems and injuries and they had for a number of weeks. Fabian [Schar] would be a prime example of someone that’s played through pain and the break came at a good time for him.
“It came at a good time for Anthony Gordon to improve his injury and try to get him closer to returning. Hopefully, we’ve used that time wisely. He did a very small part of training on Wednesday so we’ll see how he has responded to that today.
“Nick [Pope] felt a problem in his thigh after the Wolves game. He didn’t train in preparation for the Nottingham Forest game, completing that game with a bit of discomfort so didn’t train when we were in Dubai. He has trained this week so the signs are good.
“I’d love for [Almirón] to beat the timescale given, but I just don’t see it currently. He’s making really good progress, he’s pain-free, so I don’t think there’s any long-term issues but it’s just a case of that’s the time it’s going to take for the muscle to fully heal. We’re four weeks off, maybe slightly less, but he’s making really good progress.
“Sven suffered food poisoning, quite a nasty bout of illness. I don’t think he was alone in the Holland camp, there was quite a few players suffering the same thing, so he left the camp early to try and get himself back up to speed. He has trained with us since he’s returned so he should be fine.” – Eddie Howe
Howe also said that he thinks that Alexander Isak has come through his international duty unscathed, although did add that the Swede would only return to training on Friday.
CHELSEA
Kai Havertz (illness) and Reece James (hamstring) look set to be available this weekend but Raheem Sterling (hamstring) and Wesley Fofana (hamstring) will only play one of Chelsea’s two Double Gameweek 29 matches at best and Mason Mount (abdomen) is only ready for bench duty.
Christian Pulisic has returned from international duty with a “heavy cold”, meanwhile.
Armando Broja (ACL) is out for the season, while Thiago Silva (knee) and Cesar Azpilicueta (head) remain sidelined.
“Thiago and Azpi are still away. Raheem is coming back, he’ll miss the game but I think he’ll have more chance for Tuesday. He was close. Mason has trained and is available, probably not from the start but in the squad. Wesley is going to miss the game because his hamstring is still a little bit tight, I think there’sa chance for Tuesday. Christian Pulisic has returned with a heavy cold, so he’s the one we’ve just got to check on.
“Kai had a fever but he’s recovered now, so he’s trained the last couple of days. Reece has had the last two training sessions with us so providing there’s no reaction, he should be available for tomorrow as well.”- Graham Potter
ARSENAL
Mohamed Elneny (knee), Eddie Nketiah (ankle) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) remain out, while Mikel Arteta confirmed that William Saliba (back) wouldn’t recover for Saturday’s game.
“‘He is progressing, unfortunately he still has some discomfort in his back and we are trying to manage him the best possible way. He’s not going to be fit for this game and we’re trying, he’s trying, to do everything he can to feel better and get back training. But not yet.
“Yeah I am very hopeful [that this is not a season-ending injury] and he is as well. Back injuries are a bit tricky and how they evolve with the load that you put in certain areas. But he’s very positive about it. Let’s push it every day a little bit and see how he copes with that and how the pain develops. He’s so willing to be back with the team. ” – Mikel Arteta on William Saliba
Kieran Tierney (knock) and Thomas Partey (muscle) were both back in training this week after suffering very minor issues with their respective national sides, so will hopefully be fine for the visit of Leeds.
LIVERPOOL
Liverpool remain without Calvin Ramsay (knee), Stefan Bajcetic (thigh) and Thiago Alcantara (hip), while Naby Keita (muscle) has been added to the injury list and Luis Diaz (knee) is not ready for a playing comeback yet.
Darwin Nunez (ankle) is in contention, at least, while Kostas Tsimikas (rib) has been spotted in training after limping out of Greece’s friendly against Lithuania on Monday.
“Yeah, we have to be patient [with Diaz] but it’s a massive boost anyway. It’s just nice to have the boy around because he is a super energiser, super-positive impact with just being around.
“In training everything looks fine but of course he’s not in the squad for the weekend, there’s no chance. Next week will be an important week for him; this week he was doing parts of training, next week I think most of the things he can do. Then we will see. Maybe [ready for] Arsenal but more likely Leeds after that.”
“Darwin couldn’t train for two or three days this week still because of the cut he got against Real Madrid on his foot, but was yesterday then back in full training so he is definitely in contention.
“Naby is out, he came back with a muscle injury from the national team. We will see how long it takes but obviously the season is not too long anymore. There is a chance that Naby comes back but we have to wait a little bit.
“Thiago is in a good way but was not part of team training yet. I think if things go well he will probably be part of next week’s team training, parts – [that] means we will see when he is back. Joe [Gomez] is fully back. Rhys Williams has a little bit of something.
“I think pretty much the rest is available; all back. We had little bit stomach bugs here and there but [that] stopped two days ago so should be alright.” – Jurgen Klopp
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Adam Lallana (muscle) and Jakub Moder (knee) have been joined on the sidelines by Jeremy Sarmiento (foot), who is out for 6-8 weeks with a fractured metatarsal.
Tariq Lamptey (knee) has been back in training this week and will be available for selection, however, be it on Saturday or Tuesday.
Roberto De Zerbi admitted that this weekend’s game would be “difficult” for his returning internationals, with Kaoru Mitoma, Pervis Estupinan and Alexis Mac Allister among the contingent who have returned to Brighton relatively late in the week.
“No, no. It’s difficult the first game, tomorrow will be a difficult game [because of] the opponent but [also] for our players who played for their national team in different countries with long travel. It’s an important test for us because we have the possibility to change our future, in these last two months, and we want to arrive at our target, to achieve our target.” – Roberto De Zerbi when asked about if he had “concerns” over fatigue affecting his returning internationals
WEST HAM UNITED
Emerson Palmieri (illness), Nayef Aguerd (hip) and Gianluca Scamacca (knee) are fresh concerns for the Hammers going into Gameweek 29.
“Emerson has been sick, [Nayef] Aguerd has a niggly hip and [Gianluca] Scamacca has a sore knee, so we’ll see where we are.” – David Moyes
Vladimir Coufal (heel) returned to action with the Czech Republic over the international break, leaving Lukasz Fabianski (eye) and Michail Antonio (calf) as the only flagged West Ham players before we got the triple update above.
David Moyes didn’t mention either player on Friday but previously said that Fabianski “won’t be too far away” by the time domestic football resumes in April. Both players have also been seen in training.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Hugo Lloris (knee) is back in training and played in a behind-closed-doors game over the break, while Ivan Perisic (knock) was passed fit by Cristian Stellini on Friday.
The team news from the Spurs camp is otherwise not good as Ben Davies (hamstring), Emerson Royal (knee), Richarlison (calf), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee) and Yves Bissouma (ankle) sit out the trip to Everton.
BOURNEMOUTH
Marcus Tavernier (hamstring), Illia Zabarnyi (ankle) and Jefferson Lerma have all been passed fit, effectively leaving Gary O’Neil with a full squad to choose from.
Bit-part player Junior Stanislas (knock) was ruled out for “7-10 days” with a “small injury” at the beginning of March so should also be available based on that initial prognosis.
SOUTHAMPTON
Tino Livramento (knee) and Juan Larios (muscle) remain out for Saints, while Armel Bella-Kotchap (shoulder) has joined them on the sidelines.
Mohammed Salisu (unspecified) and Ché Adams (calf) will be assessed after returning from international duty with fitness issues.
“We will start with Juan Larios, who is a long-term injury. He will not be available for the rest of the season. Tino [Livramento] has been working with the team partially, making great progress from his injury, and we expect him to join the team soon.
“Armel [Bella-Kotchap] has a similar problem that he had in the past. I remember it was in October, curiously against West Ham, so he is out of the game but not out of the season, so we are working on him. We can expect him to be back soon, but not for this game.
“With Sali and Ché [Adams], they came back from the national team with some issues and we have one more training [session] tomorrow, so we will see how they are and if they can join the team.” – Ruben Selles
