There’s plenty of team news to come on Thursday as seven Premier League managers face the media ahead of Gameweek 2.
Mikel Arteta, Andoni Iraola and Enzo Maresca are among those taking questions from reporters, and we’ll bring you the key quotes and injury updates in the article below.
These head coaches follow on from Pierre Sage’s presser on Wednesday.
KEY GAMEWEEK 2 TEAM NEWS FROM THURSDAY
- Manchester City: Doku out, Nunes “not 100%”, Anderson fit, Bouaddi available
- Bournemouth:
- Hull City:
THURSDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
🚨 Thursday's FPL Press Conferences!
🔵 10.30am – Maresca
🐯 1pm – Jakirovic
⭕️ 1.30pm – Arteta
🍒 1.30pm – Rose
🔴 1.30pm – Iraola
🩵 2.30pm – Lampard
⚫️ 6.30pm – Jaissle pic.twitter.com/AHdEQhcxLD— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) August 27, 2026
MANCHESTER CITY
Ayyoub Bouaddi is available for selection for Manchester City’s trip to Crystal Palace on Friday evening.
The Moroccan international only signed from Lille on Wednesday but Enzo Maresca says he is fit enough to feature.
“Yeah, he is ready. He was working with his former club, so he is fit. We will see how long it is in terms of that adaptation but for sure he is ready to go.
“He doesn’t look 18. He looks older, which is important, but in this case we need to go slowly because he is very young, came from a different country, needs adaptation. No rush for him. For sure, he is going to help us now and in the future.
“It is my job, also from the club, to try to manage him in the best way. Don’t put pressure on him, we know that he is young and he needs time.” – Enzo Maresca on Ayyoub Bouaddi
On the team news front, Jeremy Doku (calf) remains out.
Matheus Nunes is also not quite fully fit. The right-back pulled out of the Manchester City squad ahead of kick-off in the Community Shield before making a swift return as a second-half substitute against Bournemouth, but Maresca suggested he’s still struggling.
“No [new injury concerns]. Jeremy is out. Matheus, we will see. He is still not 100%.” – Enzo Maresca
Elliot Anderson, however, is fine.
“Yeah, Elliot is fully fit. The last week was just for cramp.” – Enzo Maresca on Elliot Anderson
Away from injuries, Maresca was asked about Rayan Cherki after his impact off the bench in Gameweek 1. He was then grilled about the chances of us seeing Marc Guehi in midfield again.
“Rayan, yeah, he made an impact the other day. For sure, he is one of the players, in terms of quality, who is a different player compared to the rest because he can give us… in some moments, when we struggle, especially in the last third, he can give us the quality that we need. It depends a lot also on the game plan, how the opponent plays, if they play in one way or the other way, but no doubt that again, he is going to help now and in the future. Even Rayan is still very young.” – Enzo Maresca on Rayan Cherki
“We’ll see. It’s an option. We’ll see. For sure, the good thing about Marc is that, in this moment, it gives us one more option in the middle in case we need [it]. For tomorrow, we’ll see. We have a session now in a few hours and then we’ll decide on the first 11 for tomorrow.” – Enzo Maresca on the prospect of starting Marc Guehi in midfield again
The new City boss also confirmed that Omar Marmoush is on his way out of the club.
“Omar is set to leave. It’s not done yet; we are waiting for that. But Nico Gonzalez left, Savio left, and probably Omar is going to leave.” – Enzo Maresca
BOURNEMOUTH
