The nine remaining pre-match Premier League press conferences take place on Friday – and this is the place to come to get all the major Gameweek 1 injury updates.
New Manchester City and Liverpool bosses Enzo Maresca and Andoni Iraola are among those taking questions from reporters.
These pressers follow on from the 10 we had on Thursday and Frank Lampard’s on Wednesday.
We’ll bring you the key quotes from these head coaches in the article below.
KEY GAMEWEEK 1 TEAM NEWS FROM FRIDAY
- Manchester City: Doku the only absentee, Nunes recovers
- Liverpool: No injury updates, Iraola on Isak + Gakpo
- Tottenham Hotspur: Porro + van de Ven out, Solanke, Udogie, Maddison + Fernandes fit
- Aston Villa: Emery coy on team news but Madjo + Gomes on injury list
- Brighton and Hove Albion: Baleba + Minteh injured, David could make debut
- Everton: Garner, Norgaard + Iroegbunam sidelined
- Brentford: Van den Berg confirmed out
- Fulham: Andersen banned, Cairney the only injury
- Ipswich Town: Fatawu + Florentino fine, Taylor + Mutisawa out
FRIDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
🚨 Friday's FPL Press Conferences!
⬜️ 10am – Arbeloa
🕊️ 12pm – Hurzeler
🐝 1.30pm – Andrews
🍬 1.30pm – Moyes
🚜 1.30pm – O'Neil
🔴 1.30pm – Iraola
🧿 1.30pm – Maresca
🐓 1.30pm – De Zerbi
🟣 2pm – Emery⌚️ Deadline: 630pm TODAY 🔜 pic.twitter.com/I2DsByPeYp
— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) August 21, 2026
MANCHESTER CITY
Jeremy Doku (calf), who came off at half-time in the Community Shield, is City’s only absentee this weekend.
“Unfortunately, at half-time he was complaining about pain in his calf. In any case, the idea was to play for 45 minutes. At the moment, it looks like 2-3 weeks, no more than that.” – Enzo Maresca on Jeremy Doku
Matheus Nunes suffered an injury in the warm-up at Wembley and had to withdraw from the squad but is fine.
“At the moment, the only one [out] is Jeremy Doku. Matheus is back. The rest, they are all okay.” – Enzo Maresca
LIVERPOOL
There was no team news from Andoni Iraola ahead of the trip to Newcastle United.
Of what we do know, long-term absentees Hugo Ekitike (Achilles), Conor Bradley (knee) and Giovanni Leoni (knee) remain out.
Joe Gomez (muscle) is also sidelined, while Curtis Jones is Inter-bound.
In the absence of any questions about injuries, Iraola was grilled about Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, the latter of whom has been heavily linked with Tottenham Hotspur.
“Alex is going to be a very important player for us this season. Right now, I think he’s in a very good place. He’s been training every day. He hasn’t missed a training session. He’s been adding more and more minutes every friendly game. I think he already played a very good World Cup in terms of availability, fitness level. And I want to keep him there as much as we can because we know his level and if we can keep him there he will score the goals.” Andoni Iraola on Alexander Isak
“Cody is performing really well. I think he has been since the first day training very well, understanding everything we need from his position. I think he you can feel straight away when you talk to him he understands the game. He’s very smart and he has been, I don’t know if one of the our best players in the friendlies, but definitely he has been performing very well. I cannot tell you the starting XI; the players don’t know it! I would never say it but definitely he’s in a great spot.” – Andoni Iraola on Cody Gakpo
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Xavi Simons (knee), Wilson Odobert (knee) and Dejan Kulusevski (knee) are still out, although fellow long-term absentee Mohammed Kudus (thigh) is “close”.
There’s mixed news on Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke, meanwhile.
The first three haven’t played for the Lilywhites this summer. While Porro’s no-shows are down to a deep run in the World Cup, van de Ven and Udogie have been nursing minor issues. Solanke, meanwhile, has not featured since a 45-minute run-out against Chelsea on August 1.
Two are fit and two are not, while James Maddison and Matheus Fernandes, who featured in what was effectively a B-team friendly last weekend, will be involved this weekend.
“Micky is not on the list tomorrow, like Pedro Porro. The other players are all inside [the squad list].
“James Maddison is inside, Dom Solanke is inside, Udogie is inside, Matheus Fernandes is inside.” – Roberto De Zerbi
Pape Matar Sarr (abductor) is another addition to the injury list.
“Pape Sarr, no, because he felt pain two days in his abductor, I think. Nothing important but we don’t take risks with him.” – Roberto De Zerbi
ASTON VILLA
Unai Emery was coy with the Villa team news but Amadou Onana (knee) is definitely out and it has been reported elsewhere recently that Brian Madjo (unknown) and Joao Gomes (calf) will miss the first few weeks of the season.
We are also yet to see Johan Manzambi (knee) in a Villa shirt. He suffered an injury in the World Cup and hasn’t featured in pre-season, and still seems to be in the rehab stage.
In terms of shorter-term problems, Tammy Abraham limped out of Aston Villa’s final pre-season friendly on Saturday; we’re unsure as to his availability.
Alejandro Garnacho should be back this week, however, having served a concussion protocol. He suffered a head injury during Villa’s pre-season match against BG Pathum on August 4.
Away from injuries, Ollie Watkins has yet to kick a ball since the World Cup, while new signings Matteo Ruggeri, Zion Sukuzi and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have arrived in the last few days.
“Tomorrow we’re going to train. Tomorrow I’m going to decide with the players we have. Maybe even we can change something today or tomorrow.
“We have enough players, we had a very good pre-season, with the results, for me, not important. But how we did pre-season, playing matches, watching young players, building the team, without a lot of players who were not involved. We did good work.
“Now, on Sunday, my expectation is to compete the same as we did in good matches we played in pre-season, to try to get our best. With the players we can have, I don’t know now, tomorrow I’ll see how they are, ready or not, to play on Sunday.” – Unai Emery, via the Villa website
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Carlos Baleba (ankle) and Yankuba Minteh (leg) remain on the sidelines, all while the transfer rumour mill heavily links them to other clubs. Minteh is out for 2-3 months out but Baleba shouldn’t be too far away.
“No, he’s not fit. That’s why he’s not involved.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Carlos Baleba
Evan Ferguson (ankle), Kaoru Mitoma (hamstring) and Stefanos Tzimas (knee) are still out, too.
There were some reports that Diego Gomez limped down the tunnel after his withdrawal last Saturday but he recovered from whatever that was and lasted 68 minutes in Thursday’s draw with Tromso.
Promise David has had his first training session with his new teammates and could be in the squad on Sunday.
EVERTON
Everton will be without three central midfielders for their Gameweek 1 clash with Crystal Palace.
James Garner underwent successful surgery to address a groin issue in July, while new boy Christian Norgaard has gone under the knife for the same reason.
Tim Iroegbunam, heavily linked with a move to Hull City, is out with a groin problem of his own.
“We don’t have Christian Norgaard fit yet. Jimmy Garner’s obviously returning from a hernia operation. Tim Iroegbunam had an adductor strain and won’t make it tomorrow, so I just have to hope that we have enough to get through at the moment with what we’ve got.” – David Moyes
BRENTFORD
Keith Andrews has confirmed that Sepp van den Berg will miss the “first few weeks” of the season.
The defender has a groin abductor issue which has affected his pre-season.
Long-term absentee Antoni Milambo (knee) is still out, too.
FULHAM
Joachim Andersen will miss Gameweek 1 as he completes a three-match ban carried over from last season.
Tom Cairney (knee) will be out until after the September international break but he is the only injury-related absentee.
IPSWICH TOWN
Gary O’Neil says Jack Taylor (knee) and Azor Mutisawa (muscle) are expected to be Ipswich’s only absentees for the Sunderland game.
Abdul Fatawu and Florentino Luis, who missed Town’s final pre-season friendly, are fine.
