As suspected, the team news for Gameweek 19 is going to be a mishmash of live press conferences, embargoed bits (of limited use) from the weekend and pressers arriving after Tuesday’s deadline!
Whatever injury updates and key quotes we do hear on Monday, we’ll include in the article below.
There should hopefully be something, however useful, from each of the dozen Premier League sides that play on Tuesday night.
As for the other eight teams, who all contest matches on New Year’s Day, there’s a very real chance of not hearing anything before the December 30 deadline.
KEY GAMEWEEK 19 INJURY NEWS FROM MONDAY
- Arsenal: Nothing new from Arteta after Timber + Calafiori miss out
- Manchester United: Fernandes to miss out again but keen to train
- Newcastle United: Trippier + Botman latest, Pope v Ramsdale, Howe on Wissa
- Chelsea: Maresca on whether James + Palmer can start again, Hato + Fofana updates
- Bournemouth: Iraola reiterates desire to keep Semenyo, Scott suffers blow to jaw
- Aston Villa: Cash + Kamara suspended
- Brighton and Hove Albion: Mitoma fit, Welbeck could start, Hurzeler on Minteh
- Everton: “A chance” some players return
- Nottingham Forest: Wood undergoes surgery
- Burnley: Esteve latest, Cullen expected to miss out
- West Ham United: No team news updates from Nuno
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: Andre suspended, Mosquera + S Bueno updates
ARSENAL
Mikel Arteta was one of the managers who fulfilled their Gameweek 19 media commitments straight after his post-Gameweek 18 presser.
And, unsurprisingly, there was little of use for FPL managers in the quotes released at noon today.
No questions on team news, with the time instead devoted to the transfer window, the title race and Viktor Gyokeres‘ seven-match run without a goal from open play.
“Depending, as I said, on the availability of certain players. So the window is there. I mean, we are Arsenal and we have to be looking at it. Okay, what do we need? And we have to be actively looking and then can we do it or not? That’s a different story but our job is to be always very prepared because something can happen.” – Mikel Arteta on whether he could be tempted by a move or two in the January window
We refer you to our Scout Notes for quotes on Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori, who both missed out in Gameweek 18. Calafiori had been named in the starting XI but pulled out in the warm-up.
Gabriel Magalhaes (knee) returned as a substitute in that match.
Kai Havertz (knee), meanwhile, is back in training. Mikel Arteta said last Tuesday that a return for the German would be “a matter of days, if not weeks”.
Ben White (hamstring), Max Dowman (ankle) and Cristhian Mosquera (ankle), we think, remain out.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Bruno Fernandes (hamstring) will not be involved against Wolverhampton Wanderers but the midfielder is already pushing for a return to training.
Kobbie Mainoo (calf), Matthijs de Ligt (back) and Harry Maguire (hamstring) are also set to miss out, while Mason Mount will be assessed after he “felt something” in the win over Newcastle United.
Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui are on international duty.
The quotes below are from Friday night, when Amorim faced the media straight after full-time against the Magpies.
“No, [I am not expecting anyone back]. I don’t know how Mase is going to be for that game. I think Kobbie Mainoo is not going to be ready, Bruno is not going to be ready, I think Matta is not going to be ready, Harry is not going to be ready, so I think we are not going to have more players.” – Ruben Amorim
As for whether any of that contingent could return in Gameweek 20, Amorim didn’t rule out the prospect.
“Bruno is already saying that he needs to train but we don’t know. Kobbie Mainoo is going to start on the pitch, also, so we will see. Matta is struggling a little bit, Harry the same thing, so I don’t expect to have the players for this game [against Wolves]. For the other game [against Leeds], I don’t know.”
Just to eliminate any chance of misinterpretation, or Fernandes twisting his arm, the United boss later categorically ruled his influential midfielder out of Gameweek 19!
“No chance he is going to play against Wolves, you can write that!” – Ruben Amorim on Bruno Fernandes
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Eddie Howe was another manager to host his Gameweek 19 presser early, doing so after full-time at Old Trafford. Unlike Arteta, the Newcastle boss did actually supply us with some useful team news.
Firstly, he was asked if Sven Botman (back) or Kieran Trippier (hamstring) would be back.
“I don’t think so. We’re not 100 per cent sure. We’ve got a whole group of players that are getting closer – obviously not as quickly as I would like. I’d like them fit and available as quickly as possible because our backline’s been really stretched.
“The guys that have played, I think, have done really well – especially Lewis Miley playing out of position – but we really would welcome some of those players back. But whether it’s for Burnley, I don’t know.”
“We would like to rotate, especially with the schedule that we’ve got coming up; January is probably going to be harder than it was during December. We’ve got a tough period of games coming up and we need fresh players fit and available for that. But we’re at a point where we can’t lose any more players to our backline.” – Eddie Howe
Dan Burn (rib) is out until January, while there wasn’t a timeline on Tino Livramento (knee), the last we heard.
Second-stringers Emil Krafth (knee) and Will Osula (ankle) have been out since the November break, while Anthony Elanga missed out in Gameweek 18 with a knock.
Nick Pope (groin) was back in the squad on Friday, meanwhile. He was only a substitute, and it sounds like he would have been anyway regardless of a pre-match illness.
Howe was asked if Pope could now challenge Ramsdale from Gameweek 19 onwards.
“Nick had really limited training time for [the Manchester United] game. He declared himself fit and then was subsequently ill right before kick-off and wasn’t feeling great, so it was probably fortunate that he wasn’t playing [on Boxing Day].
“But we’ll see, I’ll take a view from the training that I see, although it’s been limited so far. I need to see that Nick’s back to his very best – and Aaron’s has played well in his absence, so I’ll make a call.” – Eddie Howe on his goalkeeping dilemma
Yoane Wissa has been fit for a while and his manager was asked if he needed a run of starts now to show his best.
“With Yoane, I think we’ve got to look after him. He’s still relatively early in his return to full fitness. He did really well in his one start, against Fulham [in the EFL Cup] – I was really pleased with him on that day, and there’ll be other opportunities.
“The problem for us is, with our schedule, playing every three, four days, I don’t think he’s in a condition where he could start regularly at the moment. But hopefully we can manage him to that point at some stage.” – Eddie Howe
CHELSEA
Guess what? Another press conference that was held on Saturday and then embargoed till today.
There’s nothing new on Marc Cucurella, then, after the left-back was taken off with hamstring discomfort in the defeat to Aston Villa.
As for the rest of the Blues’ team news, Dario Essugo (thigh), Romeo Lavia (quad) and Levi Colwill (knee) remain out. Mykhailo Mudryk is suspended, as he has been for the last 12 months.
Jorell Hato, who picked up an injury in the half-time warm-up on Saturday, is also not expected to recover.
‘For Tuesday, I don’t think [he will be ready to feature].” – Enzo Maresca on Jorell Hato
Like Hato, Wesley Fofana was also only a substitute in Gameweek 18. There was no injury behind that decision, just ongoing minute management.
“No [injury], it’s just to manage his fitness condition.” – Enzo Maresca on why Wesley Fofana was benched
Managed game-time is also something that Reece James and Cole Palmer have had at points in 2025/26, although James has twice started three games in a week over the last month or so.
“We need to see how they are [on Sunday], and then we can decide.” – Enzo Maresca on whether Cole Palmer and Reece James can start again
“He’s doing very good. No matter which position he’s playing, I think he’s helping a lot. After the effort from tonight, we need to see how he is for Tuesday, but again, we are happy that he’s fit.” – Enzo Maresca on Reece James
BOURNEMOUTH
We’ve not seen the Bournemouth press conference drop on YouTube yet but quotes have appeared on the club website and in local media to suggest that Andoni Iraola belongs to the throng of managers who combined post-Gameweek 18 media duties with their Gameweek 19 pre-match presser.
Amid reports that Antoine Semenyo is keen to secure a move away as quickly as possible in the January transfer window, Iraola reiterated his desire to keep the winger for as long as possible, rather than bank the transfer fee early.
“No, the more games Antoine can play for us, if he can play years with us, much better! If he cannot be years, months, if he can play more weeks, weeks. The more time he plays with us, the better for us.” – Andoni Iraola, via the Bournemouth Echo
Injury-wise, Tyler Adams (knee), Veljko Milosavljevic (knee) and Ben Gannon-Doak (hamstring) remain on the sidelines.
Alex Scott will also have to be assessed after he took a knock to the jaw at Brentford.
“Yes, he had a big knock in the jaw. Past season, he broke his jaw in the situation against Tyrone Mings. And I hope he doesn’t have more than just the big knock and he was complaining about the jaw and we play in three days.
“I hope it’s just the knock and there is nothing there. But it’s true that he was in a lot of pain and we will have to assess him and see if it’s just the knock. I hope so.” – Andoni Iraola on Alex Scott, via the Bournemouth Echo
ASTON VILLA
Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara will both miss out after picking up their fifth yellow cards of the Premier League season against Chelsea.
Injury-wise, Ross Barkley (knee) will remain out. Evann Guessand is away to the Africa Cup of Nations, too.
Pau Torres (calf) and Tyrone Mings (hamstring) should be nearing a return, having been “more or less” two weeks away before Gameweek 17.
The below quote does make it sound like Mings is still out, however.
“We have Kamara and Cash out tomorrow for being suspended. We will need other players. Kamara is important, yes; Cash is important, yes; Tyrone Mings is important, yes. When he’s not available, Emi Martínez is important, and Marco Bizot. Tomorrow is going to be important with other players.” – Unai Emery, in quotes from the Villa website
Harvey Elliott has officially been ill recently – but the surplus-to-demands loanee would not have featured anyway.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
At last, a manager who can be bothered to host a standalone Gameweek 19 press conference…
Fabian Hurzeler was up bright and early on Monday morning, and he started his presser by passing Kaoru Mitoma (illness) fit.
“Yeah, he will be back.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Kaoru Mitoma
As for Danny Welbeck, back issues have limited his involvement of late. He could start against West Ham United, however.
“Yeah, he hope so. We have to see today but I think he will be an option to start.” – Fabian Hurzeler on whether Danny Welbeck could start in Gameweek 19
Adam Webster (knee) and Stefanos Tzimas (knee) remain unavailable, while Carlos Baleba is on international duty with Cameroon.
The end is in sight with Solly March‘s (knee) recovery, at least.
“Good. He’s doing some training sessions with our under-21s to get used to the intensity and then step by step, he should be reintegrated into our team.” – Fabian Hurzeler on how Solly March is getting on with his recovery
Hurzeler reported no fresh concerns from the defeat at the Emirates.
“No, so we are doing quite well. Of course, we have some modifications during this busy period, like I just mentioned with Danny; Kaoru had a small issue, and James [Milner] couldn’t play for 90 minutes, so we had modify some players, but overall it seems to get better.” – Fabian Hurzeler on if Brighton have any fresh concerns
Yankuba Minteh was benched against Arsenal, with Hurzeler perhaps suggesting after full-time that his omission was not just tactical.
The Brighton boss was asked about his mercurial winger anew on Monday, in quotes not in the broadcast section but reported on the Seagulls’ website.
“Yes, he definitely had an impact on the game. I think he still can do better, not only offensively, but especially defensively. He needs to get a better understanding what it means to help the team. I always try to give an understanding for the people outside. They always see the player Yankuba but there’s a person with private issues, who maybe goes through a difficult period. So, of course, they always want the players to perform at the highest level, but in the end there’s the person behind them. We have to take care of this person as well.
“I think when a player doesn’t perform on their highest level, you need to get an understanding why it is like this. It’s the same with Carlos Baleba and therefore we always have to support the player. We have to find a way to get to get him back to his highest level and we are in exchanges with him. We have a very trustful relationship with him, and now it’s about us and about him getting back to his very best level.” – Fabian Hurzeler on if Yankuba Minteh looked “re-energised” upon his substitute appearance
Finally, a word from the Brighton boss on the back-five formation he used in north London.
“First of all, I think it worked quite well. Of course, the result doesn’t speak for us but when we just analysed from a tactical point of view, we did a lot of good things against Arsenal.
“The second thing is, we have a lot of good centre-backs and they all deserved to play because hey train good, especially [Diego Coppola]. He is always there and he always tries to help the team. He never puts himself first, he always puts the team first.
“If it’s a long-term solution, we will see. Definitely we will play again with a back five. If it’s tomorrow, I don’t know. We always have to understand also the opponent and what we need against the opponent, what is necessary for them. So, it’s several reasons why we choose the back five.” – Fabian Hurzeler on the back five
EVERTON
David Moyes hosted his Gameweek 19 press conference after Saturday’s match at Turf Moor, with quotes embargoed till Sunday.
And this was another brief presser that was of limited use to FPL managers.
Right at the end, however, a reporter did ask if there was a chance that Moyes could have some of his sidelined players back.
“There’s a chance, so we’ll hope so. We’ll wait and see.” – David Moyes on whether we could see any returnees in Gameweek 19
Everton have so far been cagey on providing a timeline for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (hamstring).
Moyes said ahead of Gameweek 18 that Jarrad Branthwaite (hamstring) was “not due to integrate back in for at least another two to three weeks, maybe more.”
Seamus Coleman (hamstring) has been out since late November.
As for Jack Grealish, he only missed out against Burnley due to illness. Moyes said he was hopeful “we’ll get him back this week sometime”.
There are two Toffees we won’t see for sure: Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye are at the Africa Cup of Nations.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Sean Dyche joined Hurzeler in hosting a ‘proper’ press conference on Monday.
Despite that, there weren’t any questions posed – at least in the broadcast section – about team news.
After the Manchester City game, however, Dyche had confirmed that Chris Wood (knee) will be out for “weeks” more after undergoing minor surgery.
Elsewhere, Ola Aina (hamstring) is nearing a return from injury and played for the B team last week. He’s not in the 25-man Premier squad, however, so can’t feature for now.
Ryan Yates (hamstring) is expected to remain out until January. He was running on the grass around a week ago but not yet in team training.
Dan Ndoye has missed the last two games but we haven’t got a timeline on him.
The Tricky Trees are also down two players due to Africa Cup of Nations involvement: Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare are away with the Ivory Coast.
BURNLEY
Ninety seconds of Scott Parker was all we got ahead of Gameweek 19.
The Burnley boss at least provided an update on Maxime Esteve, who has missed the last two league games. Unless Parker misspoke, it sounds more like the centre-back is being targeted for a Gameweek 20 return.
“Maxime’s closer, yeah. Hopefully he’ll be back training with us tomorrow and hopefully he’ll be in the frame to play the weekend.” – Scott Parker
After the draw with Everton, Parker said that it “doesn’t look good” on the knee injury that Josh Cullen sustained that same day.
Joe Worrall missed out on the stalemate at Turf Moor with a “niggle”.
Jordan Beyer (hamstring), Connor Roberts (Achilles) and Zeki Amdouni (knee) are the long-term absentees, while Lyle Foster, Hannibal Mejbri and Axel Tuanzebe are at the Africa Cup of Nations.
WEST HAM UNITED
Nuno Espirito Santo also delivered a short press conference at just 110 seconds in length.
Again, it was filmed in the aftermath of Gameweek 18, rather than this morning.
And again, no injury updates.
The only question vaguely relevant to team news fans concerned Nuno’s decision not to start Callum Wilson of late.
“Options, options, decisions that we have to make. Manage as best as you can all the players.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on his decision not to start Callum Wilson
We’re not aware of any fitness concerns, although Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf are still at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Loanee Igor Julio also can’t face his parent club.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Where better to finish than with another press conference also filmed on Saturday and held back till today.
Rob Edwards said that Yerson Mosquera was hopefully only suffering from cramp in the defeat to Liverpool, while Santiago Bueno sustained a knock.
Andre will miss out against Manchester United after being booked for the fifth time this season.
“I’ll have to see what the fitness in the group is. Yerson was feeling, I think it was cramp, so hopefully he’ll be okay. Santi took a knock as well, so maybe Krejci is forced to play at the back [rather than deputise for Andre] and we’ll have to find another solution. We’ll have to see how everyone rocks up [on Sunday].” – Rob Edwards
Toti Gomes (hamstring), Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (hamstring), Marshall Munetsi (calf), Rodrigo Gomes (groin) and Leon Chiwome (knee) also remain sidelined, while Emmanuel Agbadou and Tawanda Chirewa are at the Africa Cup of Nations.
