It’s an unusually busy Thursday of press conferences today, with eight Premier League managers facing the media.
Arne Slot and Mikel Arteta are among the top-flight bosses speaking to journalists.
Another is Calum McFarlane, although today’s presser is, of course, of the FA Cup final variety. Chelsea’s Gameweek 37 fixture is not until next Tuesday.
A reminder that we will almost certainly not get any Bournemouth or Tottenham Hotspur team news before Friday’s deadline.
The managers of the other 10 Premier League teams should be on press conference duty on Friday.
As for today’s media gatherings, this live blog will have all the updates throughout the day.
KEY GAMEWEEK 37 TEAM NEWS FROM THURSDAY
- Arsenal: White injury “looks long term”, Timber likely still out, Calafiori uncertain
- Liverpool: Salah available as a sub, Alisson close, Wirtz still affected by stomach bug
THURSDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
Thursday's FPL Press Conferences! 🚨
🔴 9am – Slot
⭕️ 9.15am – Arteta
🟣 1.30pm – Emery
🕊️ 1.30pm – Hurzeler
🧿 1.30pm – McFarlane
🍷 2pm – Jackson
🌳 2.30pm – Pereira
🐝 5pm – Andrews pic.twitter.com/bCpGTvd3si— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) May 14, 2026
ARSENAL
The Gunners confirmed earlier this week that Ben White had suffered a “significant” knee injury in the win over West Ham United last Sunday.
And on Thursday, Mikel Arteta confirmed that the injury looked like a “long-term” one.
“We have to wait and see [whether he’s out of the World Cup], it looks like a long-term injury. At the moment, the focus is ‘When can we have him back and available for Arsenal?’, and that’s not going to happen in many, many weeks.” – Arne Slot on Ben White
Arteta suggested that fellow Jurrien Timber (ankle) is still sidelined, too.
“We need to look at alternatives. The two players that we have, they are not available at the moment, so we need to look and do something else. The good thing is that we have experienced that all over the pitch this season, because when we had issues, normally they were in the same positions, as well, and we have managed still to find the right level of performance and consistency, so I’m sure we will do that.” – Mikel Arteta on his right-back options
“He wanted to be very close to the team [which is why he was with the squad in Gameweek 36]. He’s progressed a little bit in the last few days, he’s feeling better. We’re going to try to get him fit and available as quickly as possible, but let’s see. Obviously, he’s been out now for a while, unfortunately. He’s such an important player for us. We all know that and he’s doing everything he possibly can to help the team in any capacity. We know his leadership, his quality and how much the team needs him. He’s trying everything that he can.
“There is a chance [Timber plays again this season] but how big the chance is, I cannot tell you. I’m being completely honest. He’s going to try to do everything he can to convert that chance as high as possible in the shortest possible period, and that’s the challenge ahead.” – Mikel Arteta on Jurrien Timber
The Arsenal boss initially didn’t offer us much else on the team news front.
“Not much [team news] at the moment, we still have a few days till Monday, so we’ll have to wait and see how certain players evolve and whether they are available or not for the game.
“We have most players available now. Okay, we lost Ben [White] the other day, but the other ones are coming back as well. Everybody is so enthusiastic and so positive about the way that we can finish the season.” – Mikel Arteta
Later in the presser, Arteta was asked about Riccardo Calafiori, who came off at half-time last weekend. Again, he wasn’t a great deal of help.
“No, we don’t know whether he’s going to be available. We still have days ahead. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious but we’ll have to wait and see how he reacts to that.” – Mikel Arteta on whether Riccardo Calafiori has trained yet
Calafiori was one of the names mentioned by journalists as a possible understudy at right-back. Declan Rice spent time in that position in Gameweek 36 before Cristhian Mosquera took over in the second half.
“I think the sample is so tiny. It’s very difficult to judge a player when he has so low minutes.
“Declan Rice, when he’s played as a full-back, against Brighton, was exceptional. But then the other night, it was something else. It depends. The sample is still so little, it will remain so little from here to the end of the season to judge if a player is good enough and can perform in the position, and what is the cost of moving that player from one position to the other? That’s the balance that we need to find.” – Mikel Arteta, when asked about Riccardo Calafiori’s previous brief experience at right-back against Paris Saint-Germain last season
There was no specific update on long-term absentee Mikel Merino (foot).
Away from injury news and selection dilemmas, will Arsenal go all out to boost their goal difference against Burnley? Arteta was asked that very question.
“First of all, you have to earn the right to win the game. Obviously, you can make a difference with more goals, that’s obviously even better. But we’re all playing very tough matches. We had a really tough match against West Ham and we managed to win it. It was a great feeling, but we know ideally that scoring goals is going to be important.” – Mikel Arteta on the importance of goal difference
LIVERPOOL
Mohamed Salah (hamstring) will return to the Liverpool squad on Friday, although only as a substitute.
Alisson (muscle) is, like the Egyptian, back in training, but it’s still not certain whether he’ll feature.
“Mo [Salah] will be available tomorrow for only a few minutes but hopefully, he can come in.
“Alisson trains with us again, let’s see where he is tomorrow, if he is ready or has to wait for one more week.” – Arne Slot
Ibrahima Konate is okay after cramp forced him off in Gameweek 36 but Florian Wirtz isn’t quite fully over the stomach bug that caused him to miss the draw with Chelsea. It’ll be a late call on him.
“Ibou [Konate] is okay, he trained with us.
“Florian [Wirtz] [had a] stomach infection. Let’s see how fit he is for tomorrow. He is on antibiotics, so let’s see if he’s ready to play tomorrow.” – Arne Slot
Wataru Endo (foot), Hugo Ekitike (Achilles), Conor Bradley (knee), Stefan Bajcetic (hamstring), Jayden Danns (hamstring) and Giovanni Leoni (knee) remain out.
