So far as we’re aware, there are only two Gameweek 33 press conferences to bring you today – so it looks set to be a busy Friday of team news!
Chelsea’s Liam Rosenior and Leeds United’s Daniel Farke are the only managers facing the media on Thursday.
We’ve got the key team news from both pressers here.
KEY GAMEWEEK 33 TEAM NEWS FROM THURSDAY
- Chelsea: Enzo returns, James still out, Chalobah close, Colwill to play for U21s
- Leeds United: No fresh concerns, Rodon, Stach + James not yet in team training
THURSDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
Thursday's FPL Press Conferences! 🚨
🧿 1.30pm – Rosenior
⚪️ 2.15pm – Farke pic.twitter.com/Ze5RYft5TD— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) April 16, 2026
CHELSEA
Enzo Fernandez is back in the first-team fold after his two-match internal suspension for comments he made over the international break.
Liam Rosenior predictably wouldn’t, however, say whether the midfielder would return to the starting XI.
“I don’t ever tell you the starting XI. [It’s] crazy to say what the starting XI will be two days before a very big game.
“Enzo has been training with the group, he has been training very, very well. It’s business as usual in terms of the selection for the game.” – Liam Rosenior on Enzo Fernandez
Rosenior was keen to draw a line under the whole debacle, when asked if Fernandez’s “situation” affected his squad.
“Not that I’m aware of, no.
“No, Enzo’s come back to the group this week. The group’s been fantastic in terms of training, Enzo has as well, and his application to training, and our group’s application to training, so no.” – Liam Rosenior on whether the Enzo situation divided the squad
On the injury front, Trevoh Chalobah (ankle) is nearing a return but Reece James (hamstring) is a little further behind in his recovery timeline.
“Trevoh trained today, not quite fully – modified. We’ll make a decision on him but he’s very, very close. Reece is a little bit futher away.” – Liam Rosenior
Long-term absentee Levi Colwill (knee/match fitness) will feature for the under-21s on Friday night.
“I’m hoping [he will return before end of season]. Obviously, Levi is an outstanding player and a leader in the dressing room. I think Levi will play some minutes for the under-21s tomorrow, which is fantastic for him.
“When you have a long-term injury, such as the extent of Levi’s injury, you need a long rehab period. I want to make sure that he’s 100% right in terms of his match fitness before we consider him for selection for our first team.” – Liam Rosenior on Levi Colwill
There was no update on Jamie Gittens (hamstring), who had yet another setback in the last fortnight, and Filip Jorgensen (groin), who had minor surgery in mid-March.
LEEDS UNITED
Leeds have no fresh concerns for the visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend.
“All the players who were available for the Man Utd game are also – at least, today – ready for this game.” – Daniel Farke
Daniel Farke didn’t quite rule out the currently injured trio of Anton Stach (ankle), Joe Rodon (ankle) and Daniel James (adductor), however.
Last week, Farke said he was “realistically” expecting Stach and Rodon to be out until May, with any return sooner than that a “bonus”.
But today, he was a bit more ambiguous.
“The first step is more or less that they would be back in team training. Then, if they have a bit of team training, they are also available for the games. As is stands, today, no one is back in team training yet, but we have two more days. Sometimes there could be a negative surprise, sometimes a positive surprise. Let’s see what happens, we assess them day by day.” – Daniel Farke on Joe Rodon, Anton Stach and Daniel James
Noah Okafor, Gabriel Gudmundsson and Jaka Bijol, all flagged ahead of Gameweek 32, came through the trip to Old Trafford unscathed.
“No, all good. No problem.” – Daniel Farke on whether Gabriel Gudmundsson came through his comeback game unscathed
Away from team news, a bit of (prompted) praise for Noah Okafor and Jaka Bijol, not that you’d expect Farke to say anything overly negative about the pair.
“He’s really good in taking players on but it’s one of his strengths, definitely, to finish [goals] in these moments. We encourage him and show him the triggers when to be there in these moments but we also want to see the other side of his game, and we are really happy with how he’s performing at the moment. Also, his work against the ball and his ability to score goals. I think this is, for the player in his position, quite remarkable. But he’s also invited to assist even more with this situation. So, to be a bit more effective and add a few more assists to his name.
“We want to see the whole package and there’s even more to come from Noah, and it’s important also for him to stay hungry and not like to think after such a game with two goals, ‘Okay, right now, I’ve reached the top level and everything is easy’. He needs to stay humble and get his head down and keep working because there’s still lots to improve also in his game.” – Daniel Farke on Noah Okafor
“He has this natural aura to be a leader of men, and also like in difficult moments, because yeah, when the sun is shining individually, then everyone can be a leader and everyone can be in a good mood, but the real character is always shown when the sun is perhaps not shining or it’s a bit more of a difficult situation individually. I think how he handles this situation is, for me, second to none, and this is why he’s a big leader for me and a very important player, a key player. He was always a key player, even in the situations when he sometimes had to wait or was injured.
“We are all happy that we have Jaka but also with him, first season in English football, still room for improvement, but he’s on a really good path.” – Daniel Farke on Jaka Bijol
