There are four teams in European action on Thursday: Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Brighton and Hove Albion.
Here are the key team news updates from Wednesday’s pre-match press conferences.
KEY INJURY UPDATES
- Brighton and Hove Albion: Struijk out, Hinshelwood available, Hurzeler to rotate
- Bournemouth: Kluivert + Adli to return, Kroupi latest
- Sunderland: Brobbey + Diarra travel, Meunier + Isidor to be assessed
- Crystal Palace: Mateta still out
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Pascal Struijk’s red card against Sunderland has been overturned, so he will be available for Gameweek 7, provided he is fit…
“He had some issues during the international break, he played 60 minutes against Sunderland but we try to manage him. He won’t be available tomorrow, but hopefully he will be back at the end of the week for Palace.” – Fabian Hurzeler
Jack Hinshelwood is back in contention, however.
“We can expect him to return.” – Fabian Hurzeler
Mats Wieffer (knee) is “getting closer” to full fitness but remains out, along with Femi Azeez (hamstring), Yankuba Minteh (leg), Kaoru Mitoma (hamstring), Stefan Tzimas (knee) and Evan Ferguson (ankle).
Asked if we could see a bit of rotation in Europe, Fabian Hurzeler said…
“We will try to manage the players and the energy from them, so there will definitely be some changes. I can’t say how many. It will be an opportunity for some players.” – Fabian Hurzeler
Hurzeler also discussed Luka Vuskovic…
“His mindset is to play every game but we also need to look to protect for the future, especially as he had a busy trip with the Croatia national team. If we don’t manage him against Kauno Zalgiris, we will look to manage him in the next few weeks.” – Fabian Hurzeler
BOURNEMOUTH
Justin Kluivert and Amine Adli are both back in the squad for Thursday’s home encounter with Sturm Graz.
“It’s getting better. We are looking forward to having Amine and Justin back in the squad tomorrow. Even to have them in the locker room tomorrow night, it’s important for us. Experienced players, high-quality players. They are ready for some minutes, not for a whole game. Not for 45, but for some minutes. I am happy to have them back.” – Marco Rose
Eli Junior Kroupi meanwhile is stepping up his recovery from a foot injury.
“Junior is back on the pitch, so maybe in a few weeks we have him as well, but tomorrow we play without him.” – Marco Rose
Veljko Milosavljevic (knee), Julian Araujo (thigh) and Alex Scott (tendon) also remain out.
SUNDERLAND
Brian Brobbey and Habib Diarra (both hamstring) have both travelled to Portugal ahead of Thursday’s match with Torreense.
“Brian travelled with the squad, as did Habib, so they will be involved quickly, but we need to respect the process.” – Regis Le Bris
Thomas Meunier (hamstring) and Wilson Isidor (knock) will be assessed.
“Thomas was injured in the last game, so we will have to wait a bit.
“We have one or two players with small knocks as well, so we will see. Wilson got a knock during the game against Brighton, so he will need to be assessed.” – Regis Le Bris
Dan Ballard (hamstring) and Romaine Mundle (knee) remain on the sidelines.
CRYSTAL PALACE
This match comes too soon for Jean-Philippe Mateta (hamstring).
Dean Henderson (ankle), Chadi Riad (knee), Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf) and Ben Chilwell (unknown) are also out.
“JP Mateta will not be here tomorrow.
“Dean Henderson, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben Chilwell too.” – Pierre Sage
