There’s plenty of Gameweek 24 team news to come on Friday as 14 Premier League managers face the media.
As ever, we’ll bring you the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) injury updates on this page.
This is a ‘live’ article, so it’ll be updated as and when manager quotes become available – so keep refreshing for the latest news.
For the headlines from the six press conferences held already, read our Thursday round-up here.
GAMEWEEK 24: FRIDAY’S KEY TEAM NEWS UPDATES
- Liverpool: Darwin, Jota + Gomez set to train today, Slot on midweek rests
- Everton: Calvert-Lewin + Mangala facing spells out, McNeil has surgery
- Arsenal: Arteta still uncertain on Raya, White still sidelined
- Manchester City: Pep not expecting any injured players back
- Tottenham Hotspur: Dragusin out, van de Ven’s return
- Newcastle United: Wilson, Barnes + Lascelles still out, Howe on Dubravka v Pope
- Chelsea: No fresh injuries for the Blues, Maresca on Sanchez
- Bournemouth: Sinisterra back in training, Iraola on his striker search
- Crystal Palace: Eze, Riad + Doucoure out but Wharton + Franca return
- Aston Villa: Cash out for 2-3 weeks, Mings + Barkley still unavailable
- Brentford: Pinnock, Schade + Norgaard all available, Henry out for “weeks”
- Manchester United: Shaw back in training but not ready to return
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: Strand Larsen injured, Gomes suspended
- Ipswich Town: Burns out for the season, Chaplin + Szmodics still sidelined
GAMEWEEK 24: FRIDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
🚨 Friday’s #FPL Press Conferences
⚫️ 9.30am – Howe
🔴 11am – Slot
🧿 11am – Maresca
🔵 12.30pm – Guardiola
🍒 1.30pm – Iraola
👹 1.30pm – Amorim
⭕️ 1.30pm – Arteta
🐝 1.30pm – Frank
🐔 1.30pm – Postecoglou
🐺 1.30pm – Pereira
🚜 1.30pm – McKenna
🦅 1.30pm – Glasner
🍬 1.30pm… pic.twitter.com/UnzbcLHWjH— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) January 31, 2025
LIVERPOOL
There’s a big boost for Liverpool – and possible headaches for FPL managers – with Joe Gomez (hamstring), Diogo Jota (muscle) and Darwin Nunez (illness) set to train today.
The trio could even come into contention for the trip to Bournemouth, although Slot hinted that the second half of Double Gameweek 24 was likelier.
“All three of them are in training today so then the question is, ‘Are they already far enough to join us towards Bournemouth?’
“That’s something we have to wait and see today because we have probably also more than 20 players available. We always have more than 20 available but the ones that are mostly there.
“So, we have to make the smartest decision for them, but also for winning the game tomorrow.” – Arne Slot on Messrs Gomez, Jota and Nunez
Curtis Jones (muscle), we assume, remains out.
Slot meanwhile commented on midweek rests for several key players.
“You can say I rested a lot of players [in midweek], you can also say you played the ones who needed playing time. And I was really pleased how they performed at PSV Eindhoven, who, apart from three or four players that were not playing, had quite a strong team and we were more than competitive. Even in the second half when there were so many youngsters on the pitch.
“And the ones that stayed behind, they didn’t rest in the sense that they had three or four days off – they did train but they didn’t play a game. I’ve said already, that doesn’t give us any guarantees for Saturday but it hopefully will help us during the upcoming three or four months because the Premier League and the Champions League is a long season for them, with 10 months in a row non-stop playing games without any weeks off in between. So, hopefully, that will help them stay fresh for the upcoming months.” – Arne Slot
One of the fringe players getting a run-out against PSV was Federico Chiesa, who lasted 90 minutes for the first time since joining Liverpool.
“Yeah, of course, he is ready for more minutes in the Premier League, because if he can play 90 at Champions League level then you are able to play an amount of minutes in the Premier League. His main problem, if you want to call it a problem, is that he is in competition with Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Mo Salah and Diogo Jota. I think you’ll agree with me that they are doing quite well also.
“But it’s very good for us that it was six or seven months ago, he said, against Switzerland [for Italy] when they lost in the Euros was the last time he played 90 minutes. So it’s very good from him, but definitely also from our performance staff that we’ve during training sessions got him to the point that he’s able to play 90 minutes, without a lot of friendlies or whatever. A big compliment for him how hard he has worked and for the performance and medical staff as well.” – Arne Slot on how ready Federico Chiesa is for more minutes in the Premier League
EVERTON
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (hamstring) and Orel Mangala (knee) will not only miss Double Gameweek 24 but plenty of action beyond it.
Mangala is out for the season, with Calvert-Lewin sidelined for “a number of weeks”.
“Well, it’s an incredibly big blow for us to lose two players… for quite a long period by the looks of it. But we have to go on. That’s what happens, football clubs do get injuries and you have to find others ways of getting results and players stepping up to show what they can do.
“I believe Mangala will go back [to Lyon]. I think we’re waiting for the surgeon to clear it and I think he’ll be operated on in France as far as I know.
“Dom isn’t as bad. Dom doesn’t need any surgery – he’s been checked, so from that point of view, it’s not a good injury but it’s maybe not quite as bad as we first feared when he got it. From that point of view, we’re hoping that might not be as long as first expected.
“Absolutely, yes [we hope he will play again this season].” – David Moyes
Armando Broja (ankle), Youssef Chermiti (thigh), Dwight McNeil (knee) and Seamus Coleman (calf) also remain out for the Toffees this weekend.
“Dwight has had a minor surgery. I’ve just spoken to him as I’ve walked into the press conference, that’s the first I’ve seen him, back in the building. Hopefully, this will sort out his injury which was a little bit difficult to diagnose. Hopefully, this will help get him back.
“Chermiti is back on the grass today. I’m getting told four weeks, three to four weeks, we might have a chance of getting him back.” – David Moyes
Tim Iroegbunam (foot) has returned to training and could be involved in the matchday squad.
“He could [feature in the matchday squad] and he may well do because we’ve not got so many about but from what I’ve seen I think Tim needs a good bit of training, at the moment.
“He’s just coming back, I think he’ll need a week or two more before I would probably think he’ll be ready for the real action.” – David Moyes on Tim Iroegbunam
ARSENAL
Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Ben White (knee), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Gabriel Jesus (knee) remain sidelined this weekend.
“Ben is definitely out. He hasn’t trained with us yet so he is not going to be available.” – Mikel Arteta
There’s one fresh concern in the shape of David Raya. The goalkeeper was absent from the UEFA Champions League squad in midweek and remains a doubt – if we believe Arteta – for Sunday.
“With David, still uncertain. We have another session tomorrow, another 48 hours. So, we have to wait and see.
“It’s a muscular issue, so we have to wait and see.” – Mikel Arteta on David Raya
There’s one bit of good news: Myles Lewis-Skelly‘s Gameweek 23 red card has been rescinded and the defender is therefore available to feature against Manchester City this weekend.
The Gunners have no fresh concerns from the win over Girona.
MANCHESTER CITY
Ruben Dias (adductor), Nathan Ake (muscle) and Jeremy Doku (unspecified) all remained out for the midweek win over Bruges, with none of them expected back in Gameweek 24.
“Er, no – continue the same.” – Pep Guardiola on whether he expects any injured players to return
Rodri (knee) is also a long-term absentee, of course.
Oscar Bobb (leg) is back in training after being sidelined since summer 2024, although his anticipated appearance against Bruges didn’t materialise.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Radu Dragusin has joined the Spurs injury list after picking up a knee injury in Thursday’s win over Elfsborg.
“Still not [sure]. We’ll let it settle down and obviously get some information over the weekend. Not available for the weekend at the moment and we just have to see the extent of it.
“Hard to tell [if it’s a long-term injury]. It’s a knee, so we’ve got to let it settle down. There’s always concern when there’s a knee injury but we just don’t know the extent.” – Ange Postecoglou on Radu Dragusin
Micky van de Ven (hamstring) at least made a return to action in the Europa League.
“We’ll see [how long he can feature for]. Probably not 90, only because of the short turnaround. He felt really good last night. Great to have him out there. You know he’s a good player but you don’t realise how much of a good player he is until he… I guess that’s [the case] with a lot of our players who have been missing for quite a while. It’s not just the impact they have individually but the impact they have on the group. I think the whole group got a lift from seeing him out there last night. Knock on wood, he got through it really well, felt really good afterwards, so the idea is to get him some more game-time, build up his minutes over the weekend.” – Ange Postecoglou on Micky van de Ven
Cristian Romero (hamstring), James Maddison (calf), Destiny Udogie (hamstring), Wilson Odobert (hamstring), Brennan Johnson (calf), Timo Werner (hamstring), Dominic Solanke (knee) and Guglielmo Vicario (ankle) remain out for the Lilywhites.
Djed Spence (knock) should be available, however.
“They are all kind of around the same time, around 10 days time. We are talking about Vicario, Johnson, Destiny, Wilson, Timo. Romero is a bit of a tricky one. We are not really sure yet. There is still some work he needs to do. Certainly, all those guys, I think of the long-term ones apart from maybe Dom who is probably a week behind them, the rest of them are slated in the next week to 10 days to be available.
“I didn’t include Madders in that as well, so Madders is probably around the same time.” – Ange Postecoglou
“It’s just a slower healer with him and it is one we are looking at on a week-to-week basis. Again, he has been out for quite a while. Like with all the other long-term ones, we are just taking our time.” – Ange Postecoglou on Cristian Romero
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Harvey Barnes (thigh), Jamaal Lascelles (knee) and Callum Wilson (hamstring) remain on the sidelines this weekend.
Wilson should return in Gameweek 25, while Barnes may not be too far away then either. Lascelles is a bit behind those two.
“No chance for this weekend.
“Callum is getting there, we have seen him in training this week – albeit not the whole session but parts of it – and he looked good. The plan is not to involve him this week but there’s a chance for the games following.
“Harvey is a little bit behind, I think he is going to be probably within the next 2-3 weeks.” – Eddie Howe on whether Callum Wilson or Harvey Barnes could feature in Gameweek 24
There was no word of any fresh injury concerns, although Newcastle will be one player lighter than last week after Miguel Almiron departed.
The Magpies welcomed Nick Pope back from a month-long absence in Gameweek 23 but Martin Dubravka kept his place.
Eddie Howe hinted that Dubravka may well do so again against Fulham.
“I’ve always said even when Nick was playing regularly in goal, these things are always there to be changed by the performance of the players.
“We’ve got healthy competition in there, we’ve got healthy competition in our backline and hopefully that will serve us well.” – Eddie Howe on his goalkeeping dilemma
CHELSEA
Enzo Maresca says that Chelsea have no fresh concerns going into Monday’s clash with West Ham United.
Romeo Lavia (muscle), Wesley Fofana (hamstring), Benoit Badiashile (unknown) and Mykhailo Mudryk (suspended) remain sidelined.
“No. Exactly the same as the last game. Wes [Fofana] is out, Romeo [Lavia] is out and Benoit [Badiashile] is out. The rest are okay.” – Enzo Maresca
Maresca meanwhile threw some support behind Robert Sanchez, although without committing to starting him on Monday.
“Not yet. The decision, we have two or three days. The good thing is; any decision I take, I feel good because every time Filip [Jorgensen] has played since we started, he has done well. Filip or Robert, we will see but any decision will be okay.” – Enzo Maresca on if he has made a decision over who starts on Monday
“Sometimes it can happen. It is not only in Robert’s case. Already this season, it happened with Alisson, no? He was okay but he was on the bench for some games.
“The other day, I was reading about [Gianluigi] Donnarumma that this season with PSG, he was playing always but for some games, Luis Enrique left him out and now he is playing games and doing well. Sometimes, for sure, it can be a solution but it doesn’t mean this is Robert’s case.” – Enzo Maresca on if taking Robert Sanchez out of the spotlight could benefit him
“I don’t think so because the first time I spoke with Filip in June or July, I don’t remember, I was clear that the number one choice was Robert. For sure, if the number one is Robert and then because we have two good goalkeepers, we can make some different decisions.
“This doesn’t mean that Robert can make a mistake every game and is always going to play. The number one choice was Robert and we will see on Monday.” – Enzo Maresca on if overlooking Filip Jorgensen would harm his development
BOURNEMOUTH
Evanilson (foot), Enes Unal (knee), Julian Araujo (hamstring), Marcos Senesi (quad) and James Hill (hamstring) remain on the sidelines.
Julio Soler is still at the South American U-20 Championship, too.
Adam Smith (muscle) and Alex Scott (knee) are still in individual training, so they won’t be ready to return either.
Luis Sinisterra (hamstring) will be the next to follow Marcus Tavernier – who returned last week – in coming off the injury list but that still may not be in Gameweek 24.
“I think it’s going to be basically the same squad we had against Forest the other day. The only player that has started doing things with us is Sini but I think we will assess him today. It’s not sure that he will be involved.” – Andoni Iraola
Andoni Iraola meanwhile reiterated his desire to sign a striker, likely on loan, in the transfer window.
“Yes, we are trying. We are continuing in the same place. We know that it’s not an easy market. It’s one month but most of the things happen in the last two or three days. Let’s see what happens. The club is working on it.” – Andoni Iraola on whether the Cherries are still trying to sign a striker
“No, we are really thin so I think we need players. We need to recover the ones we have or someone from the outside. Right now it’s difficult for us because we are very short and we continue to be.” – Andoni Iraola on whether the current form of his attacking midfielders would make it difficult for him to play a new striker
CRYSTAL PALACE
Eberechi Eze (foot) is back on the Palace injury list and will miss Gameweek 24.
Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure are now out for the season with knee injuries, too.
“Unfortunately, several [pieces of] bad news at the beginning of the week.
“After further assessments, Cheicky needs surgery on his knee and Chadi ruptured his ACL. So, we have lost both for the rest of the season – and I think Chadi even longer. With Cheicky, we hope will return for pre-season next seasom. So, two long-term injuries.
“We will also miss Eberechi [Eze] on Sunday. He’s struggled the last weeks and months. He got a knock in the League Cup game at the Emirates and since then he’s always had pain, training and not training, playing and then taking him off.
“Last week he almost didn’t train the whole week, and this week it started again. We decided we want to get him pain-free, so he is able to perform at his best level, so he won’t go with us to Manchester.
“We play Doncaster on Monday [10th] and there’s still hope that leaving [Eze] out of boots for five, six or seven days, everything can settle down and that he will return quite quickly – but I don’t really know.” – Oliver Glasner
Joel Ward‘s availability is unknown: he has been sidelined since late 2024 with an unspecified issue.
There were two bits of positive team news, with Adam Wharton (groin) and Matheus Franca (groin) back in training and set to return to the squad.
“Adam Wharton and [Matheus] França trained with whole week with us without any issues. We’re thinking both will in the squad because they were very impressive in training, and it will also lift their confidence and mood after being out for several weeks.” – Oliver Glasner
ASTON VILLA
Matty Cash will be out for 3-4 weeks with the muscle injury he sustained in the midweek win over Celtic.
Pau Torres (foot), Ross Barkley (calf) and Tyrone Mings (knee) remain out, too.
“We will train this afternoon but Matty Cash is not available. He’s going to be, more or less, three to four weeks out.
“Tyrone Mings has a small injury, not really bad, but I think he will need some days more to be ready to play.
“Ross Barkley still has work to do individually before he can join us, for the next days or maybe week, and to be ready to play, but not yet.” – Unai Emery
We await an update on Amadou Onana (hamstring), who shouldn’t be too far away from a recovery based on the initial reported two-week timeline.
Jhon Duran is heading for the exit door but it sounds like Ollie Watkins will be staying put.
“The commitment of Watkins with us is really a huge commitment to defend Aston Villa. He appreciates how Aston Villa was always supporting him and helping him. When we joined two years ago, as well, how we always tried to get the best of him.
“Now we need him, like he needed Aston Villa in the last years. With him, the conversation we are having usually is about how he is always adapting to every circumstance we have in the squad.
“When some teams are calling us being interested in the players, it is good for us and very good for the players. Some players prefer to leave and some players accept to stay here and commit with us here and compete for our challenges. One of them is Ollie Watkins.” – Unai Emery
BRENTFORD
Ethan Pinnock, Kevin Schade and Christian Norgaard are all fit for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Pinnock has been out since December with a hamstring injury, while Schade and Norgaard were taken off against Crystal Palace last weekend as a “precaution”.
New signing Michael Kayode is available, too: he wasn’t signed in time to receive international clearance for Gameweek 23.
Josh Dasilva (knee), Gustavo Nunes (back), Igor Thiago (joint infection) and Aaron Hickey (hamstring) remain out.
Rico Henry has rejoined them on the injury list with a minor hamstring injury. Although he’s already back running, Thomas Frank said it will be “weeks” before he’s available.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Jonny Evans (muscle), Mason Mount (leg) and Luke Shaw (hamstring) have all been on the sidelines since December and look set to remain so this weekend.
Shaw, however, is at least back in training.
“It can take a little bit more time. I think he needs to train more, to spend more time with his team-mates playing even like normal, small-sided games, not just working alone.
“He stayed there [at Carrington] to make a different type of work, he’s going to get together with the team when we arrive and start from there. When I feel it is the right moment, we will start with some minutes in the games.” – Rubem Amorim on Luke Shaw
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Jorgen Strand Larsen (muscle) will miss Gameweek 24 after coming off early in the defeat to Arsenal last Saturday.
Joao Gomes will also sit out Gameweek 24 through suspension after his dismissal for two yellow cards a week ago.
Sasa Kalajdzic (knee), Yerson Mosquera (knee), Leon Chiwome (knee) and Enso Gonzalez (knee) remain out, while Boubacar Traore (knee) now has flu after recently returning to training following a long-term lay-off.
“[Strand Larsen] got an injury, a muscle injury. He will be out of the next game and for the other one, I don’t know.
“Bouba came from injury; this week he got flu. Another problem. This is what we are facing now.” – Vitor Pereira
We await an update on Carlos Forbs (knee/ankle): he missed Gameweek 23 but Vitor Pereira said after full-time that the injury was not thought to be “serious”.
IPSWICH TOWN
Wes Burns (knee) has joined Chiedozie Ogbene (Achilles) on the long-term injury list.
The winger was stretchered off at Anfield last weekend and has suffered ACL damage, so will miss the rest of 2024/25.
Sammie Szmodics (ankle) and Conor Chaplin (knee) remain out, too.
Jens Cajuste sat out the Liverpool game with “fatigue” and “niggles” but is now good to go.
