The Premier League weekend is just around the corner, with all 20 clubs playing over the next two days. All eyes will be on the blockbuster match between Manchester City and coachless Chelsea, which will take place on Sunday. However, with many top clubs facing injury concerns ahead of the match, FPL managers have some important decisions to make.
Express Sport provides a list of players who may be unavailable for Gameweek 20…
Declan Rice
The midfielder faces a race against time to make his return for Arsenal’s game against Bournemouth after missing out on the big win against Aston Villa earlier this week.
Manager Mikel Arteta stopped short of ruling out the player’s exclusion in his press conference on Friday, saying: “Obviously they haven’t trained yet so today will be their first training. We’ll probably know more this afternoon because they’re obviously the players who started against Villa.”
Rice is struggling with a knee injury sustained in the recent win over Brighton & Hove Albion. It remains to be seen whether he will play this weekend, but he could be rested again if there is a risk of the problem worsening.
michael keene
Everton manager David Moyes believes his defender has a “chance” to return from injury when the Toffees host Brentford on Sunday.
Asked for an injury update on Friday, Moyes said: “I would say no, Michael Keane has a chance but the other players (Kenan Dewsbury-Hall and Charlie Alcaraz) don’t have a chance.”
Keane has been a virtually constant presence alongside James Tarkowski at the heart of Everton’s defense this season, and it has been suggested he could start if he is fit.
lewis hall
The young full-back appeared to be injured during Newcastle’s recent win over Burnley, but still managed to play the full 90 minutes.
However, the nature of the problem raised concerns that he would be forced to miss several matches to return to full fitness.
However, the Daily Mail reports that he believes he will be ready for the game against Crystal Palace and is not experiencing any significant pain in his affected ankle.
Bruno Fernandes
Manchester United will be without their captain again when they face rivals Leeds United on Sunday, with manager Ruben Amorim confirming the Portuguese midfielder will continue to be absent.
On Friday, the Red Devils manager said there had been no change in injury numbers compared to the midweek game, which Wolves drew.
“We will go (to Leeds) without any problems,” Amorim said. “We’ll see tomorrow. I’ll train more. I don’t think anyone will recover, but we’ll see.”
dominic calvert lewin
The in-form striker was on the bench after Leeds United’s goalless draw with Liverpool on Thursday night, but featured for the final 20 minutes.
The former Everton forward did not appear to be injured, with manager Daniel Farke explaining after the full-time whistle that he simply wanted to manage his time.
“Everyone knows what happened to him in the last two years,” said the German coach. “I have to take care of him a little bit. That was always the plan.”
