FPL Gameweek 32 live team news: Thursday’s injury updates

The pre-match press conferences for Blank Gameweek 32 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) are already underway.

As ever, we’ll be bringing you all the key quotes and injury updates that you need over the coming 24 hours or so.

Nine Premier League bosses are scheduled to face the media on Thursday, with the headline news to be found below.

On Friday, we should get injury updates from the other seven managers whose teams have a Gameweek 32 fixture.

The two Manchester clubs, Brighton and Hove Albion and Chelsea ‘blank’ in the upcoming Gameweek but all bar Frank Lampard’s side are in FA Cup action, so we should get some bonus team news from those three camps, too.

• READ MORE: Rashford and Shaw “available” for Man Utd’s clash with Sevilla

KEY UPDATES FROM THURSDAY

• Arsenal: Saliba out, Zinchenko “not certain”, Saka still on pens
• Leeds United: Bamford a doubt
• Everton: Calvert-Lewin “in the thinking”
• Leicester City: Barnes unlikely to be risked
• Aston Villa: Nothing new on injury front
• Wolverhampton Wanderers: Neves back from a ban
• Bournemouth: O’Neil hopeful on Vina
• Southampton: Adams among four still sidelined
• Nottingham Forest: Cooper: “We’re as we were”

THURSDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES

ARSENAL

Mohamed Elneny (knee) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) are long-term absentees, while William Saliba (back) is no closer to a comeback based on Mikel Arteta’s comments today.

“There’s no big news, the picture hasn’t changed from last week. Regarding William [Saliba], we still have to wait a little bit more. He’s not progressing as quickly as we hoped and it is a bit delicate so we want to be very certain that when we push him that he’s ready to absorb the load and the risk that we’ll take, and at the moment, that’s not possible.

“I don’t know [if Saliba will be out for the season], it’s a bit early to know. Probably next week we’ll have more certainty. There is some evolution, he’s doing more activity but is not there yet to start to throw him into the pitch at the level the sessions demand to compete in this league.” – Mikel Arteta on William Saliba

Despite Oleksandr Zinchenko (groin) being spotted in training this week, Arteta’s update on the Ukranian left-back was a little ambiguous. 

“We’ll see about that one as well, it’s not certain.

“It’s a muscular injury and it needs some time to heal and we’re not there yet.” – Mikel Arteta on Oleksandr Zinchenko

Away from injury news, Arteta gave his backing to Bukayo Saka for future penalties despite the winger missing a spot-kick in Gameweek 31.

“Yes. If not, I will go on the pitch and throw him the ball and make sure he takes the next one!” – Mikel Arteta on whether Bukayo Saka will remain on penalty-kicks

The Arsenal boss was also asked about whether Gabriel Jesus was ready to last 90 minutes, something he is yet to do since returning from a three-month lay-off.

“We will see. We’ve been really careful. There have been some issues within that period when he was doing the final stages of the rehab and we have to be really attentive. We have players that can change the game, that are fully fit, that probably deserve to play as well and we have to be mindful of that.” – Mikel Arteta on whether Gabriel Jesus is ready to last the full game

LEEDS UNITED

Tyler Adams (hamstring) and Stuart Dallas (leg) are still unavailable, while Javi Gracia is unsure whether Patrick Bamford will recover from the calf injury that forced him to miss the Liverpool game on Monday.

“We have to wait until the end. He’s training but, in this moment, I don’t know if he will be ready.” – Javi Gracia on Patrick Bamford

Max Wober, only fit enough to be a substitute in Gameweek 31, could be in contention for a start. Wilfried Gnonto, who has himself come off the bench twice since returning from a minor injury, is also pushing for a recall.

“[Wober] was available [against Liverpool] but only trained one, two days and I think now he is in a better condition to help the team. We’ll decide about the players for the next game.

“Gnonto is ready. He had a little issue, he had some problems but now he’s ready. He’s [been] training the last weeks. In the beginning when he came back [from international duty], it’s true, I tried to protect [him] a little but now he’s ready, he’s available.” – Javi Gracia

Despite being on the end of 5-1 and 6-1 hidings in the last fortnight, Gracia backed under-fire goalkeeper Illan Meslier in his pre-match presser.

“If we’ve conceded 11 goals in the last two games, it’s not [because of] the ‘keeper.” – Javi Gracia

EVERTON

Having played 70+ minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Chester City in midweek, Dominic Calvert-Lewin (hamstring) is “in the thinking” for the trip to Crystal Palace.

“He’ll certainly be in the thinking, without a doubt. The game the other day was all about him, really, we got some minutes into other players but it was basically for the end of a rehab period. We’re very pleased he came through that and he felt good.

“[Whether he starts or comes off bench] are all decisions we’ll make before the game. The idea of the game the other day… he’s proved statistically through his training and sports science where he’s at physically but obviously a game’s slightly different, you have to react to whatever happens in the game. It was my decision to take him off, there was no fatigue or anythng, I just thought it was common sense him coming through 70-odd minutes.” – Sean Dyche on Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Amadou Onana (groin) could also return but Seamus Coleman (hamstring), Abdoulaye Doucoure (suspended), Ruben Vinagre (Achilles) and Andros Townsend (ACL) are still on the sidelines.

“Ama has made a bit more of a recovery. He was out there today, we’ll see how that reacts tomorrow. Seamus won’t be right for this one.” – Sean Dyche

LEICESTER CITY

Jannik Vestergaard (calf) has joined Ricardo Pereira (hamstring) and James Justin (Achilles) on the sidelines, while Harvey Barnes (hamstring) isn’t quite ready to return and is instead targeting a Gameweek 33 comeback.

“Harvey has been on the grass, he’s not actually trained with us yet. I think it would be a risk to put him in on Saturday because we could lose him then for the six games and I’ve got to balance that risk. I know that he’ll start training on Sunday and be ready for Tuesday, then.

“It’s not an easy decision. He’s our top goalscorer this season, so he’s a big player for us. I have just got to balance the risk. He wouldn’t have been able to start this weekend but he may have got minutes off the bench. The risk for him to re-injure would be too big for me, so Tuesday’s a more realistic goal.” – Dean Smith

The long-forgotten Ryan Bertrand (knee) was involved in an under-21s match on Monday, meanwhile, as he continues to build up match fitness.

“Jannik played in an under-21s game on Monday and injured his calf. He’s going to be out for the season unfortunately. Him and Ryan wanted to get back to fitness to put themselves into contention, unfortunately Jannik didn’t get through it. Ryan has come through it, so he’s got 65 minutes now under his belt.” – Dean Smith

Jonny Evans misses out with a virus, meanwhile.

ASTON VILLA

It’s as you were on the injury front at Aston Villa, with no fresh concerns reported and no-one expected back.

Matty Cash (calf), Boubacar Kamara (foot), Philippe Coutinho (thigh) and Leon Bailey (hamstring) all remain out.

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

Chiquinho (knee) and Sasa Kalajdzic (knee) remain on the long-term injury list but Ruben Neves and Jonny return from suspension this weekend.

Julen Lopetegui said that Wolves had no new injury concerns in his pre-match presser, implying that Diego Costa is fine after he picked up a knock in the win over Brentford.

BOURNEMOUTH

Ryan Fredericks (calf), Junior Stanislas (knock) and Hamed Traore (foot) are still out but boss Gary O’Neil is “hopeful” that Matias Vina can recover from the back injury he picked up against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, having done some “light training” since.

SOUTHAMPTON

Long-term absentee Juan Larios (hamstring) remains out for Saints, alongside more recent casualties Mohammed Salisu (hip) and Ché Adams (calf).

Ainsley Maitland-Niles is ineligible to face his parent club and while Tino Livramento (match fitness) played for the Southampton B team last Friday night, he still needs more game-time after a year on the sidelines.

Mislav Orsic (hip) is fit, however.

“We’re still in the same position. Ché Adams is still out with a calf injury, Mohammed Salisu is still out with his pubic bone problem.

“Tino [Livramento] played 45 minutes for the B team last week as part of his recovery but still needs to test a little bit more and Juan Larios is still out with a long-term injury with his hamstring. The one that has recovered is Mislav Oršić who has been training with us during the week.” – Ruben Selles

NOTTINGHAM FOREST

Noted truth-bender Steve Cooper said Forest are “as we were” on the team news front, with nothing fresh to report and nobody ready to return – although he also said that ahead of Gameweek 31 before welcoming back Renan Lodi.

Chris Wood (thigh), Willy Boly (hamstring), Giulian Biancone (ACL) and Omar Richards (leg) are definitely out, while shorter-term absentees Ryan Yates (shoulder), Serge Aurier (knock), Gustavo Scarpa (calf) and Cheikhou Kouyate (hamstring) will remain sidelined if Cooper is to be believed.

Dean Henderson (thigh) had been pencilled in for a return to training in the last week but has had a setback in his recovery, while Jack Colback has had a concussion.