Friday’s team news for Gameweek 1 could go a long way to deciding many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers’ teams.
Existing injury flags may be cleared up – and others could yet be added.
There are 13 Premier League bosses facing the media today, and we’ll be bringing you the latest key quotes and team news updates in the ‘live’ article below.
For the headline updates from Thursday’s even pressers, click here.
KEY GAMEWEEK 1 INJURY UPDATES FROM FRIDAY
- Manchester City: Gvardiol, Savinho + Kovacic out, Foden + Rodri passed fit
- Newcastle United: Isak unavailable, Gordon fit, Willock out
- Aston Villa: Rogers fit, Martinez banned, two injured
- Arsenal: Trossard expected to be fit
- Tottenham Hotspur: Udogie still out, no fresh concerns, Bissouma forgiven
- Chelsea: Jackson banned, Colwill, Badiashile + Lavia out, Tosin boost
- Manchester United: Mazraoui + Martinez out, Sesko ready to feature
- Everton: Branthwaite confirmed injured but three others may recover
- Nottingham Forest: Nuno “concerned” for Sunday, outlines transfer plans
- Brighton and Hove Albion: Webster + March out, Baleba fit, Hurzeler on pens
- Crystal Palace: Kamada among six players out, Eze + Guehi still with the group
- Wolverhampton Wanderers: Pereira coy on new pen taker
- Leeds United: “Late decision” on Bogle, Bijol ban
FRIDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
🚨 Friday’s FPL Press Conferences!
🕊️ 9am – Hurzeler
⚫️ 9am – Howe
🐓 9am – Frank
🧿 9.30am – Maresca
🐺 1pm – Pereira
⚪️ 1.15pm – Farke
👹 1.15pm – Amorim
⭕️ 1.30pm – Arteta
🌳 1.30pm – Nuno
🔵 1.30pm – Pep
🍬 1.30pm – Moyes
🟣 1.30pm – Emery
🦅 1.30pm Glasner pic.twitter.com/q1wuf4WCvu— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) August 15, 2025
MANCHESTER CITY
Josko Gvardiol (unknown), Savinho and Mateo Kovacic (Achilles) will miss Gameweek 1.
Phil Foden (ankle) and Rodri (groin/match fitness) have been passed fit, however, and will travel to Molineux.
“Kovacic is not ready, Josko is not ready. The other ones are ready, will travel and tomorrow we will make a selection. Rodri as well is travelling, and Phil as well. They have been one week, 10 days stopped and tomorrow we will decide.” – Pep Guardiola
“Savinho is injured. Sorry, I didn’t remember. He’s injured from Palermo. A little problem, a few weeks will be out.” – Pep Guardiola
NEWCASTLE UNITED
To the surprise of no one, the wantaway Alexander Isak won’t be considered for selection for the trip to Aston Villa on Saturday.
“Alex’s situation has been unchanged for a while and that will continue to be the case.” – Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak
Isak aside, Eddie Howe confirmed that Magpies only have one absentee for Gameweek 1. That’s Joe Willock, who suffered a calf injury in the match against K League on July 30 and was ruled out for 4-6 weeks.
Anthony Gordon (ankle) looks set to be fit, then, despite hobbling off last weekend.
“As I sit here now, yeah, I think everyone is available apart from Joe. And Joe is not too far away himself. We’ve got a relatively good-looking squad in terms of injury news.” – Eddie Howe
New signing Malick Thiaw will be part of the squad.
“Yes, Malick will [be in the squad]. He’s trained for two days, never easy coming in right at the end of pre-season because a lot of our work is already done and our structures are already in place. But in the little bits that we’ve seen, I think we’ve signed a top-quality player.” – Eddie Howe
Howe batted a question away about which goalkeeper he’d pick, saying only that he had a “good idea of the team”.
ASTON VILLA
Emi Martinez will miss Aston Villa’s season opener due to a one-match ban hanging over from last season.
On the injury front, Morgan Rogers (ankle) is fit after returning to training this week.
Ross Barkley and Andres Garcia haven’t been seen since mid-July with supposedly minor issues and remain out.
ARSENAL
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Leandro Trossard (groin) is expected to be available for the trip to Manchester United.
“I think he’s much better. I think he will be able to train again tomorrow and if that’s the case, he will be fit.” – Mikel Arteta on Leandro Trossard
Gabriel Jesus (knee) remains out.
“He’s getting better and better every day. He’s normally a really fit player. It’s true that he hasn’t trained so much with us. He had those two moments in games when he’s participated and the feeling was very good, so let’s see what we do on Sunday.” – Mikel Arteta on whether Viktor Gyokeres is ready to start
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Destiny Udogie (knee) is closing in on a return from injury but won’t recover in time to face Burnley.
Dejan Kulusevski (knee), Koto Takai (foot), Radu Dragusin (knee) and long-term absentee James Maddison (knee) remain out, too.
Manor Solomon (calf) is only just back in training after missing pre-season, meanwhile.
Other than that, though, Thomas Frank says he has no new concerns heading into Gameweek 1.
“Every player [from the last game] is available for the team tomorrow. Destiny is progressing, but it’s too early for him to be involved in the squad.” – Thomas Frank
Dominic Solanke (ankle) returned for Wednesday’s Super Cup clash with Paris Saint-Germain, appearing off the bench.
Yves Bissouma is off the naughty step, too, having been omitted from the midweek squad.
Away from injuries, Frank was asked about new signing Mohammed Kudus.
“I think depending on the game, the challenge, the game plan and so on, he can play in all those positions you just named there. I think preferably he’s probably right-wing or 10, can play both positions, but I like flexible players. It gives us opportunities. But those are the two main positions.” – Thomas Frank on Mohammed Kudus
Prospective Pape Matar Sarr owners in FPL will no doubt be aware that Spurs are shopping for a number 10, something Frank briefly discussed on Friday.
“We are looking, of course, in the market, not only for the 10 positions but just to see if we can strengthen the squad and the players we’re looking at are the only players we think can improve the squad, and I think that’s the right thing we want to do. If we can pick the right player and if it fits, then we’ll do something.” – Thomas Frank
Frank later explained why Brennan Johnson didn’t get off the bench in midweek.
“It was a slightly different shape that impacted it a little bit, let’s say, in Brennan’s case. Of course he can play as one of the two strikers as well, but I think Matty [Tel] has done well. We’re going to need a lot of players in different positions, with different abilities.” – Thomas Frank
CHELSEA
Nicolas Jackson and Mykhailo Mudryk are serving suspensions for different reasons (Jackson for one more game, Mudryk indefinitely), while Levi Colwill is out long term with a knee injury.
Tosin Adarabioyo looks set for a short-term minutes boost, then, but Enzo Maresca did strongly hint that he wanted a new centre-half in the transfer window.
“When we build, we build with Levi in the middle. Last year, we played 64 games, and we played 64 games with Levi and Tosin. Now, Levi is out, the only one who can do that job well is Tosin. But we have Premier League, Champions League.
“This is the reason why the club knows exactly what I think about central defenders.” – Enzo Maresca
Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia are still out, too. Neither player has featured since the FIFA Club World Cup.
“Benoit is in the process to come back, Romeo exactly the same. Trev is okay.” – Enzo Maresca
Wesley Fofana (thigh) has returned to training and “could” feature in Gameweek 1, while Trevoh Chalobah has avoided injury despite a scare against Milan on Sunday.
“He could be available, we’ll see.” – Enzo Maresca on Wesley Fofana
MANCHESTER UNITED
Lisandro Martinez (knee) and Noussair Mazraoui (unknown) are the only definite absentees for Gameweek 1.
Andre Onana (hamstring) and Joshua Zirkzee (unknown) returned to training this week after missing all of the summer friendlies. Both players are available.
“Nous and Licha are out, they cannot play in this game. Josh recovered, Andre recovered: they are options for this game, we will see.” – Rubem Amorim
Benjamin Sesko is physically ready to start – but Rubem Amorim wouldn’t say if he definitely will or not.
“Of course [he is ready]. We didn’t have a lot of time but he’s ready. First of all, physically, he’s ready. That is a big component in our league.
“Then, he’s really smart. Every detail that he asks, he’s a guy that is always thinking. He spends all afternoon here working on his fitness, so he’s ready to play. We will see if he’s going to start.” – Ruben Amorim on Benjamin Sesko
EVERTON
Following the rumours suggesting as much on Wednesday, David Moyes has confirmed that Jarrad Branthwaite (hamstring) is injured.
“Jarrad picked up an injury in training so unfortunately we are going to miss him. These things happen.” – David Moyes
The Everton boss didn’t rule out the prospect of some, or all, of his other three flagged players from recovering, however.
Harrison Armstrong (thigh) and Nathan Patterson (hernia symptoms) were both absent for Everton’s defeat to Roma on Saturday, while Vitalii Mykolenko barely completed 10 minutes in that game before going off with what looked like a muscle injury.
“We may have.” – David Moyes, when asked whether he will have Messrs Mykolenko, Armstrong and Patterson back or not
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Nicolas Dominguez will be out until the autumn after undergoing knee surgery over the summer. Other than that, though, we think Forest’s first team is injury-free.
Nuno Espirito Santo followed up his glass-half-empty interview with Sky by reiterating his concerns about Gameweek 1 in his presser.
“Concerned, especially about the game on Sunday. We’re going to play a tough game against a good team are we are short on options to give solutions that the game might need. It’s our major concern.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
Forest are reportedly in talks to buy four players at present, and Nuno outlined where he wants to strengthen his group.
“I think we need another option for the goalkeeper situation. On the defensive line, full-backs. I think we are okay for centre-halves. Midfield, still need. Nico is injured, I think two or three months time he will be back. Danilo is not here, so we need midfielders. On the wings, also, Callum, Dan, only options. In front, okay we have Igor, Chris and T but maybe another body will be good.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Fabian Hurzeler said that Adam Webster (knee) and Solly March (knee) are his only absentees for Gameweek 1.
He failed to mention Julio Enciso (knee), however, who is out for months. Enciso seems to be surplus to requirements anyway.
“The only players who are not available are Adam Webster and Solly March. They will miss, like you know, long term. I don’t know the clear schedule about that but all the other players are available.” – Fabian Hurzeler
Carlos Baleba is fit, having missed the back-end of pre-season through injury.
“Overall, he seems to be in a really good place. He’s enjoying it with his teammates. He’s enjoying it, being a Brighton player. He’s very grateful to have the process yet in the last season. So, I didn’t see any big change and he’s an option to start for tomorrow.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Carlos Baleba
Hurzeler did admit that new boys Tom Watson, Charalampos Kostoulas and Stefanos Tzimas are in a “phase of adaptation”, so we might not see those youngsters for a little while. They combined for a total of five pre-season minutes.
“Some of the players adapt more faster than other players regarding the intensity and the demands from the Premier League, but they all have the right work ethic, the right character sides to adapt quickly to this intensity, to the demands. So, I’m quite convinced that we see them soon.” – Fabian Hurzeler on his three young signings
Another topic of conversation was penalties, not that Hurzeler was letting on who succeeds Joao Pedro.
“There are some players who impressed me regarding penalties. We train it more than usual because of course we need a new penalty taker. We also have a new set piece coach and I really trust him. So we will make the decision together and hopefully we will have a penalty tomorrow, then you can immediately see who will be the new one! – Fabian Hurzeler
CRYSTAL PALACE
Palace have six players out of Gameweek 1.
Long-term absentees Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure haven’t recovered from knee issues over the summer, while Eddie Nketiah (hamstring), Matheus Franca (adductor) and Caleb Kporha (back) are also on the sidelines.
Daichi Kamada picked up a knee injury in the Community Shield and is ruled out, too.
“Daichi Kamada is out for the Chelsea game. Let’s see if he’s available for Fredrikstad on Thursday night. It will be quite tight, but he will definitely be out for Chelsea.
“No player is returning from injury so not Eddie Nketiah, not Matheus França because they can’t train with the team at the moment, not Caleb Kporha.
“Of course, Cheick Doucouré and Chadi Riad are out for the next couple of months. The group of players we have available is not the biggest one (in terms of numbers) but we showed at Wembley – where we had to substitute Daichi Kamada after 20 minutes – that the next one comes in and the team is able to win games.” – Oliver Glasner
Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi have trained all week with their teammates, amid speculation about their futures.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
We haven’t caught any team news updates from Wolves yet but we weren’t aware of any problems anyway.
They have only one issue that we’re aware of: Leon Chiwome is still recovering from a knee injury sustained in January.
After the exit of Matheus Cunha, Vitor Pereira was asked who Wolves’ new penalty taker will be this season. Unsurprisingly, he wouldn’t say, only mentioning that he will take into account opinions from his players.
LEEDS UNITED
Daniel Farke will make a “late decision” on Jayden Bogle (hip) ahead of the visit of Everton.
Bogle partly returned to training on Wednesday and Farke highlighted the advantage of the Gameweek 1 fixture being on Monday night, allowing his full-back a few extra days of recovery.
“This afternoon, he will join us in team training for the first time for the full training session. Then it depends on how his body will react. So we have, thank God, four more days, four more training sessions… and then we will see. I think if he comes through these four sessions, he’s definitely a topic for the squad – for how many minutes he’s then ready, we will see. The good thing is that his overall fitness is at a top level.” – Daniel Farke on Jayden Bogle
Jaka Bijol will miss Monday night’s season-opener because of a suspension carried over from his time in Italy.
Farke announced that Dominic Calvert-Lewin will become a Leeds player this afternoon.
