Get ready for some injury flags to vanish and others to appear as the Gameweek 1 press conferences get underway!
There are currently seven managers scheduled to face the media on Thursday, including Liverpool’s Arne Slot.
We’re bringing you the latest key quotes and injury updates in the ‘live’ article below.
For the early team news on the other 13 Premier League clubs, check out this article here.
KEY GAMEWEEK 1 INJURY UPDATES FROM THURSDAY
- Liverpool: No Bradley update, Mac Allister “back fit now”, Gravenberch banned, Slot on Salah
- Brentford: Wissa won’t be involved, Kelleher + Schade to be assessed
- Bournemouth: Kluivert out, too soon for Christie, Dango’s future
- Fulham: Too early for Robinson, Sessegnon trains and will be assessed
- West Ham United: Summerville + Earthy out, Potter on Areola v Hermansen
- Sunderland: Five out, Le Bris asked about Guiu – but only in the embargoed section
- Burnley: No major injury concerns, nothing on the match fitness of Dubravka
THURSDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
🚨 Thursday’s FPL Press Conferences!
🔴 9am – Slot
🍒 1pm – Iraola
⚒️ 1.30pm – Potter
🐝 2pm – Andrews
🍷 2pm – Parker
🐈⬛ 2pm – Le Bris
⬜ 3pm – SilvaWe are so back! pic.twitter.com/cc5pEqE3rU
— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) August 14, 2025
LIVERPOOL
Ryan Gravenberch is suspended for one match after being sent off in Gameweek 38 of last season.
Injury-wise, Arne Slot said Joe Gomez may be on the bench this Friday.
Gomez hasn’t featured since mid-July because of a minor injury but he has returned to training this week.
“Joe, I have to make a decision on that. I think he only trained twice now, missed quite a lot in pre-season, but if you looked at our bench against Palace, I think there were three players who were 20 years or younger. So, there is a possibility that Joe might be on the bench but I have to look at the numbers and who we are going to take.” – Arne Slot on Joe Gomez
Alexis Mac Allister hasn’t had an ideal pre-season on the fitness front, with Slot saying ahead of the Community Shield was not ready for 90 minutes. The midfielder indeed began the game on the bench.
Today, however, Slot gave him the all-clear.
“Unfortunately, Macca had a bit of a different pre-season than we would like him to have but he’s back fit now. So, I still have a choice to make in midfield, even if Ryan is not there.”
There was no injury update on Conor Bradley, who missed the end of pre-season with a minor muscle injury. Slot had previously admitted that it would be “tight” as to whether he would be fit for the start of the season.
We didn’t spot him in Wednesday’s training gallery, either.
Away from injury news, Slot was asked about Mohamed Salah and the profiles of the right-backs behind him.
“In my opinion, Jeremie [Frimpong] and Conor Bradley are similar types, although Jeremie is maybe better in the one-v-ones than Conor is. But I think Jeremie and Conor can both contribute to Mo’s output because if you play against these two, you know you have to be aware of these two as well.
“So, it normally gives Mo even more space to get the one-v-ones. Because if we isolate Jeremie in a one-v-one, it’s difficult for the other team and if we isolate Mo in a one-v-one, it’s difficult for the other team as well.
“Where maybe last season [the opposition] could give a little bit more help because Trent [Alexander-Arnold] was a little bit more behind the ball, which was also dangerous because when Mo brought it back, Trent could deliver one of his famous crosses.
“So, it’s different types but I think both types – and Trent proved it together with Mo, Trent brought the best out of Mo – we think, I think, the same thing is going to happen with Conor and Jeremie with Mo in that regard.” – Arne Slot
BRENTFORD
The wantaway Yoane Wissa, unsurprisingly, won’t feature for the Bees this weekend.
“We’ve made a decision, I suppose I’ve made a decision, that he’s not [involved]. It’s been a very disrupted pre-season, I think you’re aware of that interest in Yoane. Very clear on the situation, as a head coach, I want Yoane in the building, I want him to be part of the first-team squad. I see that, moving forward, but obviously, I keep saying this, I’m very understanding of his situation. I’ve got a very good relationship with him, that will persist, but we have to focus on the players that are ready to play and perform on Sunday. I don’t think Yoane is in that space.
“For Yoane, on Sunday, he won’t be involved.” – Keith Andrews on Yoane Wissa
As for injuries, Vitaly Janelt (heel), Gustavo Nunes (hamstring) and Paris Maghoma (unknown) remain out.
Kevin Schade and Caoimhin Kelleher, who missed last Friday’s final pre-season friendly as a precaution due to minor knocks, have trained – but a late decision is still to be made on their involvement.
“Caoimhin and Kevin Schade are back on the grass. Whether they will be absolutely ready we’ll see over the next day and a half, then we’ll make that decision.
“Overall, we’re in a pretty good place on that front.” – Keith Andrews, via the Brentford website
BOURNEMOUTH
Lewis Cook (knee) is both injured and suspended for Friday’s trip to Liverpool, with the former keeping him out until after the international break.
Enes Unal, meanwhile, is still recovering from a knee injury sustained in January.
Ryan Christie (groin) is back in training but the Liverpool match will come too soon for the midfielder, while Justin Kluivert (calf) remains out of training – despite earlier reports – and contention.
“Ryan Christie has been training with us this week but I think it’s too early for him because he hasn’t done any pre-season, he hasn’t basically done a lot of things for a lot of weeks and months, so it’s going to be too early.
“Justin hasn’t been training with us, so he’s out.” – Andoni Iraola
Luis Sinisterra (hamstring) is back in training too but with uncertainty over his future, Iraola doubts whether he’ll be travelling to Anfield.
Dango Ouattara is in a similar situation, transfer-wise, amid links to Brentford.
“Dango is going to train with us today. He’s here. He’s in the building. But it’s true that I don’t know what’s going to happen. We are going day by day and I will ask with the club if he can play tomorrow and he can travel.
“Sini is in a situation also similar to the Dango situation where there is uncertainty about his future and I think the most probable thing is that he doesn’t travel. But it’s true that he has been training with us and I think he’s recovered healthwise.” – Andoni Iraola
New centre-half capture Bafode Diakite is physically fit but Iraola has yet to decide if he’ll throw the midweek signing into the deep end on Merseyside.
“He has come this week, has trained two days with us. I think he has trained well. But we will decide. It has pros, cons. I think he is physically definitely ready, he has done a complete pre-season with Lille, he has played a lot of minutes. So, he is ready to go and it’s a matter now of getting all the concepts quickly, the details of every theme in all different phases of the game, and I hope he can do it quickly. If it’s not tomorrow, it will be next week because I think he’s a a very good player.” – Andoni Iraola
FULHAM
Antonee Robinson is closing in on a return from knee surgery but this game comes too soon for the left-back.
Ryan Sessegnon hobbled off in the first half of Fulham’s final pre-season friendly last weekend but his substitution was more precautionary, and he has trained as of Thursday. A final assessment will follow.
“We have the situation of Robinson. He had surgery in the summer, in the off-season, after the end of the season, and is not ready-ready. Good signs from him, he is already involved in some things with the team. Soon we are going to see him in condition for the games. For this game, it is too early for him.
“About Ryan Sessegnon, because he come out the last pre-season game against Eintracht, nothing serious, as I mentioned at the end of the match. It was a little bit of a precaution from him. He felt something, and of course with all his history in terms of injuries and all that stuff, I think he took the right decision. Today in the morning he was involved in the session, let’s see how he is going to react and after we are going to take a decision.
“Apart from Robinson, right now, I have to say that all the others are going to be in contention in the squad list.” – Marco Silva
WEST HAM UNITED
Crysencio Summerville (hamstring) and George Earthy (ankle) remain out heading into Gameweek 1.
Other than that, though, the Hammers are pretty much fully fit.
“Cry Summerville is in the last stages of his rehab, so he won’t be available, but he’s getting really close. So, that’s good for us. George Earthy still has an injury that he sustained early in pre-season. Apart from that, we’re pretty much close to full availability.” – Graham Potter
West Ham have a new goalkeeper in the shape of Mads Hermansen, with Graham Potter tight-lipped on who would start between the posts this weekend.
“I’m not going to name my team now, obviously! We’re delighted with the signing, I think he provides some real competition in that position. We obviously lost Lukasz [Fabianski], we felt that we needed to add some experienced competition there. We’ll see how the weekend goes.” – Graham Potter on his goalkeeping dilemma
SUNDERLAND
Regis Le Bris wasn’t asked about the match readiness of £4.5m forward Marc Guiu in the broadcast section of today’s presser – but it looks like the first question of the embargoed section is about the on-loan Chelsea man!
Earlier in the presser, Le Bris commented on the fitness of two more new arrivals, left-back Arthur Masuaku and centre-half Omar Alderete.
“We’ll make the final decision tomorrow. I think it’s fair to say that Arthur and Omar came this week. So, we’ll see if they they are ready or not. Is it for the start? Is it for just the final part of the game? We’ll decide tomorrow.” – Regis Le Bris on Arthur Masuaku and Omar Alderete
Aji Alese (shoulder), Luke O’Nien (shoulder), Dennis Cirkin (wrist) and Leo Hjelde (Achilles) will all miss the first three Gameweeks of the season.
Romaine Mundle is currently sidelined with a hamstring issue, too.
BURNLEY
Zeki Amdouni (knee) and Bashir Humphreys (thigh) are out but Scott Parker otherwise says he has no real injury concerns going into Gameweek 1.
“No, not really, to be honest with you. We’ve been good pre-season, we’ve picked up a couple of little niggles along the way, which you probably expect a little bit in pre-season. But we’ve a pretty full squad, so we are in a good place.” – Scott Parker on whether he has any injury concerns
Connor Roberts and Zian Flemming were among those who had fitness issues over the summer.
There wasn’t anything the match-readiness of £4.0m goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, as well as fellow new boys Armando Broja and Lesley Ugochukwu, who didn’t feature in the final pre-season friendly last weekend. They’d only joined the Clarets in the days before that game, and were just doing individual training as a result.
The only quote about them concerned their Premier League experience.
“Really positive, it’s crucial as well: the balance of a squad going into the Premier League.
“Experience comes with that, players that have been in the divison and understand what it looks like a little bit, and I think those players that you highlighted there probably suggest that, really.
“These players that have an understanding of what this league demands and what it looks like is crucial for us. I’m delighted that we’ve managed to get some of these over the line.” – Scott Parker when asked about the top-level experience of Messrs Dubravka, Broja and Ugochukwu
