A typically busy day of press conferences awaits us on Friday, with 13 Premier League managers facing the media.
But there are no top-flight fixtures this weekend – instead, these are the pre-match pressers for the FA Cup third round.
Nevertheless, there’ll be some important injury updates for Fantasy managers to process ahead of next Tuesday’s Gameweek 21 deadline.
This live blog will have you covered.
If you want the headline news from the seven press conferences held on Wednesday and Thursday, visit this article.
FRIDAY’S KEY INJURY UPDATES
- Newcastle United: Isak latest, Wilson on the grass, Pope close but not ready
- Manchester City: Dias + Stones still out, Ederson fit, Bobb training, Pep on Haaland
- Liverpool: Szoboszlai + Quansah should feature, Darwin available before ban
- Tottenham Hotspur: Ange not expecting many of his injured players back
- Chelsea: James + Lavia available, three still injured
- Manchester United: Altay to start, Rashford available, Amorin discusses rotation
- Arsenal: No team news questions asked
- Crystal Palace: Illness outbreak with Mateta + Henderson affected
- Bournemouth: No further concerns after Evanilson + Unal were ruled out
- Brentford: Henry set to start, Carvalho recovers
- Ipswich Town: Szmodics out, Hutchinson return date, Hirst nearly fit
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: Cunha completes ban, Dawson, Toti + Semedo not expected back
- Southampton: Bazunu + Welington to play for under-21s
FRIDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
Friday’s FA Cup pressers (in GMT):
🔴 9am – Slot
⚫ 9.30am – Howe
🔵 12.30pm – Guardiola
🧿 1pm – Maresca
🍒 1pm – Iraola
👹 1.15pm – Amorim
😇 1.30pm – Juric
🐝 1.30pm – Frank
⭕ 1.30pm – Arteta
🦅 1.30pm – Glasner
🚜 1.30pm – McKenna
🐺 2pm – Pereira
🐓 2pm – Postecoglou— FFScout Neale (@SkontoRigga) January 10, 2025
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Alexander Isak looks to have avoided a major injury despite complaining of hamstring tightness in Tuesday’s cup tie against Arsenal.
It doesn’t sound like we’ll see the Swede against Bromley on Sunday but a reappearance in Gameweek 21 seems likely.
“We think he’s pretty good. He’s seeing his physio at the moment. Given him a couple of days’ rest. But no, we think he’s in a good place. He’ll report back tomorrow and we’ll have a good look at him.
“Not [a serious injury or big concern] from the initial assessment, fingers crossed he’s going to be okay.
“It would have been the case [that he would have been given a breather anyway v Bromley] but we would have probably involved him in the game in some way. But I think with what’s happened, he’ll probably be given this game to rest and get himself right for the future schedule that we have.” – Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak
Elsewhere on the injury front, it’s mostly good news.
Emil Krafth (collarbone) is back in training and could feature in some capacity this weekend.
Callum Wilson (hamstring) and Nick Pope (knee) are progressing well, too.
“Callum, I think he’s on the grass today, I don’t think he’s training with the first team yet but he’s on the grass. He’s making good progress, actually, we’ve been very pleased.
“He could be coming back – if all goes to plan – around about February, we think, the beginning of February.” – Eddie Howe on Callum Wilson
“He’s not far away, he’s doing well. He hasn’t trained with the group yet but that’s mainly because we haven’t had a huge amount of training days because of the amount of games that we’ve played.
“He’s done goalkeeping training one on one with the coaches, he’s done diving, kicking, he’s done a lot. I just think there’s a bit longer needed before his knee is fully strong enough to play. We’re not looking too far away, I think probably after this intense run of games.” – Eddie Howe on Nick Pope
Long-term absentee Jamaal Lascelles (knee) is the only other player on the Magpies’ injury list.
After his own lengthy absence, Sven Botman has come through his two comeback appearances unscathed.
“Sven’s doing well, naturally there was just a build-up of fatigue. It was a big ask for him to play the two games that he did.
“He was determined, physical, excellent in near enough every respect – and especially when you consider he’s on an unnatural side of the pitch. You wouldn’t have known. And that gives us real food for thought for the future that he can play that role.
“So, fingers crossed, no ill effects.” – Eddie Howe
And having served suspensions in league and cup over the last week, Fabian Schar is back available.
Howe now faces a welcome selection dilemma at the back, with Dan Burn hailed again.
“I think Dan has been very, very good this season. He has been and he always shows for me the spirit that we need. He knows what it means to represent the football club. He conducts himself in a brilliant way, whether it’s on the pitch or off the pitch, but he has been the model of consistency and he has been someone that you can rely on – and you need players like that.
“For me, he’s been fundamentally vital to what we’ve done because he cares so much, he lives his life the right way and he’s a very, very good player.” – Eddie Howe on Dan Burn
Howe also reaffirmed his desire to keep Martin Dubravka, linked with a move to Saudi Arabia in the January window.
The Newcastle boss, unsurprisingly, suggested he’ll rotate against the League Two outfit this weekend.
“We always had on the horizon this game when we knew that we would have to rotate our squad. We have got very good players who are desperate to play and desperate to show their qualities. So, I think this is a good game for them to showcase those qualities.” – Eddie Howe
MANCHESTER CITY
Ruben Dias (muscle) is not ready to return for Manchester City, while Rodri (knee) remains out.
“Not yet, he feels better but he’s not yet ready. I don’t know when.” – Pep Guardiola on Ruben Dias
Another long-term absentee, Oscar Bobb (leg), is back in training, however.
“He’s training already with the team, partial. So, good news for us.
“I don’t know but it’s not muscular, it was a bone. A fracture and one that’s already fixed. It’s fine. So now, physical condition, but it’s good news that he’s back.” – Pep Guardiola on Oscar Bobb
Ederson (leg) is also fit, although John Stones (foot) remains out.
“Ederson is fine. John Stones, no.” – Pep Guardiola
As for whether Erling Haaland will get a rest against Salford City in the cup, Pep Guardiola played it cool.
“You will see tomorrow!
“He feels good. He had some niggles in the first days but we have seven days, West Ham to Salford, and he recovered well.
“In the situation that we have, we need everyone ready.” – Pep Guardiola on whether Erling Haaland could get a rest
LIVERPOOL
Jarell Quansah and Dominik Szoboszlai are expected to recover from illness to feature against the non-milk-drinkers of Accrington Stanley.
Quansah exited the EFL Cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday after complaining of chest tightness. Szoboszlai was absent completely.
“Dom trained with the under-21s yesterday. Jarell, like I said, he was a bit ill last week. As a result of that, I had to take him off during the game but I’m expecting him to be available for tomorrow.” – Arne Slot
That leaves, so far as we’re aware, only Joe Gomez (hamstring) on the Liverpool injury list.
Darwin Nunez is available to feature against the League Two strugglers but will be suspended in Gameweek 21. He picked up his fifth Premier League booking of the season at Anfield last Sunday.
Away from team news, the Liverpool boss backed Trent Alexander-Arnold after his difficult afternoon against Manchester United.
“I do see a certain pattern in the goals we concede but I don’t see the pattern if it’s about Trent if that’s what you mean. Not at all. Trent has had one difficult game for us and maybe a few that were okay to good. Mainly he had great games when he played for us this season.
“I know there is a lot of focus on him at the moment but I would also like to highlight the focus on how well he did when he came in the last half hour [at Tottenham] and how our fans reacted on him. That is what pleased me even more during that game.” – Arne Slot on Trent Alexander-Arnold
Slot was also asked about Federico Chiesa‘s shortage of minutes.
“It’s not only for him been difficult because of all of the things you just said – I’m not going to say all these things again – in terms of match fitness, it’s also that he has to compete with the likes of Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah. Everybody here knows the numbers Mo Salah brings in; there’s not many times a reason to take him out during a game or before a game. Also because he is so fit. I said many times before, he was the fittest player that came in in pre-season and he does everything every single day to keep his match fitness. He wants to play every game and he shows up every single game.
“So, it’s not only about Federico when we are talking about him being limited in his playing time, it’s also about the others. But in terms of Federico, it definitely has to do with the way he came in. I don’t know the English words… the rest were already training a lot and we had to bring him up in terms of match fitness. So, it’s a combination of reasons why he didn’t play that much yet but let’s wait and see in the upcoming weeks and months if he’s able to help us because the second half of the season is even more important than the first half.” – Arne Slot on Federico Chiesa
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Ange Postecoglou isn’t expecting any of his injured players back for the FA Cup clash with non-league Tamworth.
Destiny Udogie (hamstring), Cristian Romero (hamstring), Micky van de Ven (hamstring), Wilson Odobert (hamstring), Guglielmo Vicario (ankle) and Ben Davies (hamstring) are all out.
Richarlison (hamstring) should be the next player back, with a Gameweek 21 return previously pencilled in.
Rodrigo Bentancur suffered a head injury in the EFL Cup on Wednesday and will miss out.
“I’ll start with Rodrigo: mostly positive news, he obviously went to hospital after the game. He was concussed and they did every check that they needed to do and I understand he’s gone home now. So that’s real positive news for us because obviously it was a bit of a distressing situation to deal with.
“I think the players, Pedro [Porro] did a great job initially of notifying the medical team, he did a great job. Now it’s just about recovery for him. There are set protocols in place but aside from those set protocols, we’ll make sure that we give him as much time as he needs to get back.
“And then, aside from that, nothing coming out of the other night, everyone got through that pretty well and no one really coming back in from the guys who have been absent, apart from Pape and Madders [who were suspended in midweek], who are available.” – Ange Postecoglou
CHELSEA
Romeo Lavia (hamstring) looks set to return this weekend. Enzo Maresca said on Friday that the young midfielder, as well as the fit-again Reece James, can get minutes against Morecambe.
“Yeah, they are both available and they can get some minutes in tomorrow’s game.” – Enzo Maresca on Reece James and Romeo Lavia
Wesley Fofana (hamstring), Benoit Badiashile (unknown), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (unknown) and Mykhailo Mudryk (suspended) remain out.
“[Apart from] Benoit Badiashile, Wes Fofana and Kiernan, the rest, they are all available.
“I spoke with Wes, the 12-16 weeks that the club mentioned is the situation. Wes is thinking that he can recover sooner than that.” – Enzo Maresca
Teenage defender Aaron Anselmino is also not ready for action, despite having been recalled from his loan spell at Boca Juniors.
Maresca confirmed that Ben Chilwell and Cesare Casadei won’t be involved, either, in order to avoid an injury that could jeopardise a move away from the club.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Rubem Amorim confirmed that Altay Bayindir will start between the posts on Sunday, as he did in the EFL Cup quarter-final tie against Tottenham Hotspur.
“I don’t rotate because I want to rotate. I’m no different to any coach. I’m trying to find the best solutions to win every game.
“I put the guys in who are more fresh to cope with the demands of the game.
“[The goalkeeper position] is a special position, that is a very good question. He is going to play, Altay.” – Rubem Amorim
There wasn’t much other team news from Amorim, other than to say Marcus Rashford – heavily linked with a move away – had recovered from illness.
“We will see [about Rashford’s future]. Let’s focus on the game, they are available, they are training, we will see the selection for this game. They have to focus just on playing the next game.” – Ruben Amorim on Marcus Rashford
Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount have all been on the sidelines lately with unspecified injuries.
ARSENAL
We have so far heard no team news updates from Mikel Arteta ahead of the cup clash with Manchester United.
Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Ethan Nwaneri (hamstring), Ben White (knee) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) are currently on the sidelines for the Gunners.
Raheem Sterling (knee) returned from injury in midweek, while Kai Havertz recovered from illness.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Oliver Glasner says a number of his players have been suffering from illness ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie against Stockport County.
Jean-Philippe Mateta and Dean Henderson are among the individuals affected.
“We had many ill players this week, so many questions. Until today, JP [Mateta] didn’t train, Maxence Lacroix didn’t train and Tyrick Mitchell didn’t train. Caleb Kporha trained for the first time today but Dean Henderson went home today, being ill.
“It can be that one or two come back tomorrow but of course not available for starting if you’re laying in your bed with fever for almost the whole week – so there are still many question marks.” – Oliver Glasner
Will Hughes (foot) and Adam Wharton (groin) are still injured but Matheus Franca (groin) is back in training.
“Will is questionable, so it doesn’t look like [he will be available].
“[Wharton] is improving but still far away from training with the team, but it’s getting better. I can’t tell you if it will take two weeks or three or four but I think, in January, it is quite unlikely that he will return.” – Oliver Glasner
BOURNEMOUTH
As we discussed yesterday, Evanilson (foot) and Enes Unal (knee) face periods on the sidelines with injuries sustained in the last week.
Budget forward Ryan Jebbison has been recalled from a loan spell at Watford as a result.
“We don’t have any other player like a number nine now. We’ve recalled Jebbo obviously to help but it’s a very, very difficult situation.” – Andoni Iraola
Andoni Iraola at least has no other fresh concerns going into the cup clash with West Bromwich Albion.
The Cherries boss already has Adam Smith (muscle), Luis Sinisterra (hamstring), Alex Scott (knee), Julian Araujo (hamstring), Marcos Senesi (quad) and Marcus Tavernier (hamstring) on the injury list.
New loan signing Julio Soler will be involved in the squad – but we won’t see the left-back in the Premier League any time soon as he will then link up with the Argentina squad for the South American U-20 Championship.
BRENTFORD
The Bees have been given a huge boost this afternoon: long-term absentee Rico Henry (knee) is set to start against Plymouth Argyle this weekend.
“Rico will be involved in the game tomorrow. Not only will he be involved, he will start the game. That’s a big boost for him, for us and hopefully for the fans.
“He played an in-house game and also a friendly with the B team. In general, he’s looked good and ready to start. If he wasn’t good enough, we wouldn’t start him.” – Thomas Frank on Rico Henry
Fabio Carvalho has recovered from a groin issue, too.
“He’s ready and will be involved tomorrow.” – Thomas Frank on Fabio Carvalho
Ben Mee (muscle), Ethan Pinnock (hamstring), Kristoffer Ajer (ankle), Igor Thiago (joint infection), Gustavo Nunes (back), Aaron Hickey (hamstring) and Josh Dasilva (knee) remain out.
“Ben Mee is getting closer, he’s the closest of the ones that’s been out for a bit.” – Thomas Frank
IPSWICH TOWN
Conor Chaplin (knee) remains a “few weeks away”, while Axel Tuanzebe (hamstring) and Chiedozie Ogbene (Achilles) are still out.
Omari Hutchinson (groin) is aiming for a return to face Liverpool in Gameweek 23.
There’s also been no word to suggest that Massimo Luongo has recovered from the illness that has kept him sidelined throughout December.
Sammie Szmodics has joined the injury list for “a while”, too. Kieran McKenna said the attacker has suffered a knock to his ankle and is currently in a protective boot.
George Hirst (knee) “has a chance” to be involved against Bristol Rovers.
New signing Ben Godfrey looks set to feature, too.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Matheus Cunha serves the final game of a two-match ban this weekend, so will return in Gameweek 21.
On the injury front, Vitor Pereira isn’t expecting Toti Gomes (hamstring), Nelson Semedo (hamstring) or Craig Dawson (calf) to return.
“They [Semedo, Dawson and Toti] are working to recover as soon as possible. I don’t know, I cannot say the time that they need to come back for the game, but I think they are recovering well and doing good work.
“I don’t think they will be available [for Saturday].” – Vitor Pereira
Yerson Mosquera (knee), Boubacar Traore (knee), Sasa Kalajdzic (knee) and Enso Gonzalez (knee) remain out.
Andre, who sat out Gameweek 20 due to a “family issue” and who had suffered a knock a week earlier, is back in training.
“He’s [Andre] working with us. He’s training in conditions to go to the game, if I decide.” – Vitor Pereira
SOUTHAMPTON
New signing Welington and fit-again goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu (Achilles) will feature for the under-21s side against Fulham this evening.
Saints will be hoping to get Flynn Downes (dead leg) back this weekend, while Will Smallbone (hamstring) has already returned to training.
Jack Stephens (unknown), Juan Larios (unknown) and Ross Stewart (hamstring) remain out.
“I don’t want to rest. I think I have 17 or 18 players, maybe more, that are competitive and there is no big difference between one or the other.
“I just want to win the game and think about that and after the game, I will think about Manchester and Nottingham.” – Ivan Juric
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