It’s a much quieter day than usual on the Premier League press conference front, with only five Gameweek 28 media gatherings scheduled for Friday.
That’s one fewer than expected following Patrick Vieira’s sacking by Crystal Palace.
Mikel Arteta isn’t on the below Tweet, either: he did his Gameweek 28 presser on Thursday night after the Sporting game, with the quotes embargoed until Saturday evening – well after the FPL deadline has passed.
As usual, we’ll be bringing you all the key quotes that you need for your Fantasy Premier League (FPL) teams.
For the updates from the press conferences of seven other managers whose teams are in Gameweek 28 action, check out our Thursday round-up.
KEY UPDATES FROM FRIDAY
FRIDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
ARSENAL
While we won’t hear from Mikel Arteta again before the FPL deadline, he did at least provide a mini-update on Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and William Saliba (back) after the defensive duo limped out of Arsenal’s UEFA Europa League tie against Sporting on Thursday.
“Tomiyasu looks pretty serious, for his reaction straight away and what he said to me. Obviously, it’s very early and difficult to know. William, I don’t know. He had some discomfort and could not carry on, so we had to take him off.” – Mikel Arteta
Tomiyasu was seen on crutches after the game but an on-site reporter said that there was “no sign” of any stapping on Saliba, so his withdrawal may have been precautionary in nature.
Gabriel Jesus made his first start of 2023, lasting until half-time before he was taken off in a pre-planned change.
“We decided to do that because we had to manage the subs and thank God that we took him out, especially after the two windows that we had to use in the first half, but that was the plan and he was coming from an injury as well. We knew the game could go to extra time and we have to manage that and he looked okay.” – Mikel Arteta on Gabriel Jesus’s substitution
Of more concern to FPL managers will have been Thursday’s cup tie going to extra-time and penalties, with Gabriel Martinelli, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Magalhaes all lasting 120 minutes. Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard began the match on the bench before coming on as substitutes.
Mohamed Elneny (knee) and Eddie Nketiah (ankle) remain out.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Patrick Vieira’s dismissal leaves us in the dark regarding the Crystal Palace team news, with no-one taking his place in the Friday afternoon presser that was originally scheduled.
Will Hughes and James McArthur missed all of Palace’s Double Gameweek 27 due to illness, while Vicente Guaita (hamstring) sat out the midweek clash with Brighton. Guaita’s no-show, plus that of medium-term absentee Sam Johnstone (calf), saw teenage goalkeeper Joe Whitworth line up to face the Seagulls. In the aftermath of Palace’s defeat, Vieira said that he didn’t know whether Guaita would recover in time to face Arsenal this weekend.
Loanee Albert Sambi Lokonga is ineligible to face his parent club, meanwhile.
