EPL GW-30 Pre-Deadline Chat

Gameweek 29 was jampacked and enthralling, with 16 matches played and plenty of movement at the top and bottom of the table. Although first-place Arsenal maintained its lead over Manchester City, Newcastle leapfrogged Manchester United into third place. At the other end, wins for Crystal Palace and Leeds saw them jump into the 12th and 13th spots respectively, while the bottom three remained unchanged.

But enough about the past. Let’s take a look at some of the injury and suspension updates that might influence our decisions about gameweek 30, which kicks off mere hours from now.

Last update: 7 April at 20:00 GMT.

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Manchester United v Everton

Luke Shaw joined Manchester United’s lengthy injury list when he pulled up with a hamstring injury in the clash against Brentford on Wednesday. The England international will not feature against Everton. Casemiro will serve the last of his four-game ban due to his second red card of the season.

In contrast, Abdoulaye Doucoure will serve the first of his three-match ban in the clash against Manchester United while Everton’s other long-term absentees Calvert-Lewin and Andros Townsend remain sidelined. Ruben Vinagre has returned to training.

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Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest

Unai Emery’s Aston Villa came out of their clash against Leicester City unscratched and have no new injury problems. Cash, Coutinho, and Kamara are still unavailable.

Nottingham Forest wasn’t as lucky as Emmanuel Dennis picked up a knock in the match against Leeds and will be monitored for this fixture. Ryan Yates, McKenna and Jesse Lingard should also be monitored as they all have 50% of being ready to face Aston Villa.

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Brentford v Newcastle

Vitaly Janelt is back in training for Brentford and could be ready for the match against Newcastle. This match comes too soon for Frank Onyeka, Lewis-Potter, and Kristoffer Ajer.

Newcastle has no new injury problems; Almiron and Kratfth remain out..

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Fulham v West Ham

Aleksander Mitrovic’s eight-match ban for violent conduct means he will be unavailable for this clash, but Willian’s suspension has been served. Layvin Kurzawa is sidelined with a ruptured knee ligament for 4-6 weeks. Kebano continues to build match fitness.

West Ham’s only absentee is Gianluca Scammaca who has been sidelined for a while and still remains at least two weeks away from full fitness.

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Leicester City v Bournemouth

Dewsbury-Hall will miss the clash against Bournemouth after he was sent off for two bookable offences in the match against Aston Villa. The Foxes will also have to do without James Justin and Youri Tielemans while Jonny Evans will be subjected to a late fitness test.

There’s uncertainty surrounding Marcos Senesi’s availability for this weekend’s clash after he picked up a knock against Brighton last week. Ryan Fredericks and Junior Stanislas remain sidelined for the Cherries.

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Tottenham v Brighton

Lucas Moura will serve the first of his three-match ban when Spurs welcome Brighton this weekend while Richarlison has an outside chance of making the matchday squad. The club’s long-term absentees including Rodrigo Bentacur, Yves Bissouma, Ben Davies, Royal Emerson, and Troy Parrot remain ruled out.

Tariq Lamptey might return to the Seagulls matchday squad for the first time in six weeks as steps up his recovery from a Knee injury. To the relief of fantasy managers everywhere, De Zerbi has also cleared Mac Allister for tomorrow (and Caicedo too).

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Wolves v Chelsea

Wolves with have to do without Ruben Neves and Jonny Otto when they welcome Chelsea to the Molineaux this weekend. Both players are suspended for an accumulation of ten yellow cards and a red card offence respectively. There’s good news elsewhere as Hee-Chan Hwang and Boubacar Troare are expected to return for this fixture.

Chelsea’s new interim manager Frank Lampard won’t be able to call upon the experienced Thiago Silva as the centre-back continues his recovery from a knee injury, and Broja and Azpilicueta remain out as well. Aubameyang might be available for selection after stepping up his recovery process from a lower back injury.

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Southampton v Manchester City

Juan Larios remains out, and Armel Bella-Kotchap, Mohammed Salisu and Ché Adams won’t pass fit in time to feature against Man City. Tino Livramento is back in training but a long way from match fitness.

The big news coming out of the Etihad is the return of Premier League leading scorer Erling Haaland to training. Accordingt to Pep, The Norwegian “will be ready.” The question of course is whether Haaland’s minutes will be managed against bottom-dwelling Soton ahead of the huge Champions League clash with Bayern Munich next week.

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Sunday

Leeds v Crystal Palace

Zaha, Guita, Ferguson, and Chris Richards will all miss out for Palace.

Leeds have no new injury problems.

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Liverpool v Arsenal

Jurgen Klopp claims he expects Virgil Van Dijk to be fit for this weekend’s blockbuster clash against Arsenal after the Dutchman missed the game against Chelsea due to sickness. Thiago Alcantara has a chance of making the matchday squad, but Luis Diaz looks unlikely.

In his presser Arteta said he will have one of his injured players back for the trip to Anfield, but didn’t specify which. The speculation is that it must be either William Saliba or Eddie Nketiah.

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Have injuries and suspension caused any problems to your current plans? Are you going to risk any players with knocks or move them on? Let us know your thoughts!

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