The first lot of Premier League pre-match press conferences get underway on Thursday as the countdown to Gameweek 1 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) begins.
Eight managers are speaking to the media today, with the other dozen to follow on Friday. One of the head coaches who will face reporters, Erik ten Hag, will hopefully clarify whether reports suggesting Anthony Martial is out of Manchester United v Brighton are accurate or not.
KEY UPDATES
- Arsenal: Three of Smith Rowe, Tomiyasu, Vieira and Tierney nearing a return
- Crystal Palace: Olise still sidelined
- Everton: Calvert-Lewin out for six weeks
- Leeds: Seven players out of Gameweek 1
- Bournemouth: Rothwell and Fredericks the only players out
- Spurs: Perisic not guaranteed a start
- Southampton: Tella and Walcott out
- Nottm Forest: Yates misses Newcastle trip
Thursday’s presser times are listed below:
For much more detailed information, check out our Predicted Line-ups page and Injuries and Bans feed.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Antonio Conte said on Thursday that he is still to make a decision over whether Ivan Perisic or Ryan Sessegnon will start on the left flank at the weekend.
“It is normal that Ivan, after a serious injury, he is struggling a bit to come back in the best physical condition. Honestly, I am surprised because he reduced his time to recover and we are really happy. At the same time, we are not worried but we have to pay a bit of attention to give him the right time to adapt himself, to recover 100% [from] the injury. I know him really well, he’s a really good addition for us, it’ll be very important for his experience for the young players – Sessegnon is a player that plays in the same role, I think Ivan can teach him a lot.
“We will see, we have another training session tomorrow. I will play him or Sessa.” – Antonio Conte on Ivan Perisic
Oliver Skipp (laceration) and Richarlison (suspended) are the only Spurs players who will definitely miss the visit of Southampton, although Yves Bissouma (hamstring) may not be risked.
“In this moment we have only one player that I’m sure will miss Southampton, Oliver Skipp. About Bissouma, I think we have another day to check very well his physical condition. Nothing serious but I don’t want to take any risks for the next games. Tomorrow we have another training session to make an evaluation. The others are all available.” – Antonio Conte
ARSENAL
Emile Smith Rowe, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Fabio Vieira and Kieran Tierney are all working their way back from injury ahead of Friday’s match against Crystal Palace, with Mikel Arteta saying that three of them could even be available for selection.
“Three out of four of those probably are going to be training this afternoon. If everything goes well, they will be available for selection.”
“You’ll find out tomorrow [who the missing player is]!” – Mikel Arteta
“Hopefully not. The reasons why they got those persistent injuries are for different reasons – probably because the squad didn’t enable them to recover and don’t play them when it was necessary. It was a combination of things.
“With those two fit and performing at their best, we are much stronger as a team.” – Mikel Arteta on whether Tierney and Tomiyasu are long-term concerns over recurring injuries
The Arsenal boss didn’t reveal any fresh concerns when facing journalists, although wasn’t directly asked.
EVERTON
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (knee) could be out for Everton’s opening eight league fixtures, after Frank Lampard confirmed that his star striker would be sidelined until mid-September.
“We’re probably looking at around six weeks for the injury.” – Frank Lampard on Dominic Calvert-Lewin
The Everton boss also provided us with a comprehensive update on his other walking wounded:
“[Tom Davies] should be training with us next week. [Andre Gomes] is a week or two away. [Yerry Mina] is fit. [Asmir Begovic] is fit, we hope – just about fit. He’s worked very hard, he’s ahead of schedule. [Seamus Coleman] is fit, he’s going to play for the under-21s tomorrow night to get some minutes. He’s behind in terms of fitness but typically Seamus like, he’s working very hard to get up to speed. [Allan] is fit but still trying to get some match-minutes, he’s not played so many minutes in pre-season. He’s part of the squad but again we need to try and work on how our training is and getting him match-fit.” – Frank Lampard
LEEDS UNITED
Daniel James (suspended), Liam Cooper (Achilles), Stuart Dallas (leg), Luke Ayling (knee), Junior Firpo (knee), Adam Forshaw (knee) and Luis Sinisterra (hamstring) are all out of Leeds’ clash with Wolves.
“Liam Cooper has had an Achilles issue from his off-season programme from running on a treadmill. It’s taken him a long time to get back into training but this week he has been on the pitch doing individual work, finally. He will not be available this weekend but we’re hopeful that by next week he will be in team training.
“Junior Firpo had a scan today and is ahead of schedule. We can do more with him but I would say he is still probably two or three weeks away from being match eligible.
“Adam Forshaw has made really good progress with a knee MCL issue, it’s not a pure MCL issue, it’s a little different than that. We’re hopeful that he will train next week.
“Luke Ayling has made a lot of progress after his surgery and is ahead of schedule and we’re trying not to pressure him too much but he is showing really positive signs that hopefully he can be in training in a couple of weeks.
“Luis was on the pitch today and looking very good and he’s getting closer and closer to his top speed. So I would assume that he would be in training next week and hopefully be available for the weekend after.
“Stuart Dallas has made really good progress and has had a couple of check-ups after the severe surgery and they feel like he’s right on track.” – Jesse Marsch
CRYSTAL PALACE
Patrick Vieira confirmed in Thursday’s presser that Michael Olise, who hasn’t featured since May because of a foot problem, is still a few weeks away, while James McArthur will not be involved tomorrow due to a groin issue.
“Macca [James McArthur] will not be a part of the squad tomorrow. Tonks [James Tomkins] has an issue with his calf so won’t get involved tomorrow. Michael [Olise] is still a couple of weeks away.” – Patrick Vieira
BOURNEMOUTH
Scott Parker revealed that Joe Rothwell (thigh) and Ryan Fredericks (calf) were his only injury issues ahead of Saturday’s clash with Aston Villa.
“The latest is [Fredericks] on the grass now. He picked up an injury when we were in Portugal, a calf injury. It will be too quick for the weekend, he won’t be ready for the weekend along with Joe Rothwell as well, which is disappointing. These are the two players obviously we brought in and both picked up knocks.
“Joe will probably be a little bit longer than Ryan in where he is but like I said he’s on the grass, he’s progressing in the right way. He’s moving slowly in the right steps, which is pleasing and hopefully over the coming weeks we can get him up to speed and get him in the team or around the team.” – Scott Parker
New signing Marcus Tavernier is available for selection.
David Brooks, who announced he had beat cancer in May, hasn’t featured in pre-season, with the Cherries handling his comeback carefully.
SOUTHAMPTON
Theo Walcott and Nathan Tella will miss Southampton’s trip to Spurs this weekend, along with long-term injury victim Tino Livramento (knee).
“Theo Walcott hasn’t had pre-season so far. He is not back in training.
“Nathan Tella was also out with injury for a little while, he was training today for the first time so he will also not be available for the weekend.” – Ralph Hasenhuttl
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Omar Richards (leg) is a medium-term absentee for Forest, while Ryan Yates will also miss out with a minor issue picked up in pre-season.
“Ryan Yates hasn’t got back in time, he’s not far away. Apart from that, we’re as we were. Wayne Hennessey’s back training, he missed the last game through a really small injury but he’s available for the weekend.” – Steve Cooper
