Haaland, De Bruyne & Bowen: latest FPL injury news with double gameweeks looming
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With the Fantasy Premier League about to enter a crucial gameweek – seven sides play twice and free hits and wildcards will be flying around – it’s vital to keep up-to-date with the latest injury news, so we’re helping out by collecting all of the latest information on the fitness of some of the FPL’s most popular assets for you.
Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne and Jarrod Bowen are among the big names with scary little yellow and orange triangles next to their names, and we’ve got the latest on all of them and more below.
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Erling Haaland & Kevin de Bruyne
Manchester City face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals this weekend but also have a midweek Premier League match against Brighton & Hove Albion to contend with – and FPL managers will be keeping a close eye on Haaland and De Bruyne, both of whom came off during City’s eventual penalty shootout defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday evening.
Haaland “felt something, a muscular issue and he could not continue” according to Pep Guardiola, who added in typically unhelpful fashion that “we will see” whether he plays this weekend. There seems to be a high chance that he could be rested against Brighton if he does play unless any issue has cleared up completely. De Bruyne, meanwhile, “feels well” and was simply “exhausted.”
Jarrod Bowen
The West Ham United star made a surprise early comeback from a hip injury on Thursday for the 1-1 Europa League quarter-final draw against Bayer Leverkusen but is still a doubt for Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace, with David Moyes revealing that he needed pain-killing injections to get through the game.
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Hide AdBowen will be “touch and go” up until kick-off for the trip to Selhurst Park, while goalkeeper Alphonse Areola “will be checked” as he prepares to make his own comeback from injury.
Matheus Cunha
Bad news for players who already followed our advice columnist’s suggestion to sign Cunha – he will now miss Saturday’s game against Arsenal after getting a “kick on the calf” against Nottingham Forest. Wolves manager Gary O’Neil didn’t say whether the Brazilian striker would be back for the midweek match against Bournemouth.
Rayan Aït-Nouri & Hwang Hee-Chan
It doesn’t get much better for players relying on Wolves assets ahead of their double gameweek – Algerian wing-back Aït-Nouri won’t start against Arsenal although he “could be available for the bench,” according to O’Neil. Meanwhile Hwang Hee-Chan, another popular player with FPL managers, will play “only 45 [minutes] tops.” Which, to say the least, will hurt a lot of players who didn’t have a free hit to use this week. Our FPL advice column suggested Hwang and Cunha – we’d now look at Pablo Sarabia and Jean-Phillippe Mateta instead, if you have the choice.
Jarrad Branthwaite & Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Everton are another side playing twice this week, and FPL managers will be glad to hear that centre-half Branthwaite, a popular budget option at the back, has been in training today and “came through it” despite being forced off in the second half of Monday’s 6-0 drubbing at Stamford Bridge – as did striker Calvert-Lewin, who is not widely-owned but has scored two in two, which may tempt a few coaches to take a flyer on him. Both remain slight doubts for Sunday’s home tie with Forest, however.
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Hide AdIvan Toney
Brentford striker Toney missed out on the 2-0 win over Sheffield United last weekend with a knock but could feature this time out. According to Thomas Frank, he is “pressing” to start: “He is desperate, I am desperate, so let’s see tomorrow.” Brentford travel to Luton Town, and Toney could be an interesting differential option with players like Haaland and Cunha doubts or out.
Michael Olise
The Frenchman should start this weekend after managing 67 minutes against Liverpool last weekend. He had missed seven straight matches through injury but Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner didn’t name him as one of their list of “doubts” ahead of their double gameweek.
Conor Bradley
The young Northern Irishman has been a surprise FPL bolter after an injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold, but the tables have now been turned – Bradley will be out for two to three weeks with an ankle ligament injury while Alexander-Arnold is fit and again and has been restored to the starting line-up, although it isn’t clear that he will get the full 90 minutes in either of Liverpool’s two matches this time out as he recovers.
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