Steven Gerrard is officially ruled out of action with a hamstring complaint. Southampton’s injury problems persist ahead of a trip to Newcastle. West Ham face defensive issues as Sunderland roll up to Upton Park, Asmir Begovic is a doubt for Stoke’s visit to Hull, Christian Eriksen and Danny Rose return to boost Spurs, whilst Wilfried Bony recovers from injury to start for Swansea in the Europa League loss to St Gallen:
Brendan Rodgers has finally confirmed that Steven Gerrard will be sidelined for at least four weeks with the hamstring problem suffered against West Ham last weekend. There was good news on Jordan Henderson, though, with the Reds boss revealing that the midfielder has trained and “is fine”, after picking up a knock against the Hammers. Reports in the local press also confirm Daniel Agger is back in the squad after missing out through illness last week.
Bacary Sagna is set for a fitness test today, having missed the last two Gameweeks with a hamstring injury. Arsene Wenger also revealed Lukas Podolski is available for selection but is “a bit short” of match fitness, whilst the Gunners boss went on to confirm Theo Walcott is “looking stronger this week” after handing the wide man a series of brief sub appearances since his recovery from abdominal surgery.
Morgan Schneiderlin has an outside chance of recovering from a groin injury for Southampton’s trip to St James’ Park but, even if passed fit, is unlikely to manage the full 90 minutes according to Mauricio Pochettino. Aside from the central midfielder, the Saints boss doesn’t expect any of his walking wounded to return.
West Ham are without the services of Stewart Downing and Kevin Nolan for Sunderland through injury and suspension respectively, though Ravel Morrison returns from a one-match ban. Big Sam has injury worries in defence though – James Tomkins is a doubt with a groin injury, whilst James Collins and Guy Demel are both suffering from sickness. The Hammers boss remains hopeful both will recover, though.
Asmir Begovic is a major worry for Stoke’s trip to Hull after suffering a bang on his thigh in midweek. Mark Hughes revealed that Begovic “has a bit of bleeding in there” and will be assessed later today. Meanwhile, Erik Pieters returns after a groin injury.
Tottenham were boosted by the return of Danny Rose and Christian Eriksen for last night’s Europa League win over Anzhi. The left-back played the first 45 minutes of the 4-1 win, whilst Eriksen replaced Mousa Dembele just after the hour mark.
Wilfried Bony returned to action for Swansea last night after missing the last three games with a hamstring problem. Michu was an unused sub in the 1-0 defeat in Switzerland, having signalled his own comeback from knee and ankle problems by turning out against Hull earlier in the week. Gerhard Tremmel continued in goal for the Swans and perhaps looks likely to keep his place after Michel Vorm admitted he is set to undergo knee surgery next month.
All this and more has now been updated in the Team News section ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. Keep an eye on our official Twitter stream for breaking news as Friday’s press conferences unfold.
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