The four Premier League managers whose teams are in action on Thursday night gave their pre-match press conferences today.
While there’s nothing that we Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers can do about the new information for Gameweek 24, there are still some noteworthy updates to bring to your attention ahead of the weekend and beyond.
LIVERPOOL
It seems like we’ve had a quote from Jurgen Klopp on Mohamed Salah every day over the last week and there was another one today, with the Liverpool boss talking to reporters ahead of the visit of Leicester City.
Salah returned to training on Tuesday after making a swift return from international duty with Egypt, with whom he has racked up seven starts – including four in matches that went to extra-time – in under a month at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Klopp confirmed to in-house media yesterday that Salah was keen to get going, although did suggest today that his star winger had a bit of a hangover from that Africa Cup of Nations defeat.
“He is happy to be back but he is disappointed as well, massively so. We spoke obviously, about the tournament, everything, and we will see. He will deal with that, of course. I hope that today it will be already better but yesterday everybody could see, he still has the final in his mind.” – Jurgen Klopp on Mohamed Salah
Sadio Mane misses out against Leicester but will fly back to the UK tonight, while Jordan Henderson (back) is the only injury concern as Luis Diaz has recovered from a knock.
“Mo is back, he trained yesterday and will train today. Sadio is not back yet. A clear agreement with him. We said it’s such a big thing, everybody could see that celebration in Senegal. We didn’t want to stress anybody there by asking to bring Sadio back earlier. They should just enjoy it and enjoy themselves and come back as early as possible. I think it’ll be tonight.
“Hendo has a little bit [of a] back problem from the last game and Sadio is not here, but neither issue will be long term, so that’s good.” – Jurgen Klopp
LEICESTER CITY
Brendan Rodgers confirmed that there are no new fitness concerns from the weekend and nobody returning from injury to the squad to play Liverpool.
Wesley Fofana (fibula), Jamie Vardy (hamstring), Jonny Evans (hamstring), Timothy Castagne (thigh) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) remain out but the fit-again Ricardo Pereira at least featured as a substitute in the FA Cup on Sunday.
“It’s pretty much the same squad from the weekend’s game, there’s no fresh injuries. It’s just been one of those seasons [with injuries], but we’ve never tried to use it as an excuse.
“The closest one [to a return] will be Wesley Fofana. He will look to train next week with the squad, which is great news for us, and then it’s just timing. Jonny and Vards are some time away. JJ is finding his legs again, finding space on the field. He was never going to be perfect [straight away] coming back.
“Ricky got some game time [at Nottingham Forest] and Timothy’s still a bit of time away.” – Brendan Rodgers
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Bruno Lage confirmed that Romain Saiss and Francisco Trincao will return from international duty and illness for Thursday’s clash with Arsenal.
Jonny (knee) and Hwang Hee-chan (muscle) are back in full training and nearing a playing comeback a bit earlier than expected; Lage offering only a “we’ll see” when asked about the pair’s involvement against the Gunners.
Wolves, of course, have a Double Gameweek 26 on the horizon and a guaranteed fixture in Blank Gameweek 30, so the cut-price Hwang’s imminent availability (he’s now dropped to £5.4m) is something to consider for those managers on the hunt for a budget forward.
Jonny’s progress is one to monitor, too, given that he’s a positional rival of semi-popular budget FPL defender Rayan Ait-Nouri.
ARSENAL
Mikel Arteta gave an update on Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf), a player he had previously ruled out for a “few weeks” ahead of Gameweek 23, as Arsenal prepare for the trip to Molineux.
“He’s there. He had a recurring injury in the same place so we have to be careful with him but he’s been training hard. Let’s see if he’s available or not.” – Mikel Arteta on Takehiro Tomiyasu
