Across Thursday and Friday, we’re hearing from six Premier League managers ahead of their FA Cup quarter-finals.
We’ll round up the key injury updates below.
KEY UPDATES FROM THURSDAY + FRIDAY
- Chelsea: Enzo suspended by his club for two matches; Estevao and Gittens are back
- Liverpool: Alisson to miss a while, but Salah is available and Isak may get minutes
- Arsenal: Eze and Hincapie out, Madueke’s injury isn’t bad, as Odegaard and Timber could be ok
- Manchester City: Nothing from Pep on Stones, Gvardiol or Ruben Dias
- Leeds United: Calvert-Lewin (hamstring) is a doubt, but Stach (hip) should be fine
- West Ham United: Summerville to be assessed
CHELSEA
The big headline from Stamford Bridge is that Enzo Fernandez has been suspended for two matches by the club, following public comments about his future at Chelsea.
“As a football club, with me as part of the decision, he won’t be available for tomorrow’s game or Manchester City next Sunday. It’s disappointing for Enzo to speak that way. I have got no bad words to say about him but a line was crossed but a line was crossed in terms of our culture and what we want to build.” – Liam Rosenior on Enzo Fernandez
Head coach Liam Rosenior was keen to stress that “the door is not closed” on the midfielder, but he’ll not face either Port Vale or Manchester City. Expect Enzo to be a popular sale before Gameweek 32.
Meanwhile, Estevao and Jamie Gittens are ready to meet the last-placed League One side, though Reece James (hamstring), Trevoh Chalobah (ankle), Levi Colwill (knee) and Mykhailo Mudryk (suspended)
“Reece [James] is getting along really well but not ready yet. Trev [Chalobah] is progressing well as well. Levi [Colwill] is back in full training. Estevao and Jamie Gittens are back.” – Liam Rosenior
LIVERPOOL
Mohamed Salah (muscle) is ready to play for the first time since announcing his imminent Liverpool departure.
“Is he fit? Yes, he is. Trained yesterday and today, he’s available.” – Arne Slot on Mohamed Salah
Yet the most notable Fantasy news is the absence of goalkeeper Alisson Becker (hamstring), which will go beyond both upcoming Paris Saint-Germain legs.
“He is unavailable and also out of the PSG game. He will be out for a bit longer. We expect him back towards the end of the season..” – Arne Slot on Alisson
Of the rest, Jeremie Frimpong and Federico Chiesa (knock) seem fine, and Alexander Isak (ankle) may get some minutes – his first since December.
“It will be too soon to expect him in the starting lineup… his first time training yesterday, after 101 days out. It will take a bit of time to give him a lot of minutes, but we will make sure we do the right thing to build him up.” – Arne Slot on Alexander Isak
Wataru Endo (foot), Stefan Bajcetic (hamstring), Conor Bradley (knee) and Giovanni Leoni (knee) remain out.
ARSENAL
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Mikel Arteta was cryptic when ‘updating’ on the status of Arsenal’s 11 international withdrawals.
“You will see. I will let you do the speculation. You can judge afterwards. We are in a position right now where we need to make the strongest line-up we possibly can to win every competition. We are two or three games away from the FA Cup and we know how important that competition is for us.” – Mikel Arteta
“Tomorrow, the goalkeeper is going to be European. He is under 32. Right-footed. And he speaks at least two languages.” – Mikel Arteta
But we know that Eberechi Eze (calf) and Piero Hincapie (muscle) won’t face Southampton. Neither will Mikel Merino (foot). As for Noni Madueke, he left Wembley in a knee brace, but Arteta is hopeful that it’s a matter of days rather than weeks.
“It looked bad and Noni [Madueke] was really worried, especially after what happened in his other knee and he was out for six weeks. It is nowhere near that injury.” – Mikel Arteta
“[Eze] is out. With him, I cannot say how long because he is a special character.” – Mikel Arteta
Martin Odegaard (knee) and Jurrien Timber (ankle) are in contention to make the Gunners’ FA Cup squad, but nothing was said regarding Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Martin Zubimendi or Leandro Trossard.
MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola spent most of his time talking about Rodri’s own off-field comments, some poor Phil Foden form and the respect he has for Salah.
But we know that Ruben Dias (hamstring) missed Man City’s EFL Cup final win, while John Stones (calf) withdrew from the England squad. Fellow defender Josko Gvardiol (leg) has been out for the last few months.
LEEDS UNITED
Both Leeds and West Ham United are prioritising top-flight survival, but Daniel Farke is still taking the FA Cup game.
Speaking on Thursday, he mentioned Anton Stach getting over a minor knock, but some slight doubt over Dominic Calvert-Lewin‘s availability.
The latter had to end Wednesday’s session early because he felt his hamstring
“Hopefully just a minor problem. Lots of travelling, different circumstances, sometimes it can happen. Yesterday, in training, he felt a little problem with his hamstring and didn’t want to risk anything. Today [Thursday], we decided to scan him as a precaution. I hope he’s back in team training, but we have to assess him. I hope he’s with us for Sunday.” – Daniel Farke on Dominic Calvert-Lewin
“Anton Stach was yesterday struggling with some hip problems. Was not in training, although he returned a bit earlier because Germany played already on Monday. But today [Thursday] he’s back in training, so he shouldn’t be a problem, I think.” – Daniel Farke
Everyone else should be back, though. Noah Okafor‘s withdrawal from the Switzerland squad was merely precautionary, having just recovered from a month-long hamstring absence.
WEST HAM UNITED
Calf issues kept Jean-Clair Todibo and Crysencio Summerville out of Gameweek 31. The latter also missed Gameweek 30, but has a chance of making Sunday’s lineup.
“Trying, all of us trying to get him [back] as soon as possible, assessing day by day, to see how he improves. We have one day to go, and then we will take decisions.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Crysencio Summerville
