We’ve got all the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team news from the pre-match press conferences for Gameweek 20.
The pressers got underway on Thursday, with three Premier League managers – those of Everton, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United – providing us with the latest team news.
We’ll hear from 16 other top-flight bosses on Friday, so we’re back to some semblance of normality after Gameweek 19.
The one exception is Roberto De Zerbi, who may be facing the media over the weekend or the day before Brighton and Hove Albion’s Tuesday night clash with West Ham United.
The key quotes are featured in the ‘live’ article below, so hit refresh for the latest updates.
FPL GAMEWEEK 20 TEAM NEWS: INJURY UPDATES
- Manchester City: Haaland set to miss out again, Stones joins injury list
- Liverpool: Mac Allister to be assessed, Robertson latest
- Aston Villa: Pau still not 100%, Digne out for a month
- Newcastle United: Lascelles’ injury not a serious one
- West Ham United: Paqueta set for scan, Moyes unsure over Kudus’ departure date
- Tottenham Hotspur: Kulusevski banned
- Manchester United: Ten Hag suggests that Shaw, Martial + Amrabat will miss out again
- Arsenal: Havertz returns, no other team news updates
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: Hwang + Dawson fit, Lemina a doubt
- Chelsea: Mudryk + Lavia to be assessed, Palmer + Sterling back from bans
- Everton: Doucoure “touch and go”, Young + Gueye out, DCL + Tarkowski’s “knocks”
- Crystal Palace: Johnstone not ready to return, Edouard to be assessed
- Brentford: Toney’s last game out before he returns from a ban
- Fulham: Ream + Traore still out, William remains a doubt, Raul returns
- Bournemouth: Traore revealed to have malaria, Cook could be back
- Luton Town: Kabore fit, Nakamba set for spell out
- Nottingham Forest: Sangare suspended, team news “basically the same”
- Sheffield United: Hamer + Ahmedhodzic banned, McAtee ineligible, Davies back on the grass
- Burnley: Ekdal still out, Foster not going to AFCON
FRIDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
MANCHESTER CITY
Erling Haaland looks set to miss another Premier League match with the foot injury that has kept him out since mid-December.
Pep Guardiola’s update was short and sweet in Friday’s pre-match press conference, with the City boss effectively ruling out Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne (hamstring) and Jeremy Doku (hamstring) yet again.
John Stones has now been added to the injury list after suffering an ankle injury in the midweek win over Everton.
“Nothing changed from the last games, we have the same injuries plus John Stones.” – Pep Guardiola
De Bruyne has been back in training recently and Guardiola said earlier this week that the Belgian midfielder “was close but he had fatigue”.
Haaland was, as of Wednesday night, “training a lot but not with the team yet”.
It’s not known if Guardiola’s comments about the unchanging team news situation extends to Ruben Dias, who sat out the victory at Goodison Park with an illness. The centre-half had been pictured in training on Thursday, so that is assumed not to be the case.
LIVERPOOL
Alexis Mac Allister (knee) will be assessed in training on Friday to see if he can make a return to the Liverpool matchday squad for their New Year’s Day clash with Newcastle United.
“Macca, we will see what he can do today – if he can step into team training or not.
“The decision is not done yet, it’s pretty early and the Doc is not here; or maybe he is here but I didn’t see him yet. So, we will see.” – Jurgen Klopp on Alexis Mac Allister
Andrew Robertson (shoulder), Kostas Tsimikas (collarbone), Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Thiago Alcantara (hip), Ben Doak (knee) and Joel Matip (knee) remain on the sidelines, with Jurgen Klopp offering an update on the first three of those players in his pre-match press conference.
“Robbo still needs more range in his shoulder. Obviously it was a big surgery. [He is] still not even close to team training or whatever.
“Can do a lot, everything without using the arm properly, which is obviously good but on the other side, it shows us we still have a long way to go. For sure, I think, the full January he has to get closer and closer.”
“I am actually not 100 per cent sure [about Thiago and Bajcetic returning in January].
“I think Thiago will be at one point in team training. With Stefan, if you ask Stefan how he feels, he says ‘good’. ‘Could you train?’ Yes, he could. It’s just we have to be sensible. That’s how it is.
“It’s a growing issue, it’s not growing [increasing] but because of his growing, his age and stuff like this. So we just have to be careful. He could train today fully and then maybe tomorrow as well and then not [for] five weeks. That’s how it is. It’s a medical decision, it’s not by the boy, it’s not by me.
“Thiago is actually in a very good moment as well but we just have to make sure we don’t use him then too early. The hip thing in and around that area is just a long-term thing as well.
“There were for sure days where he could have easily trained but it’s all about how can he be back then in the long term, and that’s what we are working on.” – Jurgen Klopp
Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo will link up with Egypt and Japan respectively after Monday’s game.
The Reds welcomed back Diogo Jota from injury in Tuesday’s win over Burnley, so Klopp has all five attackers to choose from against the Magpies.
“I love Diogo’s story, now he is back and I hope he is back for the next 10 years and stuff like this, all of that, but Diogo missed chances as well, that’s how it is. That he comes back and scores with the first he has is fantastic, but then it’s always the story that the others didn’t score and now he is coming back… ‘Finally Diogo is scoring!’
“It’s not about that, it’s about creating, it’s about coming into situations and then they all can score. The goal from Darwin was an exceptional goal and in a game where we obviously had a lot of possession, a lot of fantastic football moments, the [first] goal we scored was from outside of the box with the first touch into the far corner, probably the most difficult of all situations we had in the whole game. It was a super finish.” – Jurgen Klopp
ASTON VILLA
Lucas Digne faces up to a month on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury during Aston Villa’s 3-2 defeat to Manchester United on Boxing Day.
“Lucas Digne is injured and he will be out for the tram for some weeks. We are playing very good, but we have to try now and replace him with Moreno after a long injury. I think Moreno is ready and it will be 20 to 25 days for Digne.” – Unai Emery
Youri Tielemans (calf), Bertrand Traore (unspecified), Robin Olsen (unspecified), Tyrone Mings (knee) and Emi Buendia (knee) are also out injured.
Pau Torres, who was among the substitutes at Old Trafford, is still not fully fit and unlikely to start against Burnley.
“Pau is not 100%, his injury is not big but it’s not available for him to play 100%. We are playing with Clément Lenglet and we are having the same performances collectively with him as with Pau.
“I think tomorrow he’s not available again 100%, we will wait for the next weeks, and we’re going to play with Lenglet because we can get the performances like I want.” – Unai Emery
Boubacar Kamara will serve the third match of his four-game suspension but Matty Cash will return to the squad after a one-match ban.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Eddie Howe said on Friday that he didn’t think Jamaal Lascelles, who came off against Luton Town in Gameweek 18 with a problem around his hip/thigh area, was seriously injured.
The Newcastle boss even left the door open to a possible return for Lascelles in Gameweek 20.
“Jamaal we don’t think is serious, we hope we can get him back pretty soon. Let’s wait and see [whether he can be back for the Liverpool match], fingers crossed.” – Eddie Howe
“I don’t think Jamaal Lascelles is a serious injury, so we’ll await final confirmation of that. Fingers crossed he’ll be back soon. Apart from that, I don’t see [anyone] to come back in the very short term.” – Eddie Howe on Jamaal Lascelles
Javier Manquillo (groin), Harvey Barnes (toe), Joe Willock (Achilles), Jacob Murphy (shoulder), Elliot Anderson (back) and Matt Targett (hamstring) look set to remain out based on Howe’s comments above, while Sandro Tonali is suspended until August.
Joelinton returned from a hamstring injury as a substitute in Gameweek 19 and could be set for a start at Anfield.
“Whenever you lose a player of Joe’s quality, someone like that, and you’re without those qualities in your team, you realise how important they are.
“Fingers crossed we can keep him fit.” – Eddie Howe on Joelinton
WEST HAM UNITED
Kurt Zouma missed West Ham’s win over Arsenal on Thursday after suffering knee discomfort in training, while Lucas Paqueta reported a similar issue in the warm-up at the Emirates and was soon replaced after starting the game.
Paqueta now faces a scan on his knee.
Nayef Aguerd was again absent in Gameweek 19 with an illness, while there’s still no sign of a return date for Michail Antonio (knee) despite the striker beginning training on the grass.
West Ham will lose Mohammed Kudus, Aguerd and possibly (if he makes the final cut in Algeria’s squad) Said Benrahma to Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) duty in January.
David Moyes caused a bit of a scare in Friday’s presser when saying that the Hammers have “not had confirmation” of exactly when Kudus and co will leave.
West Ham’s Gameweek 20 clash with Brighton and Hove Albion takes place on January 2, when some AFCON call-ups would already be en route to Ivory Coast. Given that Endo and Salah are permitted to play for Liverpool on New Year’s Day, it’s hoped that Moyes will get good news on his exiting internationals.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Dejan Kulusevski will miss the visit of Bournemouth after collecting his fifth booking of the season in the defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion.
Yves Bissouma also remains suspended for another two league and cup matches.
Ange Postecoglou hinted that Giovani Lo Celso could be the one to take Kulusevski’s place on Sunday.
“He dropped out the team because he was injured. It wasn’t by decision. He was going well, then he got injured. We’re going to have to make another adjustment there [with Kulusevski out]. I thought Gio when he came on today was good. He was good last week when he came on. It’s good to have him back, fit and available.” – Ange Postecoglou on Giovani Lo Celso
On the injury front, James Maddison (ankle), Micky van de Ven (hamstring), Manor Solomon (knee), Ivan Perisic (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Alfie Whiteman (ankle) and Rodrigo Bentancur (ankle) all look set to remain unavailable until 2024.
Oliver Skipp is expected to return after missing Gameweek 19 with a minor knock.
“It’s a short turnaround for us. Hopefully we might get Oliver Skipp back, which are probably the only fresh legs we’ll have to contribute to what we’re doing.” – Ange Postecoglou
MANCHESTER UNITED
Erik ten Hag seemed to suggest Anthony Martial (illness), Luke Shaw (knock) and Sofyan Amrabat (knock) would not be back for the trip to Nottingham Forest, saying that he was expecting a “similar” group of players to be available.
“I don’t think [we will get anyone back]. So, it will be a similar squad as we had against Villa.” – Erik ten Hag
Harry Maguire (groin), Jadon Sancho (disciplinary), Casemiro (ankle), Tyrell Malacia (knee), Lisandro Martinez (foot), Mason Mount (calf) and Victor Lindelof (groin) are also on the unavailable list.
Many of those injured players should be back for Gameweek 21 or 22.
“I think in mid-January, we expect many players back: Mason, Casemiro, Martinez, Malacia. So, we expect Harry Maguire [back], of course. We expect many players to return in January.” – Erik ten Hag
ARSENAL
Kai Havertz will return after serving a one-match ban in Gameweek 19.
Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf), Fabio Vieira (groin), Thomas Partey (muscle) and Jurrien Timber (knee) were the only Gunners on the injury list for the defeat to West Ham United, with all bar Timber aiming to return in January.
Mikel Arteta delivered his Gameweek 20 press conference in the aftermath of that loss to the Hammers, with the quotes embargoed until 10.30pm GMT on Friday.
But, as it turns out, they were completely lacking in team news updates – beyond mentioning that Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are “fresh”.
“I don’t know, obviously there are a lot of games, but they looked really good, they looked fresh and when you win you don’t look at that. They are young – if they were 35 then maybe it’s a different question. They have a lot of energy, they can keep going, that’s for sure.” – Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Hwang Hee-chan (back spasm) and Craig Dawson (knee) have been passed fit to face Everton on Saturday.
This will be Hwang’s last game before he departs for the Asian Cup.
“Both fit, both trained fully today. Both available for selection tomorrow.” – Gary O’Neil on Hwang Hee-chan and Craig Dawson
Gary O’Neil was also hopeful that Boubacar Traore will recover from illness to feature, with assessment to come on the midfielder after training today.
Jonny won’t be considered for selection due to disciplinary reasons, while Fabio Silva has agreed a loan move to Glasgow Rangers.
Mario Lemina is also a major doubt as he has flown back to France to attend to a personal matter.
CHELSEA
Mauricio Pochettino fulfilled his Gameweek 20 media obligations straight after the win over Crystal Palace, with the quotes released on Friday lunchtime.
The Chelsea boss revealed that Romeo Lavia (thigh) and Mykhailo Mudryk (knock) are fresh concerns, although the Blues do at least get Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer back from suspension.
“We need to assess Mudryk and Romeo Lavia, also.
“[Lavia] felt something, some issue, and we need to check and hope it’s not too bad. We are a little bit worried because if you watch the game [against Crystal Palace], you can appreciate I change his position with (Conor) Gallagher at the end because he was struggling to run.
“We will see what is going on. We hope it’s not a big issue and he can be with us again. He’s an important player that we recovered, and it’s going to be a shame if we cannot use him in the next few games.” – Mauricio Pochettino
Pochettino said that he wasn’t expecting anyone else back, so Enzo Fernandez (hernia), Lesley Ugochukwu (hamstring), Reece James (hamstring), Marc Cucurella (knee), Robert Sanchez (knee), Wesley Fofana (knee), Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring), Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) and Ben Chilwell (hamstring) look set to miss out again.
EVERTON
Abdoulaye Doucoure (hamstring) is “touch and go” to feature at Molineux on Saturday, although Sean Dyche typically veers on the side of caution when faced with 50/50 calls such as these.
“Doucs is one of those touch-and-go ones, the risk-and-reward scenarios. He’s a super-fit fella, as we know, and is desperate to play but we might have to make a judgement call when the game comes around, certainly by tomorrow afternoon.” – Sean Dyche
Dele Alli (hip) and Idrissa Gueye (calf) remain out, while Ashley Young (muscle) is back on the grass but likely to miss the clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“Idrissa’s got a calf injury. Certainly not for this weekend, we’ll see how that improves. [The] early signs are better than first thought but we’ll have to wait and see.
“[Young] is still a bit away after a few weeks but he’s a super-fit fella himself… so we’re hopeful that he’ll return pretty quickly.” – Sean Dyche
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James Tarkowski missed training on Thursday but Dyche downplayed their absences.
“No [underlying issues]. Knocks, purely knocks.” – Sean Dyche
CRYSTAL PALACE
Sam Johnstone (calf) won’t be ready for a Gameweek 20 return but Odsonne Edouard (knee) could be involved against Brentford this weekend, with assessment continuing on the Palace striker.
Roy Hodgson’s press conference was delivered on Wednesday night and embargoed until Friday lunchtime, so a decision may have already been taken on Edouard’s involvement in the intervening perod.
“Sam Johnstone, no [he will not be back].
“Odsonne Edouard, we will see in the training session [on Thursday]. He’s been training this week, but not with us. He’s been training, doing his rehabilitation work with the sports science people. I don’t know what the result of his session [on Wednesday] was. We’ll maybe find out tomorrow if he’s going to have any chance of being with us, but it will be touch and go.
“I must say at the moment, the way JP Mateta is playing, I don’t know that it’s 100 percent priority to get him back – we have a good centre-forward, he’s doing a good job.
“But it’d be great to get Edouard back as well because you need more than one centre-forward. You need that competition that JP provided for Edouard when he was the number one choice.” – Roy Hodgson
Cheick Doucoure (Achilles), Rob Holding (ankle), Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (hamstring), Nathan Ferguson (hamstring) and Joel Ward (hamstring) remain out.
BRENTFORD
Frank Onyeka returns from a one-match ban but Ben Mee and Ivan Toney remain on the sidelines due to suspension.
Toney will be eligible to return to Premier League action in Gameweek 21 after the completion of his eight-month ban.
“Ivan is training well, on and off the pitch. [He’s] looking forward to contributing to the team.” – Thomas Frank
Bryan Mbeumo (ankle), Aaron Hickey (hamstring), Kevin Schade (muscle), Rico Henry (knee), Kristoffer Ajer (foot) and Josh Dasilva (hamstring) remain out injured.
Shandon Baptiste missed the defeat to Wolves with a “minor foot injury” and he “may be available” for the clash with Crystal Palace.
FULHAM
Tim Ream (calf) and Adama Traore (hamstring) remained sidelined, while Marco Silva said on Friday that Willian (hamstring) remains a “doubt”.
The Brazilian had been expected to return against Bournemouth but missed out, so his involvement against Arsenal is in question.
Raul Jimenez is back available after serving a three-match ban.
BOURNEMOUTH
The illness that has kept Hamed Traore out of action for the last month is malaria, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola revealed on Friday.
The midfielder has now been discharged from hospital and has returned home to recover, but he continues to suffer from the after-effects of the disease and will miss the Africa Cup of Nations.
Milos Kerkez (foot), Lloyd Kelly (hamstring), Tyler Adams (hamstring) and Ryan Fredericks (calf) are out injured, meanwhile.
Lewis Cook (adductor) could return to face Tottenham Hotspur – but it’s not a certainty.
“The only player we could recover, maybe, is Lewis Cook. The rest are not close to being with the group.
“So that could be the only change, but it is not guaranteed. We have to see tomorrow if he can train with us and help us.” – Andoni Iraola
LUTON TOWN
Rob Edwards confirmed that Marvelous Nakamba (knee) is set for a spell on the sidelines after undergoing surgery.
Issa Kabore (muscle) and Jordan Clark (illness) are fit, however.
Daniel Potts (hamstring), Reece Burke (hamstring) and Tom Lockyer (health) are unavailable, with Burke aiming to return in the FA Cup next week.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Nuno Espirito Santo said the Nottingham Forest team news was “basically the same” for the visit of Manchester United, although the Tricky Trees will have to do without the suspended Ibrahima Sangare.
Forest do get Willy Boly back from a one-match ban, at least.
Serge Aurier (calf), Felipe (hamstring) and Taiwo Awoniyi (groin) remain unavailable.
“Basically the same situation, so Felipe is out, Serge Aurier is out also, Taiwo is out. Nothing new, the same. That’s good news.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
Awoniyi is thought to be ahead of schedule but still 2-3 weeks away, according to recent media reports.
SHEFFIELD UNITED
Gustavo Hamer and Anel Ahmedhodžić both picked up their fifth bookings of the season on Boxing Day, so they’ll sit out Gameweek 20 as a result.
Jayden Bogle is back from his own one-match suspension, however.
Loanee James McAtee can’t face his parent club, while longer-term absentees Chris Basham (leg), Tom Davies (thigh), John Egan (leg) and Daniel Jebbison (illness) remain on the sidelines.
Davies is at least back on grass and appears to be eyeing a January return.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done but the great thing is that Tom [Davies] is back moving about and doing conditioning work and ball work, which is great. I’m delighted to see Tom doing that. It’s been a difficult few months for him. He came here to play football and he’ll be a really good player for the club. He’s a good signing and him missing is a blow.
“They’re all at different stages, Rhian [Brewster] is back with us and Rhys Norrington-Davies is back with us. Tom’s at that unavailable stage at the moment but getting there. We’re working away and they’re working extremely hard because we need as many of them back as possible.” – Chris Wilder
Chris Wilder otherwise only reported “knocks” ahead of the trip to Manchester City, adding that he would have “to utilise the squad”.
“A couple of suspensions. There’s a couple players that have got knocks, bumps and bruises that we’ll look at. We’ve got to utilise the squad, as well.” – Chris Wilder
BURNLEY
Hjalmar Ekdal (unspecified) won’t recover for the trip to Aston Villa, while Luca Koleosho (knee) is a long-term absentee.
“We’re recovering players as we speak. Ekdal is still not available for this game. We’re recovering players, I think we’re in decent shape.” – Vincent Kompany
Jack Cork (calf) wasn’t mentioned but is not thought to be too far away from a return based on previous updates.
Lyle Foster won’t be going to the Africa Cup of Nations with South Africa so will be available during January and early February.
