As was the case in Gameweek 19, the Gameweek 20 team news will be a hotchpotch of live press conferences and embargoed bits (of limited use) from midweek.
Whatever injury updates and key quotes we do hear on Friday, we’ll include in the article below.
Sean Dyche was the only Premier League boss to face the media on Thursday. Quotes from his presser are also below.
KEY GAMEWEEK 20 INJURY NEWS FROM FRIDAY
- Arsenal: Mosquera + Calafiori still out, Arteta non-committal on Rice
- Bournemouth: Semenyo set to be involved in Gameweek 20 + possibly Gameweek 21
- Liverpool: Gomez + Endo latest, Slot on Wirtz’s hamstring
- Manchester City: Pep on rotation, Savinho, Doku + Rodri
- Manchester United: Amorim not expecting Bruno or anyone else to return
- Chelsea: Cucurella trains but McFarlane not sure if he can face City
- Newcastle United: Hall should be okay, updates on Trippier, Livramento, Botman + Elanga
- Everton: Keane has a “chance”, Dewsbury-Hall + Alcaraz out, Grealish better
- Brighton and Hove Albion: Minteh deag leg, Wieffer out with a toe injury
- Aston Villa: Emery hints that he may get one player back from injury, Cash + Kamara available
- Tottenham Hotspur: Bergvall still a doubt, Solanke to return at some point in January
- Crystal Palace: Hughes a new concern, no one expected back
- Brentford: No fresh concerns, Andrews on Jensen’s benching
- Fulham: King + Tete set to miss out, too soon for Sessegnon
- Nottingham Forest: Aina set to return, Ndoye “touch and go”
- Sunderland: Ballard “unlikely”, six still at AFCON
- Leeds United: Ampadu banned, Longstaff, Rodon + James still out
- Burnley: Esteve out but could return in Gameweek 21
- West Ham United: Todibo to be assessed
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: Andre back from ban, S Bueno available
FRIDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
🚨 Friday's FPL Press Conferences!
🕊️ 9am – Hurzeler
⭕️ 9.30am – Arteta
⚫️ 9.30am – Howe
🍒 12.30pm – Iraola
🐺 1pm – Edwards
🐝 1.30pm – Andrews
🍷 1.30pm – Parker
🍬 1.30pm – Moyes
⬜️ 1.30pm – Silva
🔴 1.30pm – Slot
🔵 1.30pm – Guardiola
👹 1.30pm – Amorim
🐔 1.30pm -… pic.twitter.com/nafJRPTm56— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) January 2, 2026
Quotes also to come from Nuno Espirito Santo, Regis Le Bris, Oliver Glasner and Daniel Farke.
ARSENAL
Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera (ankle) will both still be absent for the trip to Bournemouth.
“They are both out.” – Mikel Arteta on Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera
“No [fresh concerns]. Obviously, we haven’t trained yet, so today is going to be the first training session properly with the players who started against Villa. We’ll know more this afternoon.” – Mikel Arreta
Arteta wasn’t quite so helpful when discussing Declan Rice (knee), who missed out against Aston Villa.
“Well, not yet. We have another session today, let’s see how he comes today and how that’s feeling. It was too early, that game, for him.
“Sometimes you get a hit and, throughout the game, you are able, with adrenaline and because you are warm, able to sustain that. Then the body reacts, and it reacted probably more than we expected, unfortunately, and that’s where we are.” – Mikel Arteta on whether Declan Rice’s swelling on his knee has reduced and if he has a chance of being involved against Bournemouth
Arteta was also asked about whether the recent return from injury of several players allows him more flexibility to rotate.
“At the end, I think we have to talk about performance, not rotation. We want performance, the highest performance, every three days or throughout the game and that’s what we have to look at and in order to achieve that, who are the best players, in the best condition, with the best relationship to fulfil that.” – Mikel Arteta
BOURNEMOUTH
Despite reports suggesting a move to Manchester City is imminent, Andoni Iraola confirmed that Antoine Semenyo will be involved against Arsenal this weekend.
The Bournemouth boss said that the winger could even feature in Gameweek 21, although admitted that uncertainty lay beyond that.
“Yes, Antoine is going to play, yes.” – Andoni Iraola
“No, no. I think the idea, at least, is that he’s going to be available in these two home games that we have in a very short turnaround. I hope he can be here more time [beyond that] but I don’t know what’s going to happen.
“No, that’s not the idea [that the Arsenal game is his final match]. When the market is open, you never know what is going to happen because I cannot control the things but if you ask me right now, I don’t think [this is his last game].
“There is nothing signed, for sure. There are conversations. I understand a lot of the noise around it but there is nothing signed. Antoine is our player.
“He’s playing very well, I think he’s doing the right things. He’s a top professional, a top guy. He wants to help the team, he wants to help his teammates. I have no doubts that he will do his best.” – Andoni Iraola on whether this is Antoine Semenyo’s last game
On the team news front, Ryan Christie (knee) will miss out again. Lewis Cook (neck), a fellow Gameweek 19 absentee, will be assessed today.
Tyler Adams (knee), Veljko Milosavljevic (knee) and Ben Gannon-Doak (hamstring) are unavailable, while rookie Matai Akinmboni is training with the development squad as he slowly works his way back from a medium-term injury.
Will Dennis suffered an ankle injury in training yesterday, too. While the Cherries await the result of that scan, they have signed free agent Fraser Forster on a short-term deal.
LIVERPOOL
Arne Slot held his Gameweek 20 presser straight after full-time on Thursday night, so he wouldn’t have had much time to assess his squad anew when he faced the media.
Slot did, at least, provide us with the latest on Joe Gomez (muscle) and Wataru Endo (ankle).
“I expect Joe to train with us [on Friday] and Wata not yet.” – Arne Slot
Alexander Isak (ankle), Giovanni Leoni (ACL) and Mohamed Salah (international duty) are definitely out.
If you’ve read our Scout Notes this morning, you will have read quotes about Florian Wirtz‘s hamstring discomfort last week – something that prompted Slot to manage his minutes on Thursday.
There was a little more on the German in these released-from-embargo quotes.
“We had four players on the bench [against Leeds] that haven’t played any minutes in the Premier League and these players just keep going with so many games to go. So, if anyone was like, ‘Why does he take Florian [Wirtz] off?’ for example, two days after the [Wolves] game, he felt his hamstring still too much. That’s why he couldn’t train, he could only train [on Wednesday]. With all games coming up, for me it was too much of a risk if you don’t have so many players available with Premier League experience – and, of course, Cody [Gakpo] is a good replacement to bring in.” – Arne Slot
MANCHESTER UNITED
While he stressed that there was still one more training session to go, Ruben Amorim said that he is not expecting anyone back for the trip to Leeds United.
Bruno Fernandes (hamstring), Kobbie Mainoo (calf), Matthijs de Ligt (back), Mason Mount (muscle) and Harry Maguire (hamstring) look set to miss out again, then.
Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui remain on international duty, too.
United at least have no fresh concerns.
“We are going [with] no [fresh] issues, no different issues. We’re going to see tomorrow, we have one more training. I don’t think so, that anyone is going to recover, but we’ll see.” – Ruben Amorim
MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola, like Slot above, held his pre-match press conference straight after full-time on Thursday.
Much of the Gameweek 20 section of that presser was devoted to questions about Enzo Maresca, so there wasn’t much in the way of team news.
Guardiola was however asked about whether he will need to rotate against the Blues, given the swift turnaround.
He mentioned Rodri and Jeremy Doku, who made their returns from injury as substitutes on Thursday, as well as Savinho, who is a fresh concern from the Sunderland game.
“We’ll see how the people are recovering now. In this period, to have two games away is so demanding. You know, Christmas times always happen and it has been a tough two games at Nottingham Forest and [at Sunderland], so yeah, we have to see. [There’s] not much time. We’ll see what happened. Rodri is back and Jeremy – both have come from long, long injuries. So we have to be careful, talk with the doctors, with the physios and we will see. We will miss Savinho.” – Pep Guardiola
Earlier in the evening, Guardiola said Savinho’s injury “doesn’t look good.” City will also assess Nico Gonzalez after he came off at the interval.
There was no word from the City boss on why he took Nico O’Reilly off; there were suggestions of a niggle by the Sky commentary team but nothing confirmed beyond that.
CHELSEA
Interim Chelsea boss Calum McFarlane says that Marc Cucurella (hamstring) has trained today but that he is not sure if the defender will be fit to face Manchester City.
“Yeah, that is positive. We’re undecided on that so I don’t really have the full information on that as of yet. I’m sure it will come out in the next couple of days.” – Calum McFarlane on Marc Cucurella
Moises Caicedo also has to serve a one-match ban for yellow card accumulation.
Dario Essugo (thigh), Romeo Lavia (quad), Levi Colwill (knee) and Mykhailo Mudryk (suspended) remain out this weekend.
Jorell Hato, who picked up an injury in the half-time warm-up last Saturday, missed out in Gameweek 19. We don’t have a timeline on him.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Eddie Howe thinks that Lewis Hall should be okay for the visit of Crystal Palace. The left-back suffered a blow to the ankle in the win over Burnley but lasted the full 90 minutes.
“Yeah, he should be okay. We’ll have a closer look at him today but I don’t see it being a big problem.” – Eddie Howe on Lewis Hall
It’s looking pretty positive on the fitness front, with Sven Botman (back), Kieran Trippier (hamstring), Tino Livramento (knee) and Anthony Elanga (knock) all nearing a return.
Emil Krafth (knee) and Will Osula (ankle) remain out.
“Krafth, no. He’s further back. The others, yes.” – Eddie Howe on whether there is any chance of defenders being back over the ‘next couple of games’
“Tino [Livramento] and Kieran [Trippier] have worked really well. They’ve had proper recovery periods, so they’re both close.
“Lewis Miley, I’ve said time and again how well he’s done in a position that he’s not played before. Again, against Burnley, I thought he was magnficent for us. But we’d love to get our full-backs back, fit and available.” – Eddie Howe
“They’re both very close. Sven’s been training with the group, which has been great, so I envisage him being in and around this game. Anthony hasn’t trained with us yet but is very close to doing so.” – Eddie Howe on Anthony Elanga and Sven Botman
“I don’t think he’s close but I think he’s improving. So, hopefully we’ll see him towards the end of the month.” – Eddie Howe on Will Osula
Dan Burn (rib) is also still sidelined.
EVERTON
David Moyes says that Michael Keane (unspecified) has “a chance” for Brentford but added that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (hamstring) and Carlos Alcaraz (unspecified) are still out.
“Michael Keane’s got a chance. I would say the others don’t have a chance, no.” – David Moyes
Seamus Coleman (hamstring) has been out since late November, while 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”.
Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye are still at the Africa Cup of Nations, too.
Jack Grealish is at least “much better” after illness saw him miss out in Gameweek 18 and only feature as a substitute in midweek.
“[Grealish] is much better, he looks much better. He looks a lot fresher in the face and sharper. He had a really bad illness and it affected him [with] sickness and all of the other stuff that comes with it. So, he’s looking a bit better now and certainly back in training.” – David Moyes
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Fabian Hurzeler has confirmed that a scan on Yankuba Minteh has come back clear.
However, the winger suffered a dead leg in the draw with West Ham United, and he still faces assessment on whether he can start.
“Yeah, the scan is fine. It was just a dead leg. So, let’s see how training goes today and then we see if he can start or not.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Yankuba Minteh
Mats Wieffer remains out with a toe injury, meanwhile.
“Mats Wieffer had a small issue with his toe, so he won’t be available tomorrow, but I hope it’s not a big issue.” – Fabian Hurzeler
Solly March (knee), Adam Webster (knee) and Stefanos Tzimas (knee) also remain unavailable, while Carlos Baleba is on international duty with Cameroon.
Kaoru Mitoma is an option to start, at least, while the Seagulls have no fresh concerns bar Minteh.
“I think he can be an option [to start on Saturday]. I think he played well, he had an impact when he came on the pitch [in Gameweek 19]. We know he’s a quality player for us. So therefore, we’re happy that he’s back.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Kaoru Mitoma
“I think nothing changed. Millie [James Milner], Danny Wellbeck, they both looked fine after the game. So, I think we will have the same selection again.” – Fabian Hurzeler on the rest of Brighton’s team news
Brighton are closing in on a move for old boy Pascal Gross, although he won’t be involved in Gameweek 19.
ASTON VILLA
Unai Emery said on Friday that some of his injured players are “close” to coming back.
We’re assuming it’ll be Pau Torres (calf) and Tyrone Mings (hamstring), given that they were “more or less” two weeks away before Gameweek 17. This game may come too soon for the pair, however.
Ross Barkley (knee) remains sidelined for certain, while Evann Guessand is still away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Amadou Onana, who came off at half-time on Tuesday, is newly ruled out, too.
Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara are both back from suspension, however.
“Now we have some injured players. They are close to coming back, some of them, but still a lot of players are not available for tomorrow. But we have enough players to compete against Nottingham Forest.” – Unai Emery
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Lucas Bergvall (knock) remains a doubt after missing out in midweek.
“Lucas Bergvall is a doubt. We hope he’ll be ready.” – Thomas Frank
James Maddison (knee) and Dejan Kulusevski (knee) remain out but Destiny Udogie (hamstring) and Dominic Solanke (ankle) are closing in on returns. Udogie was running this week, while Thomas Frank has said that Solanke will be back at some point in January.
Xavi Simons is still suspended for this game and Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma are both at the Africa Cup of Nations.
“The thing I need to open up about, of course, is when he’s out there on the pitch with pictures, then that’s positive, of course. But to say mid-Jan or end of Jan or 25th of Jan, I will not do that. I will very much look forward to name the date when he’s involved in the squad.” – Thomas Frank on Dominic Solanke
CRYSTAL PALACE
Oliver Glasner isn’t expecting anyone back from injury for the trip to Newcastle United.
Daniel Munoz (knee), Rio Cardines (groin), Daichi Kamada (hamstring), Cheick Doucoure (knee), Caleb Kporha (back), Chadi Riad (knee), Eddie Nketiah (hamstring) and Chris Richards (foot) look set to remain out, then.
Ismaila Sarr is also still on international duty.
The Eagles also have a new concern over Will Hughes (muscle).
“Right now, of course, today we had 14 on-field players from our squad available, and we have our youngsters.
“But for me, it’s always important also to find the right moment to give them minutes, because it’s also for them: for example, coming on today and making a mistake and you lose, it’s massive pressure on a young boy, and so it’s really being very careful and cautious with them to find the right moment.
“Of course, if Will [Hughes] is not available, we have 13, and three days after Newcastle, we play Villa at home. Both teams are on a great run, even though Villa lost at the Emirates.
“With Newcastle, I watched them against Burnley, they’re a high-intensity team, especially at home. Pace everywhere. Great, very dominant central midfield. We will give our best to do it better than last year, because last year we went home with a 5-0 [defeat].
“It looks like [Eddie Nketiah] is also not available. It looks like nobody will come back for this game.” – Oliver Glasner, as quoted by the Palace website
The Eagles do at least look set to add Brennan Johnson to the squad in the coming hours.
BRENTFORD
Keith Andrews thinks that everyone came through Brentford’s goalless draw with Spurs on New Year’s Day unscathed.
“As usual with a game of that type, a few little knocks as you would expect. I don’t think there’s anything of note. We’ll see when we meet back up with staff in the next hour or so. Touch wood, I think everyone seems okay.” – Keith Andrews
Sepp van den Berg (knock) returned to the matchday squad last night, albeit only as a substitute.
Josh Dasilva (knee ligament) remains sidelined, while Fábio Carvalho and Antoni Milambo will both miss the rest of the campaign due to ACL injuries.
Frank Onyeka and Dango Ouattara are also unavailable due to their involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Andrews meanwhile explained why Mathias Jensen had dropped out of his XI for the Spurs game.
“Mathi [Jensen] wasn’t right to start; he had a bit of a bug. Jordan [Henderson] came into the team, that was the only change from the Bournemouth game when we played really, really well.” – Keith Andrews
FULHAM
Marco Silva says he expects Kenny Tete (hamstring) and Josh King (knee) to both miss the visit of Liverpool.
It’s too soon for Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), too, despite a return to training.
Rodrigo Muniz (hamstring) also remains out, while Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze are still on international duty.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Ola Aina (hamstring) is nearing a return from injury after twice featuring for the B team in recent weeks.
“Yeah, mostly good. There’s a few carrying a few knocks but we’re hopeful of them recovering. Obviously, Ola comes back into the group, as well, so that’s good.” – Sean Dyche on the latest Forest team news
“I am learning about him, I know he is a good character. I managed teams that have played against him so I know about the pace and power he has got. We are looking forward to getting him back involved. He is in contention to come back into the group.
“He has put a lot of miles on the clock, not so many game hours because of the situation. But his injury is fine, he feels fine, he is back in the group.” – Sean Dyche on Ola Aina, via the Athletic
Elsewhere, Dan Ndoye (calf) remains a doubt and Chris Wood (knee) will be out for “months” after surgery.
“Dan has a minor calf injury. It will be touch and go for him this weekend but hopefully he will return after that.” – Sean Dyche on Dan Ndoye, via the Athletic
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.
Ryan Yates (hamstring) was previously ruled out until January but we don’t have an exact return date. He was running on the grass, the last we heard.
SUNDERLAND
The Black Cats’ website says that it’s “unlikely” that Dan Ballard (ankle) will be back available for Sunday’s match with Spurs.
Reinildo Mandava, Arthur Masuaka, Noah Sadiki, Bertrand Traore, Habib Diarra and Chemsdine Talbi are all still at the Africa Cup of Nations, too.
Regis Le Bris said that Bryan Brobbey came off against Manchester City with muscle tightness but doesn’t think it’s serious.
LEEDS UNITED
Speaking straight after the draw with Liverpool, Daniel Farke confirmed that Joe Rodon (ankle), Daniel James (hamstring) and Sean Longstaff (calf) will remain out for Gameweek 20.
Ethan Ampadu won’t feature: he picked up his fifth booking of the season last night.
Farke will assess Ilia Gruev and Sebastiaan Bornauw after the pair suffered from cramp in rare starts for the Whites.
BURNLEY
Maxime Esteve will miss the trip to Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend.
The defender returned from a brief lay-off in Gameweek 19 but was quickly forced off with the recurrence of the same issue, and Scott Parker won’t risk him again on Saturday.
Esteve could, however, be back for Gameweek 21.
“Max won’t make the weekend. He’s done some work on the grass today but with the dynamics of how things went in the last game, there’s probably too much to risk in such a short turnaround.
“We’ll just err on the side of caution there and pick him up now, get some good work into him and hopefully he’ll be fit for Wednesday.” – Scott Parker on Maxime Esteve
Parker said he had no fresh concerns beyond Esteve.
“Not really, no, I think we are where we are really in terms of the injuries.” – Scott Parker on if he has any new injury worries
WEST HAM UNITED
The Hammers will check on Jean-Clair Todibo after he complained of groin tightness in midweek.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf remain at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Łukasz Fabiański (back) is still sidelined, too
Loanee Igor Julio is available again, however, after being ineligible to face his parent club on Tuesday.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Rob Edwards says that he will “hopefully” have Santiago Bueno (dead leg) back available after the centre-half missed out on Tuesday.
Wolves have not lost anyone anew from the draw with Manchester United, while Andre returns from a ban.
Marshall Munetsi (calf) has been on the grass this week but is not close to team training. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (hamstring) and Toti Gomes (hamstring) remain out, as well.
Emmanuel Agbadou is still at the Africa Cup of Nations.
