We had three more pre-Gameweek 19 press conferences on Tuesday, with the managers of Brentford, Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur providing us with their latest team news.
The injury updates and key quotes can be found in the article below.
This follows on from the team news we got (or didn’t get!) for a further 12 clubs on Monday.
As for the other five teams, who all contest matches on New Year’s Day, we’re very likely not going to hear anything before tonight’s deadline.
What we know about Liverpool, Manchester City, Fulham, Sunderland and Crystal Palace can be found in our predicted line-ups page.
KEY GAMEWEEK 19 INJURY NEWS FROM TUESDAY
- Arsenal: Rice reportedly set to miss out, Timber hope
- Brentford: Andrews coy on van den Berg. Thiago quotes
- Tottenham Hotspur: Romero back from a ban, Udogie latest
- Leeds United: Rodon out for three weeks
ARSENAL
Before we begin with the press conferences, however, some late-breaking news on Arsenal.
The Athletic are reporting that Declan Rice will miss their game against Aston Villa this evening with a minor knee injury.
They also say they are “hopeful” that Rice’s absence “will be offset by the return of Jurrien Timber“.
Kai Havertz (knee) and Ben White (hamstring) are reportedly with the squad.
Riccardo Calafiori remains a doubt, while Max Dowman (ankle) and Cristhian Mosquera (ankle) are out.
BRENTFORD
Keith Andrews played his cards close to his chest when asked about Sepp van den Berg (knock), who missed out in Gameweek 18.
“This time of year, naturally, you pick up little bits and bobs. Still a couple of days out, so we’ll see how everyone is tomorrow.” – Keith Andrews
Dango Ouattara and Frank Onyeka are at the Africa Cup of Nations with their respective countries, while long-term absentees Josh Dasilva (knee), Fábio Carvalho (knee) and Antoni Milambo (knee) are still unavailable.
Meanwhile, Andrews discussed the fact that Igor Thiago has been playing through the pain barrier – which perhaps explains why the striker hasn’t featured in any midweek game this season. Next up: a match on Thursday…
“He just had a bit of an issue, nothing to do with his injury last season at all. Nothing like that. Again, this time of year, the games, it takes its toll, you need to be careful with some players at times.
“I just think he showed a lot of bravery and courage to play against Wolves and gave us that platform. I thought he played really, really well against Wolves and gave us that base to win the game. Players fed off him: Keane Lewis-Potter obviously with his goals and Kev [Schade] was looking dangerous that day.
“There’s nothing too much to worry about with Thiago. I just felt he’s shown a lot of courage and put the team before himself going into the last couple of games.” – Keith Andrews on Igor Thiago, via the Brentford website
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Thomas Frank says that Spurs have no fresh concerns for the trip to Brentford.
Lucas Bergvall should be okay after he came off in the match against Crystal Palace last weekend.
“Lucas is okay. I am quite positive that he will be available. Of course, there’s a small doubt, but it’s quite possible that he will be available.” – Thomas Frank
Destiny Udogie (hamstring), Dominic Solanke (ankle), James Maddison (knee) and Dejan Kulusevski (knee) remain out, however. Udogie is back running but not in team training.
“He is running out there on the pitch, doing individual sessions on the pitch, so progressing going forwards, so that’s good.” – Thomas Frank on Destiny Udogie
Xavi Simons is still suspended for this game, too, while Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma are both at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Cristian Romero returns from a one-match ban, at least. He faces a further misconduct charge but that won’t be resolved till later in January, so he’s available for selection in midweek.
So too is Brennan Johnson, who is reportedly close to a move elsewhere.
“He’s ready for the game tomorrow, as far as I know it’s something that will be decided in early January.” – Thomas Frank on Cristian Romero
LEEDS UNITED
Joe Rodon will be out for around three weeks with the ankle injury he sustained at Sunderland on Sunday.
“Yes, he will definitely miss the Liverpool game. The diagnosis is better than we were fearing straight after the game because it didn’t look really good. The assessment is it’s an ankle ligament injury. Normally he will be out with such an injury for around three weeks. We still have a bit of hope because normally he’s a good healer and also a strong boy so perhaps there’s a chance to involve him even before but at the moment, I’d say it’s realistic that he’ll miss the games including the FA Cup game. Hopefully on the other side… we have him pretty soon back available.” – Daniel Farke on Joe Rodon
Daniel James (hamstring) and Sean Longstaff (calf) are still unavailable but, Rodon aside, Daniel Farke has no new concerns.

