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 15

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 15 everyone – let’s do this!

Brighton:

Brighton have no new injuries, as Jahanbakhsh remains sidelined for their game against Crystal Palace:

“We have no new injuries – Jahanbakhsh is back training but he won’t be included tomorrow.”

Dale Stephens is also unavailable as he serves his final game of a 3 match ban he incurred against Cardiff.

Chris Hughton thought that last week was a perfect time to introduce Florin Andone and now has 3 strikers for this Christmas period:

“We felt like Saturday’s game was the right time for Florin Andone. We felt we might be able to exploit the opposition – we have three strikers at the moment who are pushing very hard.”

Arsenal:

Mesut Özil is being assessed for their match against Manchester United, as he faces a back problem:

“I said yesterday he’s had backache since last Tuesday. He couldn’t play in Kiev or yesterday. At the moment, I don’t know if he can play in Manchester.”

Dinos Mavropanos [Groin] and Danny Welbeck [right ankle] are recovering from long term injuries and will not feature against Manchester United on Wednesday.

Laurent Koscielny [right achilles], continues his rehabilitation and will be assessed ahead of their next fixture, as will Nacho Monreal, who has been absent because of a hamstring injury.

Granit Xhaka will not feature against Manchester United, as he faces a one match suspension, after picking up his 5th yellow card of the season.

Bournemouth:

Daniel Gosling is an injury concern for the Cherries and doesn’t look likely to feature against Huddersfield:

“Dan Gosling is a concern for us. We’ve sent him away for a scan on his knee so we’ll see how he is. He didn’t feel comfortable during the warm up at the weekend.”

In this December period, Tyrone Mings provides another defensive option as he returns from injury:

“Tyrone’s had his injury problems since he’s been with us but he had a very good pre-season has waited for his opportunity and I was really pleased with how he performed.”

On a positive note, Jefferson Lerma is back, after facing his 1 match suspension.

Cardiff:

Jazz Richards is definitely out for their match against West Ham, whilst Greg Cunningham and Kenneth Zohore are very unlikely to feature also:

“All the usuals one who were out on Friday. Jazz is definitely out, Cunningham isn’t as bad as we thought, he did some light work on Saturday. Ken is stepping up from Monday. He’s pain free for the first time and has done some work with the rehab guys.”

Gary Madine and Danny Ward are also concerns for Cardiff, as Warnock confirmed they both aren’t full fit yet.

Chelsea:

No fresh injury concerns for Chelsea.

Matteo Kovacic and Marcos Alonso had “little problems” in the last match “but according to the doctor they are able to play.”

Sarri acknowledged Marcos Alonso didn’t play very well on Sunday and says his back problem might have worsened during the game. He will check on his fitness during training, and speak to the left-back too.

West Ham:

Aaron Cresswell is a concern for their match against Cardiff, as he suffered a hamstring injury in their previous match:

“Cresswell has a hamstring injury, which is why he couldn’t continue the game. We will see him tomorrow and make the last decision, but it could be difficult.”

Fabian Balbuena is also a concern for their next match, after suffering a slight knock against Newcastle:

“We must see about Balbuena. He had a hard kick on Saturday. Those are the two [Creswell and Balbuena] players that have some problems.”

Crystal Palace:

Crystal Palace have no injury concerns, excluding Christian Benteke, who will return in 3-4 weeks:

“Christian is only three or four weeks away from fitness. We were lucky we didn’t pick up any real injuries at the weekend, just the usual knocks and bruises of Premier League matches. At the moment it looks like the same players are available again.”

Leicester:

Jamie Vardy’s fitness will be assessed ahead of their fixture against Fulham, as he was suffering from a groin problem:

“I will see tomorrow, but I cannot say the players who have the problems. We will see who is available to play this match. [Vardy] felt something, but I will see with our medical staff.”

It doesn’t seem likely that Harry Maguire and Rachid Ghezzal will feature midweek, as the pair are more likely to return during the weekend:

“Maguire and Ghezzal, we will see for Saturday.”

Matty James has returned to training and has represented the Club’s Development Squad but will most likely not feature mid-week as well.

Huddersfield:

Steve Mounié will not be available for their match against Bournemouth after being handed a red card against Brighton. Huddersfield have appealed the ban, but even if they are successful, he is a doubt for their match against Bournemouth:

“We appealed Steve Mounié’s red card and hope to hear something back today.”

Chris Löwe won’t feature against Bournemouth, but Wagner hopes he will be back for the weekend:

“Chris Löwe won’t be in the squad even though he was in training yesterday; there is a slight chance he could be back on Saturday.”

Laurent Depoitre is now in contention to play, after Mounié’s red card.

Wagner also commented on Aaron Mooy, confirming that he will not be available for Huddersfield during January as he plays for Australia in the Asian Cup.

Manchester City:

When asked about Sergio Aguero’s or Aleks Zinchenko’s fitness, Pep Guardiola responded by stating that he doesn’t know:

“We have training this afternoon so I can’t tell you the answer now. I don’t know. Right now, I’m not quite sure. Day-by-day we see. I speak with doctors every day, they make a report and a briefing. They say ‘ready’ or ‘not ready’ and we decide.”

This was yesterday but today, it has been reported (https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-squad-watford-aguero-15502225?fbclid=IwAR2njR_cKvZlqo8Xm3YXcnbLV7kd6qnKKI7x5aAEaAf85Cfz3uEiz2wD8L0) that Sergio Agüero has not been spotted with the team that has travelled for the game.

Kevin de Bruyne will not feature against Watford, as he is sidelined with Pep confirming “he is not ready”.

Watford:

Javia Gracia almost has an entire side to choose from for their match against Manchester City, as only Adalberto Peñaranda remains out with a foot problem:

“Peñaranda is training out of the team. He felt pain in his foot and we’ll see when he is going to be an option. At this moment he’s not with the team.”

Tom Cleverley is nearing a return, but it looks unlikely for him to feature against Manchester City:

“Tom is in the process, training day by day and the most important thing is he doesn’t feel anything strange. He is training at the same level as the rest of the team and that’s good news for us.”

Similar to Cleverley, Daryl Janmaat is also nearing a return, and should be available when required.

Etienne Capoue is out through suspension after picking up a red card in the game against Leicester on the weekend.

Burnley:

Sean Dyche has rated Steven Defour as “touch and go” for Wednesdays game with Liverpool. No word on Robbie Brady however, who limped off with an apparent ankle injury during the closing stages at Selhurst Park.

Everton:

Silva reveals that Ademola Lookman is in contention to start, despite revealing a slight issue on Saturday:

“100% Lookman is in contention to start. I can tell you now the game has past, he had a small issue and only trained with us on Saturday.”

Morgan Schneiderlin is carrying an injury. “Small issue in his leg,” and is rated as a doubt for Wednesday.

Liverpool:

Liverpool will need to assess the fitness of Sadio Mané and Andy Robertson ahead of Wednesday evening’s Premier League trip to Burnley.

The duo sustained minor injuries during Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Everton at Anfield and Jürgen Klopp has confirmed their issues will need to be checked before determining whether they can figure at Turf Moor:

“Sadio and Robbo we need to have another look at today. Sadio really had an awful cut on his foot. It needed to be stitched; he is OK but walking around here now in flip-flops and you don’t play in flip-flops! That means in this moment he is not ready, but we will see later. With Robbo it is not that serious as with Sadio, but we need to have a look.”

Manchester United:

Ashley Young is definitely ruled out for the Reds, through suspension, which could open the door to Antonio Valencia, Diogo Dalot or Matteo Darmian at right-back.

Luke Shaw was withdrawn at Southampton with a knock, as was Romelu Lukaku, while Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic were drafted into a three-man defence alongside Phil Jones. This was because Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly were unavailable, although Marcos Rojo, who is working his way back to full fitness, was on the bench. Victor Lindelöf has also been ruled out.

“We are going to be in difficulties again to build the team. We are again going to have to make adaptations and compensations to try to give some balance to the team. But then I believe we are again going to have the spirit to fight and to try to win the match.”

Alexis Sánchez will not play again in 2018 but Jose is optimistic that Marcus Rashford can recover in time.

All in all, Mourinho could be missing up-to 10 players for the game against Arsenal.

Wolves:

Will provide further updates if they become available before the deadline.

Confirmed as definitely out for the match against Chelsea tomorrow, are Ruben Neves who is suspended and Jonny Otto who is likely to miss the majority of the action in December.

Spurs:

Kieran Trippier has returned to training from a groin injury and is available for selection against the Saints but Jan Vertonghen will be absent through suspension after his sending off in the north London derby.

Erik Lamela, Davinson Sanchez and Victor Wanyama continue their rehabilitation from thigh, hamstring and knee injuries respectively with Mousa Dembele also still several weeks away from being in contention.

Poch on physical demands of a tough week that ended in a North London Derby defeat:

“If you look at the stats, we ran more than them. The problem is you can cope with the physical demands but when you are not fresh, you are not proactive, you are reactive. We started the game late, without the freshness you need to compete in this kind of game.”

Newcastle:

Rafa gives us an update on Paul Dummett, Isaac Hayden and Karl Darlow:

“We have to make a decision on a few [players] who have knocks [from the West Ham game]. Dummett is still not ready. Hayden is unavailable, like Darlow.”

Yoshinori Muto and Jamie Sterry have returned to full training, but only the former is likely to be considered due to a lack of match fitness. Christian Atsu could replace the suspended Matt Ritchie while Ciaran Clark or Jamaal Lascelles are pushing for recalls.

Fulham:

In terms of injuries, Ranieri reports a “little” groin problem for Floyd Ayite, who will miss out the game against Leicester City. However, there was better news regarding Andre Schurrle who is available to play. Andre-Frank Anguissa has also trained ahead of the match.

Ranieri also comments on how Callum Chambers could be utilised more as a midfielder, after stepping into midfield in the last game and impressing:

“He is a very good midfielder – intelligent tactically. He links the defensive line with the forwards, has good movement and is very attentive. I spoke with Scott Parker and he told me he could play there.”

Southampton:

Assistant first team coach Kelvin Davis, who is stepping in to manage the game against Spurs after Saints decided to sack Mark Hughes, are likely to be without young striker Michael Obafemi who limped out of his first top-flight start with a hamstring injury and Mario Lemina who will serve a one-match ban after collecting his fifth yellow card of the season at St Mary’s on Saturday:

“We’ve got some bumps and bruises. Obviously we’ve got a suspension (for Mario) as well. I haven’t completely gone through the body count but Michael left the pitch not in a great state on Saturday so we’ll be working on him over the next couple of days.”

The likes of Ryan Bertrand, Matt Targett and Danny Ings also look set to remain significant doubts ahead of the midweek meeting with Mauricio Pochettino’s side:

“We’re working on Ryan, Matt and Danny daily. We had a brief update from the physios today, we’re hopeful but by no means will they be at 100 per cent so we’ll have to make a decision on that late in the day. I don’t expect to have a full squad available.”