Injuries and Bans ahead of Gameweek 23

For Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers, the availability of their players both in terms of injuries as well as bans is an important part of their Gameweek preparations.

Gameweek 22 has so far seen the postponement of two fixtures. With Burnley and Arsenal unable to field 13 men their games against Leicester and Spurs were postponed.

AFCON

Players away on International duty ahead of Gameweek 23

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)

Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal)

Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal)

Thomas Partey (Arsenal)

Bertrand Traore (Aston Villa)

Trezeguet (Aston Villa)

Yves Bissouma (Brighton)

Frank Onyeka (Brentford)

Maxwell Cornett (Burnley)

Edouard Mendy (Chelsea)

Cheikhou Kouyaté (Crystal Palace)

Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace)

Wilf Zaha (Crystal Palace)

Alex Iwobi (Everton)

Daniel Amartey (Leicester)

Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester)

Ndidi (Leicester)

Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Naby Keita (Liverpool)

Riyad Mahrez (Man City)

Eric Bailly (Man United)

Moussa Djenepo (Southampton)

Adam Masina (Watford)

Imran Louza (Watford)

William Troost-Ekong (Watford)

Said Benrahma (West Ham)

Romain Sais (Wolves)

INJURIES

Players to monitor ahead of Gameweek 23

Ashley Young (Aston Villa) – Toe Injury Rated “50/50” for the match against Burnley on 18/12 but the game was postponed. Has been sidelined since. Only had an “outside chance” of featuring against Brentford on 2/1 because of a fractured toe and missed out.

Konsa (Aston Villa) – Hip injury.

Emile Smith-Rowe (Arsenal) – Groin Injury Missed the FA Cup match against Nottingham Forest on 9/1 and the EFL Cup semi-final against Liverpool on 13/1 because of a tight groin.

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) – Fatigue Was struggling with fatigue towards the end of the EFL Cup semi-final on 13/1 and “felt something”.

Mathias Jensen (Brentford) – Hip injury.

Charlie Taylor (Burnley) – Covid

Erik Pieters (Burnley) – Covid

Dwight McNeal (Burnley) – Covid

Andreas Christenson (Chelsea) – Covid

Reuben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea) – Ankle injury Rated a doubt for the Wolves match on 19/12 because he was “in pain”. Missed out then and has been sidelined since.

Andreas Christensen (Chelsea) – Back injury Substituted with a back injury in the match against Brighton on 29/12. His manager said afterwards that it “looks not good”.

Daniel James (Leeds) – Muscle injury Picked up a muscle problem in the match against Man City on 14/12. Ruled out of the Arsenal game on 18/12.

Jamie Vardy (Leicester) – Muscle injury “A bit sore” after appearing to pick up an injury in the match against Liverpool on 28/12.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool) – Ankle injury.

Thiago (Liverpool) – Illness Returned a suspected positive Covid-19 test ahead of the Spurs game on 19/12.

Marcus Rashford (Man United) – Dead leg.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United) – Tight thigh

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Man United) – Illness.

Harry Maguire (Man United) – Chest Injury Failed to recover from a knock to the chest in time for the Wolves game on 3/1.

Eric Dier (Spurs) – Muscle injury Missed cup games on 5/1 and 9/1 with an muscular injury. Will also sit out the north London derby on 16/1 with his manager implying that he may not return before February

Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves) – Muscle injury Pulled out of the starting XI on 15/12 after feeling discomfort in the warm-up. Assessment is continuing ahead of the Chelsea game on 19/12 to determine how long he will be out.

Potential FPL options with longer term injuries

Marvelous Nakamba (Aston Villa) – Knee injury Substituted in the game against Liverpool on 11/2 with a knee injury. Has since undergone surgery and will be out for 12-16 weeks.

Ajer Kristoffer (Brentford) – Hamstring injury Missed the defeat to Burnley on 30/10 with a hamstring injury. His manager subsequently ruled him out for up to two months.

Rico Henry (Brentford) – Substituted with a tight hamstring as a precaution in the EFL Cup on 22/12. No timeline for return so far.

David Raya (Brentford) – Ruled out for four to five months on 26/10 after sustaining a serious ligament injury in his left knee.

Jeremy Sarmiento (Brighton) – Hamstring injury Substituted with a hamstring injury in the match against West Ham on 1/12. Expected out for between three to four months.

Ben Chilwell (Chelsea) – Knee injury Substituted in the Champions League win over Juventus on 23/11 with a partial injury to his ACL. Initially ruled out for six weeks on 26/11 but it later transpired that he would require surgery and miss the rest of 2021/22

Reece James (Chelsea) – Limped off with a hamstring injury against Brighton on 29/12 and was later sighted on crutches. Still awaiting the results of a scan as of 31/12.

Abdoulaye Doucoure (Everton) – Everton confirmed on 19/10 Doucoure has suffered a foot injury and will be assessed to determine the period of absence.

Wesley Fofana (Leicester) – Broken leg in pre-season

Harvey Elliot (Liverpool) – Serious ankle injury vs Leeds (12th Sept) which required surgery

Raphael Varane (Man United) – Ruled out on 12th Oct for a few weeks with a thigh injury

Callum Wilson (Newcastle) – Muscle injury Substituted with a muscle injury in the match against Man Utd on 27/12. His manager thinks the issue might be serious.

Jack Stephens (Southampton) – Picked up a knee injury on 18th Sept. Ruled out for 10-12 weeks

Son Heung-Min (Spurs) – Muscle injury His manager revealed on 7/1 that he would “probably” be sidelined for two weeks with a muscle problem. This prognosis was confirmed on 11/1.

Christian Kabasele (Watford) – Out for more than three weeks (7th Oct) due to a hamstring injury

Johnny (Wolves) – ACL injury from the 2020/21 season, on course for “a return in the new year”

Pedro Neto (Wolves) – Knee injury from 2020/21, due to have a specialist review in October but no further timeframe

For more in-depth details, check out the Fantasy Football Scout website:

Injuries And Bans

BANS

Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) – 2 Match Ban Sent off for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity on 13/1.

Neale over at Fantasy Football Scout has produced an excellent article summarising those players walking the suspension tightrope. The article can be read here.