Team News

Mané in contention as managers deliver post-deadline press conferences

Jurgen Klopp confirmed on Friday that James Milner (£5.3m) and Sadio Mané (£12.2m) are in contention to return for Saturday’s clash at Carrow Road.

Such news may be of frustration to Fantasy Premier League managers who had to make a decision about the Senegalese international prior to last Saturday’s Gameweek 26.

Takumi Minamino (£6.4m), Divock Origi (£5.2m) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (£6.2m) have all had a stint on the left flank while Mané has been sidelined he will surely return to the starting XI if fully fit, although there is the small matter of a Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid 72 hours after the encounter in East Anglia.

GET FULL TEAM NEWS AND PREDICTED LINE-UPS HERE

Minutes could well be managed as a result, although a two-week breather before the meeting with Daniel Farke’s side should ensure that there is little issue with fatigue.

Norwich centre-back Ben Godfrey (£4.4m) will return from suspension ahead of the visit of Liverpool, leaving Timm Klose (£4.3m) as the only confirmed absentee for the match against the runaway league leaders.

Godfrey is by no means a certainty to regain his place alongside Christoph Zimmermann (£4.4m), though, with Grant Hanley (£4.0m) having performed ably in his stead of late.

The fit-again Emiliano Buendia (£6.0m) will be pushing for a recall on the right flank after being overlooked in Gameweek 25, with Farke having hinted before the goalless draw with Newcastle that the Argentine winger hadn’t perhaps quite been at full fitness after his recent thigh injury.

Lukas Rupp (£4.5m) could make way, then, but the positive nature of the display at St. James Park – chance conversion again letting the Canaries down – could see changes few and far between elsewhere.

After a two-week winter break and with a six-day breather to follow after their meeting with Leicester, there is little reason for Wolves to be at anything other than full strength when the Foxes visit Molineux on Friday – injuries permitting, of course.

Ruben Vinagre (£4.2m) won’t feature at the King Power Stadium but Adama Traoré (£5.8m), who was in the wars against Manchester United, was passed fit by Nuno Espirito Santo in the Wolves manager’s pre-match presser, with the rest of the squad also available at the time of writing.

The fit-again Willy Boly (£4.7m) and Diogo Jota (£6.1m) were back in the starting XI in Manchester, with Leander Dendoncker (£4.4m) and Pedro Neto (£5.0m) making way. Boly capable of operating on either side of the defence, Dendoncker could still get a reprieve at the expense of Romain Saïss (£4.4m).

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said on Wednesday that Wilfred Ndidi (£5.0m) “probably is going to be doubtful” to face Wolves on Friday, so Hamza Choudhury (£4.3m) could continue to deputise in central midfield given that Nampalys Mendy (£4.3m) is still sidelined.

Youri Tielemans (£6.2m) has seemingly regained his place from Dennis Praet (£5.3m) in the middle of the park and two assists against Frank Lampard’s side will do his chances of another start no harm, while the superlative form of Harvey Barnes (£6.0m) ought to see the young winger as good as nailed on the left flank. Ayoze Pérez (£6.2m) is perhaps less secure on the right wing but still caught the eye at times against Chelsea and has now started six league games in a row.

Ryan Bennett (£4.8m) is ineligible to face his parent club while Jamie Vardy (£9.8m) came through a 79-minute run-out in Gameweek 25 seemingly unscathed, so there don’t seem to be any serious lingering effects from his recent glute injury and a fortnight’s breather may have helped him regain full match-fitness.

James Ward-Prowse (£5.8m) was stretchered off with a knee injury against Spurs last week but was subsequently only deemed to have suffered a bad cut, with Ralph Hasenhüttl expressing hope that his ever-present midfielder would be fit enough to return against Burnley in Gameweek 26.

The Southampton boss talked in terms of Ward-Prowse playing back in his usual “number six” role if he does recover so Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.4m) or Yan Valery (£4.6m) may get the nod at right-back (where Ward-Prowse had been deputising) for this weekend’s game.

Hasenhüttl didn’t consider Walker-Peters for the trip to Anfield as he needed to learn about the finer details of the Saints’ system but a two-week winter break has given him ample opportunity to do just that, so the Spurs loanee could very well be handed a start in what is otherwise a settled back four.

Ashley Barnes (£6.1m) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (£5.9m) will miss Burnley’s trip to Southampton, while Matt Lowton (£4.2m) and Charlie Taylor (£4.2m) will both be assessed before Saturday’s game, with the left-back looking more likely to recover given his manager’s comments on Thursday. Phil Bardsley (£4.3m) and Erik Pieters (£4.3m) will both be on standby to deputise should the first-choice full-backs fail to recover.

Aston Villa’s long-term absentees John McGinn (£5.4m), Jed Steer (£4.3m), Tom Heaton (£4.4m) and Wesley (£5.5m) will remain sidelined for the visit of Spurs but we are in the dark regarding the availability of Danny Drinkwater (£4.4m).

The former Leicester midfielder missed the 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth but could very well threaten the midfield pairing of Douglas Luiz (£4.4m) and Marvelous Nakamba (£4.4m) if passed fit given that Smith has shown a lot of faith in the Chelsea loanee since his arrival in the Midlands. Conor Hourihane (£5.7m) and Henri Lansbury (£4.4m) are further options in the middle of the park but look to have fallen down the pecking order in recent weeks and may only be among the substitutes at best this weekend.

Harry Kane (£10.8m), Juan Foyth (£4.8m) and Moussa Sissoko (£4.8m) are unavailable for Spurs as they travel to Aston Villa on Sunday, while Erik Lamela (£5.7m) will be assessed ahead of the game.

Giovani Lo Celso (£7.3m) and Ben Davies (£5.3m) are back in training, at least, and should be in contention to feature in the Midlands. Davies’ return perhaps puts Japhet Tanganga‘s (£4.1m) security of starts in some doubt given what Jose Mourinho had said previously about the importance of the Welshman to his system.

Tanganga could still continue as the two-in-one left-back/centre-half while Davies gets up to full speed, with Mourinho again declaring that Ryan Sessegnon (£5.4m) “is not a left-back” after his run-out in that position in the FA Cup fourth round against Southampton.

Sead Kolasinac (£5.2m), Bukayo Saka (£4.5m) and Reiss Nelson (£5.3m) were all passed fit by Arsenal on Friday, with Kolasinac potentially in line to displace Saka at left-back as he had done at the start of the calendar year.

Newcastle’s long-term absentees Jetro Willems (£4.5m), Paul Dummett (£4.4m) and Emil Krafth (£4.3m) won’t feature at the Emirates on Sunday, while Andy Carroll (£5.4m) and Jonjo Shelvey (£4.9m) aren’t yet ready for a return.

Dwight Gayle (£5.0m) and Yoshinori Muto (£5.1m) will be assessed after a return to training but will likely be among the substitutes at best as Joelinton (£5.5m), who picked up a rib injury in the win over Oxford United last week, was passed fit on Thursday.

New signings Valentino Lazaro (£5.5m), Nabil Bentaleb (£5.0m) and Danny Rose (£5.3m) also bolster Newcastle’s squad depth, with Bentelab having already made two competitive starts for the Magpies.

Rose, ineligible to face Oxford in the FA Cup, could very well be handed his first Newcastle start in London at the expense of Matt Ritchie (£5.3m), who is a possible option on the other side of the pitch given that DeAndre Yedlin (£4.4m) has failed to really impress of late.

It remains to be seen if Bruce sees Lazaro more as a wing-back or a winger, meanwhile, with the right-sided Austrian another alternative to Yedlin if it’s the former.

Tammy Abraham (£7.7m) is still feeling the effects of a recent ankle injury according to Frank Lampard, who said in his latest press conference that the player has had to be pulled out of training a few times over the Winter Break but managed a full session on Friday. As things stand, he will have to be assessed over the weekend ahead of the visit of Manchester United on Monday night.

Christian Pulisic (£6.9m) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£6.3m) have both been ruled out of Gameweek 26 but are both approaching a return to full fitness.

GET FULL TEAM NEWS AND PREDICTED LINE-UPS HERE

547 Comments Post a Comment
  1. FantasyHero
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Pick one :
    A. Firmino & Son
    B. Jiminez & Mane

    Rest of team
    McCarthy button
    TAA lascellas egan o'Connell Stephens
    Salah kdb hayden traore (?)
    Vardy Ings (?)

    Leaning towards Jimenez and Mane as Jimenez seem to be a better bet than Son but firmino has great form.

    1. Ze_Austin
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Jimenez & Mane

      Fixtures

  2. Big boy Bowen
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Can't wait for the Valentines Vardy party!

    PANTS DOWN at the ready!

    1. Rolls-Royce
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Yeah, Porhub is giving away premium offers.

  3. La Roja
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    It’s my birthday bisches

    Hiccups

    1. Ze_Austin
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Bappy hirthday!

  4. Ze_Austin
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    "Daniel Farke reports that all of Norwich City's players are fit apart from long-term absentee Timm Klose."

    Collector's item, this

  5. Rolls-Royce
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Finally some PL action. Excited for Vardy party tonight!

  6. Velin
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    I am on a wildcard, really tempted to do De Bruyne to Mane for next 4-5 gameweeks, now i am on VVD, Salah and Firmino, thoughts?

    1. kamdaraji
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      do it

    2. Rolls-Royce
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      I will probably make the same move with one of my 2 FTs.

      1. Velin
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        On the good side of this move i bought KDB for 10.5 so i won't lose any significant value, also considering Doherty and Jota from Wolves like differentials, but first to watch tonight's game

  7. Egg noodle
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 1 month ago

    Omg Saka passed fit. Lundstram stays benched for me 🙁

    Arteta loves Saka

    1. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Kolasinac is also fit

    2. Party time
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Some sakalicious points for you then 😆

    3. camarozz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      The problem with having a strong bench is having Troare 1st sub

      1. Fantasy Gold
        • 9 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Unlucky Jack

    4. Niho992
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 1 month ago

      Watching tonight game behind sofa with nill players. Only Traore on the bench

      1. have you seen cyan
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        I have Boly, is that a good reason to be excited? Better than nothing I guess

      2. Party time
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Carefully get yourself into a deep bunker before you get hit

        • Velin
          • 4 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Me with Soyuncu only, don't ask!

      3. ZAWAd25
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 1 month ago

        Could use the help here lads:

        Fancying WOL against NOR. Which one to do?

        A) Dilva > Traore
        B) Dilva > Traore + DCL > Jimenez (-4)
        C) Neither

        1. Holmes
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          B

        2. Velin
          • 4 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          I am thinking to go with Jota next gameweeks, last year he explode this period

      4. Party time
          4 years, 1 month ago

          3 players tonight! Send me to the World number 1 tonight

          Need Wolves 20 vs 40 Leicester

          1. Holmes
            • 10 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            20 - 40
            2∅ - 4∅
            2 - 4
            1 - 2

        • SpaceCadet
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Is traore starting?

          1. Holmes
            • 10 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            35mins left

        • eamonhegg
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Ohhh... kept Mane. Hope it pays off. Any changes needed?

          Mccarthy
          Tanganaga/ TAA /Williams
          Mane / Salah / Son / KDB
          Ings / Vardy / DCL

          4.0 / Lund / Rico / Denocker

          1. Velin
            • 4 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            Your defense seems awful to me, try with lasceles, ward, boly...

        • Akshatjazz
          • 4 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Guys need help

          1. Auba > wood / DCL
          2. Fleck > son
          3. Both

          1. Dthinger
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 7 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            neither?

            1. Akshatjazz
              • 4 Years
              4 years, 1 month ago

              R u sure ?? Can you have a look at my team and tell me abt any changes (if required)??

              Hendo, Ryan
              TAA, Robertson, Stevens, stephens, lascelles
              Kbd, salah, traore, Perez, fleck
              Ings, Jimenez, auba

        • fridge
          • 12 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Ryan
          TAA. Robbo. Egan
          Salah. KDB. Mahrez. Maddison. Traore
          Vardy. Ings
          Button. Greenwood. Soyuncu. Kelly

          Mahrez & Greenwood > Jimi & Hayden?

        • kamdaraji
          • 14 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          guys lift my rank up please

        • I Member
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          City banned from CL for two years.

          1. Old Man
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 12 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            ?

          2. TyroneGAA
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            Holy mother

          3. TyroneGAA
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            Just seen that does it include next season?

            1. jtreble
              • 7 Years
              4 years, 1 month ago

              It doesn't include anything. Kinda meaningless actually ...

          4. SADIO SANÉ
            • 8 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            justice

          5. Bury94
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            Omg!

          6. FFSbet.com
            • 8 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            Wow

          7. Firminooooo
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 8 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            GET IN

          8. jtreble
            • 7 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            No surprise. We have more years of CAS appeals to go though. 🙂

        • TyroneGAA
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Have salah Gomez taa Mendy aguero (c) kdb auba grealish left to play how many points? No answers under 100 please

        • Dont_Win_Friends_With_Salah…
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Wow. City banned from Champs League for 2 seasons

        • Holmes
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          SHU for UCL!!!

        • TyroneGAA
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Pep gone

          1. TyroneGAA
            • 6 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            Before I get banned .. next season that is

        • Differential C (Mark)
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Wheffield Wnited for Europe

        • Niho992
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Finally they got what they deserved. I mean City. Mafia organization as it's finest.

        • Bury94
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Holy cow, interested to see what happens with Pep now. Crazy!

        • SADIO SANÉ
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          5th place gets the CL place? Arsenal back in it (almost)!

          1. The Ejiptian King
            • 5 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            We'll still miss out.

            1. SADIO SANÉ
              • 8 Years
              4 years, 1 month ago

              hope Sheff U or Wolves get it

        • Differential C (Mark)
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          No CL for City, so I guess less rotation next season? Finally put an end to this Pep Roulette malarkey.

          1. SADIO SANÉ
            • 8 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            he'll be at Juve 😀

        • SAY MY NAME
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          I'm sure city will appeal and the ban will be reduced

          1. SADIO SANÉ
            • 8 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            agree but guess it would be reduced to one season instead? taking away both would make the initial decision ridiculous

          2. have you seen cyan
            • 4 Years
            4 years, 1 month ago

            tbh City are dirty little cheaters, they deserve it. I already thought Pep was going to run away, now its a certainty

        • ChickenTikkaMoSalah
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          HAHA unlucky plastic fans take an L

        • SADIO SANÉ
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Sane needs to get out while he can, hope he stays in England but guess that's unlikely

        • Differential C (Mark)
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 1 month ago

          Does this mean Pep will be putting absolutely everything in the CL this season, even more so now?! Pep roulette about to reach new heights . Yikesss