Fantasy Premier League managers will be fretting over the condition of their top stars ahead of Saturday’s 11am Gameweek 4 deadline. Big-money midfielders Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka missed Chelsea and Arsenal’s matches before the international break, while the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool have picked up injuries while their players have been away.
Here, Express Sport will run the rule over the biggest injury doubts concerning your FPL team as you mull over your transfers for the week…
Alexander Isak
Alexander Isak is set to make his long-awaited Liverpool debut, with the club breaking the British transfer record to sign him from Newcastle in a £125million deal.
However, that maiden appearance may come off the bench, with Liverpool boss Arne Slot asking for caution following a disrupted pre-season for Isak.
“Don’t expect him every single game 90 minutes on the pitch, that’s definitely not going to happen in the upcoming weeks,” Slot explained.
“He missed a proper pre-season, I think he missed three or four months of team sessions, so now we have to build him up gradually with us playing so many games and [having] very little training time.
“So, that’s going to be a challenge but we’ve signed him not only for the upcoming two weeks, we’ve signed him, I think, for six years so this is what we have to keep in mind and what the fans have to keep in mind if they see that I take him off at a certain moment or I only bring him in for a small amount of minutes. That’s all for the long-term fitness of the player.”
William Saliba
William Saliba twisted his ankle in the warm-up before playing Liverpool and lasted just five minutes before he had to be replaced.
The centre-back then pulled out of the France squad and is reportedly set to miss up to four weeks of action, ruling him out of Forest on Saturday and six more matches.
Matheus Cunha
Matheus Cunha had to be replaced in the first half of United’s win over Burnley with a hamstring injury but he has allayed fears that the issue is serious, despite pulling out of the Brazil squad.
On Sunday, he posted a photo on social media from inside his home gym, hinting that he is back training in part, and may be able to get on the pitch for the first Manchester derby of the season.
But head coach Ruben Amorim ruled out that possibility, with Diogo Dalot and Mason Mount also sidelined.
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Omar Marmoush
One player who will miss the match, however, is Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush.
He was taken off in the ninth minute of Egypt’s World Cup qualifier with Burkina Faso with a knee injury and has been ruled out of the match on Sunday.
“He has to make the last tests, but a few weeks I think,” Pep Guardiola said. “Before or after the [next] international break he’ll be ready.”
Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri are also unavailable.