We’ll be covering all the big Fantasy Premier League (FPL) injury news from Friday’s pre-match press conferences in this ‘live’ article, with the latest awaited on Erling Haaland (£12.2m).
We’re expecting 14 Premier League managers to face the media today, while the Gameweek 16 sections of Erik ten Hag and Unai Emery’s post-EFL Cup pressers will also be released from embargo.
Four managers held their press conferences on Thursday and the headline updates from that quartet are also covered below.
KEY UPDATES
FRIDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCES TIMES (GMT)
NEWCASTLE UNITED
The inclusion of Callum Wilson against Chelsea will be a late call for Eddie Howe after the striker trained away from the squad this week due to an ongoing illness.
“We’ll wait and see, I think. He’s been training separately from the group this week. He had an illness, so he’s been away from the group. He’s been working well but I need to make a decision whether he’s fit enough to play.” – Eddie Howe on Callum Wilson
Joelinton is back from suspension but Paul Dummett (calf), Alexander Isak (ankle), Emil Krafth (knee) and Matt Ritchie (calf) remain on the sidelines.
Ryan Fraser is a doubt with a calf problem, meanwhile.
EVERTON
The injury-prone Dominic Calvert-Lewin will miss Everton’s final match before the World Cup break, with not one, not two, but three injuries of varying severity.
“No he won’t be involved tomorrow. He’s got an injury.
“We hope that the break comes at a good time for him and we expect him back for Wolves on Boxing Day.
“The hamstring is a small injury, it’s probably a 10-day injury, which is slightly irrelevant now.
“The shoulder was a whack he took against Newcastle – he dislocated it, then it went back in – and he then had a recurrence against Fulham. It’s been strapped up a lot. That’s something that was looked at by a specialist yesterday and doesn’t need any surgery or anything like that.
“Then he still has the knee [problem], so he’s been getting through with some issues. The knee is probably the most prominent injury that we want to get right. It’s a similar injury to what he had before – it’s been aggravated, so this period gives us time to get it right.” – Frank Lampard on Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Amadou Onana (ankle) and Idrissa Gana Gueye (quadriceps) are fit but Ben Godfrey (match fitness) and Andros Townsend (ACL) remain sidelined.
LEICESTER CITY
Having missed the bulk of 2021/22 through injury, James Justin was dealt a devastating blow in midweek.
The full-back ruptured his Achilles in the EFL Cup win over Newport County and now looks set to miss the majority of the season, potentially all of it.
“Sadly, he’ll have an operation tonight. He’s ruptured his Achilles. It’s a huge disappointment to us all after coming back from another injury. He probably would have been close to Gareth [Southgate’s] plans [for England]. We were all hugely disappointed for him after the game.
“It’s two players we’ve lost to that. He’ll have his operation this evening and that will probably put him out for most of the season. We’ll see how he recovers and hopefully he can get back fitter and stronger.” – Brendan Rodgers on James Justin
Ryan Bertrand (knee) and Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) remain out, while there was no update on the hamstring injury that kept Caglar Soyuncu out last weekend.
BRENTFORD
Ivan Toney is available after a one-match ban kept him out of Gameweek 15, while Vitaly Janelt has been passed fit after a minor muscle problem kept him out of the midweek cup tie with Gillingham.
Christian Norgaard came through unscathed in that game on his comeback from a two-month lay-off.
Aaron Hickey (ankle), Thomas Strakosha (ankle), Pontus Jansson (hamstring) and Shandon Baptiste (muscle) are all unavailable.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Omar Richards (leg), Moussa Niakhate (muscle), Harry Toffolo (hamstring) and Giulian Biancone (ACL) are all on the injury list, while Orel Mangala is banned after being sent off in midweek.
Steve Cooper will run a late check on Cheikhou Kouyate and Scott McKenna (both knocks) after they missed the cup win over Spurs on Wednesday.
“A couple of boys missed out [in midweek] through knocks – Scott McKenna and Cheikhou. We will see how they are going into the weekend.
“We also picked up a suspension with Orel, so he won’t be available for the weekend.
“I haven’t really had chance to assess the boys from last night, with it being such a quick turnaround. But I don’t see any major concerns from the game, it’s just the knocks we picked up from last weekend.” – Steve Cooper
BOURNEMOUTH
The Bournemouth team news is straightforward, with Gary O’Neil reporting no fresh injury concerns.
Murara Neto (leg), Lloyd Kelly (ankle) and David Brooks (hamstring) remain sidelined, while Chris Mepham misses out due to suspension.
SOUTHAMPTON
Nathan Jones faced the media for the first time since his appointment and, as is often the case when we get a new manager’s inaugural presser, team news was thin on the ground.
We do have an embargoed section to come later tonight, so we may get the injury latest then.
Kyle Walker-Peters (hamstring) and Tino Livramento (knee) are definitely out, while Juan Larios is a fresh concern from Gameweek 15.
