Ekitiké, Fernandes & Kudus: Latest FPL injury news for Gameweek 21 before Liverpool take on Arsenalplaceholder image
Ekitiké, Fernandes & Kudus: Latest FPL injury news for Gameweek 21 before Liverpool take on Arsenal | Getty Images
The latest Fantasy Premier League injury news for Gameweek 21 - with updates on Hugo Ekitiké, Bruno Fernandes, Mohammed Kudus and more.
The fixtures continue to come thick and fast, and that means that another Fantasy Premier League deadline is fast approaching – this time, players will need to make all of their transfers by 18:30 GMT on Tuesday, before West Ham take on Nottingham Forest to kick-start Gameweek 21.
Of course, there are also plenty of injury headaches for FPL players to navigate. Hugo Ekitiké, Bruno Fernandes and Mohammed Kudus are among the key players who are fitness doubts for the latest round of games, and to help you all prepare we’ve combed through the press reports and managers’ interviews to find out who’s playing and who’s out.
We’ll be updating all of this once we get the latest comments from the managers’ pre-match press conferences on Tuesday, but for now here’s everything we know ahead of kick-off…
Will Hugo Ekitiké start against Man United?
Hugo Ekitiké: The French striker was a surprise omission from the Liverpool squad for Sunday’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Fulham, with Arne Slot later revealing that an MRI scan revealed an undisclosed injury after Ekitiké pulled up during a training session.
It doesn’t sound like a major injury (Slot told the media that Liverpool left Ekitiké out as they felt they “couldn’t take the risk,” which implies that he could have played if absolutely necessary) but until we know more the forward has to go down as a major doubt for midweek. It may be time to think about moving on, especially with Arsenal and their stingy defence the next opponents.
Bruno Fernandes: A hamstring injury has forced Fernandes, who is sat on 99 points in the FPL so far this season, to miss the past three matches but Ruben Amorim told the press that he was close to a comeback before he was unceremoniously sacked by Manchester United on Monday. Amorim hinted that there was a chance that Fernandes would face Burnley – we’d wait until we hear what interim coach Darren Fletcher will say before making any moves.
Mohammed Kudus: We’re still waiting to learn more about the severity of the off-the-ball injury that forced Kudus off during the 1-1 draw with Sunderland, but it didn’t look good. Thomas Frank wouldn’t be drawn into a guess about how bad it was after the game and we’d wait for his press conference, but it seems likely that he’ll miss some time with a leg injury.
Robert Sánchez & Marc Cucurella: A pair of popular Chelsea players who are doubts this week after missing the draw with Manchester City over the weekend. Cucurella trained on Friday, which sounds promising, while Sánchez was a late withdrawal with a minor muscular issue. He’s touch-and-go for now.
Manchester City & Arsenal stars among FPL injury doubts for Gameweek 21
Rúben Dias & Joško Gvardiol: Both Manchester City defenders sustained injuries in the draw against Chelsea, and it doesn’t sound like either are likely to be involved in midweek – Pep Guardiola wasn’t entirely forthcoming after the match and there are a lot of details still to be announced, but the Spaniard said that Dias’ injury was “not good” and that Gvardiol would probably be out “for a few weeks.” It’s likely time to spend some transfers.
Riccardo Calafiori: Arsenal are starting to get healthy in time for a massive match against Liverpool on Thursday, but Calafiori remains a doubt after missing the last three games due to an unspecified injury. Mikel Arteta has been typically unhelpful when discussing the injury, and we have no clear picture of whether he’ll be back in the side this week or not, but most media outlets suspect that the Italian won’t be out for too long. We’ll warn his owners that it’s all guesswork as it stands, however.
Yankuba Minteh: Not that players will be desperate to get the Gambian winger in ahead of a game against Manchester City anyway, but it sounds like the dead leg which kept him out of the 2-0 win over Burnley at the weekend makes him a doubt for midweek as well – although we doubt it’s that serious, given that Fabian Hürzeler initially told the media that Minteh would be good to go. He should be back by the weekend at the latest. It’s worth noting that Kaoru Mitoma seems to be back to full fitness at last, too.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: The Everton midfielder should probably be in far more teams than he is given his immense success as a budget enabler, but it’s not worth signing him just yet – while David Moyes is keeping the timeline for his return from a hamstring injury under wraps, Merseyside media outlets seem to agree that he’s likely another week or two away. Don’t expect him to play this week or in the FA Cup this weekend.
Chris Richards: Crystal Palace really want the American defender (and FPL defensive contribution magnet) back from his foot injury but he remains a significant doubt and The Athletic reported last week that Oliver Glasner doesn’t expect to have the centre-half back until after the FA Cup third round, which means one more Fantasy gameweek on the sidelines.
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