The all-important Gameweek 3 team news is starting to reach us as the pre-match press conferences get underway.
There are only four managers scheduled to face the media on Thursday: Fabian Hurzeler, Keith Andrews, Daniel Farke and Scott Parker.
We’re bringing you the latest key quotes and injury updates in the article below.
For the early team news on the other 16 Premier League clubs, check out this article here.
KEY GAMEWEEK 3 INJURY UPDATES FROM THURSDAY
- Brighton and Hove Albion: Rutter latest, Hurzeler on Tzimas/Kostoulas
- Brentford: Wissa won’t be involved, Henderson trains
- Leeds United: Okafor a “major doubt”, Tanaka + Ampadu out
- Burnley: No fresh injuries, Tuanzebe, Humphreys + Broja get cup minutes
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Fabian Hurzeler sent out mixed messages on Georginio Rutter (unknown injury), saying the attacker could be an option for the Manchester City game but adding that he was “unsure”.
Adam Webster (knee), Solly March (knee) and Julio Enciso (knee) all remain out for Albion.
“So far, not [anyone back]. So, Georgie wasn’t involved [in the EFL Cup] yesterday. We would like to have involved him yesterday. So, it might be that it’s for him, a close thing. So, unsure, but for sure, he has an option to be available.” – Fabian Hurzler on Georginio Rutter
Stefanos Tzimas scored a brace off the bench in the midweek cup win over Oxford United and is, according to Hurzeler, closer to Premier League involvement than fellow budget FPL forward and compatriot Charalampos ‘Babis’ Kostoulas.
“I think we have to separate these two.
“So, Stefanos is a little bit further than Babis. I think he proved yesterday. He proved exactly these things we saw in training. He’s a striker. He’s there where you score goals. He’s capable of scoring goals from different angles and that’s something very special and he showed it already in training. So, we are very pleased with him.
“Also, Babis had his first minutes yesterday. He’s a little bit behind Stefanos regarding the adaptation but both are doing well in training. Both are getting closer and I’m sure that Stefanos will be soon a big option for us and Babis still needs a little bit more time.” – Fabian Hurzler
Meanwhile, the Seagulls’ head coach reiterated that Carlos Baleba was “100%” going to stay with the club.
BRENTFORD
Ahead of Keith Andrews’ presser, the Bees released their weekly medical bulletin.
After missing out on Tuesday’s EFL Cup tie at Bournemouth, Jordan Henderson has trained fully.
Vitaly Janelt (heel) and Paris Maghoma (hamstring) are also training with the squad again but it sounds like match fitness will rule them out of contention.
Gustavo Nunes (hamstring) is back on the grass but is a little bit behind those two in terms of recovery.
Andrews said the wantaway Yoane Wissa won’t be involved against Sunderland despite training.
“No, again, similar to the other day [against Bournemouth in the cup], really. Focus on the group that is settled, I suppose, and not got issues ongoing, which clearly Yoane has. So, the squad will be pretty much the same as it was the other night.” – Keith Andrews on whether Yoane Wissa
LEEDS UNITED
New signing Noah Okafor (groin) is the only fresh concern from the dispiriting midweek cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
“He’s more or less the only player who came out [of the midweek cup tie] with a few doubts for this game because after the game, he spoke about some groin problems. Everyone [else] came through the last game without any problems, Noah is more or less the only major doubt for the game at the weekend.” – Daniel Farke
Ethan Ampadu (knee) and Ao Tanaka (knee) are out until after the international break.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin made his first Leeds appearance last night, with Daniel Farke discussing his fitness on Thursday.
“He had a long summer break, then more or less six weeks of just individual training. And right now, he’s been 12 days in team training and you can see him growing more or less from day to day.
“First of all, we built up his fitness to be also resilient against injury. So, he was taking part in all our team training sessions, but we forced him also to do some additional work and had a little mini pre-season for him. But I think these 40 minutes were pretty important also for him, to have this under his belt.” – Daniel Farke on Dominic Calvert-Lewin
BURNLEY
Burnley have “no fresh injuries” ahead of their trip to Old Trafford.
Zeki Amdouni (knee) is on the sidelines for the Clarets, while Jordan Beyer, making his way back from a long-term knee injury, will still be a “few weeks” after a small setback.
Conor Roberts (knee) will likely not feature until September, either.
Bashir Humphreys (thigh) and Axel Tuanzebe (unknown injury) returned to training last week and got their first minutes of the season on Tuesday, each getting a half of the win over Derby County.
Armando Broja also built his match fitness with an hour against the Rams.
