Before Gameweek 16 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) commences on Saturday, there is a round of midweek EFL Cup ties involving 19 Premier League teams.
- Bournemouth v Everton
- Brentford v Gillingham
- Leicester City v Newport County
- Arsenal v Brighton and Hove Albion
- Newcastle United v Crystal Palace
- Nottingham Forest v Tottenham Hotspur
- Southampton v Sheffield Wednesday
- West Ham United v Blackburn Rovers
- Wolverhampton Wanderers v Leeds United
- Liverpool v Derby County
- Manchester City v Chelsea
- Manchester United v Aston Villa
Here’s a round-up of the key updates from Tuesday’s press conferences.
MANCHESTER CITY
Pep Guardiola told reporters on Tuesday that Erling Haaland (£12.1m) is still not completely over his foot injury, with his involvement against Chelsea in the EFL Cup third round still to be decided.
“He is still not perfect still. We will see tomorrow and Saturday [ahead of the Premier League game against Brentford]. He is getting better. The main thing is the bone was not broken – the ligament is damaged a little bit, so he’s still not perfect right now. We will see [about playing for Norway against Ireland and Finland] – a week, 10 days anything can happen. If he feels good, he will play for the national team – it is so important for the players. I never stop players playing for their national team.” – Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland
Kalvin Phillips (£4.8m) will be involved but Kyle Walker (£4.9m) misses out.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has provided an update on the fitness of England World Cup hopefuls Callum Wilson (£7.5m) and Kieran Trippier (£5.9m), with the former withdrawn at half-time on Sunday.
“Callum is OK, he has been feeling an illness for a few days so he is a little bit rundown. We will see how he is again today.” – Eddie Howe on Callum Wilson
“No problems with Kieran [after being substituted during the 4-1 win at Southampton]. It always looks worse than it is when a physio comes on to the pitch. He came out second half and was fine. It was my decision to take him off.” – Eddie Howe on Kieran Trippier
Howe said there were no other injuries to report.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Assistant head coach Christian Stellini discussed Richarlison (£8.4m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£8.0m) earlier this afternoon, as well as saying a decision will be made on Harry Kane’s (£11.6m) involvement.
“Richarlison is back in training, an available player but he only has had two days training. [On Kulusevski] we lose him in the last international break. We can’t say he can play 90 minutes because it’s a long-time injury. We have to be careful.” – Christian Stellini
“About tomorrow, the decision Antonio [Conte] will take tomorrow. It’s too short to analyse what type of energy the players will have for tomorrow’s game. He will speak tomorrow to all of the players to see who is ready. It’s an important game.” – Christian Stellini on whether Harrry Kane will start
LIVERPOOL
James Milner (£4.4m) will come back into contention for Gameweek 16 following a concussion, while Naby Keita’s (£4.7m) availability for the weekend will be assessed.
Joel Matip (£5.9m), however, is unlikely to return in time to face Southampton.
“Naby [Keita] will be difficult, he’s still training individually. Let’s see for Southampton.
Millie [Milner] will definitely be ready for Southampton but this game [against Derby] comes too early for tomorrow.
Then we have of course Joel [Matip], who is getting closer to team training but will not make Southampton probably.
The longer injuries, Luis Diaz is running for the first time on Thursday. That’s good news because we all know how important he was last year and in the second half of the season. And Jota will take longer.” – Pep Lijnders
CHELSEA
Graham Potter said that Reece James (£5.8m) was “… outside today having a little jog” while Jorginho (£5.8m) is a doubt with a foot injury.
Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.5m) is still out, while Mateo Kovacic (£4.9m) isn’t 100 per cent but is not far off.
“Reece [James] was outside today having a little jog. We don’t want to rush anything. I don’t want to put any timescales on it. That’s for him, the doctors and the physios.” – Graham Potter on Reece James
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