We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points of the day in FPL Daily, a series that services weekdays where there is no press conference round-up or Premier League match.
WALKER/STONES INJURY LATEST
In his Champions League pre-match press conference, Pep Guardiola provided injury updates on Kyle Walker (£5.4m) and John Stones (£5.2m).
Walker, who has not featured since suffering an ankle injury at Atletico Madrid last month, trained on Tuesday morning and will be given every opportunity to prove his fitness.
Stones, however, is definitely out after suffering a recurrence of his ankle injury in the first leg last week.
“He trained and he is going to travel and tomorrow we will decide. He was three weeks without training but happy he is back and hopefully he will be in contention.” – Pep Guardiola on Kyle Walker
“No, not ready.” – Pep Guardiola on John Stones
Nathan Ake (£4.7m), who hobbled from the field of play in Saturday’s win over Leeds United, was also pictured training on Tuesday.
While not significant FPL targets themselves, the availability (or lack thereof) of Messrs Ake, Stones and Walker are potentially significant regarding the game-time prospects of Joao Cancelo (£6.0m), Aymeric Laporte (£7.2m) et al ahead of the Double Gameweek 36.
Cancelo and Laporte have both started over 93% of the league matches that they have been available for this season – but it would certainly help their FPL owners sleep that bit easier at night if their positional rivals were sidelined for the upcoming ‘double’.
DE BRUYNE ON FITNESS
Kevin De Bruyne (£11.9m) has been in excellent form of late, producing eight attacking returns in his last six Premier League starts.
However, he was rested against Leeds United in Gameweek 35, with the playmaker discussing his fitness on Tuesday.
“Fresh in the end of the season is always debatable but I feel good. I got a lot of kicks in the Atletico (Madrid) game and some after but I feel fine. I’ve been playing well, playing lots of games so I am happy.
“The first months were really hard. I’d never experienced the pain I experienced back then. I was trying to come back but I was in pain with my ankle every day. It wasn’t something I enjoyed. Mentally, it was hard also to overcome that but once the pain was gone after a few months, I started to feel more confident in myself, in my body and get back to where I belong.
“Now playing all these games week in, week out, I feel back to the level I was at before. I try to be as constant as I can and this year, I have managed myself pretty well.
“I am lucky to come across a manager who plays the way I like to play – that makes it handy for me. He doesn’t look at individual basis – it’s whatever suits the team. It depends on game to game: sometimes, I have been lower back, at other times higher; in the side, the middle… Whatever the team needs, I will help.” – Kevin De Bruyne
LIVERPOOL PROGRESS TO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
Liverpool made it through to the UEFA Champions League final for the third time in five years but not without being given a scare in the second leg of their semi-final tie against Villarreal.
The Reds were 2-0 down to, and level on aggregate with, their Spanish opponents at half-time of Tuesday’s game, assuring their passage to Saint-Denis with a three-goal salvo midway through the second half.
As far as pitch-time goes ahead of Double Gameweek 36, there were 90-minute run-outs for Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4m), Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) and Sadio Mane (£11.7m) – although the first two of those had been given a breather in Gameweek 35.
Mane has now started the last six Liverpool matches in a row and the same is true of Andrew Robertson (£7.3m), who was substituted after 80 minutes of Tuesday’s win in Estadio de la Cerámica.
Joel Matip (£5.2m) owners were once again the big teamsheet winners as the Cameroonian stopper was benched, as he so often is outside of the Premier League.
Luis Diaz (£8.0m) meanwhile looks a good bet for starting against Spurs this weekend, having come off the bench against Villarreal to make a match-changing contribution in the second half.
“He had a massive impact. But what I don’t like about this is the next story is around that Diogo Jota was our problem: he was not at all our problem, we just had to mix it up. We had 11 problems, if you want, in the first half. We just had to mix it up, you can do that with explaining, what I did obviously, but you need then fresh input as well. Sadio all of a sudden was involved in the game, that was nothing to do with the position, it must have been a misunderstanding. For specific situations I wanted Mo and Sadio high and wide, but not in open play situations. So even after working for so long together… it’s just because it means so much, that’s how it is, it means so much. First half all of a sudden we were not ourselves but second half we were ourselves and that’s why we won the game. Yes, of course, Luis, what a goal and he had a few more situations. I think the first one he takes with a bicycle kick, if he takes that on the chest he can score already. So yeah, top performance.” – Jurgen Klopp on Luis Diaz
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