Bukayo Saka and Danny Welbeck are both injury concerns heading into the weekend (Image: Getty)
A selection of popular players are at risk of sitting out this weekend’s Premier League action. But fear not, there is plenty of time to make changes ahead of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline for Gameweek 9 at 18:30 (BST) this evening (Friday).
The round’s standout fixture sees Liverpool travel to Arsenal on Sunday for a battle with high stakes at the top of the table. Both sides are grappling with injury concerns ahead of the showdown, with many FPL managers scrambling to make changes.
Here, Express Sport takes you through six highly-selected Premier League stars and their injury status going into the weekend…
Bukayo Saka
The winger has sat out clashes with Bournemouth and Shakhtar Donetsk since suffering a hamstring issue during the international break. And Mikel Arteta is not optimistic about Saka recovering in time for the Liverpool game.
“He wasn’t able to do the session in the way that we wanted,” explained the Arsenal boss on Tuesday. “He still wasn’t feeling good so it wasn’t good news. He hasn’t been training yet so it’s unlikely he will be back.”
Danny Welbeck
A popular FPL choice this season with five goals in his first eight league games, 33-year-old Welbeck was stretchered off with a lower back issue during Brighton’s narrow win at Newcastle last weekend. Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler will make a late decision on whether to field Welbeck against Wolves, though he admits the striker is still in agony.
“He will train and we will see afterwards,” said the German. “He got hit on his nerve and then you don’t feel the leg for an amount of time. It’s very painful and it’s still painful. He needs a lot of treatment. Our physios are working every hour with him.”
Son Heung-min could miss Tottenham’s upcoming clash with Crystal Palace (Image: Getty)
Diogo Jota
Liverpool boss Arne Slot suggested that bruised ribs were to blame for Jota coming off against Chelsea last weekend, and the Portuguese did not even travel with the Reds for their Champions League win over RB Leipzig.
Given it is not a conventional football injury, Slot was unable to provide much detail on a possible timeline for Jota’s return. “It is difficult to see how long that is going to take,” he said.
Son Heung-min
The South Korean made a scoring return to action against West Ham on Saturday after a spell out with a hamstring injury. But alarm bells rang among Tottenham fans when Son missed training on Wednesday.
Manager Ange Postecoglou explained that Son was ‘a bit sore’ after the West Ham game and would not take part in Thursday’s Europa League clash with AZ Alkmaar. A late fitness test will determine whether he features against at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Jurrien Timber
Arsenal will need all the defensive help they can get against Liverpool, with William Saliba serving a one-match ban and Riccardo Calafiori picking up a knee injury against Shakhtar which is set to see him miss several matches.
Timber has not played for more than three weeks but he is knocking on the door of a comeback, with Arteta admitting he was ‘close’ before leaving him out of the Shakhtar game.
Kevin De Bruyne
The Belgian could finally come back into the fold against Southampton this weekend, having been out since September. It has taken De Bruyne longer than expected to recover from the injury he picked up against Inter Milan, and a gradual return from the substitutes’ bench seems the most likely course of action.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1966817/fpl-injury-update-saka-welbeck-jota-son-timber-de-bruyne