Salah, Mbeumo & Saliba: FPL injury news for Gameweek 16 before Liverpool take on Brightonplaceholder image
Salah, Mbeumo & Saliba: FPL injury news for Gameweek 16 before Liverpool take on Brighton | Getty Images
The latest Fantasy Premier League injury news and selection updates - with updates on Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo, William Saliba and more.
Another Fantasy Premier League deadline looms – and there are an especially significant number of selection headaches for managers to deal with ahead of Gameweek 16 between Africa Cup of Nations call-ups and a host of injury concerns.
There are doubts over whether Mohamed Salah will play after his falling-out with Arne Slot, whether Bryan Mbeumo will be involved as Manchester United try to keep him for one last game ahead of AFCON 2025, and injury concerns hanging over the head of William Saliba, Declan Rice, Jurriën Timber, Declan Rice and many more.
To make life easier, we’ve collected all of the latest FPL injury news and selection updates below. Don’t forget that you’ve all just been given five free transfers to make AFCON a little easier to handle, and if you need any more information about which players could be called up and how long they’ll be away for, you can get all of the details right here.
Will Mohamed Salah or Bryan Mbeumo play in FPL Gameweek 16?
Mohamed Salah: Having been benched for three straight games, Salah got himself left out of the squad entirely for the midweek win over Inter Milan after sounding off at Arne Slot in an incendiary interview which many expect may prove to be his last action as a Liverpool player.
Slot told the media on Friday that he planned to hold a conversation with Salah after his press cobbled together and that the Egyptian’s response would determine whether he was considered for selection for this weekend, the last for which he is available ahead of AFCON. It’s unlikely that we get confirmation from the club before Saturday’s game against Brighton, but if you haven’t sold him yet now certainly looks like the time. He may never wear a red shirt again.
Alexander Isak & Cody Gakpo: The Salah selection quandary has slightly overshadowed injury concerns regarding Gakpo, who is out for “a few weeks” with an unspecified muscular issue, according to Slot, while striker Isak will be subject to a late fitness test after picking up a knock against Inter. We suspect that Isak will be involved to some degree, what with Slot also talking about using two forwards at the same time more often going forward.
Bryan Mbeumo: For most players leaving for AFCON, the equation is simple enough – they play this weekend and fly to Morocco immediately afterwards. Manchester United’s situation is more complex, however, as they play on Monday evening, the day on which they are obligated to release their players for international duty.
United are in negotiations to persuade the powers that be to let them keep Mbeumo (along with Amad Diallo and Nouassir Mazraoui) for long enough to face Bournemouth before they head off, but the outcome of those discussions has not yet been made public. If no announcement has been made by the deadline, we’d suggest cutting Mbeumo to be safe.
Benjam Šeško & Matthijs de Ligt: In other Manchester United team news, striker Šeško stands some chance of being back in action on Monday after his knee injury – although we’d bet against him getting more than a cameo from the bench – and defender De Ligt is a minor doubt after missing the last match with an undisclosed knock.
William Saliba, Jurriën Timber & Declan Rice: With lingering doubts over the fitness of three key Arsenal and FPL players heading into the weekend, were any of us really expecting to get any helpful information from Mikel Arteta? Well, we didn’t, with the Spaniard as cryptic as ever in his press conference. All three players remain doubts, as does Leandro Trossard, and the only useful information to emerge was that Saliba hadn’t trained before today, which makes it sounds like he’s the least likely to be involved. It’s touch and go across the board, however, and remember that Riccardo Calafiori is suspended for this one.
Cole Palmer: More housekeeping than injury news, this – Palmer missed out on the matchday squad for Chelsea’s midweek defeat to Atalanta, but it wasn’t injury-related, rather a matter of resting a player who isn’t quite fully fit after groin and toe injuries. He’s likely to start but perhaps not get the full 90 minutes this weekend, if you’re thinking of bringing him in.
Jean-Philippe Mateta and Daniel Muñoz among other FPL injuries this week
Jean-Philippe Mateta & Daniel Muñoz: It’s not been the best news for Crystal Palace this week – wing-back Muñoz is out for up to six weeks with a nasty knee injury, it turns out, and striker Mateta is a doubt after missing the Europa Conference League match against Shelbourne in midweek. The plan was for him to return to training on Friday and play over the weekend, but we’re awaiting confirmation from Oliver Glasner. Ismaïla Sarr probably won’t play but we don’t yet know if he’s been called up to AFCON by Senegal yet.
Matz Sels & Chris Wood: Goalkeeper Sels remains a pretty popular choice between the sticks but was rested in midweek due to a “tight groin,” as Sean Dyche described it. It sounds like he has every chance of playing this weekend, but it’s not entirely certain. Wood, meanwhile, has now been described as a “slow burner” who likely won’t be back this side of Christmas. There must have been a setback in his recovery, because he was meant to be playing again already.
Kaoru Mitoma: Fabian Hürzeler has teased Mitoma’s return from injury so many times now that we’ve lost count – but apparently he is “an option” for Brighton’s game against Liverpool after a lengthy lay-off. The Japanese winger is said to be “fighting to start,” although we’d hold off a week or two before signing him ourselves.
Antonee Robinson: A staple of many FPL teams last season, the American full-back hasn’t featured since September but is now back in training and “progressing well,” according to Marco Silva. A late decision will be made on his availability for Fulham this weekend, but he’s close to his comeback if you had him on your watch list.
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