The FPL Gameweek 28 team news: what we know so far

We’re at the halfway point in our team news summaries for Gameweek 28, after ten Premier League press conferences were held on Monday.

The other ten are scheduled for either this morning or early afternoon, ahead of the Fantasy Premier League deadline at 18:45 this evening.

Things We’ve Learned

All of the “big six” managers will hold their pressers later today, so the information we have gathered so far may not quite pack the same punch as the injury news to follow at – for example – Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City.

Ben Chilwell (knock) has been declared fully fit by interim Leicester City boss Mike Stowell ahead of the Foxes’ clash with Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday night, with only long-term injury victims Marc Albrighton (hamstring) and Daniel Amartey (leg) unavailable for Gameweek 28.

There’ll be a great deal of interest in how Leicester’s Fantasy assets fare in their first match following Claude Puel’s departure, though Stowell suggested he wouldn’t be making wholesale changes when he leads the team out at the King Power Stadium:

Literally, we’ve had one training session with them because yesterday was a recovery day. We will tweak a few things here and there, but they’re not playing poorly, by the way.

Chris Hughton will make late checks on Glenn Murray (knock), Lewis Dunk (knock) and Jurgen Locadia (ankle), meanwhile, though Solly March (ankle) has been passed fit to play.

Leon Balogun (knock) remains out.

The Brighton boss said:

Balogun would be the only one that’s definitely not available. Glenn [was] introduced to training only the last day, Lewis Dunk as well, Izquierdo is back training. Solly’s trained the last few days, he’s fine. Jurgen’s trained only yesterday.

There was nothing new to report on Tyneside ahead of Newcastle v Burnley, with Rafael Benitez only without Rob Elliot (back) and Ciaran Clark (knock) for Tuesday’s match.

Sean Dyche added that the Clarets had come through their win over Spurs unscathed, so Steven Defour (calf), Aaron Lennon (knee) and Jon Walters (Achilles) remain his only absentees.

Nuno Espirito Santo also has a fully-fit squad to choose from, though his opposite number on Tuesday evening, Jan Siewert, reported a number of issues in his press conference.

The Huddersfield boss said:

Diakhaby’s still not available, unfortunately. I think it will take time. Isaac Mbenza is still injured and Danny Williams, of course. We have some small problems, but not as serious as those three.

Siewert said that he hoped Erik Durm (hip) will return, while Alex Pritchard is available after minor back problems.

Winston Reid (knee) and Fabian Balbuena (knee) have returned to training at West Ham United after their injury lay-offs but Manuel Pellegrini said on Monday that the pair had only participated in “part of the session” so they would appear unlikely to feature against Manchester City on Wednesday.

The Hammers’ boss also said that the club were being “careful” with Manuel Lanzini after the Argentinean’s recent comeback:

We must be careful with him. I think that he played 15 minutes [v Fulham] and he did very well. We will see which is the best way to give him more minutes in every game.

Kiko Femenia (hamstring) and Jose Holebas (suspended) are Watford’s only confirmed absentees for the trip to Anfield, though Javi Gracia said the former is closing in on a return:

In this moment we only have Kiko Femenia injured. He is training and today he trained with the team but he is not fit. He needs more time to stay in the best condition, but he’s the only player not available for the next game.

After a 17-day break, Everton are back in action this evening.

The Toffees are almost at full strength, with Marco Silva only having Yerry Mina (foot) to worry about from an injury point of view – though Kurt Zouma misses out through suspension.

Silva said:

Jags [Jagielka] is OK, working with the team since the break started. Leighton [Baines] also. Mina in doubt, worked last two days and will be in doubt until tomorrow. Let’s see after one more session.

The Toffees travel to Wales to play Cardiff on Tuesday evening, with Neil Warnock reporting that “one or two lads” had fallen victim to the same bug that caused Lee Peltier – who remains a minor doubt for Gameweek 28 – to miss the defeat to Watford on Friday.

Warnock also had plenty to say on Victor Camarasa (calf):

Victor’s training now so I don’t know really know about him. He’s looking on song, back to normal.

We think he’s closer to fitness than what his guys think, but then obviously you run the risk if you make him play and he breaks down, what are they going to say?

He obviously listens to his physios, medical people and Tom, Dick and Harry from abroad. I thought he was fit ten days ago, so they’ve said they don’t want him playing for ten days. So ten days is up today, I think.

MANAGERS YET TO DELIVER A PRESS CONFERENCE

Unai Emery (Arsenal)
Eddie Howe (Bournemouth)
Maurizio Sarri (Chelsea)
Roy Hodgson (Crystal Palace)
Claudio Ranieri (Fulham)
Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United)
Ralph Hasenhuttl (Southampton)
Mauricio Pochettino (Spurs)

INJURY NEWS THAT MAY BE UPDATED ON TUESDAY

• Arsenal have doubts over Alex Iwobi (knock), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (illness) and Stephan Lichtsteiner (back).
• Callum Wilson (knee) and David Brooks (ankle) are thought to be medium-term absentees for Bournemouth and are not currently scheduled to return till March.
• Aaron Wan-Bissaka (hamstring) missed out on the win over Leicester City on Saturday, though no timeframe was put on the Palace right-back’s return.
• Andre Schurrle missed Fulham’s defeat to West Ham United through illness.
• Roberto Firmino (ankle) was seen leaving Old Trafford on crutches after sustaining an injury in the 0-0 draw with Manchester United on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp said he had “no clue” about the severity of the problem after full-time of that match.
• Gabriel Jesus (hamstring), John Stones (groin) and Benjamin Mendy (knee) missed the EFL Cup final but Pep Guardiola said all three were “getting better” in a previous press conference on Friday. Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho, who picked up muscle injuries on Sunday, are set to be out for “some weeks”, according to their manager.
• Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Sunday that he would be “maybe surprised” if Marcus Rashford (ankle) was fit to face Crystal Palace in midweek. Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Jesse Lingard all fell victim to hamstring injuries against Liverpool, while Anthony Martial (groin) wasn’t quite ready to feature.
• Danny Ings (hamstring) is a major doubt for Southampton’s six-pointer against Fulham, while Michael Obafemi appeared to suffer a recurrence of his own hamstring problem in the defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
• Mauricio Pochettino said last Thursday that Dele Alli (hamstring) was “maybe one week, maybe ten days, maybe two weeks” away from a playing return.

Predicted line-ups and in-depth team news on the ten teams who have held press conferences already can be found here.