When the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline passed last night, five top-flight managers still hadn’t spoken to the media with any Gameweek 19 team news.
Four of them have done so today, following on from the 15 given over Monday and Tuesday.
To complete the set, Liverpool’s Arne Slot has some embargoed quotes coming out this evening.
KEY GAMEWEEK 19 INJURY NEWS FROM WEDNESDAY
- Manchester City: Possible returns for Rodri and Doku
- Crystal Palace: Richards is a doubt for Gameweek 20 too; another Nketiah muscle injury
- Fulham: Nothing on top of Sessegnon, Muniz and AFCON absences
- Sunderland: Ballard to miss another match
MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola gave a succinct summary of his injury situation. While Rodri (muscle) and Jeremy Doku (leg) may get some minutes up at Sunderland, there’ll be no John Stones (thigh), Oscar Bobb (hamstring) or Mateo Kovacic (ankle).
“Rodri has come back, maybe he can play a few minutes. Doku maybe, John [Stones] and Oscar [Bobb] no.” – Pep Guardiola
Plus, Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri are on international duty.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Chris Richards (foot) won’t make the New Year’s Day meeting with Fulham and is a doubt for Gameweek 20, too.
“Chris [Richards] is not back, and for Newcastle it will be quite tight. His foot is too swollen, so he can’t wear a boot right now – it’s too painful.” – Oliver Glasner
In addition, forward Eddie Nketiah (muscle) is out and there’s not yet word on how long he’ll be sidelined for.
“Eddie [Nketiah] is out for this game, so let’s see for the next game. We don’t know exactly how long it will take [to recover] – we’ll have to take it game by game.
“It’s a little bit his muscle, but we don’t know right now how serious it is. Of course, he’s had a few issues this year, and that’s why we are quite cautious.” – Oliver Glasner
Of the rest, Daniel Munoz (knee), Daichi Kamada (hamstring), Cheick Doucoure (knee), Rio Cardines (groin), Caleb Kporha (back) and Chadi Riad (match fitness) can’t play, with Ismaila Sarr at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
FULHAM
Nothing new from Marco Silva, who says that Ryan Sessegnon and Rodrigo Muniz remain sidelined by hamstring problems. The latter is likely out until mid-February.
“Everything is the same. No fresh news on Sess & Rodrigo [Muniz]. Sess will be back soon, but not for tomorrow or Liverpool.” – Marco Silva
Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze are at AFCON.
SUNDERLAND
As well as having six players in Morocco – Habib Diarra, Bertrand Traore, Noah Sadiki, Arthur Masuaku, Chemsdine Talbi and Reinildo Mandava – there won’t be centre-back Dan Ballard (ankle) either, missing from Sunday’s home draw against Leeds United.
“He’s getting better, but he won’t be available for the game tomorrow. We hope for Spurs, but we’ll see. It’s not serious.” – Regis Le Bris on Dan Ballard
Aji Alese (shoulder) isn’t around, but Luke O’Nien returns from his three-match suspension.
