The Team News tab remains the most-visited page on the Fantasy Football Scout site even when the next Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline is several days or weeks away, with the Injuries and Bans section not far behind.
The pre-match press conferences on Thursday and Friday are where we get the bulk of our information for the upcoming Gameweek, and it’s after the Premier League managers have faced the media that we properly update the tab and finalise our predicted XIs. We also bring you a round-up of the pressers in article form on those days.
But given the aforementioned demand, and for those Fantasy managers thinking of making early transfers or wanting to hear the latest in advance of the end-of-the-week pressers, we’re posting this initial summary straight after the weekend’s action.
It’ll also be updated after the matches on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the press conference round-ups on Thursday and Friday superseding it.
ARSENAL
Kieran Tierney (knee) and Thomas Partey (thigh) look set to miss Gameweek 34 and potentially the rest of the season, while it remains to be seen if Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf) – who had been earmarked for a return to training after the Southampton game – is match fit enough to face Manchester United.
Alexandre Lacazette should be available for the weekend, after Covid-19 was confirmed to be the cause of his absence from first training and then Saturday’s defeat at St Mary’s.
ASTON VILLA
Villa were without a fixture in Gameweek 33, so we haven’t had a recent update on Lucas Digne (collarbone) from Villa boss Steven Gerrard.
Digne was injured in the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 32, with Gerrard fearing that the French left-back’s season was over.
BRENTFORD
There was a triple injury blow for Brentford following Saturday’s last-gasp win over Watford.
Ethan Pinnock limped off with what Thomas Frank fears is a hamstring problem, while Sergi Canos will miss the next few weeks with a similar issue.
Zanka was absent with a slight thigh problem, meanwhile.
The Brentford boss hopes that Frank Onyeka (ankle) will be back before the end of the season.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
Jakub Moder remains out for the long term with a serious knee injury, while news is awaited on Shane Duffy (thigh) and Steven Alzate (illness) – both of whom missed the win over Spurs.
Yves Bissouma became the first Premier League player to reach 10 bookings for the season and will consequently sit out both the midweek clash with Manchester City and Saturday’s match against Southampton after picking up a two-game ban.
BURNLEY
Erik Pieters (knee), Ben Mee (knee) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (calf) all sat out the draw with West Ham United on Sunday but the first two of those players are not too far off a return.
The Clarets were dealt a further blow when Ashley Westwood was stretchered off against the Hammers with what will surely be a season-ending ankle injury.
CHELSEA
Callum Hudson-Odoi (Achilles/back) and Ben Chilwell (knee) were the only Chelsea players on the injury list for Sunday’s FA Cup win over Crystal Palace, although Ross Barkley was also absent having last week picked up an illness.
Mateo Kovacic had to be substituted at Wembley with a severely swollen ankle and he’ll be a big doubt for the midweek clash with Arsenal.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Michael Olise (foot) and Tyrick Mitchell (calf) both recovered in time to be involved in the above cup tie against Chelsea, leaving just Nathan Ferguson (muscle) and Will Hughes (knock) on the sidelines.
EVERTON
Yerry Mina (thigh) is expected back for the midweek clash with Leicester City, which precedes Gameweek 34, while Donny van de Beek (thigh) was also earmarked for a return then.
Andros Townsend (knee) and Nathan Patterson (ankle) are long-term absentees, however.
LEEDS UNITED
Patrick Bamford (foot) and Tyler Roberts (hamstring) won’t be available to face Crystal Palace but Jamie Shackleton (calf), Junior Firpo (knee) and Adam Forshaw (calf) were all expected to train in the fortnight that Leeds had off due to their non-involvement in Gameweek 33.
LEICESTER CITY
Wilfred Ndidi (knee), Danny Ward (knee) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) remain out for the long term, while Jamie Vardy (knee) had an injection last Tuesday and was set to be assessed in the week after that – so his involvement in Gameweek 34 is still in question.
Boubakary Soumare (groin) hasn’t been sighted since the March international break despite his injury being described as minor by his manager.
LIVERPOOL
Jurgen Klopp had a fully-fit squad going into Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City, with Diogo Jota recovering from a knock to feature, and there were no reported fresh issues from the five-goal thriller against Manchester City.
MANCHESTER CITY
Kevin De Bruyne recovered from a cut to his foot to make the bench at Wembley but Kyle Walker (ankle) wasn’t involved and Gabriel Jesus hobbled off the pitch towards the end of the game with what appeared to be a knock.
Pep Guardiola said after the match that, of the senior players who were named as substitutes, all bar Riyad Mahrez and Rodri had “problems” – hence them remaining unused. De Bruyne was among them, with Guardiola not wanting to risk him.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Fred (hip), Edinson Cavani (calf), Luke Shaw (leg), Raphael Varane (unspecified) and Scott McTominay (foot) all missed the win over Norwich and won’t recover in time to face Liverpool on Tuesday.
Varane is the closest of that quintet to making a comeback and is back on the grass with the physios, so could be in the reckoning for Gameweek 34.
Bruno Fernandes was unhurt after being involved in a car crash on Monday and Ralf Rangnick has passed him fit to face Jurgen Klopp’s side.
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Kieran Trippier (foot) and Callum Wilson (calf) remain on the injury list, with the pair sidelined until at least Gameweek 35.
Joe Willock (knee) was back in the matchday squad against Leicester on Sunday but Ryan Fraser (hamstring) missed out, with a scan having picked up “a very small problem” in the preceding week.
NORWICH CITY
Ozan Kabak (hamstring), Adam Idah (ankle/knee) and Andrew Omobamidele (back) are all likely out for the season but Josh Sargent (ankle) could be back in contention for Gameweek 34 after his protective boot was removed last week.
Loanee Brandon Williams will also be newly available after being ineligible to face parent club Manchester United on Saturday.
SOUTHAMPTON
There are no known concerns with the Saints at the time of writing, with only match fitness preventing Alex McCarthy from featuring recently after his recovery from a hamstring problem.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Matt Doherty (knee) has joined Japhet Tanganga (knee) in being ruled out until the end of the season, while Oliver Skipp remains out after a couple of setbacks in his recovery from a groin problem.
WATFORD
Relegation-threatened Watford had a quadruple injury blow before Saturday’s defeat to Brentford, the most grave of which saw Cucho Hernandez (hamstring) miss out; he now faces a race against time to be back before the end of the season.
Samuel Kalu (ankle), William Troost-Ekong (hamstring) and Francisco Sierralta (calf) were also sidelined for that game, meanwhile, albeit with less serious issues.
WEST HAM UNITED
Angelo Ogbonna (knee) is a long-term absentee, while Kurt Zouma looks set to remain on the sidelines as assessment continues on a potentially season-ending ankle injury.
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Ruben Neves (knee) is the only Wolves player definitely out of the Burnley match at the time of writing.
Raul Jimenez will be back from suspension, while Ki-Jana Hoever (hamstring) has been back on the grass during his side’s two-week Premier League hiatus and could be involved at Turf Moor.
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