We’re into the serious Gameweek 1 business now as we take a very early look at the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team news.
Dust down the lie detectors, brush up on reading between the lines and consult the body language experts – the pre-match press conferences will soon be here.
We’re expecting most of those to take place on Thursday and Friday (Marco Silva is up on Wednesday), and we’ll have all the key headlines from each presser. These manager press conferences will also help finalise our predicted line-ups, which we’ve taken a first stab at here.
Meanwhile, this article rounds up every injury we’re aware of after a busy summer of pre-season football.
Remember to check out our team news tab and injuries and bans page for more information as the week progresses.
ARSENAL
Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and forgotten man Kieran Tierney (hamstring) are the only Gunners definitely out of Gameweek 1.
Tierney suffered a hamstring injury while representing Scotland at Euro 2024 and hasn’t played since. Tomiyasu hasn’t featured at all in pre-season after knee surgery.
Mikel Arteta said on Sunday that the latter was still some time away.
“Yeah, I think it will take weeks on that one, unfortunately. He’s going to have to be patient and work through it because I think it’s going to take a few weeks.” – Mikel Arteta on Takehiro Tomiyasu, speaking on Sunday
Jurrien Timber did miss the final three of the Gunners’ friendlies but Arteta didn’t seem overly concerned when facing the media this weekend.
“It’s fine. He’s been doing some individual work, that’s clear now. So we expect him to be ready to train with the group in the next week, because he has no reaction. So quite positive.” – Mikel Arteta on Jurrien Timber, speaking on Sunday
Fabio Vieira also sat out Sunday’s win over Sevilla with a hip problem. The timeline on that is so far unclear.
ASTON VILLA
We’re unlikely to see Tyrone Mings (knee) and Boubacar Kamara (knee) before the international break. Both are still undergoing rehab on long-term injuries sustained in 2023/24.
Someone who was meant to be out for a much shorter time is Robin Olsen. The back-up goalkeeper sustained an injury in the friendly against Leipzig on July 31 and his manager expected him to just be out for “days” – but he hasn’t appeared since.
Ollie Watkins didn’t feature in Villa’s final friendly against Borussia Dortmund, nor did Matty Cash. We’ve not had any confirmed reports of injury affecting either player; Watkins, of course, had a late return from international duty.
BOURNEMOUTH
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