FPL injury update: Vardy, Smith Rowe, Fernandes, Fabianski, Flekken latest

There’s rarely anything conventional about football at Christmas, and gameweek 19 of the Premier League certainly comes with a festive twist. After a Saturday off, all teams will now be in action over the next four days and injury worries are at a premium.

Something has to give at the King Power Stadium where Leicester, who now are back deep in relegation trouble after three straight losses, face a Manchester City team who ironically can’t buy a win right now. Nottingham Forest meanwhile, will look to back up their win over Tottenham at improving Everton.

Liverpool’s latest attempt to march towards the league title will come at West Ham, while Manchester United could be in for another tough 90 minutes when they take on Newcastle. Arsenal’s bid to stay in the title race minus key man Bukayo Saka will continue at Brentford on New Year’s Day.

Ahead of Gameweek 19, Express Sport have provided an FPL injury update…

Jamie Vardy

Despite being 37, Jamie Vardy has six Premier League goals and three assists to his name this season, and was badly missed by the Foxes in their 3-1 defeat at Liverpool on Boxing Day. And it could be a shrewd move from FPL managers to bring him back for the visit of the champions.

At Anfield, manager Ruud van Nistelrooy strongly implied that Vardy’s issue was a short-term one, and he’d be back available for the 2.30pm kick-off. “I think Jamie had a light injury, he couldn’t be there today but looks ok,” he said. “Hopefully, he can be there for Sunday.”

Emilie Smith-Rowe

Fulham boss Marco Silva has so far been coy on why Emilie Smith-Rowe hasn’t featured since the 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield on December 14. The midfielder missed both the draw against Southampton as well as the 2-1 win away to Chelsea on Boxing Day, and it seems FPL bosses would be taking a gamble by including him for this round of games.

Asked on Friday about Smith-Rowe’s availability for the game against Bournemouth, Silva said no internal decision would be taken until Saturday at the earliest. “We don’t know yet,” he replied, when asked if he would be available.

“It’s a decision we are going to take on Saturday as we have another session. We have to keep assessing, not just the players who were out in the last game, but also the ones that played.”

Bruno Fernandes

The Manchester United captain is injury-free for the trip to St James’ Park, but definitely won’t be in the squad. Fernandes was sent off for two bookable offences against Wolves on Boxing Day, his third red card of the season after also being dismissed against Tottenham and Porto.

Crucially though, the sending-off against Spurs was later rescinded, so he will only serve a one-game suspension, rather than the two-game ban that would follow a second red card. It means Fernandes will have to watch on from the sidelines at Newcastle but is eligible to face Liverpool on January 5.

Lukasz Fabianski

The Polish keeper made two superb saves against Southampton, before a collision with Nathan Wood left him requiring oxygen and seven minutes of treatment before he left the pitch on a stretcher. It is very likely that the 39-year-old will miss the clash with Liverpool.

Speaking after the game at St Mary’s, West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui admitted he initially feared the worst. “He had one big knock around the head, around the neck and he was not very sure about his actions,” he said.

“Fortunately the news is he is talking, he is alert, he is conscious. I spoke with him, the doctors say that he feels better and well. He showed he more or less recovered his sense. We feared but now he is better and it is a positive feeling because we were very worried.”

Mark Flekken

The Dutchman made several saves in the early stages of Brentford’s 0-0 draw at Brighton on Thursday but then was forced off after 36 minutes with a groin problem. Given his sharp exit, Flekken being in place to face Arsenal on January 1 appears highly unlikely.

Manager Thomas Frank wasn’t exactly positive with his post-game verdict, saying: “On both Flekken and Ben Mee, we have no real update. We’ll know more tomorrow when we really assess them. Hopefully, the injuries aren’t too big.”