In the latest of our weekly series, we’ll be bringing you the important news from every Premier League press conference that impacts your Fantasy Premier League team selection for Gameweek 26

As usual, feel free to give myself (FPL Connect) or our contributor (FPL Aussie) a tweet if you find there are any problems with this article.

All the best for Gameweek 26 everyone – lets do this!

West Ham:

Manuel Lanzini could return to the squad against Fulham in 2 weeks time after recovering from a long term knee injury:

“I think and I hope that Manuel Lanzini will be ready for Fulham, at least to go to the bench, if he continues improving over the next two weeks.”

Marko Arnautovic will be in this weeks squad, and hopes to feature against Crystal Palace:

“Marko is available for the weekend. He worked the complete week without problems.”

Aaron Cresswell will to be fit to play, whilst Samir Nasri is out because of a calf injury:

“Aaron Cresswell worked the complete week without any problems, but Samir Nasri needs some more days to recover from his calf injury.”

Andriy Yarmolenko, Carlos Sanchez and Winston Reid have been ruled out for the rest of the season, and will not feature in the upcoming weeks:

“Not only Andriy Yarmolenko [will not return this season], but Carlos Sanchez will also not be ready and I don’t think Winston Reid will be ready.”

Jack Wilshere is undergoing ankle surgery, and has been ruled out for 6-8 weeks. Fabian Balbuena also hopes to return against Fulham after recovering from a knee injury.

Fulham:

Cyrus Christie and André Schürrle will return back to the pitch against Manchester United this weekend. André-Frank Zambo Anguissa could also return to the match day squad this weekend.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah is ineligible as he faces his parent club, Manchester United. Marcus Bettinelli has been ruled out with an undisclosed injury, and will not feature this weekend:

“I think we are all available. Just Bettinelli [injured] and of course Fosu-Mensah [ineligible].”

Alfie Mawson will also not feature this weekend, as he is still recovering from a knee injury.

New signings Marković and Nordtveit are hopeful to be ready for next week:

“The others; Marković is getting better with his fitness, and also Nordtveit is getting better.”

Manchester United:

Ole confirms that United will be without Antonio Valencia and Metteo Darmian, but Marcos Rojo has returned to training:

“Rojo has been training for a few days, so he’s back in training, but we’ve lost Antonio and Matteo through niggles for a couple of weeks. We’re still not bad. We’ve got 20-21 players training every day, so that’s good.” Antonio has been training hard, really hard, and then he got a setback. So, hopefully, in a couple of weeks, he’ll be back with us. He’s been a fantastic servant at the club, he’s captain for a reason and, hopefully, we can get him back on the pitch. It was hard when he broke down, because he would have travelled this weekend.”

Marcus Rashford suffered a dead leg in the early exchanges in the game against Leicester and looked uncomfortable for a while but stayed on and ran it off. Solskjaer didn’t mention him in the presser, suggesting he should be fine this weekend.

Huddersfield:

Chris Löwe is an uncertainty for this weekend with an illness, whilst Isaac Mbenza has been ruled out for the next 5-6 weeks:

“Chris Löwe has had an illness this week. Isaac Mbenza is out for five or six weeks with a calf injury.”

Jonathan Hogg and Erik Durm have both returned to training, and may be able to feature this weekend.

Phillip Billing and Aaron Mooy are still in the rehabilitation process, returning from long term knee injuries, whilst Danny Williams will return to training next month.

Burnley:

Courtesy of the Burnley twitter page, Sean Dyche confirms that Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Robbie Brady are again available for selection this weekend after returning to the squad following injury last weekend.

Matt Lowton is back in training following his toe injury. Steven Defour [calf] is again likely to miss out.

Aaron Lennon [knee] and Jonathan Walters [Achilles] have been ruled out with long term injuries.

Brighton:

Hughton confirms there are no new injury concerns for the Seagulls.

Jose Izquierdo [knee] is expected to train with this first team, whilst Brighton will make a decision on Dale Stephens [hip] who hopes to return to training over the next couple of days.

Both players look unlikely start against Burnley this weekend.

Watford:

Abdoulaye Doucouré will be back for the Hornets this weekend, ready to face Everton. Kiko Femenía is also available to play, returning from a hamstring injury:

“He [Doucoure] is training with the team and I think he is ready for the next game. We have two players, in Kiko and Doucouré, who have both been injured the last week, but they started training this week and both have possibilities to play.”

Roberto Pereyra will not feature this weekend, after not fully recovering from his hamstring injury:

“He needs more time to recover. In a couple of days we’ll see if he will be ready. It is always important not to lose a player like Roberto, but you know I don’t like to complain about players I don’t have.”

Isaac Success and Sebastian Prödl have also been ruled out for this weekends clash against Everton, and they both will not feature.

Southampton:

Danny Ings is likely to be out for up to 3 weeks with a slight hamstring injury:

“Danny made a big step towards the ball last week and felt a problem in his hamstring. It’ll take him two or three weeks to come back from that.

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg will return for Southampton this weekend, as he comes back from a concussion:

“But we’ll have Pierre [Højbjerg] back after his concussion. We missed him at the weekend and it’s good that he’s back.”

Ryan Bertrand is back in training, whilst Maya Yoshida has returned from the Asian Cup and will be in the squad this weekend:

“Ryan [Bertrand] is back, he’s training consistently. And Maya [Yoshida] is back from the Asia Cup. So that gives us more options defensively.”

Cardiff:

Harry Arter will be back in the squad after being ineligible against his parent club.

Warnock remains cautious over Victor Camarasa’s chances this weekend:

“We have to be a little bit careful with Victor.”

Sean Morrison (appendectomy) is out until March.

Upon Emiliano Sala’s body being identified, Warnock had the following to say on the matter:

“I got a phone call last night and it was strange. I don’t know how it’s affected the players, one or two have always been a little sensitive,”

Arsenal:

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Laurent Koscielny both came down with a sick bug but Emery expects both to be fine for Saturday:

“Today, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is sick but I think he’s OK for Saturday. Also yesterday, Laurent Koscielny was sick but today he is training well. I think the other players are well and will be OK for Saturday.”

Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Shkodran Mustafi are in full training, and may be able to feature this weekend for the first time in 6 weeks:

“Playing with the under-23s and working with us, I think it is the first time I can think about him [Mkhitaryan] being with us.”

Rob Holding [knee] Danny Welbeck [ankle] and Hector Bellerin [knee], are all unavailable to feature, as they are in the process of recovering from surgery. Sokratis [ankle] is also unavailable, and will be back in training towards the end of the month.

Maitland-Niles [knee] & Granit Xhaka [groin] will be assessed ahead of the game and may be able to feature.

Bournemouth:

Howe reports that Callum Wilson and David Brooks won’t be available, whilst Jefferson Lerma needs a fitness test:

“Callum Wilson and David Brooks are still out, possibly out for around four weeks now. “We are waiting on a fitness test for Jefferson Lerma as well.”

Spurs:

Harry Kane could be ready for GW27:

“He’s doing well. He’s doing fantastic. We have to stop him every day, because he wants to be ahead of his recovery and he’s very optimistic and his determination to play as soon as possible is unbelievable. If you see him, he’s nearly ready to play, but we need to be realistic too. I think he’s so close to come back again, not for Sunday and not for Wednesday, but we’ll see after.”

Chelsea:

Maurizio Sarri reports there are only a few little problems with his squad – Hudson-Odoi with a short fever and Gary Cahill with his back. He hopes to have all players available for Sunday.

Crystal Palace:

Hodgson had news on several players, including Cheikhou Kouyate, Julian Speroni, Pape Souare, Connor Wickham and James Tomkins:

“Cheikhou Kouyate still hasn’t recovered so he’s not available. Julian Speroni unfortunately picked up a minor injury a few days ago so he’s not up for selection. Pape Souare has had a long term injury as has Connor Wickham. The other injury news unfortunately for us is James Tomkins, who’s been struggling with a calf strain.”

Hodgson said that he had hoped Tomkins would recover in time to feature against his former club but remarked that the Palace man is not ready to play despite the club’s best efforts.

Wilfried Zaha will be available to face to West Ham on Saturday:

“We have appealed and as a result the FA have suspended the ban. We find out if they uphold the ban or we have been successful next week.”

Everton:

Saturday comes too soon for Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka. Yerry Mina (foot) is a little closer and the Colombian will have a late fitness test.

Richarlison has scored just once in his last seven Premier League matches and started the 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on the bench before coming on as a substitute late on. Marco Silva is desperate for the Brazilian to rediscover his best form but says the responsibility for goals should not rest solely on the former Watford forward:

“It is really important [Richarlison] maintains his early-season form. We cannot put all the pressure on two or three players. This week will be really tough for us. We have to manage the physical condition of some players. Our job with Richarlison is to put him in the best conditions. When I made the decision about the starting XI for the last match it was because I thought it was our best starting XI for that match.”

Leicester:

Puel confirms Marc Albrighton will likely miss the rest of the season with a severe hamstring problem:

“We already know the injury to Marc [Albrighton]. He has a serious hamstring injury. He will have surgery. He will perhaps not be available before the end of the season.”

Other than Daniel Amartey (ankle surgery), there are no other injury concerns.

Youri Tielemans may make his debut against Spurs, but Puel remains coy:

“We will see [if he can start against Spurs]. I haven’t made my decision yet. He has worked hard in training.”

Liverpool:

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum took part in Thursday afternoon’s training session following respective injuries and Klopp will check their fitness ahead of this weekend’s clash with the Cherries.

Dejan Lovren remains sidelined with a muscle issue, but could return for the home clash with Bayern Munich in the Champions League on February 19.

Elsewhere, Klopp reports positive news on the surgery Joe Gomez underwent on Monday to assist his recovery from a lower-leg fracture.

“Joe’s surgery worked pretty well. Timeframe is always pretty difficult, but [it’s] four to six weeks in terms of return to play. Trent trained yesterday for the first time and didn’t mention any issues or any problems. After four weeks for a first session, we need to see what we do there. Jordan trained yesterday as well for the first time; it was not that long a break but it was a muscle issue – we need to have another look today. Gini trained yesterday completely normal, but I don’t know in the moment. We have to see. Dejan is not available. No [timeframe], we work on the Bayern game, but we don’t know exactly.”

Manchester City:

Pep confirms that Vincent Kompany and Benjamin Mendy aren’t available:

“Vinnie and Mendy are out. Mendy is injured and it’s not easy. Meniscus. It is not easy. He needs to readapt. You can’t return and train for two days and then you are fit. You have to be careful.”

Pep get’s surprised when a reporter states that Mendy is actually in Hong Kong via his Instagram post:

“Wow, I didn’t know it. Fuck he’s a lucky lucky guy. He said he was going to Paris but Hong Kong is far away, so I dunno. I need to install Instagram. It will definitely not be okay if he is in Hong Kong.”

Pep Guardiola admits he is taking a cautious approach with Kevin De Bruyne after he missed most of the season with a knee injury:

“We try to control the players he played the last two games. Sometimes when you have a long injury you have to make a decision. I didn’t want to give him games, games, games, after injuries. Tomorrow we will play a game and some important players will not play. It’s quite possible he might not play against Chelsea everyone knows that. We judge the players on who they are, there are moment their team mates are in better condition than them.”

Newcastle:

Rafa reports better news on the injury front with only Jonjo Shelvey and Rob Elliot out now:

“It’s much better. Apart from Jonjo and Elliot, the rest of the team are fine. Everyone else is fit and available. It is good news – competition, as I always say, is positive for the team. He (Shelvey) is close. He has been training outside but we don’t want to take any risks. Still I think we have to wait one or two weeks. It depends.”

Antonio Barreca may need some more time before getting game time:

“He knows what we want and we’re working on that. The week away will be another opportunity for him to get to know his teammates. He will need some time but he is very focussed.”

Wolves:

Will provide updates as and when they become available.