We’re set for a much-busier-than-usual Thursday of team news, with a bumper crop of press conferences taking place ahead of Gameweek 1.
A whopping 10 Premier League managers will face the media today, following on from Frank Lampard’s presser on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta, Xabi Alonso and Michael Carrick are among those taking questions from reporters.
We’ll bring you the key quotes and injury updates from these head coaches in the article below.
For the early team news on the other nine Premier League clubs, check out this article here.
KEY GAMEWEEK 1 TEAM NEWS FROM THURSDAY
- Arsenal: Rice + Saka to feature, Bruno a doubt, Saliba + Timber out
- Chelsea: Welbeck expected to be fit, Alonso on Enzo
- Manchester United: Sesko + Darlow train, de Ligt not ready, Mount a doubt
- Sunderland: Alderete, Mukiele + Meunier all available, Adingra out
- Leeds United: Gudmundsson + Gnonto ruled out, Farke on Elvedi
- Newcastle United: Too soon for Livramento, Dedic set for debut, Joelinton out
- Crystal Palace: Henderson to be assessed, squad otherwise fit
- Nottingham Forest: Savona + Yates out, everyone else available
- Bournemouth: Adams, Juanlu + Rodriguez train, Scott available, Christie banned
- Hull City: No team news yet from Jakirovic
THURSDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
🚨 Thursday’s FPL Press Conferences!
🐯 1pm – Jakirovic
🦅 1pm – Sage
⭕️ 1.30pm – Arteta
🍒 1.30pm – Rose
🧿 1.30pm – Alonso
⬜️ 1.30pm – Farke
🐈⬛ 1.30pm – Le Bris
🌳 2pm – Glasner
⚫️ 4.30pm – Jaissle
👹 5.30pm – CarrickFPL is officially back!! pic.twitter.com/lG2JyVGDRX
— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) August 20, 2026
ARSENAL
Bruno Guimaraes is a doubt for Friday’s clash with Coventry.
He came off at half-time in Sunday’s Community Shield and was later spotted with an ice pack on his thigh.
“Let’s see how it is. He’s evolving really well but let’s see for tomorrow.” – Mikel Arteta on Bruno Guimaraes
Jurrien Timber (groin) and long-term absentee William Saliba (back) remain out.
“[He’ll be training in] the next few weeks. He’s not training with the group yet.” – Mikel Arteta on Jurrien Timber
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, late back from World Cup duty and emerging as substitutes last weekend, are fit, however.
“Yeah, they are ready to be involved, yeah.” – Mikel Arteta, when asked if Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are ‘fit enough to start’
Without saying that Ezri Konsa was on his way in, Arteta heavily implied it.
“We are really active in the market, I think I mentioned that a few days ago. The ambition is to improve the squad. We have a really specific issue in the backline, especially with the long-term injury of Willy [Saliba] and the fact that we miss one more defender; that’s clear. So, we are trying to reinforce that area. Whenever we’re ready, we’ll announce something.” – Mikel Arteta
CHELSEA
Wesley Fofana will miss the first two Gameweeks through suspension after his red card late last season.
Danny Welbeck, who was not part of Chelsea’s squad to face Real Sociedad on Saturday because of a “small issue”, should be fit, however. He is already training individually.
“He can be involved, he just needed a couple of days not training that much because of a little thing. But we are expecting him to be back on Saturday. We need to go day by day but that’s the plan at the moment.” – Xabi Alonso on Danny Welbeck
Away from injuries, Alonso was asked whether the late returnees to pre-season training, such as Morgan Rogers, need longer “to get up to speed”.
“Let’s see. We will check, we will assess, but for sure because of the World Cup, they came a little bit later and they would need maybe a little bit more time, but they are for sure selectable for the line-up.” – Xabi Alonso on the match-readiness of the players late back from the World Cup
Levi Colwill, who had his fitness issues last season, has benefitted from a summer off, says Alonso.
“I would say that having a proper pre-season has helped him in taking the right steps in the right moment. Not trying to rush it too quickly because of what he had last year. Even last year, he finished playing in a good way.
“And now after the pre-season we are expecting that he feels well and that he’s with confidence and with the fitness to have him in the best level. Because if he’s feeling okay, he’s for me one of the best centre-backs in the world because of his composure, because of his presence. So complete, so dominant and Levi is going to be a key player for us.” – Xabi Alonso on Levi Colwill
Inevitably, there was a question about Enzo Fernandez‘s future, too.
“Enzo is a Chelsea player. He’s a top, top player. He’s training really, really well since he started 10 days ago with the team, very integrated. We are happy with him and he’s getting ready for Monday.” – Xabi Alonso
Not that we’re aware of spot-kick duties being up for grabs but the new Chelsea boss was asked about whether he has his own ideas on the Blues’ penalty taker for 2026/27.
“I don’t know which ones were [the takers] last season, but yes, we have our own decisions.
“No, sorry, [I don’t want to say who they are]. Hopefully, we have a penalty and you can see that on Monday!” – Xabi Alonso
MANCHESTER UNITED
Manuel Ugarte (knee) is out long term for United, while Matthijs de Ligt (back) isn’t ready for a playing comeback despite a return to training.
Benjamin Sesko (calf) and Karl Darlow (post-season surgery), like de Ligt, also haven’t kicked a ball all pre-season but are closer to involvement.
As for Mason Mount (knock), he remains a doubt for the trip to Hull City.
“Karl’s trained this week. He’s back training, so he’s in good shape.
“Matta’s obviously been out for a long period of time, but he’s training and it’s great to have him back. He won’t be involved, but he’s in good shape and moving in a good direction, so that’s a good bonus for us really, at this stage, to have him back.
“Ben’s back training, so that’s, again, another positive. Looking forward to having him back around the group and getting him some minutes as well.
“And then [we’re] managing Mason a little bit, but he’s very close, so it’s touch and go for the weekend, really, if not, going into next week.” – Michael Carrick
SUNDERLAND
Thomas Meunier (back) missed out on Sunderland’s win over Stade Rennais on Saturday, while Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete have both had “minor injuries” over the summer. Mukiele has been sidelined since coming off on August 2, while Alderete hasn’t featured since World Cup duty with Paraguay.
However, all three are available for Saturday’s clash with Ipswich Town – albeit with the caveat that they’re at different stages of match fitness.
Simon Adingra (ankle) is the only absentee.
“All of our players are available excepted Simon.
“Yeah, absolutely [that includes Mukiele and Alderete].
“We’ll see for the game time because they are not in the same stage, I would say, fitness level-wise, but they are available.” – Regis Le Bris
LEEDS UNITED
Gabriel Gudmundsson (hamstring) and Wilfried Gnonto (hamstring) are out but Daniel Farke says everyone else is fit to play.
It’s not clear if that includes long-term absentee Ilia Gruev (knee), who is partly reintegrating into training.
“Willy Gnonto will miss this game due to his hamstring injury. I hope to have him back in team training soon but he will definitely miss this game.
“And also, Gabby Gudmundsson obviously is still out also for this game. Them two will definitely miss this first match.
“All the others at the moment, as it stands, are available.” – Daniel Farke
Noah Okafor was Leeds’ last outfielder back from the World Cup and his pre-season involvement extended to just two brief run-outs. Farke was asked where the Swiss winger was with his fitness.
“Each and every training day helps him. So, I put him into two pre-season games already in his first days after arriving. Normally, we just play the first pre-season friendly after two weeks being in training.
“Right now, you see him progressing. We let him do still some extra stuff, some extra running because it’s not important just he’s just fit for the first two weeks. We need him for the upcoming nearly 11 months.
“He’s healthy, he’s available, he’s training since nearly two weeks with us. And that of course then means he’s also ready to be picked. But it’s then also my responsibility to decide if it already makes sense or if he can influence the game more like when perhaps the opponent gets a bit more tired.” – Daniel Farke on Noah Okafor
Centre-half Nico Elvedi joined the club this week, and Farke gave a little bit of detail on where exactly in the back three he can cover.
“He is also very flexible in the position that he can play. A bit like Sebastiaan [Bornauw, who has left], he can play the central position in the three-man formation but he can also play on the right and also on the left side.
“As a centre-back, he has even played more often on the left side than the right side, for example. It gives us even a bit more cover on all positions, anyhow, because our group is also not too big.” – Daniel Farke on Nico Elvedi
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Tino Livramento (calf) is nearing a return after missing the whole of pre-season but this game comes too soon.
“It’s for sure too early. He had just one training where he was partially involved, so we need to be smart with his progress now.
“We need to wait until he’s 100% ready.” – Matthias Jaissle on Tino Livramento
In Livramento’s absence, it sounds like we could be seeing a debut at right-back for new boy Amar Dedic.
“He’s ready.
“He came a bit later back [from the World Cup], as well, to his former club, but in general, he is looking really fit. He got some minutes already in the friendlies there.” – Matthias Jaissle on whether Amar Dedic is ready to start
“I think Amar is a perfect fit and addition to the squad. He can play both full-back positions. Even in the youth, he played also a couple of times at centre-back. He’s versatile in his approach. He knows the playing style due to our time together in Salzburg, which is always beneficial, especially when you don’t have too much time to train.” – Matthias Jaissle
Elsewhere, Joelinton is sidelined with an unspecified issue.
“He’s, for sure, out for a couple of weeks.” – Matthias Jaissle on Joelinton
Joe Willock seemed to be nursing a groin complaint when coming off against Strasbourg on Sunday but we heard nothing new on him.
Lewis Miley and Dan Burn had only 45 minutes of pre-season action and Jaissle will be careful with those two.
“This is something we need to see now in the next two to three days, how they adapt. I’m really happy that they could play already the 45 minutes and now we want to progress fast without over-progressing. I would say, we need to be smart when it comes to the load management, but yeah, it looks good for now that there is progress to see and then we need to see in the end how long they will be on the pitch.” Matthias Jaissle on Dan Burn and Lewis Miley
CRYSTAL PALACE
Palace almost have a fully fit squad.
Their one concern is Dean Henderson (ankle), who limped out of the Eagles’ final pre-season friendly.
Pierre Sage says he’ll train today and will be assessed thereafter.
“He will train today with the ‘keeper squad and we will take the decision tomorrow but we hope he is able to play.
“A little twist with the ankle but not too much and during the game, we took the decision to preserve him. He was able to play but we preferred him in recovery, two or three days of treatment, and come in a better shape to be at his best level.””A little twist with the ankle but not too much and during the game, we took the decision to preserve him. He was able to play but we preferred him in recovery, two or three days of treatment, and come in a better shape to be at his best level.” – Pierre Sage on Dean Henderson
“Everybody [else] can play and I have to do some choices. This is the job and it’s a good problem for me.” – Pierre Sage
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Ryan Yates (minor issue) and Nicolo Savona (knee) are the only two absentees for Oliver Glasner’s first competitive match in charge.
“Yes, it’s Ryan Yates and Savona. These two players won’t make the matchday squad. That means still we have 23 fit on-field players and just mathematics, that means five players can’t make the matchday squad. So, we still have a very big squad but everybody had the chance during pre-season to show that he can help the team to win games and then I have to take a decision by tomorrow. But these two players can’t make the squad.” – Oliver Glasner
“To be honest, we thought he should be further than where he is now. He had a minor setback, to be honest, and then he reacted on the load more than we wanted the knee to react. So, we had to make a step back. So, he’s now working in the gym again, preparing the knee to go back on grass. So, it will take a couple of weeks, I guess.” – Oliver Glasner on Nicolo Savona
BOURNEMOUTH
Marco Rose wasn’t asked about team news in the broadcast section of his presser – but he did supply some quotes to the written press.
They concern the players who sat out Bournemouth’s final pre-season friendly.
Alex Scott, who was suspended for that kickabout, is now available for competitive action. Tyler Adams, Juanlu Sanchez and Alvaro Rodriguez are back in training after fitness issues, too.
However, it sounds like Julio Soler and David Brooks, who picked up injuries in pre-season friendlies, remain out.
“I think not six, but some of them are back. So, Alex [Scott] was suspended, he’s back for sure. And Álvaro [Rodriguez] is back in the team training. Tyler [Adams] is back into the team training. Juanlu is back into the team training. So yeah, most of them are back. Some of them need a little bit more load in trainings to be an option, but we are in a good way.
“That’s our job now to find the right load and the right minutes for them. I had a chat with Tyler today. He feels good, he feels comfortable. He doesn’t need many trainings, many games to come in the right spot for some minutes.” – Marco Rose, via the Bournemouth Echo
Amine Adli (calf), Eli Kroupi (foot), Veljko Milosavljevic (knee) and Julian Araujo (thigh) are on the medium-term injury list.
On the suspension front, Ryan Christie won’t be available in Gameweek 1. He was sent off in Gameweek 36 of last season and has one more match to go of a three-game ban.
HULL CITY
Sergej Jakirovic didn’t offer much in the way of team news initially, although quotes did emerge from the written section of his presser.
Jack Butland (shoulder), Elliot Matazo (knee), Charlie Hughes (groin) and Darko Gyabi (thigh) are all on the medium-to-long-term injury list, while Joe Gelhardt (ankle), Oscar Zambrano (hamstring) and Matty Jacob (hip) remain out.
Hidemasa Morita (calf) and Cody Drameh (hamstring) have returned to training this week, however.
“Morita started to train with us, so we will see tomorrow. Maybe he will be on the bench. We will see if he feels good. He played his last game at the end of May, I think, so we have to be careful. We will see, and I will speak with him, of course.”
“Cody is back. He trained with us this week. Zambrano is still out, and he’s now started with individual sessions. Matty Jacob is out. Charlie Hughes went to Dublin to see the specialist, and we will see what the situation is with him after he comes back. I’m expecting [Gelhardt] next week on the pitch with the team, so I hope he will be fine.” – Sergej Jakirovic, via the Hull Daily Mail
