Gameweek 37 will draw to a close on Tuesday, when Manchester City entertain Bournemouth and Crystal Palace host Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Pep Guardiola, Oliver Glasner, Andoni Iraola and Vitor Pereira faced the media on Monday ahead of those games, with the headline quotes in the article below.
While there’s nothing practical we Fantasy managers can do with the new information, we can at least prepare ourselves for what’s to come selection-wise.
MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola has no fresh injury concerns that we are aware of, with only John Stones (abductor) definitely out.
Rodri (knee), Nathan Ake (foot) and Oscar Bobb (unspecified) were all on the grass last week.
Mateo Kovacic, meanwhile, missed the FA Cup final due to a lack of full fitness.
“We will see. Some players are better. Rodri is getting better day-by-day. We will see.” – Pep Guardiola
Guardiola also discussed Kevin De Bruyne, but refused to say he will definitely start, in what will be his final home match in a Manchester City shirt.
He did, however, say that the playmaker would get the send-off he “deserves”.
“Kevin wants us to win the game to qualify for the Champions League next season. This is what Kevin wants. It could not be otherwise. I am going to decide the best, the best players to win the game against Bournemouth, that’s for sure. Kevin will get or deserve what he deserves. That is the best moment and best compliment for his incredible trajectory and what he has done.” – Pep Guardiola
Guardiola later batted away a question about City’s next penalty taker, having seen Omar Marmoush miss from the spot at Wembley.
“I didn’t talk with them. We train this afternoon. The taker needs to start to score the goal.” – Pep Guardiola
CRYSTAL PALACE
Oliver Glasner said Marc Guehi (eye) and Adam Wharton (concussion) will miss Tuesday’s clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Wharton is ruled out of Gameweek 38, too.
“Adam [Wharton] and Marc [Guehi] will definitely miss tomorrow’s game.
“Adam will also miss the Liverpool game – he had a concussion at the end [of the Final]. Marc… let’s see, maybe, for Liverpool – but both players will miss tomorrow’s game.” – Oliver Glasner
Elsewhere, Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure are out for the season with knee injuries.
Motivation was unsurprisingly the key theme throughout the rest of the presser in light of Saturday’s FA Cup win.
“I don’t know, at the moment, to be honest! We cancelled Sunday’s training and we’ll train now after the press conference. We’re looking forward to meeting all the players again, but of course I don’t know how they will present today.” – Oliver Glasner
“Number one is we want to play the best team, this will be the same tomorrow. We are always considering that we can’t take any risk of an injury. We will see how they come back after celebrating.” – Oliver Glasner
“I said to the players, okay, if we achieve a new points record [they] get two more days off. They wanted it now, after winning the FA Cup… so there’s still this motivation, let’s see [if] this maybe helps a little bit.” – Oliver Glasner
BOURNEMOUTH
Alex Scott will miss Tuesday’s trip to the Etihad Stadium, having fractured his jaw in Gameweek 36.
Asked when the midfielder could next play, Andoni Iraola said:
“I don’t know. Definitely not tomorrow, I think it’s almost impossible he plays Sunday but I don’t want to rule him out. He tries the mask but I think it is going to be very difficult. He wants to and he is brave. It’s a good sign because it means he is positive and we will see. He hasn’t trained, but he at least has a good mood and he’s optimistic.” – Andoni Iraola
Iraola briefly touched on Dean Huijsen, too, who will complete a move to Real Madrid in the summer.
“You never want to lose this kind of player. He has been very good for us but there is a part also that you feel happy for him because he goes to Real Madrid. I think it is what he really wanted to do and we hope everything goes well for him after these two games.” – Andoni Iraola
Luis Sinisterra (hamstring), Enes Unal (knee), Ryan Christie (groin) and Dango Ouattara (abductor) remain on the sidelines in Gameweek 37.
Iraola admitted they “will need some young players in the squad” as a result.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Tommy Doyle and Sam Johnstone both have “small issues”.
“Not big injuries, just they need to clean up small issues.” – Vitor Pereira
Vitor Pereira is also without longer-term absentees Sasa Kalajdzic (knee), Yerson Mosquera (knee), Leon Chiwome (knee) and Enso Gonzalez (knee).
The Wolverhampton Wanderers boss later suggested he’s considering changes, having suffered back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City.
“Since the last game I felt we were missing something, the fire in the eyes, and tactically we lost a bit. Maybe I will change some players v Crystal Palace. Maybe.” – Vitor Pereira
