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 9

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 9 everyone – let’s do this!

Leicester:

Puel stated that none of his players picked up injuries from International duty:

“We didn’t have any injury problems with the internationals. Almost all of the international players have come back today for training. Some will come back tomorrow (Friday); Rachid Ghezzal, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho are the last players. All of the players are match fit for Arsenal.”

Puel also stated that Demarai Gray and Matty James are improving well, but neither will feature this weekend.

Defender Çağlar Söyüncü is now fit and waiting to cement a spot in the Leicester defence.

Arsenal:

Danny Welbeck, Mesut Özil and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are back in training after recovering from their small injuries.

Sokratis (ankle) and Cech (hamstring) are being assesed ahead of their match against Leicester:

“The players are coming back now. Only Sokratis had one problem, one small injury. Maybe for Monday it’s difficult [for him to play]. The others are OK. Petr Cech is getting better from his injury but he’s not training with the group. But I think he’s very close to start with us.”

Mavropanos (groin) and Koscielny (right achilles) will return to training in November.

Brighton:

Chris Hughton confirms that Davy Propper will not play this weekend after picking up an injury against West Ham:

“He’ll be out for a period of weeks. We’re not sure on the timescale at the moment.”

Late decisions will be made on Pascal Groß and Dale Stephens who hope to feature this weekend, whilst Gaetan Bong may not be available this game week:

“Gaetan Bong is back with us, but didn’t play on international duty – so they’re the three we have to make decisions on.”

Burnley:

Steven Defour and Robbie Brady are steadily improving and are back in training however, neither will feature this weekend:

“Steven got another 90 minutes in the week, which was great, just to make sure he’s fit and well, which he is. Robbie came through that as well for 90 minutes; his first 90 minutes. We’re not going to clear him (Robbie) for this week, but that’s another great step forward.”

Ben Gibson and Nick Pope are returning from their injuries and have also started training. Like Defour and Brady, neither will feature this weekend:

“Popey is working with Billy Mercer, just getting his handling going, not flying around at this stage. But he’s going along very well at the moment.”

Steven Ward is also undergoing a rehabilitation program as he looks to recover from a minor surgery:

“Wardy has had a tidy-up of his knee. It’s an historic injury so just needed clearing up.”

West Ham:

Manuel Pellegrini gave an update on Arnautovic who looks like he will feature this week:

“Marko is okay. He has worked with our squad without any problems. We must be careful with his knee, but it allows for him to play in games. He has worked with our squad without any problems. We must be careful with his knee, but it allows for him to play in games.”

Pellegrini also noted that his team had suffered no further problems during the international break:

“Yarmolenko arrived today and he was the last that was away, so normally there are not any problems.”

Arthur Masuaku should be able to play this week, but features a late test:

“Arthur Masuaku was with his national squad this week. He has returned and he has worked with the squad. We will see if he starts on Saturday.”

Southampton:

All Southampton players are in contention to play this weekend as Mark Hughes has a full squad to choose from this weekend:

“Thankfully everybody seems to have come through their international games fit and well.”

Alex McCarthy looks to be fit despite suffering a small hamstring injury over the break.

Fulham:

Joe Bryan and Tom Cairney will not feature this game week as both players will sit out with their respective injuries:

“At the moment we cannot use Joe Bryan and Tom Cairney for the next game,”

Timothy Fosu-Mensah is not 100% ready, but the manager suggests that he can play despite not being fully fit:

“Timothy is working with us but he has a shoulder problem from the last game he played against Everton. Still he’s not 100 per cent available to play football, but you don’t need to be 100 per cent ready. You need to be strong, and with a clear mind you can help. He’s helped himself on the training ground, and he can be available to help us in the competitive games too.”

Spurs:

Jan Vertonghen (hamstring) is continuing his recovery and remains unavailable most probably until mid December.

Deli Alli won’t feature this week, but will return to training next week. Danny Rose continues his rehabilitation and may feature next week.

Serge Aurier returned to action during the international break, so Trippier owners should remain cautious.

Christian Eriksen and Mousa Dembele are back in contention for Tottenham and may play this weekend against West Ham.

Here’s what Pochettino had to say about Eriksen:

“It is our decision if he will play from the start or from the bench on Saturday, but there is nothing to say about the comment from the Denmark coach.”

Huddersfield:

Huddersfield are set to be without Tommy Smith, Terence Kongolo and Danny Williams, whilst Isaac Mbenza and Ramadan Sobhi are doubts for their game against Liverpool:

“There’s three players, unfortunately, I can rule out; Tommy Smith (groin), Terence Kongolo (hamstring) & Danny Williams (knee). There’s a question mark over Isaac Mbenza, but Ramadan Sobhi is back in training; we have to see how he looks in training.”

Phillip Billing has had treatment and worked with rehabilitation coaches. He hopes to feature against Liverpool this weekend:

“He will train with the team today and hopefully he will be fine afterwards. All the signs are positive.”

Watford:

Gerard Deulefeu looks to start this weekend, after returning from injury:

“I think he is ready. He has been working hard in these last two weeks and he is in his best condition. I don’t know if he is able to play 90 minutes at his best level, but I think he is in good condition to play.”

Both Tom Cleverley and Daryl Janmaat are sidelined due to injury and will not feature this weekend:

“Tom Cleverley and Daryl Janmaat are definitely out but the others we wait until tomorrow.”

Nathaniel Chalobah is an injury doubt after he felt pain in his knee after returning from international duty.

Christian Kabasele and José Holebas are also sidelined due to suspensions:

Bournemouth:

Eddie Howe has said that there will be late decisions made on attacking duo Ryan Fraser and Joshua King for the game with Southampton:

“We’ll have to see with Ryan. He’s been carrying a hamstring injury for a few weeks, we’ll have to see and make a late decision on him, but he’s certainly a doubt.”

Striker King did go away with Norway over the last week or so, but returned to Dorset with an injury of his own:

“I wouldn’t say he’s 100%, he’s picked up an ankle injury and he’s not trained with us. We’ll see if he goes out [on Friday] and then we’ll make a decision on him. “Sometimes it’s only after a game that you feel the repercussions of an injury like this, but his ankle’s swollen up and we’re looking at him carefully. We don’t want this injury to stop his momentum with us so we’re hopeful he’ll be fit.”

Cardiff:

Joe Ralls begins a three match ban but Neil Warnock confirms the midfielder has “chipped a bone in his knee” which will will keep him out for a few weeks anyway.

Aron Gunnarsson has been working on the training pitches following his recovery from a knee injury.

Danny Ward is not as bad as initially feared and Mendez-Laing [PCL knee] is working hard in the gym:

“He [Ward] might start training within a couple of weeks. They are on their way back, but at the moment, we can’t consider these guys.”

Manchester City:

Pep confirms that Kevin de Bruyne is available for selection:

“Yep [KDB is ready]. I don’t know if he’s able to play 90 minutes, but he trained really well the last 2 weeks. He has no pain, so he’s ready to be part of the group.”

In terms of other team news, Ilkay Gundogan is out and Fabian Delph is back in contention:

“Gundogan is not fit. Fabian is training with us. He is back in contention. Ilkay will be out for two or three weeks. I don’t know exactly.”

Chelsea:

Ross Barkley has a small problem, but should return next week.

Ethan Ampadu [knee] is a little more serious and should be out for a few weeks.

Sarri says that Antonio Rudiger and Matteo Kovacic have been doing better in the last couple of days and he thinks they will be able to play tomorrow.

Manchester United:

Five players – Diogo Dalot, Marouane Fellaini, Nemanja Matic, Scott McTominay and Luke Shaw – suffered injury problems during the break, while Jesse Lingard, Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo have all missed recent matches for United:

“The squad shape is that everybody available is selected. [I had] a bit of everything [in the international break]. We work here with the players that stayed here. I went to an international match [in Serbia] as you know. Then we came back and we were waiting for the boys to come back from their national teams. Some came back in good condition and the happiness of some good results. Some came back with injuries, injuries that we were aware of when they happened and the national teams were correct in sending the boys back. We also had surprises with players that we had no idea that they were injured and they arrived with important injuries.”

When asked if any players who missed the 3-2 victory over Newcastle United a fortnight ago are able to return on Saturday, Jose added:

“Players that are going to make an effort to be available for the team, like Herrera. He trained two days but, with the situation we have, is one step forward and he’s ready to help us.”

Liverpool:

Jürgen Klopp has confirmed Naby Keita [hamstring] is expected to miss Saturday’s trip to Huddersfield Town, but Liverpool will assess the fitness of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and James Milner:

“We had a session yesterday and a few of the boys trained, so we’ll have to see how they’ve reacted after that. The only thing that is pretty sure is that Naby will not be available; with all the rest we have to see how it develops. That’s it, pretty much.”

Regarding Van Dijk, Klopp insisted there were no long-term concerns over his recent rib injury:

“You saw when he went off – everybody saw when he went off – in the home game against Southampton, Virg would not leave the pitch without any major problems. It settled pretty quickly. Football players have to play very often with some kind of pain, that’s how it is. What it is exactly is not too important. It’s all good, he has no problems with that anymore.”

The nature of the upcoming fixtures could see the manager shuffle his options more regularly, Klopp explains:

“Now we have games where we will probably have more possession than we had in all the other games, so we have to think about something different and can use the players a bit more, which we try to do of course, but it all depends who is fit and who is not fit.”

Newcastle:

Rafa reports on the team news for his side ahead of their game against Brighton:

“Rondón is still not available, Clark has had some treatment for a muscle problem and will not be available, and Dummett has been training normally.”

Both Kenedy and Muto have trained and are available for selection.

Crystal Palace:

Max Meyer and Alexander Sørloth are the two Palace players suffering with a virus:

“We’ll find out more tomorrow, sometimes these things pass very quickly but they weren’t able to train today.”

Wilfried Zaha needs to be assessed after sustaining a groin injury on International duty. Roy Hodgson will leave selection decisions until after the final training session:

“It is good news that he is close enough to be assessed for the game. He hasn’t trained since the injury, but we are hoping he will train tomorrow, and if so, he could be available. We lost Joel Ward a few days ago in training, he’s out. Williams and Benteke are out.”

Scott Dann and Connor Wickham both took part in a recent friendly, with the latter scoring a goal and providing an assist.

Everton:

Marco Silva confirms that Idrissa Gueye picked up a problem on International duty, but reports good news with regard to the rest of the team:

“We followed all of our internationals closely. Gueye picked up a problem, which isn’t a good time for us but we were prepared for the schedule. Everyone else is okay.”

Andre Gomes [hamstring], Yerry Mina [foot] and James McCarthy [double leg fracture] have trained and Silva confirms they could be available on Sunday.

Wolves:

Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed his international players returned unscathed.

Rui Patricio is fine despite being released early as a precaution after their win in Poland.