Foden, Rashford & Bowen: FPL injury news with Man City, Man Utd & West Ham stars among doubts

With the Fantasy Premier League transfer deadline fast approaching – for Gameweek 33, it’s 11:00 BST on Saturday morning – we thought we’d round up all of the latest information on some of the players who might miss out this weekend.

Phil Foden, Jarrod Bowen and Marcus Rashford are among the big-name players who might not be fit to start after recent injuries, and we’ve got updates on all of them and more. And if you want some more general advice on which players to buy and sell in the FPL this week, you can find some inspiration in our Top 2,000 manager’s latest advice column by clicking here.

Phil Foden

The in-form midfielder picked up an injury towards the end of the thrilling 3-3 draw against Real Madrid on Tuesday, and there has been a lot of speculation about his fitness ahead of Saturday’s home game against Luton Town.

Unfortunately, Pep Guardiola was not in helpful mood during his Friday press conference, telling the media that Foden would be training on Friday afternoon – along with fellow injury doubts Kyle Walker and Nathan Aké – and would be assessed afterwards. We suspect that given the way Guardiola rotates his players as the schedule intensifies towards the end of the season, there is a high chance that Foden doesn’t start this weekend. Goalkeeper Ederson may well make his first start after recovering from injury.

Marcus Rashford

It looks like forward Rashford, who is still owned by over 10% of FPL teams worldwide despite a difficult season, will play against Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon – he trained yesterday and while Erik ten Hag told the press that they would wait to see how he recovered before making a decision, all the omens seem good. Rashford was hauled off just after the hour mark against Liverpool last weekend after picking up a knock.

Jarrod Bowen & Alphonse Areola

England winger Bowen suffered what appeared to be a hip injury during last week’s 2-1 win over Wolves and was withdrawn before the hour mark. The club have yet to confirm a timeframe for his return and he didn’t make the matchday squad for Thursday evening’s match against Bayer Leverkusen, with Moyes now saying that he doesn’t expect Bowen to be available this weekend. The West Ham manager added that he was “not sure” whether Areola, one of the most popular goalkeeping options in the FPL, would be back in action.

Alisson, Diogo Jota & Trent Alexander-Arnold

Jürgen Klopp avoided giving much away about the fitness of the three key players who have endured lengthy recent spells on the sidelines. Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson seems like the least likely to be involved but is close to a return, while Trent Alexander-Arnold, who made the bench against Atalanta but didn’t come on, was apparently only named in the matchday squad to make up the numbers.

“There was no chance to play Trent,” Klopp said, observing that he has only had two training sessions since his return. Former Wolves winger Diogo Jota, meanwhile, did get 15 minutes of game time during the 3-0 defeat and will challenge Luis Díaz for a starting spot against Crystal Palace on Sunday. We don’t expect any of the three recent absentees to start as it stands.

Ben Chilwell & Raheem Sterling

Chelsea have no fewer than 11 players absent this weekend, among which are Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling, both of whom are unwell and unlikely to play any part in the game against Everton on Monday night. Goalkeeper Robert Sánchez is also under the weather, while centre-half Levi Colwill is no closer to a return from his toe injury.

Michael Olise

Oliver Glasner said Palace’s talismanic midfielder Olise is “close to starting” after coming through a full week of training, although the Austrian head coach stopped short of confirming that he will be in the starting eleven. An interesting possible differential option for the final weeks, however, once he’s back and able to play 90 minutes.

Hwang Hee-Chan & Rayan Aït-Nouri

Both South Korea forward Hwang and Algerian defender Aït-Nouri will travel with Gary O’Neil’s squad to the City Ground for Saturday’s game. It isn’t clear whether Hwang will be ready to start yet after making the bench for the game against West Ham, and we suspect he won’t start. It sounds as though Aït-Nouri has shaken off the calf injury that forced him off last weekend.

Richarlison

Brazilian forward Richarlison was a late addition to the injury report last week with a knee injury sustained in training – Ange Postecoglou has since confirmed that he will miss Saturday’s early kick-off against Newcastle United as well. It isn’t clear how long he’ll be out for, and FPL managers will certainly hope he’s back in time for his double in Gameweek 35.