The FPL Gameweek 7 team news and injury updates

A busy Friday saw 14 Premier League managers deliver their pre-Gameweek 7 press conferences.

Among all the injury updates, there was nothing helpful from Pep Guardiola ahead of Manchester City’s trip to Everton.

Asked about City’s fitness situation, the league champions’ head coach simply said:

I have training this afternoon.

Across Manchester, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was more forthcoming about United’s injury situation.

Speaking this morning, the Norwegian said:

Paul [Pogba] was really struggling with his ankle as it was really swollen, so let’s see how that repairs. He got 90 minutes but was sore towards the end again. He’s in a race, I would guess, for Monday.

Phil [Jones] will be out until after the international break. I don’t think we’ll see Anthony [Martial] before the international break. No, I don’t think so. Luke [Shaw] is improving so, hopefully, we’ll see him.

Luke’s back in training today so let’s see how he is, he’s getting there. We hope to see him before the international break, maybe Monday, I’m not too sure, but maybe.

Asked again in his presser if Anthony Martial (thigh) and Marcus Rashford (groin) were definitely out of Monday’s clash with Arsenal, Solskjaer said:

I wouldn’t put my life on it, no, but that’s part of this game, you work with what you have.

That would potentially open the door for Mason Greenwood but Solskjaer urged caution with the budget FPL striker.

Asked if the teenager was ready to start in a game of this magnitude, Solskjaer said:

He might be, because he’s proven when he’s been on the pitch in the last two games he’s started against Astana and Rochdale, when you get him in the box, he’s dangerous.

He doesn’t turn down chances to finish. When you’re not 18 yet and you keep trusting yourself, he gets the chances… I’m not worried about him at all.

But as you say, we’ve managed him. We can’t just throw him in the deep end all of the time. He’s proved in those games he’s ready for it, now Premier League… I’ll have the weekend to think about it!

Alexandre Lacazette (ankle) has been joined on the sidelines by Emile Smith Rowe (concussion) ahead of the trip to Old Trafford but there were no other injury problems reported in Arsenal’s medical bulletin on Friday.

Dinos Mavropanos is available for selection, while Kieran Tierney, Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin all returned to competitive action in the EFL Cup win over Nottingham Forest. 

Jurgen Klopp brought us positive news on Sadio Mane (dead leg), saying of the Senegalese winger and Divock Origi (ankle) in his pre-match presser:

Both trained yesterday, Sadio and Div, completely normal, no issues.

Shaq [Shaqiri] is not ready yet, he’s doing rehab. Millie [Milner] got a knock in his back against MK Dons early in the game, looked a bit awkward after the game but it should be good.

The German also offered us an update on Alisson (calf), saying:

Getting closer and closer. Ali’s not in contention for tomorrow, it looks like maybe he can train with the team from Sunday on. Don’t know 100% but it’s really close.

Brendan Rodgers didn’t provide us with any clear-cut news on James Maddison (ankle) on Friday, unfortunately, but offered the midfielder’s owners some hope ahead of Gameweek 7.

Rodgers said:

We’ll see over the next couple of days. He’s obviously going to be a doubt for the game. He’s back out, he’s putting some weight on his ankle so we’ll see over the coming days.

It’s just the risk of whether he’s going to last the game or not. Like I say, it’s questionable whether he’ll play or not. But he’s such a talented player we want to give him every chance. We’ll assess it over the next day or so.

Everyone else is fit and ready.

Frank Lampard had plenty to round up in his press conference, saying of Chelsea’s various issues:

Toni [Rudiger] has got a recurring injury in his groin area. We’re trying to find a solution because he’s still got some pain. We’re hopeful it won’t be long but I haven’t got an end date for you.

Andreas [Christensen] should be OK. He has trained with us today, he’s missed most of the week. There’s still a tiny but of pain but hopefully not a risk. He will be in the squad.

Emerson now is going to be the other side of the international break with the hamstring injury. Ruben [Loftus-Cheek] we can’t give a date but he’s outside jogging slowly. We’ll see how that goes over the next weeks, months.

It’s actually been a difficult week for [Giroud]. It was quite a strong illness, it left him pretty weak. He’s been getting a bit of strength back this week. Touch and go to see whether he’s involved tomorrow.

Speaking of Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who returned in the midweek win over Grimsby, Lampard added:

Yeah, they’re in the squad. They performed well the other day. They still have improvement, they’re young players, but they’ve shown their quality. Now they’re back fit, they’re pushing.

Manuel Pellegrini said on Friday that Michail Antonio (hamstring) and Winston Reid (knee) are his only injury-related absentees for the trip to Bournemouth and provided positive news on Manuel Lanzini (foot).

Pellegrini said:

Manuel, he returned to work with the team the last two or three days. He has no pain in his feet. He doesn’t have any problems. He’s in the squad list.

The Cherries will again be without David Brooks (ankle), Dan Gosling (hip), Junior Stanislas (knee), Charlie Daniels (knee) and Adam Smith (hamstring) but at least welcomed back Arnaut Danjuma (foot), Simon Francis (knee) and Lloyd Kelly (ankle) from injury in the EFL Cup defeat to Burton Albion in midweek.

Roy Hodgson confirmed that Wilfried Zaha has recovered from a knock but that Connor Wickham (match fitness) won’t feature this weekend and that Mamadou Sakho (muscle) is a fresh doubt.

The Palace boss said:

We have a problem with Mamadou Sakho. He’s feeling a slight strain so we don’t know as yet whether he’ll recover in time to play but we’ll know that after tomorrow morning.

His opposite number this Saturday, Daniel Farke, has suffered more bad luck with injuries over the last week.

While Max Aarons (ankle) has made an earlier-than-expected return, Alex Tettey (groin) and Tim Krul (back) have joined Timm Klose (knee), Christoph Zimmermann (foot), Tom Trybull (ankle), Mario Vrancic (calf) and Onel Hernandez (knee) on the sidelines.

Ralf Fahrmann remains a doubt due to a groin injury but at least returned to training on Friday and will start if passed fit.

Marco Silva confirmed that André Gomes (ribs) and Jean-Philippe Gbamin (thigh) will miss Saturday’s game against Manchester City, while Henri Lansbury (ankle) and James Chester (match fitness) will miss out on Aston Villa’s match against Burnley.

Jonathan Kodjia (cheekbone) has returned to training for the Villans but is wearing a protective mask and is uncertain to feature.

Sean Longstaff, Allan Saint-Maximin and Andy Carroll have all been passed fit for Newcastle’s trip to Leicester, while Steve Bruce confirmed on Friday that DeAndre Yedlin is available for selection after a return to training.

Matt Ritchie (ankle), Dwight Gayle (calf) and Florian Lejeune (knee) remain out, though, while Jonjo Shelvey will join them on the sidelines for the next two weeks after picking up a hamstring injury. 

Nuno Espirito Santo wasn’t much more helpful than Guardiola, saying of Wolves’ injury situation:

We have small injuries that we have to manage.

For a round-up of yesterday’s six press conferences, click here.

Predicted line-ups and more detailed information can be found in the Team News tab.

You can view a video round-up or listen to the podcast summary of Gameweek 7’s press conferences below.

Lessons learned from Gameweek 6:

• Southampton 1-3 Bournemouth
• Leicester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
• Burnley 2-0 Norwich City
• Everton 0-2 Sheffield United
• Manchester City 8-0 Watford
• Newcastle United 0-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
• Crystal Palace 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
• West Ham United 2-0 Manchester United
• Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa
• Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool