Team News

Klopp’s update on Liverpool centre-back situation and other FPL team news

Fantasy Premier League managers may be considering late transfers in their Double Gameweek 19 teams after Pep Guardiola talked about the competition for places in his Manchester City squad

Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp also said one of his centre-halves could make a timely return for their key match with Manchester United.

Find out the latest injury and team news news in this Double Gameweek 19 round-up.

Manchester City

Pep first confirmed Aymeric Laporte (£6.0m), Nathan Aké (£5.4m) and Sergio Aguero (£10.3m) are all ruled out for Man City ahead of Crystal Palace’s visit to the Etihad.

“Today is (a day) off, tomorrow is training session. I’d love to update you. Eric (Garcia) will be back, the guys from the academy will be back. Aymeric (Laporte) and Nathan (Aké) won’t be fit. Sergio Aguero won’t be either.”

Pep Guardiola

Eric Garcia (£4.7m) returns to offer Guardiola another option at centre-half, though the Spaniard will likely have to settle for a place on the bench.

The City manager also had some words of warning for Joao Cancelo (£5.8m) owners.

Signing Cancelo a week before fixture swing can give FPL owners the edge

“Every player has competition with his team-mates. Even the manager, if we’re not playing good I have competition. To get the best out of ourselves, we have to feel our seat is not safe. Even Joao Cancelo.”

Pep Guardiola

And on Raheem Sterling (£11.4m), the City chief added:

“He’s an incredibly important player for us. Without him what we have done in the past wouldn’t be possible. In all departments he can help us. I’m more than delighted he is with us.”

Pep Guardiola

Liverpool

Joel Matip (£5.4m) could return for the top-of-the-table clash with Man United, Jurgen Klopp confirmed.

“Joel Matip is close. Does it make sense now to throw him in after one or two sessions he’s not done yet? I don’t know. We have to see how he looks in training.”

Jurgen Klopp

Asked if Jordan Henderson (£5.4m) could deputise once more at centre-half should Matip not return, Klopp responded:

“We have still different solutions. Hendo is, for us, very important in midfield, as well. We just have to see. It’s not decided yet. Why should I?”

Jurgen Klopp

One player that will definitely not feature at Anfield is Naby Keita (£5.2m).

“Naby is not ready for involvement. Not a big thing. But it’s a bit like when other players have come back from injuries they have to play and little injury again. Now we have to put on the brakes and settle it properly.”

Jurgen Klopp

Manchester United

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was coy as ever in his pre-Liverpool briefing, with Anthony Martial (£8.8m) owners set to sweat ahead of Sunday’s kick-off.

“I will give everyone tomorrow to prove their fitness. There are a couple of knocks we got at Burnley that I’m not sure about. I am going to give everyone a chance. Anthony Martial is not out of it. Only ones certainly out are Brandon Williams and Phil Jones. They are the two who definitely can’t make the game. Others, maybe doubts, but fingers crossed.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Tottenham Hotspur

Steven Bergwijn (£7.0m) should be available for Spurs after illness, while Giovanni Lo Celso (£6.9m) remains out.

“Gio [Lo Celso] is not [available]. We still have two training sessions before the game but I believe no more problems in principle.”

Jose Mourinho

Jose also provided this update on Gareth Bale (£9.3m).

“He arrived injured for the first month and the Europa League group phase is a different intensity, so in the Premier League didn’t play a lot of minutes. Then an injury against Stoke where he was having a good first half. Not an easy process.”

Jose Mourinho

West Ham

David Moyes, frustratingly, did not provide a specific update on Michail Antonio (£6.2m) in his pre-match press conference.

The West Ham boss did offer information on Fabian Balbuena (£4.4m) and Lukasz Fabianski (£5.1m), however.

“We’ve only had two players missing; Fabian Balbuena is isolating – he came in contact with somebody – but basically we’re just about okay. We’re waiting on Lukasz Fabianski to see how he is, we’re not sure yet and Arthur Masuaku’s probably a couple of months away from being involved again.”

David Moyes

Burnley

Charlie Taylor (£4.5m) owners may not get two games out of the Clarets defender in Double Gameweek 19.

“Charlie Taylor is a doubt, he is a maybe. Everyone else is fine. There are a couple searching for true fitness as in high-level Premier League fitness but the squad is coming back together now.”

Sean Dyche

Wolves

Nuno Espirito Santo delivered a surprisingly lengthy team news update ahead of West Brom’s visit to Molineux.

“Let’s see. We have Adama (Traoré) and (Willy) Boly coming and joining (training). Let’s see how they are for tomorrow. We still have Daniel out. We have work to do. Jonny, Podence, Marcal are out.”

Nuno Espirito Santo

On Pedro Neto (£6.0m), he added:

“He’s inside all the players we have to assess, realising we still have a lot in front of us. At the same time, Pedro is doing well, so we’ll decide. He had a big knock but is improving. Better today, and hopefully better tomorrow.”

Nuno Espirito Santo

A reversion to the tried-and-trusted back three could also be on the cards at Wolves.

“We (have) made big mistakes, especially in defence. We must be compact and from there can grow positives. We have to go back to our main foundation; a clean sheet.”

Nuno Espirito Santo

Sheffield United

Chris Wilder has injury issues, though exactly which players remains unclear. The Blades boss said:

“We’ve got a few out. I think we’ve got seven out for the weekend. We’re hopeful we’ll get a couple back but we might lose one and we’ve got a doubt about one.”

Chris Wilder

On striker Oli McBurnie (£5.6m), Wilder added:

“He’s working away – he’s been out on the grass today. Difficult one because of the nature of the injury. “Still got another day to go but he’s a doubt.”

Chris Wilder
Brewster not immediately drafted into Sheffield United starting line-up

Leicester

Jamie Vardy (£10.1m) and James Maddison (£7.1m) are available for the Foxes’ home clash with Southampton on Saturday.

Leicester play at the King Power again on Tuesday, hosting Chelsea in their second tie of Double Gameweek 19. On the pair, Brendan Rodgers said:

“Both those players are available. It wasn’t so much a rest [for the FA Cup]. They couldn’t play or if they did play, there was going to be a huge risk for them. They’ve had ongoing issues throughout the season unfortunately and [Stoke] was a game where we saw a window to get some medical work done with them knowing we’ve got other players who can play. That’s worked well for us. They’ve re-joined the group so they’ll be available this weekend.”

Brendan Rodgers

Ricardo Pereira (£5.9m) will not be rushed back into action again, having returned to team training.

“Cengiz Under should be back this weekend, Ricardo Pereira too. A bit like (Caglar) Söyüncü, it will be step by step. We don’t need to rush (Pereira), especially having him broken down before. He’s worked very hard and has gone through all of the tests. We are able to get him close to the squad now, and step by step (we are) getting him back.”

Brendan Rodgers

Dennis Praet (£5.2m), meanwhile, is set for an extended spell on the sidelines. Rodgers explained:

“Dennis will be out for up to three months, which is a huge blow for us. It was an awkward one, he overstretched. It was a tendon in the hamstring.”

Brendan Rodgers

Southampton

For the Saints, Ralph Hassenhuttl confirmed the news that Danny Ings (£8.3m) had tested positive for COVID-19 last week and will miss the trip to Leicester.

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“We’ve had one positive test since the Liverpool game; Danny Ings. So he’s been out for the past 10 days. When you stick to the protocols, you minimise the risks and that’s what we’re continuing to do. I don’t know if Danny can come back [to training] tomorrow but it looks like he’s out for the weekend.”

Alex McCarthy (£4.7m) and Che Adams (£6.0m) are back in the Southampton fold, while Hasenhuttl has a mix of short and long-term injuries to deal with.

“Alex McCarthy and Che Adams have come back in, so they will both be available. [Nathan] Redmond, [Jannik] Vestergaard and [Moussa] Djenepo are all longer-term injuries. [Michael] Obafemi has had surgery and [Nathan] Tella has problems with his muscle. We have a few problems in the moment which gives me a bit of a headache.”

Ralph Hassenhuttl

Leeds

Marcelo Bielsa has suddenly got some strength in depth at centre-half, with Liam Cooper (£4.3m) and Diego Llorente (£4.4m) both passed fit by the Leeds boss.

“Diego Llorente, Tyler Roberts and Liam Cooper are all available. No (other players are unavailable), just Kalvin Phillips (suspended).”

Marcelo Bielsa

Owners of defenders Luke Ayling (£4.5m), Stuart Dallas (£4.8m) and Ezjgan Alioski (£4.5m) will be scanning the Leeds teamsheet on Saturday to see how Bielsa decides to set up his defence and midfield.

Brighton

Brighton boss Graham Potter has not faced the press but the club’s medical update ruled out Tariq Lamptey (£4.7m), Danny Welbeck (£5.5m), Adam Lallana (£6.2m), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (£5.4m), Aaron Connolly (£5.2m) and new signing Jakub Moder (£5.0m).

Fulham

Aleksandar Mitrovic (£5.5m) could return for Fulham after missing the midweek 1-1 draw at Spurs. Scott Parker said on Thursday:

“Aleksandar Mitrovic is possible to return for the weekend. He trained lightly today. Mario Lemina and Tom Cairney are not available at the moment. We’ll see where we are in the coming days. Tom has an issue with his knee.”

Scott Parker

Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£5.9m) is ineligible to face his parent club.

Chelsea

Chelsea should be set to welcome Reece James (£5.1m) back to action, after the right-back missed the club’s last two Premier League games.

Frank Lampard declined to name specific players in his team news update on Thursday, saying:

“We’re all good. N’Golo Kante is suspended but he’s back in training tomorrow. So we’re all good.”

Frank Lampard

Arsenal

Following the Gunners’ 0-0 draw at home to Crystal Palace on Thursday, Mikel Arteta said of the missing Kieran Tierney (£5.4m):

“I don’t know (if I’ll have him back for the next game). It depends on how he evolves. He’s going to have an MRI scan tomorrow and we’ll see how he is.”

Mikel Arteta
Blank Gameweek 18 and Double Gameweek 19: The key player and team stats
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On further injury news, Arteta added:

“[Pablo Mari] had a calf injury in training [on Wednesday]. I think he will miss a few matches. He’s another one we will lose but we’ve got Gabriel [Magalhaes] back after Cocid, which is good news, we’ve got Thomas [Partey] back as well. Let’s focus on the positives.”

Mikel Arteta

Newcastle

On team news, Steve Bruce told the media:

“Jamal Lewis could come back in. Jamaal Lascelles too. We’ve got a problem with Federico Fernandez. Allan Saint-Maximin is maybe training today or tomorrow, which is good news. But he’s been out for around seven weeks so we’ll have to monitor him. Fatigue is the biggest thing.”

Steve Bruce

Crystal Palace

Roy Hodgson used his press conference to praise his team’s latest defensive performances

On Palace’s trip to Arsenal, the manager stated:

“We were playing a team in excellent form and we go away with a deserved 0-0. I thought the game was end-to-end and we are happy we took something away from the game. Two clean sheets in a row now. If you don’t defend well, it is going to be hard to win games.”

Roy Hodgson

And Hodgson added on the visit to the Etihad:

“If they [Man City] are not conceding goals, they’re always likely to score with the quality of players they have to choose from. It’s going to be a very, very tough ask for us. Am I looking forward to going there? Well, not really, because I know it’s going to be a very hard ask for us. You have to show every bit as much discipline, energy and effort that we put into tonight’s game.”

Roy Hodgson

West Brom

Sam Allardyce did not provide anything in the way of team news during his press conference on Thursday.

1,398 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Danstoke82
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Hi, do I go total -8 to fit KDB into this team? I’m also concerned about benching Son but cannot see any other way. Any advice greatly appreciated.

    Current team:

    Martinez
    Robbo Coufal Stones
    Salah Soucek Maddison Bruno
    Kane Bamford Antonio

    Subs; Steer Son Dier Mitchell

    £0.1 ITB used FT on Adams > Antonio

    Thanks!

  2. Sid1891
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Would you BB Leno Saka Fabio S Bamford?

    Remaining 11 on DGW
    Thanks for feedback

    1. Ruudy Van
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I think everyone is saying no as we had planned all DGW players for the bench. Reality is, we normally bench boost when we have strong 15 players...I'd strongly consider it

  3. Ruudy Van
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Few seperate questions, thanks.1FT 3.4ITB. No BB.

    A) Sell McCarthy to 5.9 GK
    B) Sell 4.0 to 5.3 GK

    1) Son & Keeper to KDB & Keeper -4
    2) Son Keeper & Dier to KDB Keeper & Stones -8

    If option 1
    Y) Bench Dier
    Z) Bench Targett

    Current Team
    McCarthy Forster
    Dier Zouma Dias Coufal Targett
    Salah Bruno Son Soucek Burke
    Vardy Bamford Adams
    Salah

  4. 420king
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Martinez
    Dier Stones AWB (Dallas)
    KDB Bruno Son Grealish
    Kane Bamford Martial
    1FT 0.5m ITB

    Only way for me to get Salah without -8 is if I go with Watkins over Antonio or sell both Son and Kane and neither appeals to me.
    Should I use my FH?

  5. KaBoZ: Kids,don't Drin…
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    "Balbuena" is confirmed out for isolation, Cancelo and KDB have 5 tasty fixtures from gw19 until gw22.
    --

    Johnstone/ Mccartyhy
    Stones / Coufal / Justin / Balbuena/ Dallas
    Son / Salah / Bruno / Raphina / Soucek
    Kane / Bamford / Adams

    WWYD:
    A) KDB + Vardy ( for son and kane) === -4 points
    B) Cancelo (for balbuena)
    C) Cancelo + Vardy (for balbuena + Kane) === -4
    D) Cancelo + KDB + Antonio (for balbuena + Son + Kane) ==== -8

    BB:
    1) Yes
    2) No

  6. Weasel Boy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    What would be a respectable score with TC chip?
    I'm thinking mid 40s.

  7. Salalalalah
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Would you BB this?

    McCarthy TAYLOR Bamford Dallas

    Taylor has DGW but may just play 1

    1. BobbyDoesNotLook
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Tight. A bit better than my Mccarthy Dallas Raphinha Adams.

  8. wanny180
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Hi. which out of these 3 players would you have, Barnes, Gundogan or Foden and who gets the most points. cheers

  9. wulfrunian
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Do you think that Taylor will start vs Wham?

    1. BenDavies
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      no, dyche said hes the only doubt in the squad

  10. BobbyDoesNotLook
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Bb this? Below is -4. -8 would get Antonio for Adams.

    Johnstone
    Robbo Justin Coufal Stones
    Salah (c) Bruno Son Soucek
    Vardy Bamford
    (Mccarthy Dallas Raphinha Adams*)

    1. BobbyDoesNotLook
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Reading out loud the bench, sounds like a no go bb. Feels bad to use no chip with this team however. Not confident on Salah TC...

  11. VinMar
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    captain sterling yay or nay, no kdb

    1. BobbyDoesNotLook
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Punty but could be gold.

  12. BobbyDoesNotLook
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Is it "FPL technically" possible to add game to a gw after the start of gw? Case Leeds Soton.

  13. hogree
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Robbo and Son to KDB and Stones (-4)?

    Yay or Nay

  14. Jimjam
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    4.8 to spend. Taylor out for:

    A. Shaw
    B. Dallas

    (Have Coufal)

  15. S3
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Folks.... I am s torn right now....appreciate some advice here

    Martinez
    Holding Stones Cresswell
    Salah, Son, KDB, Fernandes, Zaha,
    Bamford, Wilson

    Steer, Taylor, Mitch, Delap
    1FT and 1.2ITB

    A. Zaha >> Soucek/El Ghazi
    B. Taylor + Zaha >> Chilwell + Soucek (-4)
    C. Zaha + Delap >> Soucek + Antonio/Watkins (-4)
    D. Taylor + Zaha + Delap >> Cancelo + Soucek +Antonio/Watkins (-8)

  16. Footieboot
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Keep Kane or Son?

    If I keep Kane I can roll with Kane, KDB, Salah and Bruno...

    1. mickyc89
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      son not done anything for few games now

  17. mickyc89
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    what do people think
    Pope
    Zoume Stone Konsa Bedranek
    KDB (c) Salah(V) Bruno Soucek
    Vardy Antonia
    Subs
    Martinez Bowen Brewster Kilman
    might do TC

  18. Mane Mane Mane
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Anyone triple captaining a player not many will be?

  19. nerd_is_the_werd
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Should I take a wildcard or -20 pt hits.

    1. nerd_is_the_werd
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Anyone?

  20. The Royal Robin
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    KDB or Salah TC?

  21. nerd_is_the_werd
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Which is better:

    1) Sterling + Mitchell
    2) Son + Dias (+0.9m)

    Have 10 mins until the deadline....

    1. nerd_is_the_werd
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Wildcarding, so money ain't a major issue.
      Just need maximum points for the next couple of game weeks.

  22. seanie3
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    its going to cost me -8 to get in KDB at the expense of grealish, do we think kdb outscores him by 8 points this week?

  23. seanie3
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    ideally want to keep son in my team to get in KDB and move on grealish, however gonna cost me -4 to do so, would you move KDB out for

    a) grealish for a -4
    b) son - FT