The 11 remaining pre-match Premier League press conferences take place on Friday – and this is the place to come to get all the major Gameweek 4 team news.
Mikel Arteta, Enzo Maresca, Xabi Alonso and Michael Carrick are among the managers facing the media.
We’ll bring you the key quotes from all of these head coaches in the article below.
These pressers follow on from the nine we had on Thursday.
FRIDAY’S KEY GAMEWEEK 4 TEAM NEWS UPDATES
- Arsenal: White “fine”, no new injuries, Timber + Mosquera closing in on returns
- Manchester City: O’Reilly fit, derby likely comes too soon for Doku
- Liverpool: Gakpo to be assessed, Barcola only suffering from cramp, Ekitike latest
- Chelsea: Caicedo, Palestra, Henderson + Emegha still out
- Manchester United: Shaw to be assessed, Carrick on Rashford’s fitness + Bruno
- Tottenham Hotspur: Mudryk injured, Kulusevski not training, Maddison returns, Porro + Udogie doubts
- Aston Villa: Manzambi has trained this week, Gomes completes ban, Goretzka out
- Everton: Norgaard still out, Moyes says Grealish is ready to start
- Brentford: Collins out until after the break, Jensen still sidelined, no other new worries
- Fulham: Cairney the only absentee, Arbeloa on talk of dressing room unrest
- Ipswich Town: Matusiwa + Philogene back in training, Taylor the only absentee
FRIDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
Friday's FPL Press Conferences! 🚨
⭕️ 9am – Arteta
⬜️ 10am – Arbeloa
🔵 10.30am – Maresca
🔴 12pm – Iraola
🐝 1.30pm – Andrews
🧿 1.30pm – Alonso
🍬 1.30pm – Moyes
🚜 1.30pm – O'Neil
👹 1.30pm – Carrick
🐓 1.30pm – De Zerbi
🟣 2pm – Emery pic.twitter.com/fQJoadkGpQ— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) September 11, 2026
ARSENAL
Despite appearing to limp down the tunnel after full-time on Wednesday, Ben White is “fine” for Arsenal’s clash with Sunderland this weekend.
“He’s fine.” – Mikel Arteta on Ben White
The Gunners have emerged from their clash with Napoli unscathed, indeed.
“No, no, all good.” – Mikel Arteta on if there were any new concerns from midweek
As for existing issues, William Saliba (back) remains out, but it sounds like Cristhian Mosquera (muscle) isn’t too far away.
“He is doing really well. Let’s see if he can get this game or the next one. He will be around that time, I think.” – Mikel Arteta on Cristhian Mosquera
And Jurrien Timber (groin) is already back in training, with a return to action seemingly imminent for him, too.
“Let’s see, we have another training session. He has been doing really well. He has been training with us now for a few days, and he looks in a good shape.” – Mikel Arteta on when we can expect to see Jurrien Timber get minutes
Given his two right-backs’ injury records, Arteta was then asked about the challenges of trying to keep Timber and Ben White both fit at the same time, in order to manage minutes more.
“Yeah, that was one of the challenges last year, especially when we had two or three injuries within the same line, sometimes in the same position as well. So, hopefully, this season, we’ll have a bit more luck and we can manage that better. If we manage that better, probably the likelihood of them getting injuries is going to be lower.
“With Jurrien, the last three seasons as well, we had the ACL. It was a long-term injury that has consequences afterwards. Then Ben was out and you start to load a player. For five weeks in our schedule, he needs to play 15 games in that period. The probability of something happening, it is bigger. And yeah, the full-back position nowadays does have some huge physical demands.” – Mikel Arteta on keeping his right-backs fit
There was praise for Ezri Konsa, meanwhile, after a solid start to his Gunners career.
“After talking to a lot of people who have worked with him, whether staff members or players, I already had a sense from the way everybody was talking about him that he is a person who is great at gathering people together. He has a real personality and a lot of leadership skills. You saw the first day he trained, the way he was talking and the way he was presenting himself. It was very impressive, and so far, he’s done a really good job.
“Obviously, we had Wilo out and Jurrien out for long periods, and then we had the issue with Mosquera, so we were really, really thin at the back. We needed to put a good player in that position, especially with the expectations that we have and the amount of minutes that they are going to have to try to play. We’ve done it and so far it’s working well.” – Mikel Arteta on Ezri Konsa
MANCHESTER CITY
There’s good news for Nico O’Reilly owners, as the defender-cum-midfielder has recovered from the back niggle that forced him out of the starting line-up against Coventry City.
Jeremy Doku (calf) is closing in on a return, too, but Sunday’s game likely comes too soon.
“Nico is 100% available. Jeremy, I think he needs some more days.” – Enzo Maresca
It’s the Manchester derby this weekend, and Enzo Maresca was asked about whether an occasion like this means more to Phil Foden, who has a good record in this fixture.
“Yeah, probably, yes. He’s from the academy, probably the feeling for him is different compared to the rest of the players. It’s something normal. So, probably can be the reason why for him, it’s a different game.” – Enzo Maresca on whether Phil Foden raises his game for the Manchester derby
It’s all about the game, not the occasion, for Maresca, though.
“The main focus for the players has to be, you know, the game, the game plan, how we can win, how we can press, how we can be better. This is the most important thing for the players.” – Enzo Maresca
There was more praise for Enzo Fernandez, meanwhile, and discussion about his role.
“He’s improving a lot. Probably in the last two years with us, he became more of an attacking midfielder. In the past, he was a little bit more deep. I think he’s unbelievable around the box, in terms of goals, in terms of assists, and also in terms of leadership, I think he’s growing a lot.” – Enzo Maresca on Enzo Fernandez’s development over the last few years
LIVERPOOL
Andoni Iraola is unsure whether Cody Gakpo (adductor) be fit to face Fulham after the Dutchman, who was the most-bought player of Gameweek 4 until yesterday, missed Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid.
“Cody, we will see. He didn’t train yesterday. Today, we will try with him and let’s see if he’s ready for tomorrow or we need to wait for the next one.” – Andoni Iraola
Bradley Barcola hobbled off in midweek but Iraola said after full-time in that match that the winger, along with Milos Kerkez, merely had cramp. The Liverpool boss repeated those comments on Friday.
“Barcola was just cramps, obviously he finished tired in the game and then we have to evaluate things today, but there is no injury and he should be, I think, available if everything goes normal.” – Andoni Iroala
Hugo Ekitike (Achilles), Conor Bradley (knee), Giovanni Leoni (knee) and Federico Chiesa (muscle) remain out for the Reds.
Ekitike was pictured doing work with the ball this week but we’re still looking at January for his return.
“It’s difficult with these long-term injuries, I think he’s still far.
“We had a meeting with the medical department [before] we completed the [squad] list for the European games. There is a reasonable chance that he could help us in the last two games of the [Champions League] group stages [in January] but it’s still very early to say. ” – Andoni Iraola on Hugo Ekitike
Joe Gomez (muscle) might not be too far away, having been earmarked for a return before the break.
CHELSEA
Moises Caicedo will miss out again this weekend with a calf issue but he could be back in Gameweek 5.
“No, not yet. We’ll see for Brentford. We’re not at a moment to take risks with him. Not yet.” – Xabi Alonso on Moises Caicedo
Marco Alonso confirmed that Marco Palestra (unspecified), Emmanuel Emegha (unspecified) and Jordan Henderson (wrist) remain out, too.
“No.” – Xabi Alonso on if Chelsea’s other injured players could return this weekend
“Not tomorrow. We hope that they can be for Brentford. We will see.” – Xabi Alonso on when we could expect to see Emmanuel Emegha and Jordan Henderson again
Romeo Lavia is fine, however, after missing out on the nine-goal thriller with Leeds United on Wednesday.
In a relatively short presser, Alonso was asked about the Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer bromance.
“They are enjoying themselves, playing with the team, playing with each other. They enjoy when the other one makes good things for the team.
“It’s early days [but] we have a good partnership there, as well with Joao [Pedro] linking with them. It’s a strength that we have.” – Xabi Alonso on Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer
“He’s adapted quite well, very quick. For sure, it was a target and it was a strategic decision from us that we got a few players in that were ready to compete and be ready to have an instant impact in the team. Morgan was, for sure, the top one and we were expecting that, but for sure, the way it has happened, it’s been great. He’s feeling great. He’s enjoying his game, his football, his connection with the team.” – Xabi Alonson on Morgan Rogers
MANCHESTER UNITED
Michael Carrick will assess Luke Shaw after the left-back wasn’t risked in Thursday’s UEFA Champions League victory over Sabah.
“We’ll have to see. We just kind of looked after him a little bit going into [Thursday]. He wasn’t quite ready for it 100%, so we didn’t risk it. We’ll see how he is over the next couple of days or so.” – Michael Carrick on Luke Shaw
Carrick was asked if Marcus Rashford being left on the bench against Sabah was to do with the discomfort he felt against Everton last weekend.
“A little bit of that, yeah, and trying to share the load a little bit, to a point, as well. We’ve got good options, so we’re trying to keep everyone fresh, but with a point where Ben [Šeško] can get good minutes [against Sabah] and get him up to speed. There’s always a bit of a challenge in getting that right, but it was nice to keep Marcus fresh and ready for the weekend.” – Michael Carrick on if United were looking after Marcus Rashford on Thursday
The United boss was also asked why Bruno Fernandes stayed on for the entire 90 minutes in midweek, with the game effectively won at half-time. Bruno had also taken a knock during the game, but there doesn’t seem to be any concern regarding his fitness.
“We only had five subs, so we had to make certain decisions on what that looked like. But, of course, he’s like anybody else. He has played an awful lot, but I think we’re developing the group and the squad to be able to accommodate that in different ways. [Thursday] was just one of those things. There were decisions to be made and he ended up staying on.” – Michael Carrick on leaving Bruno Fernandes on for 90 minutes
Amad Diallo (unspecified), Manuel Ugarte (knee), Carlos Baleba (ankle), Matthijs de Ligt (back) and Tom Heaton (hamstring) have all been on the sidelines lately.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Mykhailo Mudryk joined the Spurs injury list this week. He looks set to be out for 6-8 weeks with an ankle issue sustained in training.
Dejan Kulusevski (knee), meanwhile, has not been training with the main group this week on his long road back from a 16-month lay-off.
“Kulusevski is not working with us in the last week. No big problem. The normal problem when one player is out for a long time, like with Mudryk. It was a stupid injury for Mudryk. We hope he can come back as soon as possible, for him because he’s suffered too much and for us because we lost an important player.” – Roberto De Zerbi
After the press conference, Roberto De Zerbi mentioned in an interview with in-house media that Pedro Porro (muscle) and Destiny Udogie (muscle) are concerns.
“Pedro Porro felt a small muscular problem. We have to see tomorrow if he’s available or not but in this moment, I don’t want to take any risk.
“The same with Udogie.” – Roberto De Zerbi
Xavi Simons (knee) and Wilson Odobert (knee) are out longer term.
James Maddison (shoulder) is available again, however.
“Maddison, yes [he’s back].” – Roberto De Zerbi
De Zerbi added that Mohammed Kudus was “very close” to being able to start a game, having built up his match fitness with minutes off the bench in recent weeks.
“I think very close to being ready to start the game. It’s an amazing thing for me. I wanted Mo Kudus when I was in Brighton. I pushed a lot to bring him before he went to West Ham. He can play as a winger, as a number 10, as a striker, also. He’s an amazing player.” – Roberto De Zerbi on Mohammed Kudus
Richarlison has been training with the Lilywhites this week but he’s not part of Spurs’ 25-man Premier League squad and he could yet still move away.
ASTON VILLA
Johan Manzambi (knee) has returned to training this week and could feature.
“Manzambi is progressively getting better, training with us this week and we’ll see how he’s going to train today, to feel today. For tomorrow, is the decision I’ll take after the training session.” – Unai Emery, via the Aston Villa website
Matty Cash will be assessed after missing Tuesday’s Champions League win over Club Brugge with a minor issue.
“It’s difficult, but we will train now this afternoon and we’ll check him in case he’s getting better. It’s a small injury but he needed some days and today we’re going to test him.” – Unai Emery on Matty Cash, via the Aston Villa website
Brian Madjo (unknown), Leon Goretzka (knee) and Amadou Onana (knee) remain out.
Joao Gomes serves the final match of a three-game ban.
EVERTON
Christian Nørgaard (groin) will remain out until after the September break.
That’s the only injury we’re aware of in the Everton camp.
“He is still unavailable. We’re hoping we get him back maybe somewhere after the international break, that would be our hope.
“We didn’t expect it to be as long as this. He’s hugely important for us. He’s someone who we’re looking forward to gaining his experience, his nous and getting to know him. At the moment, we haven’t had him on the grass yet, so that’s been the disappointing thing. Hopefully, it won’t be too long.” – David Moyes on Christian Norgaard
Away from injuries, Jack Grealish is closer to start, according to his manager.
“I think Jack is a special case. I think Jack is ready to play, yeah. I think Jack is probably a boy who needs the football [matches] more than he needs the training, sometimes. I think playing game time helps Jack. In ways, that’s him still building up to get to his best but, I’ve got to say, he’s had a good week’s training and he’s beginning to look ready to start.” – David Moyes on Jack Grealish, who hasn’t started a league match since January
BRENTFORD
Nathan Collins will be out until after the September international break with the calf issue he picked up last weekend.
“No, he won’t be involved this side of the international break, unfortunately.” – Keith Andrews on Nathan Collins
Mathias Jensen, missing for the last two matches, is also probably looking at October for a return to action.
“He’s doing well. Won’t be involved tomorrow. Realistically, won’t be involved next weekend, I don’t think, but we’ll see how he goes next week.” – Keith Andrews on Mathias Jensen
Keith Andrews had previously said that Sepp van den Berg (groin) and Josh Dasilva (hamstring) would likely be back from Gameweek 6 onwards.
Antoni Milambo (knee), meanwhile, will feature for the B team over the coming weeks as he builds fitness following a year out.
Collins aside, the Bees have no fresh concerns for Gameweek 4.
“Good, I think. I’m just trying to think if there are any differences… no, we’re in a pretty good place.” – Keith Andrews on how the rest of the Brentford squad is looking
FULHAM
It’s rinse and repeat team news for the Cottagers: Tom Cairney (knee) is the only absentee.
The long-serving midfielder remains out until after the September international break.
“No, I don’t think so. We have to wait until the last training session, but just Tom and we will see after the training session if everyone is ready.” – Alvaro Arbeloa on if Fulham have any new injuries
Elsewhere, Alvaro Arbeloa was asked the possible dressing room unrest, with Emile Smith Rowe, Alex Iwobi, Kenny Tete and Kevin among the Fulham players either deleting references to the club on their social media pages this week or posting cryptic messages.
“I think you can learn more about a group after a defeat than after a win, and I saw them work during the week with a very positive attitude. All of them, for sure. When you are a player and you are not playing, you can’t be happy, and it’s what I expect from the players [who] are not playing. They need to show me that they are not happy during their training session. For me, this is the the most important thing.” – Alvaro Arbeloa
IPSWICH TOWN
Jaden Philogene (ankle) and Azor Matusiwa (muscle) have both returned to training this week.
Jack Taylor (knee) is the Tractor Boys’ only confirmed absentee.
