Son, Saka & Welbeck: Fantasy Premier League injury news for Gameweek 9

It’s once again time for Fantasy Premier League managers around the world to finalise their transfers and get ready for another gameweek - but as always, there are plenty of injuries to worry about, so we’ve once again combed through the media reports and listened in on the managers’ press conferences to bring you all the important updates.

Son Heung-Min, Bukayo Saka and Danny Welbeck are among the popular fantasy assets who might miss out this weekend, and we’ve got updates on their conditions and plenty more players besides below - and if you’re looking for some more general hints and tips, you can find our resident FPL expert’s latest advice column by clicking here.

Son Heung-Min

One of the biggest injury concerns for FPL players this week is the likely absence of Tottenham Hotspur winger Son Heung-Min, who missed the Europa League victory over AZ Alkmaar with a minor ankle injury. Spurs managers Ange Postecoglou told reporters today that the South Korea international is “unlikely” to feature against Crystal Palace on Sunday and wouldn’t train on Friday.

Bukayo Saka

The Arsenal winger picked up a hamstring injury on international duty, but Mikel Arteta threw many managers for a loop last week when he implied that Saka would ready to go against Bournemouth – instead, not only was he injured, but he is somewhat likely to miss this week’s crunch class with Liverpool as well. Arteta said that he was “very uncertain” to play, as are Riccardo Calafiori and Jurriën Timber - but Saka has at least done “a bit” of training on grass. Given Arteta’s habit of implying fit players are injured and vice versa, we wouldn’t be shocked if he played.

Danny Welbeck

It is, apparently, “a bit too early” to say whether popular budget striker Welbeck will play this weekend or not following a “painful” back injury. The forward will train on Friday and a judgement will be made after that. Yankuba Minteh, meanwhile, is “day-to-day” but João Pedro remains unavailable.

Diogo Jota

The Portuguese forward is one of five Liverpool players who are either out or unlikley to play in Sunday’s game against Arsenal, and the one most likely to be relevant to the FPL – he will “definitely not” feature, according to head coach Arne Slot. The other definite absentee is Alisson, while Harvey Elliott, Conor Bradley and Federico Chiesa are doubts.

Kevin de Bruyne & Kyle Walker

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that both Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker will miss out when Manchester City welcome Southampton to the Etihad on Saturday, alongside Jack Grealish and Jérémy Doku. De Bruyne is dealing with a groin injury while Walker has a knee problem.

Dan Burn

Nearly 10% of FPL players have the big and budget-friendly defender in their teams, so they’ll be pleased to know that Eddie Howe gave his fitness the thumbs up in his pre-match press conference, suggesting that he would be in “pretty good” shape despite a knock to his ankle sustained last week. Kieran Tripper and Callum Wilson remain out.

Jarrad Branthwaite

A popular choice last season, the towering defender hasn’t yet played thanks to injury but is now ready to return, with Sean Dyche confirming that he would be part of the squad this weekend having trained all week without issue. Whether he starts or not remains to be seen, but with Everton’s defence seemingly back to its rugged best, he may be a useful asset going forward.