With a Friday night deadline hastening our Gameweek 10 preparations, there were disappointingly few Premier League press conferences to be held on Thursday.
The likes of Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino, Frank Lampard and Eddie Howe will all address the media tomorrow, while we will likely have to make do with whatever comments are churned out in Nuno Espirito Santo, Unai Emery and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s post-Europa League press conferences for clarification on Wolves, Arsenal and Manchester United’s injury latest.
Southampton v Leicester City gets us underway on Friday evening and Brendan Rodgers was the first top-flight boss to deliver his pre-Gameweek 10 presser, declaring a clean bill of health on Wednesday.
James Maddison was part of the Leicester line-up last weekend and lasted the first 72 minutes, having suffered from illness and injury in the preceding weeks.
Asked about his playmaker ahead of the trip to Southampton, Rodgers said:
He’s been fine, he has had good training up till now.
He didn’t do much in the couple of weeks after the Tottenham game, leading into Liverpool, with England, he hadn’t done a great deal and he only had a few days [training before Burnley].
He lasted the game very well, of course he wasn’t right up to his match fitness, but he got a good period of the came in. He’ll be fit and ready for Friday.
The Saints will again be without Cedric Soares (calf) and Moussa Djenepo (muscle).
Asked about the in-form Danny Ings, Ralph Hasenhuttl told journalists:
It comes to a point where he can really play over 90 minutes; that doesn’t mean that I [play him] in three games a week, I think this is not the best idea. But in the moment he feels physically very well and he’s able to play 90 minutes.
I think that a good pre-season and the games in the last weeks helped him massively. Self-confidence with the goals is high at the moment.
This is a result of very hard work and also changing a few habits, taking less touches, running more deep, coming more in the position where he can score.
Possibly the headline team news from Thursday was Sean Dyche’s revelation that Chris Wood (hamstring) was a doubt for Burnley’s match against Chelsea.
There was better news on Ashley Barnes (groin) and Jack Cork (shoulder), though, with Dyche saying:
Barnesy and Corky have trained today so we’ll make sure there’s no reaction tomorrow. Johann is still going to be a while. Woody has got a tight hamstring and we have to make a judgement call on that. We will know further tomorrow. Drinky has still got a bit to go.
A couple in, a couple out. We’ll see if people do pull through their injuries in time.
Everton could well be without Yerry Mina (knee) for their trip to Brighton this weekend, with Marco Silva saying on Thursday:
Not so good news. We have two more days till the game, let’s see how he will be. It’s not a serious, serious injury but it’s something until now, we didn’t put Mina ready to work with the team in a full session.
Silva had more positive news on Fabian Delph (muscle) and Morgan Schneiderlin (unspecified), saying:
They work, until now, full session with their teammates and they are both ready.
Seamus Coleman returns from suspension and Silva said he had a “good headache” regarding several selection dilemmas following the 2-0 win over West Ham.
For Albion, Bernardo (knock) and Jose Izquierdo (knee) look likely to remain out until after the November international break, while Aaron Mooy serves a one-match ban.
Leandro Trossard was an unused substitute last weekend and is contention to feature against the Toffees, although Potter was still cagey regarding the Belgian’s chances of starting for the first time since Gameweek 4.
The Brighton boss said:
He has had a week’s training with the team, he’s worked really hard with his rehab so he’s available but we just need to make sure that he goes at the right time in the right way.
When it went to down to ten men (v Villa) it became a bit of a transition game, we didn’t want to expose him to that in his first game back. Come Saturday he’ll have had two weeks, so again we’ll assess, see how he is. He’s an option.
Aston Villa face a trip to the Etihad this weekend, with Dean Smith reporting positive news on the injury front:
Jota had an operation nearly two weeks ago. He’s not yet joined us for training. We’ve had players who played for the under-23s in midweek, Jonathan Kodjia, James Chester and Kortney Hause. They’ve all got minutes under their belt.
We’ve got a fully-fit squad with the exception of Jota. We’ve got a three-game week now, with the Carabao Cup against Wolves at home and then Liverpool at home the following week. It’s certainly a week where the squad will get tested.
Lukasz Fabianski (hip), Michail Antonio (hamstring) and Winston Reid (match fitness) remain out ahead of West Ham’s match with Sheffield United, with Reid pencilled in for a run-out with the under-23s next Wednesday as he makes strides in his recovery.
Aaron Cresswell has shaken off the knock that kept him out of the defeat to Everton.
The Blades have no fresh concerns after Monday’s win over Arsenal, with Chris Wilder saying:
We came through a tough evening [v Arsenal], we covered a lot of distance. There were a lot of tired bodies and tired minds out there on Monday but a couple of days rest and back into work today, getting set for West Ham at the weekend.
Asked whether he could stick with his eight ever-presents – including John Lundstram – all season, Wilder replied:
We could do if we felt that was the right thing to do but we’ve assembled a squad if we need to change it round.
The hardest thing to do is to change a winning side but sometimes that’s the right thing to do. I’ve got to look at the players, of course they will look for continuity and some people will think that’s the right thing to do but I don’t think it always is.
We have to pick the right side for every individual game and if it means us changing it round, we have the ability to do that.
Danny Welbeck is set for another spell on the sidelines for Watford, meanwhile, having picked up a hamstring injury in the draw with Spurs.
Quique Sanchez Flores said on Thursday:
Bad news about Danny Welbeck, of course we need to check a little bit more, will happen in the next weeks. [He will be out] for a long time.
Daryl Janmaat (knock) has been passed fit, while Sebastian Prödl (hamstring), Etienne Capoue (back) and Isaac Success (groin) are back in training.
Troy Deeney (knee) remains sidelined, however, while Jose Holebas is suspended.
Predicted line-ups and more detailed information will be found in the Team News tab, which is being refreshed over the coming 24 hours.
We’ll have our regular early-evening round-up of Friday’s press conferences tomorrow, along with a video/podcast summary of the day’s breaking injury news.
Joe and Neale’s recap of Wednesday and Thursday’s pressers can be viewed or listened to below.
Lessons learned from Gameweek 9
- Everton 2-0 West Ham United
- Aston Villa 2-1 Brighton and Hove Albion
- Bournemouth 0-0 Norwich City
- Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle United
- Leicester City 2-1 Burnley
- Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Watford
- Wolves 1-1 Southampton
- Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester City
- Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool
- Sheffield United 1-0 Arsenal
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