Press Conferences – GW19

Arsenal

Ruled out: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (internal club suspension), Sead Kolasinac (ankle), Pablo Mari (Covid), Calum Chambers (Covid) and Albert Sambi Lokonga (Covid).
Might play: Takehiro Tomiyasu (muscle), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (illness).

“We didn’t pick up any injuries. Before the game, as you know, we lost Calum [Chambers] with Covid. We will be tested every day and see how it goes. Touch wood.”
~ Mikel Arteta

Aston Villa

Ruled out: Leon Bailey (muscle), Bertrand Traore (thigh) and Marvelous Nakamba (knee).
Might play: Ashley Young (knock), Morgan Sanson (Covid), Keinan Davis (Covid), Anwar El Ghazi (Covid) and Jed Steer (Covid).

“I don’t really know what position we’re going to be in, come the game (vs Chelsea). At the moment we’ve got enough to play and I expect the game to go ahead. I hope the game goes ahead. It’s a game we’re very much looking forward to. But in terms of the Covid picture and the situation here at Villa, it’s changing on a daily basis, so it’s very unpredictable and hard to call.”
~ Steven Gerrard

Brentford

Ruled out: David Raya (knee), Kristoffer Ajer (hamstring), Mathias ‘Zanka’ Jorgensen (hamstring), Charlie Goode (hamstring) and Joshua Dasilva (hip).
Might play: Rico Henry (hamstring).
Fit: Ivan Toney (Covid).

“It was just a minor thing. The hamstring got a bit tight so I didn’t wanted to take any chances with him being a key, key player for us.”
~ Thomas Frank

Brighton

Ruled out: Yves Bissouma (suspension), Lewis Dunk (knee) and Jeremy Sarmiento (hamstring).
Might play: Adam Webster (calf) and Danny Welbeck (hamstring).
Fit: Shane Duffy (back from suspension), Joel Veltman (facial), Pascal Gross (Covid) and Neal Maupay (Covid).

Chelsea

Ruled out: Kai Havertz (illness), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (ankle), Romelu Lukaku (Covid), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Covid), Hakim Ziyech (calf) and Andreas Christensen (back).
Might play: Reece James, Jorginho and Timo Werner.
Fit: Jorginho (back).

“If I understand it right, we need a negative test first of all and we had that for Romelu [Lukaku], Callum [Hudson-Odoi] and [Ben] Chilwell today. Ben will not be involved in the Aston Villa game but the other two can be on the pitch tomorrow if they test negative.”
~ Thomas Tuchel

Crystal Palace

Ruled out: Nathan Ferguson (achilles).
Might play: James McArthur (hamstring).

“We had a couple of cases in our football club in the last couple of days. We try our best to prevent the situation but it is worrying because the evolution for the next couple of days we don’t know how it will go.”
~ Patrick Vieira

Leicester

Ruled out: James Justin (knee/match fitness), Wesley Fofana (leg), Harvey Barnes (unspecified) and Danny Ward (unspecified).
Might play: Jamie Vardy (hamstring), Caglar Soyuncu (hamstring), Ricardo Pereira (knock), Jonny Evans (hamstring) and Timothy Castagne (match fitness).
Fit: Kelechi Iheanacho (Covid), Jannik Vestergaard (Covid), Ademola Lookman (illness), Ayoze Perez (illness).

“We couldn’t take Vardy off. Probably the last half-hour, his hamstring felt a bit tight so he couldn’t really move. He’d usually be our number one (penalty taker). Ricardo [Pereira] came off after a poor challenge and Soyuncu felt his hamstring so we had to bring him off.”

“Definitely not Harvey [Barnes]. Wardy [Danny Ward], no. Jonny [Evans], question mark. Timothy [Castagne], yep, but whether he’s available or not, because he’ll just be returning to training, we’ll have to wait and see.”
~ Brendan Rodgers

Man City

Ruled out: Ferran Torres (foot).
Might play: Kyle Walker (illness).

“He [has] not [been] fit, that’s why he was not involved.”
~ Pep Guardiola on (Walker)

Man Utd

Ruled out: Paul Pogba (thigh).
Fit: Aaron Wan-Bissaka (knee), Raphael Varane (hamstring), Victor Lindelof (chest), Edinson Cavani (tendon), Juan Mata (illness), Nemanja Matic (illness) and Anthony Martial (knee).

“Today we have 25 players, so quite apart from Paul Pogba, he’s the only one who’s still missing out, everybody was on board. The development of the last week was extremely positive. As far as I could see today in training, they are all in good shape. From what I saw, I can say most, if not all, of them might be available.”
~ Ralf Rangnick

Newcastle

Ruled out: Isaac Hayden (suspended), Jamal Lewis (hamstring), Federico Fernandez (thigh) and Paul Dummett (calf).
Might play: Emil Krafth (illness), Javier Manquillo (illness) and Jonjo Shelvey (muscle).

“I don’t think it will be too long. It’s not a major injury but it’s enough to keep him out of the festive period and some games in early January. Hamstring strains are usually 3-4 weeks minimum. I think that’s probably where he’ll be.”
~ Eddie Howe on (Lewis)

Norwich

Ruled out: Milot Rashica (groin), Grant Hanley (shoulder), Christoph Zimmermann (ankle), Andrew Omobamidele (back) and Mathias Normann (pelvic).
Might play: Emil Krafth (illness), Javier Manquillo (illness) and Jonjo Shelvey (muscle).

“He [Kabak] is back to fitness now, but to ask him to play two games in three days is going to be too much. Andrew Omobamidele will be out for another ten days with the back stress injury.”
~ Dean Smith

Southampton

Ruled out: Alex McCarthy (hamstring).
Might play: Che Adams (thigh), Stuart Armstrong (calf), Fraser Forster (hamstring) and Adam Armstrong (calf).

“The Covid situation changes every day. We will test today again, so far we are OK. The injury situation is also getting better, we have Stuey Armstrong and Che Adams back in a session.”
~ Ralph Hassenhuttl

Spurs

Ruled out: Cristian Romero (hamstring), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring).

“There were no injuries after West Ham. Romero and Sessegnon are still injured and, until now, no bad news. No, we don’t have new cases of COVID. All the players are back in training.”
~ Antonio Conte

West Ham

Ruled out: Kurt Zouma (hamstring) and Angelo Ogbonna (knee).
Might play: Aaron Cresswell (back) and Michail Antonio (Covid).
Fit: Ben Johnson (hamstring), Vladimir Coufal (back from suspension) and Ryan Fredericks (groin).

“The answer is I don’t know. He has no symptoms and I have to say that he is double vaccinated. For all those things hopefully, we might have him back, yes.”
~ David Moyes on (Antonio)