The Team News tab remains the most-visited page on the Fantasy Football Scout site even when the next Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline is several days or weeks away, with the Injuries and Bans section not far behind.
The pre-match press conferences on Thursday and Friday are where we get the bulk of our information for the upcoming Gameweek, and it’s after the Premier League managers have faced the media that we properly update the tab and finalise our predicted XIs. We also bring you a round-up of the pressers in article form on those days.
But given the aforementioned demand, and for those Fantasy managers thinking of making early transfers or wanting to hear the latest in advance of the end-of-the-week pressers, we’re posting this initial summary straight after the weekend’s action.
It’ll also be updated after the matches on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the press conference round-ups on Thursday and Friday superseding it.
ARSENAL
Kieran Tierney (knee) and Thomas Partey (thigh) look set to miss Gameweek 34 and potentially the rest of the season, while it remains to be seen if Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf) – who had been earmarked for a return to training after the Southampton game – is match fit enough to face Manchester United at the weekend.
ASTON VILLA
Villa were without a fixture in Gameweek 33, so we haven’t had a recent update on Lucas Digne (collarbone) from Villa boss Steven Gerrard.
Digne was injured in the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 32, with Gerrard fearing that the French left-back’s season was over.
BRENTFORD
There was a triple injury blow for Brentford following Saturday’s last-gasp win over Watford.
Ethan Pinnock limped off with what Thomas Frank fears is a hamstring problem, while Sergi Canos will miss the next few weeks with a similar issue.
Zanka was absent with a slight thigh problem, meanwhile.
The Brentford boss hopes that Frank Onyeka (ankle) will be back before the end of the season.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Jakub Moder remains out for the long term with a serious knee injury but Steven Alzate (illness) was back in training as of Tuesday, after missing out at the weekend.
Yves Bissouma became the first Premier League player to reach 10 bookings for the season and will consequently sit out both the midweek clash with Manchester City and Saturday’s match against Southampton after picking up a two-game ban.
Leandro Trossard is also a doubt with a stomach bug.
BURNLEY
Erik Pieters (knee), Ben Mee (knee) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (calf) all sat out the draw with West Ham United on Sunday but the first two of those players are not too far off a return.
The Clarets were dealt a further blow when Ashley Westwood was stretchered off against the Hammers with what will surely be a season-ending ankle injury.
CHELSEA
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Achilles/back), Ben Chilwell (knee) and Mateo Kovacic (ankle) will all miss the visit of West Ham, while Antonio Rudiger is a big doubt with a minor groin problem.
Andreas Christensen will also have to be assessed after limping out of the midweek loss to Arsenal.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Michael Olise (foot) and Tyrick Mitchell (calf) both recovered in time to be involved in the FA Cup tie against Chelsea, leaving just Nathan Ferguson (muscle) on the sidelines.
Luka Milivojevic missed the midweek match against Newcastle with hamstring tightness, however.
EVERTON
Dominic Calvert-Lewin faces 10-14 days on the sidelines with quad injury picked up ahead of Wednesday’s draw with Leicester, while Andros Townsend (knee) and Nathan Patterson (ankle) are long-term absentees.
LEEDS UNITED
Patrick Bamford (foot) and Tyler Roberts (hamstring) won’t be available to face Crystal Palace but Jamie Shackleton (calf), Junior Firpo (knee) and Adam Forshaw (calf) were all expected to train in the fortnight that Leeds had off due to their non-involvement in Gameweek 33.
LEICESTER CITY
Wilfred Ndidi (knee), Danny Ward (knee) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) remain out for the long term, while Jamie Vardy (knee) had an injection last Tuesday and was set to be assessed in the week after that – so his involvement in Gameweek 34 is still in question.
Boubakary Soumare (groin) hasn’t been sighted since the March international break despite his injury being described as minor by his manager.
LIVERPOOL
Jurgen Klopp had an almost fully-fit squad going into Tuesday’s match against Manchester United, with Roberto Firmino the only absentee because of a minor foot problem.
MANCHESTER CITY
Kyle Walker (ankle) wasn’t involved in Wednesday’s win over Brighton, while John Stones and Nathan Ake both picked up muscular problems in that match and will need to be assessed.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Fred (hip), Edinson Cavani (calf), Luke Shaw (leg) and Raphael Varane (unspecified) (foot) all missed the win over Norwich and didn’t recover in time to face Liverpool on Tuesday.
Varane is the closest of that quartet to making a comeback and is back on the grass with the physios, so could be in the reckoning for Gameweek 34.
Bruno Fernandes was unhurt after being involved in a car crash on Monday, while Cristiano Ronaldo missed out against Liverpool for personal reasons.
Paul Pogba (calf) now looks set for a spell on the sidelines after picking up a calf problem on Tuesday.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Kieran Trippier (foot) and Callum Wilson (calf) remain on the injury list, with the pair sidelined until at least Gameweek 35.
Joe Willock (knee) was back in the matchday squad this week but Ryan Fraser (hamstring) missed out, with a scan having picked up “a very small problem” in the preceding week.
NORWICH CITY
Ozan Kabak (hamstring), Adam Idah (ankle/knee) and Andrew Omobamidele (back) are all likely out for the season but Josh Sargent (ankle) could be back in contention for Gameweek 34 after his protective boot was removed last week.
Loanee Brandon Williams will also be newly available after being ineligible to face parent club Manchester United on Saturday.
SOUTHAMPTON
There are no known concerns with the Saints at the time of writing, with only match fitness preventing Alex McCarthy from featuring recently after his recovery from a hamstring problem.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Matt Doherty (knee) has joined Japhet Tanganga (knee) in being ruled out until the end of the season, while Oliver Skipp remains out after a couple of setbacks in his recovery from a groin problem.
WATFORD
Relegation-threatened Watford had a quadruple injury blow before Saturday’s defeat to Brentford, the most grave of which saw Cucho Hernandez (hamstring) miss out; he now faces a race against time to be back before the end of the season.
Samuel Kalu (ankle), William Troost-Ekong (hamstring) and Francisco Sierralta (calf) were also sidelined for that game, meanwhile, albeit with less serious issues.
WEST HAM UNITED
Angelo Ogbonna (knee) is a long-term absentee, while Kurt Zouma looks set to remain on the sidelines as assessment continues on a potentially season-ending ankle injury.
A third centre-half, Issa Diop, could also now be out until the end of the campaign.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Ruben Neves (knee) is the only Wolves player definitely out of the Burnley match at the time of writing.
Raul Jimenez will be back from suspension, while Ki-Jana Hoever (hamstring) has been back on the grass during his side’s two-week Premier League hiatus and could be involved at Turf Moor.
