There’ll be lots of key team news for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers to digest today as we count down to the Gameweek 2 deadline.
There are 13 Premier League bosses facing the media on Friday, and we’ll be bringing you the latest key quotes and team news updates in the ‘live’ article below.
For the headline updates from Thursday’s seven pressers, click here.
KEY GAMEWEEK 1 INJURY UPDATES FROM FRIDAY
- Manchester City: Gvardiol, Savinho + Kovacic still out, Ederson, Foden + Rodri available
- Arsenal: Havertz, Norgaard + Jesus out, White a doubt, Timber load managed
- Newcastle United: Isak won’t be involved, Ramsey debut, no fresh injuries
- Tottenham Hotspur: Too soon for Udogie, Kulusevski out for “some time”
- Manchester United: Two still injured but Onana ready
- Brentford: Wissa could be involved, Damsgaard back, Pinnock + Janelt train
- Bournemouth: Iraola hopeful on Christie but game may come too soon for Kluivert
- Aston Villa: Martinez available, Konsa ban, no new injury concerns
- Crystal Palace: Kamada unlikely to be ready, five others still out, Eze off to Arsenal
- Fulham: Silva to make late calls on Robinson + Sessegnon
- Nottingham Forest: Nuno to assess his new signings
- Everton: Branthwaite, Patterson + Mykolenko still out but Aznou trains
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: New signing Tchatchoua available
MANCHESTER CITY
Savinho (unknown), Mateo Kovacic (Achilles), Marcus Bettinelli (unknown) and Josko Gvardiol (unknown) remain out ahead of Sunday’s game.
Pep Guardiola otherwise said everyone was available, confirming that Phil Foden (ankle) and Rodri (groin/match fitness) are fit.
Those two travelled to Molineux last Saturday but weren’t included in the squad, with Guardiola citing the greater fitness and rhythm of others.
“Rodri and Phil [Foden], last game, they were out but for just… lack of training and rhythm. They did not travel to Palermo [in pre-season] and the other guys had all pre-season doing that. They were not ready for 90 minutes against Wolves but they were ready and of course, they are ready for tomorrow.
“Kovacic, Josko, Savio and Bett are the only ones that are out.” – Pep Guardiola
Ederson, who sat out Gameweek 1 with a stomach bug, is also in contention to play.
“Yep [Ederson is fit].
“We will decide tomorrow or tonight after dinner [who will start in goal].” – Pep Guardiola
ARSENAL
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Kai Havertz is set for a spell on the sidelines with a knee injury.
“He’s certainly not fit for this match, unfortunately, he picked up an injury. We don’t really know yet the extent of it, I think we need a bit more time and some more tests, and after that we will have more clarity about the next steps.” – Mikel Arteta on Kai Havertz
Gabriel Jesus (knee) remains out, too, as does Christian Norgaard, who missed Sunday’s win at Old Trafford with a minor injury.
Those three players and Ben White were all absent from the public training session in midweek, with Arteta saying, “let’s see” when asked if the defender would be fit.
“Christian won’t be in the squad. With Ben, let’s see how he reacts and what we decide. Christian will be out for another week or so.” – Mikel Arteta
The replacement for White in the event of an injury, Jurrien Timber, was present at this public session but didn’t take part in the training ground game. Arteta confirmed that his load is being managed in training after his recent lay-off.
“On Jurrien, we have to manage his load. He’s been out for a long time again and he comes from a long-term injury.
“We had a long week, we have to manage the load on that, so we have decided to take a little bit of training down, especially that day in the open session.” – Mikel Arteta
Predictably, Arteta wouldn’t comment on the seemingly imminent arrival of Eberechi Eze.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Another patience-testing exercise for Eddie Howe on Friday, who had to face question after question after question (all pretty much the same one, just reworded) on Alexander Isak.
Long story short: nothing changed with his situation and he won’t feature on Monday. Howe hasn’t even seen him this week, with the Swede training away from his teammates.
“He won’t be part of the squad for this [Monday’s] game.
“I haven’t seen him this week, I don’t think, I saw him last week. When I see him, we speak as normal, there’s no issues there between us. Of course, it’s a difficult situation from both sides and it’s far from ideal for both parties. That includes Alex and us.
“He’s training later on and detached from the group. Of course, then I’m in meetings and all over the place.
“We will, I’m sure, catch up at some stage and hopefully speak soon.” – Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak
There is at least good news on the injury front. Joe Willock (calf) was the only absentee last weekend but even he’s back in training now.
“Joe trained on Tuesday and Wednesday, small part Tuesday, bigger session Wednesday, and trained really well. Great to see him back so early. When he went down in the game [in South Korea] I thought he was going to be out longer term, it didn’t look a good injury, justt the way he went down. But credit to him, back, fit and looking good.” – Eddie Howe on Joe Willock
“As far as I know, yeah, everyone is okay.” – Eddie Howe
New signing Jacob Ramsey could also feature in the squad.
“He will be available, touch wood. Of course, we still have got training sessions to go before the game but he’s in a good place, he’s been really impressive in his first couple of days. Really good technically, very intelligent. I think he’s going to add a lot to the team. He has got standout qualities.” – Eddie Howe on Jacob Ramsey
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Destiny Udogie (knee) has trained this week but the Manchester City game will come too soon for him.
Koto Takai (foot), Radu Dragusin (knee) and long-term absentee James Maddison (knee) also remain out.
So too does Dejan Kulusevski (knee), who Thomas Frank would be unavailable for “some time”.
Yves Bissouma was injured in training before the win over Burnley and is still sidelined.
“Destiny is better. He’s trained with the team twice, full training, and also other training. Just too short to be involved for City. We want him to train tomorrow and have another good week next week as well, but he’s in a good place. Looks very positive about him. Biss will miss this game as well. Kulusevski’s out. I think that’s a longer one. I don’t want to put a timeframe on it.” – Thomas Frank
Frank confirmed that Richarlison was his “starting nine”, when asked about the Brazilian’s future.
“Right now, he’s my starting nine. Scored two fantastic goals, he had two top games, he’s the Brazilian number nine. He is a very good player so I’m very happy with him. Richy wants to stay, I want to keep him, there’s been no talks about anything else. He’s done well for us.” – Thomas Frank on Richarlison
MANCHESTER UNITED
Lisandro Martinez (knee) and Noussair Mazraoui (unknown) are the only United absentees for Gameweek 2.
Andre Onana, who failed to make the squad last weekend despite returning to train, is “ready to play”.
“Onana is ready to play like last week, so we will see in the game who is going to be the goalkeeper.
“Licha is out, Nous is out. The rest of the guys are fit and ready to play.” – Rubem Amorim
BRENTFORD
Keith Andrews said on Friday that Yoane Wissa could be an option against Aston Villa this weekend, having trained with the team.
“In terms of being involved this weekend, I’ll make a decision on the squad tomorrow but he’s been part of the group this week.
“My stance around Yoane all along has been that I don’t want him to leave. That hasn’t really changed in any way shape or form.” – Keith Andrews on Yoane Wissa
The Bees put out an injury bulletin ahead of Andrews’ presser – and it’s pretty good news all round.
Firstly, Mikkel Damsgaard is back in contention after missing Gameweek 1 to attend the birth of his child.
There are boosts on the injury front, too, with Ethan Pinnock (muscle), Yunus Emre Konak (ankle) and Paris Maghoma (hamstring) all back in full training this week.
Vitaly Janelt (heel), who has been out for five months, is even in team training, too, although this match comes too soon for the midfielder.
Gustavo Nunes (hamstring) is still at the “running drills” stage of his rehab, so he remains some way off a return.
BOURNEMOUTH
Lewis Cook (knee) is both injured and suspended for this weekend’s clash with Wolves, with the former keeping him out until after the international break.
Enes Unal, meanwhile, is still recovering from a knee injury sustained in January.
Andoni Iraola is hopeful of having Ryan Christie (groin) available, however, after the midfielder returned to training after a long lay-off ahead of Gameweek 1.
Justin Kluivert (calf), who has himself missed a big chunk of pre-season, has also been back on the grass but Iraola hinted that this game may come too soon for him.
“Ryan Christie has trained with us all the week so I hope he is with us.
“We still have training this afternoon but we hope he is with us for the weekend.
“Justin has done some things with us, he’s in a more difficult position than Ryan Christie but it’s good news that he has started doing things with the group.” – Andoni Iraola
ASTON VILLA
Villa have no new injury concerns following the stalemate against Newcastle United last weekend.
Emi Martínez is available again after suspension but Ezri Konsa serves a one-match ban.
Ross Barkley and Andres Garcia haven’t been seen since mid-July with supposedly minor issues.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Long-term absentees Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure remain out, as do Eddie Nketiah (hamstring), Matheus Franca (adductor) and Caleb Kporha (back).
Daichi Kamada picked up a knee injury in the Community Shield and has missed the last two games, and while he is back in training, he’s unlikely to be fit for Sunday.
Oliver Glasner reported that his players came through unscathed from Thursday’s UEFA Conference League play-off first-leg tie against Fredrikstad.
“It looks good [after last night’s match]. The players, of course, had a good recovery session.
“There was also the positive aspect that Daichi Kamadi did part of the normal training session, but we were just five players, because we’re having one or two playing with the Under-21s tonight. It was good news.
“I don’t think [Kamada will be fit] for Sunday, but for Thursday [night away to Fredrikstad].” – Oliver Glasner
Eberechi Eze looks set for a move to Arsenal but Marc Guehi remains a Palace player for now, training all week and featuring on Thursday.
FULHAM
Fulham were without both of their left-backs last weekend but it seems like they are both closing in on returns.
Ryan Sessegnon, who hobbled off in the first half of Fulham’s final pre-season friendly, was even in training before the draw with Brighton and Hove Albion but wasn’t risked.
Antonee Robinson (knee), who missed the whole of the summer, was “already involved in some things with the team”, too.
Marco Silva said in his pre-match presser that he would take a final decision on his two full-backs after tomorrow’s final training session.
“We have to wait and see. We just finished one session now, we are going to have another one tomorrow. We have to take a decision related to both players. They are very important for us, but the same time, we don’t want to have any risk to lose them for longer.
“Different situations. Robinson is coming back from a surgery, he’s training with the team but you have to take a decision. And Sessegnon, he felt something in the last friendly game against Eintracht. We didn’t want to take a risk last week, let’s see how he is going to be in the last session before the Man United game, and then we are going to decide.
“If not, Calvin did so, so, so well, it was a great, great performance at left-back, and I think we are more than covered in that position, because even [Jorge] Cuenca can play there. Of course, they are both different, if you have Robinson or Sessegnon, then you have a more offensive dynamic and mobility on the left-hand side.” – Marco Silva
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Forest have signed James McAtee, Omari Hutchinson, Douglas Luiz and Arnaud Kalimuendo in the last week.
Nuno Espirito Santo says all the new boys will be assessed ahead of Sunday.
Injury-wise, Nicolas Dominguez will be out until the autumn after undergoing knee surgery over the summer.
EVERTON
Jarrad Branthwaite (hamstring), Vitalii Mykolenko (muscle) and Nathan Patterson (hernia symptoms) remain out but Adam Aznou is back in training after missing Monday’s defeat at Elland Road.
“Jarrad is on the way but not fit, neither is Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson is not fit, either. Those three are not available.
“Aznou has trained today for the first time, so we’ll see how he goes.” – David Moyes
David Moyes was asked about whether Jack Grealish would feature from the start on Sunday, having come off the bench in Gameweek 1.
“Yeah, I thought I thought his glimpse was okay. I liked his glimpse. So, let’s see where it goes from there.” – David Moyes when asked what he made of his first “glimpse” of Jack Grealish
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Vitor Pereira confirmed that new signing Jackson Tchatchoua is available for selection tomorrow.
Wolves have only one issue that we’re aware of: Leon Chiwome is still recovering from a knee injury sustained in January.
