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Whether you’re Free Hitting or otherwise, the team news for Gameweek 29 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is keenly awaited.
With such a small pool of players to choose from already, a key injury or two could have big repercussions.
As ever, the pre-match press conferences on Thursday and Friday will be our best bet of finding out who’s fit and who’s not.
We’ll have summaries on both of those days.
But before then, this rundown gives an overview of the eight Premier League sides who are in action this weekend.
We’ll update this article after full-time at the Vitality Stadium tonight.
BURNLEY V BRENTFORD
Aaron Ramsey (knee), Lyle Foster (muscle), Luca Koleosho (knee) and Nathan Redmond (leg) are on the longer-term injury list for the Clarets.
Jordan Beyer (muscle) hasn’t been seen since December, with Vincent Kompany offering us the weekly assurance that he is “progressing well” without offering a return date.
Brentford will again be without Ethan Pinnock (ankle), Aaron Hickey (hamstring), Kevin Schade (muscle), Rico Henry (knee), Josh Dasilva (knee) and Ben Mee (ankle) this weekend.
Bryan Mbeumo (ankle) is back in training but Thomas Frank reiterated on Saturday that the Bees were still looking at the other side of the international break for the winger.
The west London side had two fresh concerns from the narrow loss to Arsenal.
Sergio Reguilon missed out with a “minor hamstring injury” and Christian Norgaard came off with a knock. Frank sounded confident of having both players available for the Burnley game, with Reguilon the more notable name from a Fantasy perspective.
“A minor hamstring, he should be available for the Burnley game.” – Thomas Frank on Sergio Reguilon
Reguilon was then sighted in a Brentford training video on Wednesday.
LUTON TOWN V NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Luton are, of course, in action against Bournemouth this evening, so we’ll reassess the Hatters’ fitness situation after that.
Rob Edwards faced the media on Tuesday, ahead of the clash with the Cherries.
He confirmed that the Hatters continued to be without Sambi Lokonga (hamstring), Joseph Johnson (illness) and Elijah Adebayo (hamstring).
“We’re hoping with Sambi that he isn’t too far away. Eli’s been pushing but is then still feeling things and that’s the situation we’re in.” – Rob Edwards on Tuesday, via Luton Today
Amari’i Bell (hamstring), Dan Potts (hamstring), Jacob Brown (knee), Mads Andersen (calf), Marvelous Nakamba (knee) and Tom Lockyer (health) are longer-term absentees.
Gabriel Osho (knee) has been added to the injury list after he limped out of Saturday’s draw at Selhurst Park. A timeline of recovery for him is still awaited.
But Teden Mengi (hamstring) and Ross Barkley (nose) should be fit to face Bournemouth on Wednesday evening despite suffering injuries last weekend.
As for Forest, Nuno Tavares (muscle) is set to remain out.
Ola Aina (muscle) and Giovani Reyna (knock) aren’t thought to be too far away: the former was seen in training last week, while the latter reportedly travelled to Brighton at the weekend but wasn’t involved in the matchday squad.
Gonzalo Montiel (unspecified) hasn’t been seen since Gameweek 26, with local media reporting a “setback” after his recent return from a hamstring injury.
FULHAM V TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
The Cottagers could have a clean bill of health for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur.
Raul Jimenez (hamstring) was the one name on the injury list but he has been back in training over the last seven days, with Marco Silva suggesting a week ago that the Mexican was looking at Gameweek 29 for a playing comeback.
Joao Palhinha returned from a two-match ban in Gameweek 28 but had to make do with a place on the bench.
Spurs recovered Pedro Porro for their excellent win at Villa Park last Sunday.
That left only Richarlison (knee), Manor Solomon (knee), Fraser Forster (foot) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) on the sidelines.
There has been confusion about Richarlison ever since Ange Postecoglou gave different answers on the Brazilian’s recovery timeline a fortnight ago.
The fact that he’s been called up by Brazil for the March internationals suggests he might be close for Gameweek 29. He’s also present in training ground images on Wednesday but there’s no indication as to just how involved he was.
Postecoglou, one of the more helpful managers when it comes to team news, will likely give us the lowdown on Friday.
The new concern for the Lilywhites is Micky van der Ven (hamstring), who limped off in the win over Villa.
Official word is awaited from the club but the usual sources suggest it’s not too serious and that he could be back in Gameweek 30.
WEST HAM UNITED V ASTON VILLA
Maxwel Cornet remains out with a hamstring problem, while Emerson Palmieri picked up a groin injury in last Thursday’s defeat to Freiburg and missed the weekend draw with Burnley.
David Moyes said the left-back would continue to be assessed ahead of the return leg against the Bundesliga outfit.
“We’ll just need to see how Emerson is, as we’re not sure how he is yet, so that would be probably our main one.” – David Moyes, speaking on Wednesday
As for Villa, they’ll definitely be without the suspended John McGinn. The Scotland international will be banned now for three matches after being sent off for serious foul play at the weekend.
Boubacar Kamara (knee), Tyrone Mings (knee) and Emi Buendia (knee) are on the long-term injury list, too.
The only other flagged Villa player is Jacob Ramsey (foot), who Unai Emery said did not suffer a “big injury” when hobbling out of the win over Luton Town in Gameweek 27. He nevertheless sat out the loss to Spurs, with Emery saying on Wednesday that he wouldn’t return for Thursday’s UEFA Europa Conference League tie against Ajax.
“He is not available for tomorrow. Hopefully it’s not for a long time but not for tomorrow. We are going to try to wait and see every day how he is doing. He is not available for tomorrow and I don’t know about Sunday.” – Unai Emery on Jacob Ramsey, speaking on Wednesday
