Gameweek 18 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) has the potential to cause a few headaches when it comes to injuries and team news.
That’s because of the earlier-than-usual Thursday deadline.
There’s a chance that we only hear from as few as four Premier League managers before that deadline passes, with the bulk of the pre-match press conferences set to take place on Friday.
The four head coaches we’ll definitely hear from, pre-deadline, are those managing Crystal Palace, Brighton and Hove Albion, Aston Villa and Sheffield United.
There’s a good chance that one or two others will also be facing the media on Thursday morning or afternoon. Burnley‘s Vincent Kompany and Nottingham Forest‘s outgoing Steve Cooper, for example, have often staged their pressers on this day in a bog-standard week.
But we’ll only find out who is speaking when for certain in the coming 24 hours or so.
Until then, here’s what we know about all 18 clubs who are in action in the upcoming Gameweek.
CRYSTAL PALACE V BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
The Palace injury crisis is slowly easing, with Tyrick Mitchell (hip), Dean Henderson (thigh) and Eberechi Eze (ankle) all returning to the matchday squad last weekend.
And local media reports suggest that Jefferson Lerma (hamstring) could make a swift return to action for the M23 derby.
Palace will also get Jordan Ayew back from a one-match suspension.
The latest on Sam Johnstone (calf) and Odsonne Edouard (knee) is awaited, with the pair having limped out of the Liverpool defeat in Gameweek 16 and then sat out the 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
Cheick Doucoure (Achilles), Rob Holding (ankle), Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (hamstring) and Nathan Ferguson (hamstring) remain out, while Joel Ward (hamstring) may have joined his team-mates on the injury list.
“We don’t know [how serious it is]. It’s a hamstring [injury] so that’s another one. It’ll just be another injury to compound things for us.
“We thought we were pretty well off for centre-backs, but we lost [Rob] Holding and [James] Tomkins, and if we suddenly lose Joel Ward it will be less still. We need a central midfield player defensively, and [Chris] Richards has been doing that job well. If we have to move him to the back we’ll have a gap there. These are the problems we’ll have to wrestle with.” – Roy Hodgson on Joel Ward, who limped out of the match at the Etihad
Joel Veltman (knee) faces an uphill battle to be fit for the trip to Selhurst Park, having limped out of the defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
“I think it is an important problem because he feels pain in his knee. When there is a problem with the knee, it is difficult.” – Roberto De Zerbi on Joel Veltman
It’s not thought that Brighton will recover any of their previously injured players.
Roberto De Zerbi said ahead of Gameweek 17 that it would be “many weeks more” before Adam Webster (unspecified), Pervis Estupinan (muscle) and Tariq Lamptey (muscle) are available.
Solly March (knee) and Ansu Fati (muscle) are longer-term injuries, while The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Julio Enciso (knee) will be out until February after undergoing a second operation.
ASTON VILLA V SHEFFIELD UNITED
We will, thankfully, hear from Unai Emery ahead of Thursday’s deadline, so we’ll get an update – helpful or otherwise – on Pau Torres before FPL teams, transfers and captains have to be finalised.
The centre-back hobbled out of the win over Brentford on Sunday, with Emery hopeful that Pau had avoided serious injury.
“Hopefully, it’s a small injury. Hopefully.” – Unai Emery on Pau Torres
Emery merely said “I don’t know” when asked if Youri Tielemans could return for the visit of Sheffield United, having sat out Gameweek 17 with an unspecified issue.
Tyrone Mings (knee), Emi Buendia (knee), Robin Olsen (unspecified) and Bertrand Traore (unspecified) were on the injury list at Brentford, the first two being season-long absentees.
Douglas Luiz and Lucas Digne do return from suspension but Villa have now lost Boubacar Kamara for the next three league matches after the midfielder’s straight red card in west London.
Longer-term absentees Chris Basham (leg), Tom Davies (thigh), John Egan (leg) and Daniel Jebbison (illness) are the only Blades on the injury list, although it remains to be seen whether Rhian Brewster (knee) and Rhys Norrington-Davies (hamstring) are anywhere remotely close to being match fit after their rehabs brought them back onto the grass.
Jack Robinson returns from a one-match ban, while Ollie Norwood, Ben Osborn and George Baldock were all back on the bench at Stamford Bridge last Saturday after suspension and injury.
WEST HAM UNITED V MANCHESTER UNITED
David Moyes would have been proud of Hammers assistant boss Billy McKinlay, who gave a perfectly Moyesian answer to the request for team news in Tuesday’s pre-EFL Cup presser.
“We’ll know better this morning. The game was only a couple of days ago so we’ll have a better idea this morning after training. There’s still a bit of an illness lingering around the camp so we’ll make sure everybody’s checked today.” – Billy McKinlay, speaking on Tuesday
As it turns out, the players affected by illness on Wednesday evening were Nayef Aguerd and Maxwel Cornet.
Michail Antonio (hamstring) was the only West Ham player sidelined through injury.
The team news is often a bit vague at Manchester United, too.
We know for certain that Diogo Dalot will miss Gameweek 18 as a result of his dismissal at Anfield on Sunday, while Bruno Fernandes will return from his own one-match ban at the London Stadium.
Anthony Martial (illness) could be back, too.
Harry Maguire (groin), Jadon Sancho (disciplinary), Casemiro (ankle), Tyrell Malacia (knee), Lisandro Martinez (foot), Mason Mount (calf), Christian Eriksen (knee) and Victor Lindelof (unspecified) were all on the unavailable list on Sunday, with all bar Maguire and Lindelof having been absent for a month or more.
Erik ten Hag said last Friday that Maguire would “not be available for the coming games”.
But Eriksen returned to team training on Monday and could come into contention this weekend.
FULHAM V BURNLEY
Fulham boss Marco Silva confirmed in Monday’s pre-EFL Cup presser that Tim Ream (calf) and Adama Traore (hamstring) remained sidelined.
Raul Jimenez is serving a three-match ban following his sending off against Newcastle United on Saturday, meanwhile. He’ll be back in Gameweek 20.
Calvin Bassey returned from illness for Tuesday’s cup match against Everton, while Willian‘s substitution in that match was pre-planned and not as a result of a head injury, according to Silva.
Burnley’s Aaron Ramsey (knee) was described as “touch and go” for last weekend’s defeat to the Toffees and ultimately missed out, so we await news from Vincent Kompany as to how much further forward he is in his recovery.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson missed that loss to Everton with an injury that his manager hopes is not too serious.
Jack Cork (calf) could return this weekend, based on Kompany’s update last Thursday, while Charlie Taylor is back from a ban.
Luca Koleosho will miss much of what remains of the season with a knee injury, however.
Saturday saw the welcome return to action of Lyle Foster, who had been absent since Gameweek 9 after seeking out treatment for his mental health. Kompany did stress that the Clarets would have to “follow what the medical experts say” going forward, adding that his 45-minute cameo at Turf Moor was just “part of his recovery”.
LUTON TOWN V NEWCASTLE UNITED
We’re still waiting to hear what the Premier League’s course of action is regarding Saturday’s abandoned match against Bournemouth.
If the result is declared null and void, as is common practise on these shores, then Marvelous Nakamba will still be suspended as a result of yellow card accumulation.
Tom Lockyer, whose cardiac arrest led to the game being called off, remains in hospital for further tests.
Elsewhere, the Hatters almost have a clean bill of health.
Cauley Woodrow (calf) returned to training last week and could feature, while Daniel Potts (hamstring) and Reece Burke (hamstring) are not thought to be too far away.
Newcastle’s cup defeat to Chelsea came at a further cost, with Anthony Gordon limping out of the game following a nasty tackle from Moises Caicedo.
Emil Krafth also departed at the interval with a knock but Sven Botman‘s half-time withdrawal was pre-planned.
“Botman was planned, 45 minutes was a nice step for him. Krafth, I think, took a knock. Anthony Gordon took a really nasty-looking knock as well.” – Eddie Howe, speaking after full-time on Wednesday
Howe went on to say in his post-match press conference that Gordon was “very sore at the minute”.
Fabian Schar (glute) and Joelinton (hamstring) came off injured in the match against Fulham at the weekend, a match that Alexander Isak (groin) missed.
All three weren’t involved against Chelsea on Tuesday.
“Both players will have scans today. They don’t appear to be too bad but I’m reluctant to say that before we have the results back.” – Eddie Howe on Fabian Schar and Joelinton, speaking on Monday
“It’s the groin. He had a scan and it’s not a big problem. He has a chance for Chelsea but we will see,” – Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak, speaking on Monday
Sandro Tonali (ban), Javier Manquillo (groin), Harvey Barnes (toe), Joe Willock (Achilles), Jacob Murphy (shoulder), Elliot Anderson (back) and Matt Targett (hamstring) remain out.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST V BOURNEMOUTH
It remains to be seen if the incoming Nottingham Forest boss, thought to be Nuno Espirito Santo, holds a pre-match presser before Thursday’s deadline.
If he does, he’s probably unlikely to know too much about the Forest team news.
Steve Cooper’s final pre-match media duties saw him describe Serge Aurier‘s (calf) availability as “inconclusive”. The full-back subsequently missed the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, as did Felipe (muscle) and Ibrahima Sangare (groin) with previously undeclared injuries.
Taiwo Awoniyi (groin), ruled out for “months” in November, is expected to be out for some time yet despite being pictured jogging this week.
As for the Cherries, whose match against Luton Town on Saturday was abandoned, they surprisingly had Alex Scott (knee) on the bench in Gameweek 17 after a sooner-than-expected recovery.
Hamed Traore (illness) and Max Aarons (hamstring) may join him in the matchday squad at the City Ground, with the latter having partly joined in training last week.
Lloyd Kelly (hamstring), Tyler Adams (hamstring) and Ryan Fredericks (calf) are expected to remain out, while Emi Marcondes has been building fitness with run-outs for the development squad after recovering from foot surgery.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR V EVERTON
Brennan Johnson is expected to be fine after suffering a cut to the head in last Friday’s win over Nottingham Forest, while it remains to be seen if Giovani Lo Celso (muscle) has recovered from what Ange Postecoglou described last week as a mere “niggle”.
“He should be ok. He’s just got a nasty cut to his head. Nothing that should keep him out. No concussion, just a cut on his head.” – Ange Postecoglou on Brennan Johnson, speaking last Friday
James Maddison (ankle), Micky van de Ven (hamstring), Manor Solomon (knee), Ivan Perisic (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Alfie Whiteman (ankle), Ashley Phillips (ankle) and Rodrigo Bentancur (ankle) all look set to remain unavailable until 2024.
Spurs’ squad is further decimated through suspension after Destiny Udogie picked up his fifth booking of the season and Yves Bissouma was dismissed for the second time in 2023/24. Bissouma now serves a four-match ban.
Everton get Jarrad Branthwaite and Idrissa Gana Gueye back from bans but there are injury concerns elsewhere.
Veteran right-backs Seamus Coleman and Ashley Young sat out Gameweek 17 and Tuesday’s cup clash with Fulham with “niggly” injuries.
Vitalii Mykolenko (niggle), who missed the win over Burnley, and Abdoulaye Doucoure (hamstring), who came off at half-time of that win at Turf Moor, were described as “touch and go” for the midweek meeting with the Cottagers and missed out.
Doucoure is a major doubt for Gameweek 18, with concerns remaining over the other three names above.
“[Doucoure], probably not at the weekend but going forwards, we’re hopeful it settles down quickly. He’s super fit, as you all know, and in his experience and mine he’s a good healer, so we’re hopeful it settles down quickly.
“We’ll see [on other injuries]. The next three days is going to be really important. We’ll make sure there’s nothing from tonight, of course, as we are a bit stretched.” – Sean Dyche, speaking after full-time on Tuesday
Dele Alli (hip) remains sidelined, too, although Andre Gomes (calf) featured for the under-21s on Tuesday in a bid to build up match fitness.
LIVERPOOL V ARSENAL
Assistant boss Pep Lijnders did his best to mimic his namesake up the M62 in Tuesday’s pre-EFL Cup press conference.
Ruling out young winger Ben Doak for a lengthy period with a knee injury, Lijnders gave updates on Alexis Mac Allister (knee) and Diogo Jota (muscle) without really telling us if they’d be available for Gameweek 18.
“Alexis is progressing well. He doesn’t have pain anymore, which is a good thing. It was worse than we first thought, but he is progressing well, no pain. Let’s see if we can progress him.
“Diogo is doing ball work on the pitch so that is getting closer and closer. But always with hamstring injuries you have to be careful, we always say when they come back give them another two or three days for sure.” – Pep Lijnders, speaking on Tuesday
Ryan Gravenberch (hamstring) appears to be fine, however.
“He had a scan and it’s only DOMS, which is fatigue, so that’s a really good thing.
“Let’s see where he is. We have to be careful of course because that’s a sign. So that’s a good one.” – Pep Lijnders on Ryan Gravenberch
Andrew Robertson (shoulder), Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Thiago Alcantara (hip) and Joel Matip (knee) remain out.
We aren’t aware of any serious fresh concerns affecting Arsenal.
The Gunners were without Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf), Fabio Vieira (groin), Thomas Partey (muscle), Jurrien Timber (knee), Mohamed Elneny (hamstring) and Jorginho (foot) for the win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
We await to hear how serious Jorginho’s previously undeclared issue is but Messrs Tomiyasu, Vieira, Partey and Timber are expected to be out until 2024.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS V CHELSEA
Gary O’Neil had previously earmarked Pedro Neto (hamstring) for a Gameweek 18 return but did say last Thursday that it wasn’t a 100% certainty.
The Wolves boss doesn’t think Jose Sa (shoulder) is badly injured, meanwhile, despite missing the defeat to West Ham United.
“Sa had a collision with one of the outfield players yesterday in training and was fine, he finished training and travelled down on the bus and woke up this morning and had a bit of a lack of range of movement in his shoulder, so he wasn’t available to play..” – Gary O’Neil after Sunday’s defeat to West Ham Unoted
Joe Hodge (shoulder) and Jonny Otto (disciplinary) remain out.
Enzo Fernandez exited Chelsea’s cup tie against Newcastle United on Tuesday after suffering from a stomach bug but Levi Colwill‘s half-time withdrawal wasn’t injury-related.
“Levi was more because my perception was at the end of the first half was that he was a little bit tired. We wanted to put some more offensive players like Malo [Gusto] and to provide more energy in the side. That was why. Also the option of Malo in the second half to continue to play with Levi Colwill but he is going to be ready [for Sunday]. It’s nothing, it was only a bit tired in my perception, to change the way we were playing.” – Mauricio Pochettino, speaking after full-time on Tuesday
Romeo Lavia (ankle), Reece James (hamstring), Marc Cucurella (knee), Robert Sanchez (knee), Lesley Ugochukwu (muscle), Ben Chilwell (hamstring), Wesley Fofana (knee), Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring) and Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) all sat out the midweek cup action, the majority of whom are expected to be sidelined for a good while yet.
Lavia and Ugochuwko are the closest to a return, the former partly in team training after a lengthy lay-off and the latter “progressing with the reconditioning phase of his rehabilitation”.
Pochettino said earlier this week that Sanchez could be out for anywhere between 2-6 weeks, while reports suggest that Cucurella will be unavailable until February,
