EPL GW-21 Pre-Deadline Chat

The Premier League returns on the heels of the clashes of the GW-20 ‘doubles’ teams, with Palace sharing points with Manchester United and Manchester City staging a phenomenal comeback from a two-goal deficit at half-time to win 4-2.

We have some top fixtures coming up this weekend, so let’s run through an update of the team news (current as of 18:30 GMT on 20 Jan).

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Saturday 21 January

Liverpool v Chelsea

These two teams top the charts in the injury list without a doubt. Liverpool is still without Virgil Van Dijk, Roberto Firmino, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Arthur Melo, while Darwin Nunez has returned to training and has a chance to feature. Kostas Tsimikas is a slight doubt.

For Chelsea, their star loanee from Atletico Madrid, Joao Felix, has two more games out with suspension, while Christian Pulisic, Raheem Sterling, N’Golo Kante, Reece James, Denis Zakaria, Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Armando Broja and Edouard Mendy all remain unavailable.

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Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest

Dominic Solanke (knee) is still out, with Marcus Tavernier and David Brooks both suffering from thigh injury. Ryan Fredericks (other), Junior Stanislas (other) and Lewis Cook (knee) are still out.

Dean Henderson will be missing for the next month after picking up a thigh injury in the closing stages of the win over Leicester City last weekend. Manager Cooper confirms Willy Boly (ankle) was “not too far away” but he, Omar Richards (leg), Giulian Biancone (ACL), Moussa Niakhate (hamstring), Cheikhou Kouyate (hamstring), Jesse Lingard (hamstring) and Taiwo Awoniyi (groin) look set to remain out.

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Leicester v Brighton

James Maddison (knee) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (glute) are now back in contention for the visit of Brighton, although the former looks likely to feature from the bench after so long on the treatment table. Dennis Praet (rib and hip) will be pushing for a start but the game might come too soon for Ayoze Pérez (muscle), while Boubakary Soumaré (hamstring), Jonny Evans (calf), James Justin (Achilles), Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) remain out.

In a sudden and stunning move, Leandro Trossard has left Brighton and signed for Arsenal. Levi Colwill (muscle) will miss the game against the Foxes’ but, other than long-term injury victim Jakub Moder (knee), the Seagulls don’t have any serious concerns for the weekend.

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Southampton v Aston Villa

Tino Livramento is still facing his tough knee injury, while Juan Larios and Stuart Armstrong remain out. Armel Bella-Kotchap, Theo Walcott and Alex McCarthy are all close to a return. New signings Mislav Orsic and Carlos Alcaraz could make their full debuts after recent appearances off the bench.

For Villa, Diego Carlos remains out, while John McGinn won’t available due to his hamstring injury and Lucas Digne will miss with a collarbone issue. Ollie Watkins has an ankle issue and could miss out, which would be a massive blow. Jed Steer and Ludwig Augustinsson remain out, and Leander Dendoncker is available after suspension. Also, Danny Ings has made a surprise transfer to West Ham.

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West Ham v Everton

Concerns over Gianluca Scamacca’s knee injury have been increasing over the last week which is why West Ham pushed for the signature of former Aston Villa striker Danny Ings for around £15 million with adds-on. At the same time, rumours have linked Michail Antonio with an exit from the club. Alphonse Areola and Maxwell Cornet remain doubtful.

The Toffees have no fresh injury concerns with Nathan Patterson (knee) still on the injury list, while James Garner (back) and Andros Townsend (knee) are only just back in individual training and will not be featuring. Moreover, Michael Keane (knee) has been out recently and remains on the sideline.

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Crystal Palace v Newcastle

Joachim Andersen missed the Manchester United game with a calf injury and will miss the game with Newcastle as a result. James McArthur is a long-term absentee. While Jordan Ayew and Eberechi Eze will be looking for recalls in the final third, Will Hughes can feel confident of keeping his spot in the starting eleven.

On Friday, Eddie Howe confirms that a scan on Bruno Guimaraes’ ankle has come back “positive”, with media reports suggesting the Brazilian will only be out for a few weeks instead of the previously reported months. Matt Targett (heel), Jonjo Shelvey (calf) and Emil Krafth (knee) are the only other players on the Newcastle injury list ahead of the trip to Crystal Palace.

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Sunday 22 January

Leeds v Brentford

Jesse Marsch confirms Liam Cooper and Robin Koch are both struggling with minor injuries in the build-up to the clash. and that Pascal Struijk has picked up a knee issue. Stuart Dallas, Adam Forshaw, Archie Gray, and Crysencio Summerville remain unavailable.

Thomas Frank hopes Rico Henry can train today after the defender missed the win over Bournemouth with a minor calf issue. Shandon Baptiste (muscle) and Aaron Hickey (ankle) both saw game time in a midweek friendly after months on the sidelines and could come into contention. Pontus Jansson (hamstring) and Frank Onyeka (hamstring) remain out.

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Manchester City v Wolves

Kevin De Bryune was on the bench against Spurs and was not able to train during the week due to ‘personal reasons’. But John Stones did manage to feature in the 4-2 victory while fellow centre-back Ruben Dias received some game-time after coming off the bench too.

For Wolves, Boubacar Traore (groin), Pedro Neto (ankle), Chiquinho (knee) and Sasa Kalajdzic (knee) are all ruled out while Diego Costa finally returned during the Liverpool game.

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Arsenal v Manchester United

Gabriel Jesus and Reiss Nelson remain out, while Mohamed Elneny has a knock. Most likely Mikel Arteta will follow his formula of playing the winning team, but Leandro Trossard is available and could make his debut in a Gunner shirt.

Jadon Sancho has returned to the pitch in training but Diogo Dalot and Donny van de Beek are out injured, with Anthony Martial is still an injury doubt. But the biggest problem of them all for the Red Devils is the suspension of the great Casemiro.

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Tuesday 24 January

Fulham v Spurs

Neeskens Kebano remains out after his ruptured his achilles back in November and is still expected to be unavailable for several months.

Antonio Conte is not expecting any new injury concerns as we head to Craven Cottage other than the fatigue concerns of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski after our 4-2 loss against Manchester City on Thursday night. Lucas Moura has the ongoing tendon issue and Bryan Gil is still doubtful to feature.

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How are your squads setting up for GW-21? What are your picks for the coming week? Who are you adding and removing? Have you heard any late breaking news as we approach our deadlines? Please log in and share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!