We’ll be getting team news from 13 Premier League managers on Friday as we count down to Gameweek 10.
The top-flight bosses we’re hearing from include Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola, who will hopefully bring us the latest on Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.2m), Josko Gvardiol (£6.2m) and others.
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. Keep refreshing for the latest news!
For the headlines from the seven pressers held already, read our Thursday round-up here.
Unsurprisingly, Pep Guardiola didn’t clear up much on the fitness front in his pre-match presser.
Kevin De Bruyne (thigh), Kyle Walker (knee), Jack Grealish (unknown) and Jeremy Doku (unknown) were already on the injury list, while Rodri (knee) and Oscar Bobb (leg) are out longer term.
Guardiola said earlier in the week that Walker, Grealish and De Bruyne would be out until after the international break.
Wednesday’s cup defeat to Spurs worsened the situation. Manuel Akanji pulled out of the starting XI in the warm-up, Savinho was stretchered off and a slightly dazed-looking Josko Gvardiol was down receiving treatment at full-time.
Pep Guardiola even suggested that Ruben Dias, who went off at half-time in midweek, was “struggling”.
Savinho has avoided serious injury at least but there wasn’t much else disclosed.
“Tomorrow you will know it. You will see it, the list. I have many doubts. Most of them, half-half. Tomorrow you will know it.” – Pep Guardiola when asked for his team news
“Yeah [Savinho is one of the doubts]. It was a knock, a strong one, but no fracture.” – Pep Guardiola
Mikel Arteta had some positive-ish words to say about Gabriel Magalhaes, who limped out of the Liverpool game last Sunday with a knee issue.
“Yes. So, we have a training session today. If he can complete that, he will be available. He hasn’t had any training sessions yet but if he’s able to do that today, he will be available in the squad.” – Mikel Arteta on whether it’s “good news” concerning Gabriel Magalhaes
It was later reported that the Brazilian had trained.
William Saliba is available after his Gameweek 9 suspension.
Martin Odegaard (ankle), Riccardo Calafiori (knee), Kieran Tierney (hamstring) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) remain out, however.
There is also concern for Ben White, who didn’t feature at Preston North End in midweek.
“So, Riccy and Martin are out definitely. With Ben, we don’t know yet because he hasn’t trained yet. He could not train, he could not get involved. Let’s wait and see if he’s available or not.
“No [it’s not the same issue White had before]. This is related more to a joint.
“I don’t expect [Tomiyasu] to be available before the break, unfortunately.” – Mikel Arteta
“Now is the stage when he is going to start to do certain work with us. Let’s see how he deals with pain, if his movement is natural enough, if he is physically now at the level that requires him to compete. But with the workrate and the hours that he’s put in, I would be surprised that the moment he starts training with us, we don’t say that he looks ready. So, hopefully soon.” – Mikel Arteta on Martin Odegaard
Ange Postecoglou said on Friday that Micky van de Ven will “probably” be out until after international break with the hamstring strain he sustained in midweek.
Cristian Romero and Timo Werner, who also hobbled out of the win over Manchester City, do have a chance of facing Aston Villa.
“The main one is Micky. He has sort of strained a hamstring. It is not too serious but probably after the international break for him.
“The other ones who were a little bit sore were Romero and Werner but at the moment there is still a chance for the weekend.” – Ange Postecoglou
In more positive news, Son Heung-min has trained as of Friday.
“Sonny has sort of trained today. If he gets through training tomorrow, he should be okay.” – Ange Postecoglou
Wilson Odobert (hamstring) is out long term.
Diogo Jota (rib), Alisson (hamstring), Harvey Elliott (foot) and Federico Chiesa (unknown) all remain unavailable for the swift rematch with Brighton and Hove Albion.
None are expected back before the international break.
“I think I said already a few times that it’s always difficult to exactly tell you when [Alisson and Jota] are ready, especially the last phase of the recovery, [it] can always be a few days extra or less. The fact is they are not there before the international break and let’s see if they can join us after.” – Arne Slot
“Chiesa is not back before the international break, that’s only a week to go. We’re hoping that he can do things again during the international break and that he can then join us afterwards.” – Arne Slot
Conor Bradley returned to the squad in midweek after a brief lay-off.
Arne Slot used a striker-less set-up for the cup victory at the Amex – no surprise that he favours a centre-forward up top, however.
“The good thing was that when you look at our frontline then we could play with two of our regular starters, with Cody Gakpo and Lucho Diaz. They had a big impact on the scoresheet, of course. The way we filled in the no. 9 position [on Wednesday] was interesting to see because I think it worked out really well, but in the end I prefer to play with a real no. 9 – but it is maybe now an extra possibility that we have if we have injuries.
“Although maybe with Diogo Jota, who is also a bit of a nine-and-a-half, we implemented that style already, but to play with Curtis [Jones] and Dom [Szoboszlai], they are definitely midfielders while Diogo is a striker. So, it was good to see that we could score three goals, even without playing with an old-fashioned no. 9.” – Arne Slot
Another interesting team selection choice on Wednesday was Andrew Robertson at left-back in an otherwise second-string defence. Could Kostas Tsimikas get the nod this weekend?
“No, I wouldn’t say a ‘dilemma’. It is in more positions where we have rotated; you are maybe a bit focused on the left full-back position but the left wing has been in rotation, in midfield we have rotated, in the no. 9 position we have rotated. It probably also has to do with Robbo’s pre-season. What does that mean? He had no pre-season because he came back injured from the Euros so he missed almost a complete pre-season. Which was for most of them only two weeks, but for him it was only a few days. Kostas did really well in that period of time.
“It has to do with that the quality Kostas brings in that position but it definitely also has to do with Robbo missing pre-season, so that’s why we started rotating from the start a bit – because if a player didn’t have any pre-season there was no time to bring him towards the situation where he could play three games in a row. Because we tried to build up our players for that programme and for him that was difficult because he missed out on pre-season, where others were there. That’s his situation and I think it was good for him to play [against] Arsenal and now again the game against Brighton during the week, that makes sure that he’s getting into that rhythm of playing twice a week.” – Arne Slot on his left-backs
Enzo Maresca confirmed on Friday that he had everyone fit for the trip to Old Trafford.
Jadon Sancho won’t be involved, however: the loanee is ineligible to face his parent club.
The winger is also suffering with illness.
“They are all available apart from Jadon [Sancho] because he has been ill in the last days.” – Enzo Maresca
Maresca again made 11 changes for a midweek fixture, this one being the EFL Cup defeat to Newcastle.
“The reason why we make changes, I’ve said many times, is not because there is an’A team’ or the ‘B team’ – we are all one team.
“The only reason is because they all deserve to play. Some of them are playing Premier League games, some of them in the Conference League or Carabao Cup. But in one game or two games, it can change; the ones playing Carabao and Conference can play in the Premier League.
“We have 24 or 25 outfield players, and there is only one team, only one squad. What we try to do is to share minutes with all of them.” – Enzo Maresca
While Maresca gave hope to some of his second string above, he heavily hinted that the league regulars will be back on duty this weekend.
“The reason why, first of all, is because we think with Malo there, playing as a 10, we can create and cause problems for the opponent. For sure, he is doing fantastic.
“I said in the last press conference: Malo is helping us a lot in the process because he is playing as a holding midfielder, he is playing in the pocket, he is playing I think for some moment like a central defender. It is a little bit like Renato [Veiga], some of them are playing in different positions but for sure, Malo is doing well and he is going to continue in that way.” – Enzo Maresca on Malo Gusto
“I think in this moment, Romeo [Lavia] and Moi [Caicedo] give us physicality and strength in the middle. This is the reason why we found the option of Malo in the pocket. Otherwise, when we play with Enzo, it has to be Enzo and one between Moi and Romeo. When Enzo moves, we probably struggle in the middle in terms of physicality.
“It doesn’t mean in one game we cannot play with Cole [Palmer] and Joao [Felix] in the pocket. It depends on the game. Probably soon we are going to see Joao and Cole together in the pocket with a striker. It’s always the game that requires a little bit of a different plan.” – Enzo Maresca
Eberechi Eze will miss the next two league games at least with the hamstring injury he sustained in midweek.
“He’s injured. He has a hamstring injury and we will miss him at least at Wolves and against Fulham. Then we have the international break, and then let’s see, but he will be out for those two games.
“There is hope [he will return after that] but it will be, I’d say, very ambitious to have him back after the international break. I know we have a great medical department and he will work quite hard, so let’s see.” – Oliver Glasner
Adam Wharton has also had surgery on his niggling groin injury and will be out for around four weeks.
“We took the final decision, he will have surgery so he won’t be available for Wolves. He tried [to train] today but there’s too much pain and it makes no sense.
“He’s really struggled the last weeks and months and so now we took the decision he will have surgery, and we hope to have him back after, let’s say, maybe four weeks.” – Oliver Glasner on Adam Wharton
Jefferson Lerma (hamstring), Joel Ward (unknown), Chadi Riad (knee), Chris Richards (hamstring) and Matheus Franca (groin) remain sidelined, although Richards returns to training next week.
Cheick Doucoure (toe) is available, however.
“Joel Ward missed the Aston Villa game but it’s not that serious. He will miss the Wolves game but should be available against Fulham.
“Jefferson [Lerma] is also out, at least until the international break.
“Cheick Doucouré will be back in the squad maybe earlier than we expected. Of course, we’re missing many players now. For sure, he can’t be at 100% but it’s important that he’s with us.
“Next week, Chris Richards should train with us if everything goes the right way, and that’s the positive news.” – Oliver Glasner
Anthony Gordon returned to the Newcastle squad for the midweek win over Chelsea, a match that Alexander Isak appeared to hobbled out of.
Eddie Howe said that the pair will be assessed but that their issues are more “niggling” in nature.
“I think they both feel okay. We will assess how they feel today, sometimes 48 hours [after the game] you can feel different to 24 hours. It’s not necessarily always a straight line with how the body feels.
“They have both had niggling injuries – Alex had his toe, Anthony has had a groin – so we’ll make a decision today.” – Eddie Howe on Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon
Callum Wilson (back), Kieran Trippier (hamstring), Jamaal Lascelles (knee) and Sven Botman (knee) remain on the sidelines, while Matt Targett hasn’t been spotted since an eczema flare-up in late September.
Jacob Murphy missed out with a minor hamstring injury in midweek.
“He’s doing okay. He’s building his load again. As I said, there was no real injury but just a feeling in his body that he couldn’t push as hard as he wanted and push what he needs to push.
“He’s definitely out for this game. We’ll make a decision based on how he feels for Nottingham Forest [in Gameweek 11] but probably with the two-week gap, it probably makes sense to leave him.” – Eddie Howe on Callum Wilson
Howe otherwise reported “knocks”.
“There are a couple of knocks in the squad as well so we’ll have to assess how everyone is today.
“It’s just general fatigue really, game fatigue. It was a good physical game against Chelsea.” – Eddie Howe
Ross Barkley is the only absentee for Aston Villa’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.
The midfielder has been ruled out until after the November international break due to a “small” injury.
Sam Johnstone is back fit, having missed the last two Gameweeks with a minor adductor injury.
Gary O’Neil is also hoping to have Mario Lemina fit: he has “trained a couple days” after his half-time withdrawal last weekend.
“Sam should be fine, Sam will be fine for tomorrow we expect. Mario’s trained a couple of days, we will do some check on him tomorrow but hopeful that he’ll be okay as well. I don’t think we’ve got any other issues in there… no, the rest of it is the same as it was.” – Gary O’Neil
Hwang Hee-chan (ankle), Yerson Mosquera (knee), Boubacar Traore (knee), Sasa Kalajdzic (knee) and Enso Gonzalez (knee) remain out.
Sasa Lukic (shoulder) will remain sidelined until the other side of the November international break.
Timothy Castagne (hamstring) is back in training, however, and expected to be fit for the west London derby.
Marco Silva said that everyone else is available, so Andreas Pereira is presumably over whatever caused him to hobble off at Goodison Park a week ago.
Alex Scott (knee), Luis Sinisterra (unknown issue) and Kepa Arrizabalaga (abductor) will miss the clash with Manchester City.
Dango Ouattara is now a doubt, too.
Philip Billing returns from illness, however.
“Apart from Alex [Scott], that is a long-term injury, he will be out for more time… Kepa [Arrizabalaga] will not be available against City and Luis Sinisterra will not be available.
“Philip Billing, yes, because it was an illness, so after two or three days of feeling poorly, he has been training normally with the team.
“I think it’s very unlikely also to have Dango [Ouattara] because he felt something yesterday and I don’t want to say 100% but I think it will be very difficult that he will also be involved tomorrow.” – Andoni Iraola
Chiedozie Ogbene has had surgery on a torn Achilles and will likely miss the rest of 2024/25 as a result.
He joins Axel Tuanzebe (thumb), Jacob Greaves (hamstring) and Jack Taylor (unspecified) on the injury list.
Harry Clarke is suspended, too, following his dismissal last weekend.
There is some good news, however, with Omari Hutchinson (illness), Ben Johnson (thigh), Massimo Luongo (ankle) and Sam Morsy (hamstring) back in training.
Ross Stewart (hamstring), Gavin Bazunu (Achilles) and Will Smallbone (hamstring) are still on the injury list.
An illness outbreak that has been sweeping the club in the last few weeks has mostly passed over, although Ryan Fraser is still suffering the lingering after-effects of the bug. He’ll be assessed ahead of the Everton game.
“I think everyone’s pretty much recovered, so everyone trained today. I think Ryan Fraser is probably the only injury concern we have after coming off early the other night. We’ll assess him again in the morning. He did a little bit today, we’ll have to assess him again in the morning and see if he’s available.” – Russell Martin
