The dust has barely settled on Gameweek 32 but the pre-match press conferences for Gameweek 33 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.
Seven Premier League bosses are scheduled to face the media on Monday, with the headline news to be found below.
There should be another seven more press conferences at the very least to follow on Tuesday, including the managers of Brighton and Hove Albion, Chelsea, Brentford, West Ham United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal.
The worry is that the head coaches of the six teams playing on Thursday – Everton, Newcastle United, Southampton, Bournemouth, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United – won’t hold pressers until after the FPL deadline is passed. We might not get further news on Bruno Fernandes or Fabian Schar, then, both of them being early concerns for the upcoming Gameweek.
We’ll know what the state of play is for sure on Tuesday morning but in any event, we’ll round up what we know on the fitness front concerning those six clubs tomorrow.
KEY UPDATES FROM MONDAY
- Leicester City: Maddison, Barnes + Vardy set to be fit
- Crystal Palace: Zaha and Clyne hoping to return this week
- Aston Villa: Martinez to be assessed after bug
- Fulham: No fresh concerns, Mitrovic still banned
- Leeds United: Gracia “not sure” on some players
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: Unnamed player a doubt
- Nottingham Forest: McKenna out for the season
MONDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
LEICESTER CITY
James Maddison (illness), Harvey Barnes (hamstring) and Jamie Vardy (ankle) all look set to be available for the trip to Leeds United.
Jonny Evans (viral infection) remains out, however, along with longer-term absentees Jannik Vestergaard (calf), Ricardo Pereira (hamstring) and James Justin (Achilles).
“Harvey Barnes joined in training yesterday, so he’s put himself available for selection. He’ll train again today – if he has no after-effects, then yeah, he’s definitely available.
“Jonny is feeling better. He’s not trained with us yet, so tomorrow will come too quickly for him, but it’s good that he’s back now, feeling better. Madders came in yesterday and did a gym session. He’ll train today, so I would expect him to be available as well.
“[Jamie’s] ankle’s fine. He’ll be training this morning so another one who’s available for selection, which is really good for us.” – Dean Smith
CRYSTAL PALACE
Following the return of Vicente Guaita (calf) to the matchday squad at the weekend, Roy Hodgson hopes to have Nathaniel Clyne (knee) and Wilfried Zaha (groin) back in training “at some stage” this week – but not in time for Gameweek 33.
Nathan Ferguson (muscle) is out for the rest of the season.
Hodgson meanwhile confirmed that Sam Johnstone would start between the sticks despite Guaita’s availability.
“I don’t even know if it’s going to be likely [they’re available] for West Ham, but at least it’s going to be good to see them back in training during the course of the week. But no, there was never any question that they would be considered for tomorrow night’s game.” – Roy Hodgson on Wilfried Zaha and Nathaniel Clyne
ASTON VILLA
Matty Cash (calf), Boubacar Kamara (foot), Philippe Coutinho (thigh) and Leon Bailey (hamstring) remain out, while Emiliano Martinez will be assessed after coming off at half-time of Saturday’s draw with Brentford with a sickness bug.
“Hopefully, Emiliano Martinez is ready for tomorrow. We are going to know, really, tomorrow morning when we are going to meet to prepare the match, the last details. The other players are not players to add for tomorrow, they are now injured, they are progressing well but are not ready for tomorrow yet.” – Unai Emery
FULHAM
Marco Silva reported no new injury concerns ahead of the game against Aston Villa.
Aleksandar Mitrovic remains suspended until Gameweek 36 but Daniel James is newly available, having been ineligible to face his parent club on Saturday.
LEEDS UNITED
Tyler Adams (hamstring) and Stuart Dallas (leg) are still unavailable, while Javi Gracia typically did his best to avoid answering a team news question when probed on potential knocks to Max Wober and Liam Cooper.
“For the next game, we’ll have some players… in this moment, I’m not sure if they will be able to play.” – Javi Gracia
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Julen Lopetegui said in Monday’s presser that the injury that Mario Lemina (hamstring) picked up in the defeat to Leicester City is not serious, with a decision to be made on Tuesday morning as to whether he can face Crystal Palace.
The Wolves boss channeled his inner Javi Gracia by revealing that one other player had “a little problem”, without naming names.
Chiquinho (knee) and Sasa Kalajdzic (knee) remain on the long-term injury list.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Scott McKenna will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a fractured collarbone in Saturday’s defeat to Liverpool.
Cheikhou Kouyate (hamstring) and Serge Aurier (unspecified) are nearing a return to training but not quite ready, while Steve Cooper’s assertion that the previously injured players remain out implies that Ryan Yates (shoulder), Jack Colback (concussion) and Gustavo Scarpa (calf) are still unavailable.
Chris Wood (thigh), Dean Henderson (thigh), Willy Boly (hamstring), Giulian Biancone (ACL) and Omar Richards (leg) are long-term absentees.
