It is a tight turnaround between Premier League gameweeks 33 and 34, with fewer than 48 hours separating Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-2 draw against Manchester United on Thursday and West Ham United’s trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The games are coming thick and fast, with another set of midweek fixtures to come next week as a compelling season reaches its close.
Manchester City could go top of the table this weekend when they travel to Fulham, with league leaders Arsenal not in action until Tuesday when they host struggling Chelsea. The pick of the round arguably comes on Sunday, with Liverpool up against Tottenham in a battle for European football next season.
Here, The Athletic provides the latest injury news ahead of this weekend’s top-flight action.
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Arsenal
The north London side are now four matches without a win but are still top of the Premier League, albeit having played two games more than Manchester City.
Manager Mikel Arteta confirmed last week that key defender William Saliba is unlikely to be fit for the Chelsea game, but midfielder Granit Xhaka recovered from illness to start in Wednesday’s defeat by City at the Etihad.
Elsewhere for Arsenal, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny will not play again this season.
Matty Cash and Leon Bailey are close to returning from injury but will not be fit for the away game against Manchester United on Sunday.
Boubacar Kamara and Philippe Coutinho are “progressing well” but also not able to feature this weekend.
Jed Steer will also miss Villa’s trip to Old Trafford.
Ryan Fredericks is a long-term absentee for Bournemouth as they prepare to face Leeds United on Sunday.
There are doubts too about Hamad Traore and Junior Stanislas, both of whom are recovering from injury.
Following Thursday’s 1-0 win at Southampton, head coach Gary O’Neil said he hoped goalscorer Marcus Tavernier’s hamstring injury is “not too serious”. The former Middlesbrough man had to be withdrawn 77 minutes into that match.
Brentford captain Pontus Jansson has been ruled out for the season and is to join Swedish side Malmo when his contract expires in June.
Keane Lewis-Potter has been out for a while due to a knee injury, while Kristoffer Ajer racked up some minutes with Brentford’s B Team on Thursday as he recovers from a calf issue.
Thomas Strakosha has also been out with a calf injury and midfielder Christian Norgaard missed the 2-0 win at Chelsea on Wednesday due to an Achilles issue. Speaking on Friday, head coach Thomas Frank ruled both players out of contention for the visit of Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Brighton coach Roberto De Zerbi appeared confident that Evan Ferguson and Joel Veltman would be fit for Saturday’s visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers after they missed the midweek defeat by Nottingham Forest.
But speaking on Friday, De Zerbi seemed less sure of Ferguson’s potential involvement. The Italian said: “I think Joel Veltman can play, Evan Ferguson I don’t know at the moment.
“I don’t want to take risks with Evan. We have another seven games and he is a very young player.”
Midfielder Jakub Moder has definitely been ruled out of this season, with De Zerbi also admitting that it is “difficult” for full-back Tariq Lamptey to feature before the end of the campaign.
Jeremy Sarmiento is also likely to miss out this weekend but there is hope that Adam Lallana will be able to play again this season.
Chelsea
Chelsea have Armando Broja, Reece James and likely Mason Mount all on the treatment table until the end of the season.
Caretaker manager Frank Lampard said during the week that Marc Cucurella will miss several matches due to a quad injury, with Kalidou Koulibaly also out with a hamstring problem.
There is hope that Kai Havertz will be back to face Arsenal on Tuesday.
Nathan Ferguson has been ruled out of the season amid his continuing injury woe.
Interim manager Roy Hodgson said earlier this week that he was looking forward to welcoming back Wilfried Zaha and Nathaniel Clyne to team training, with the pair both missing matches in recent weeks.
Hodgson then confirmed on Friday that Zaha will return to the Palace squad this weekend.
Joachim Andersen will recover in time to face West Ham after he was forced off at half-time during Tuesday’s loss at Wolves.
Andros Townsend and Ruben Vinagre are long-term absentees for Everton, who face a crunch trip to Leicester on Monday.
Amadou Onana made his return during Thursday’s 4-1 home loss against Newcastle United, while Mason Holgate is now free to be selected having been suspended for that match.
Seamus Coleman, though, was not deemed fit enough for a place in Sean Dyche’s squad for the Newcastle defeat but is in line to return against Leicester.
Fulham
Aleksandar Mitrovic still has three matches left on his suspension, as Fulham look ahead to Sunday’s game against Manchester City.
Willian is an injury doubt for that match, after he sustained an injury during the warm-up ahead of Tuesday’s loss at Aston Villa.
Harry Wilson had to be substituted off 17 minutes into that match, with head coach Marco Silva attributing the Welshman’s problem to illness.
Marco Silva is up for his pre-Manchester City presser.
Says Harry Wilson should be fine to play on Sunday. Felt something in his stomach the night before the Villa game but has trained well this morning.
Willian more difficult to call but all others available, bar Mitro.#FFC
— Ahmed Shooble (@AhmedShooble) April 28, 2023
Layvin Kurzawa remains out with a knee injury.
Leeds United
Luis Sinisterra has been ruled out for the season after going off in the first half of their midweek draw against Leicester City with an ankle injury.
Max Wober is also a concern for head coach Javi Gracia after he missed that match with a hamstring problem. The Austrian had not yet returned to training before Gracia’s press conference on Friday lunchtime.
Stuart Dallas and Tyler Adams, meanwhile, are long-term absentees for Gracia.
Leicester City
Kelechi Iheanacho suffered an injury during the 1-1 draw against Leeds and has now ruled out for several weeks.
“Not going to rule him out for the season but it will be tough to get him back,” interim boss Dean Smith said on Friday.
On other squad members, Smith added: “Jonny Evans hopefully will train tomorrow. He had a viral infection and a calf injury. Ricardo (Pereira) is progressing nicely and we hope to have him back soon.”
Jannik Vestergaard will be out for the season, while James Justin and Ryan Bertrand are in recovery from longer-term issues.
Liverpool
Ibrahima Konate is set to return for Liverpool after he missed the win at West Ham to “recover,” according to manager Jurgen Klopp.
Roberto Firmino and Naby Keita, though, will miss out again ahead of Sunday’s game against Spurs. Klopp is hopeful that Diogo Jota recovers after complaining of discomfort in his back during the West Ham game.
Calvin Ramsay and Stefan Bajcetic will not feature again this season.
Manchester City
Nathan Ake missed Wednesday’s win over Arsenal with a thigh injury and remains a doubt for Sunday’s game against Fulham.
“We’re in good momentum, everyone is fit except Nathan, the feeling is good but we have to prove it again,” manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
Guardiola said after the Arsenal match that Kevin De Bruyne’s second-half withdrawal came after “he had some niggles in his legs, and asked me to make a substitution”.
Manchester United
Erik ten Hag’s defensive crisis has deepened after club captain Harry Maguire missed the 2-2 draw with Spurs on Thursday.
Lisandro Martinez is out for the season, but Ten Hag is hopeful that fellow centre-back Raphael Varane could be fit for the FA Cup final on Saturday, June 3.
Scott McTominay is a doubt for Sunday’s game against Aston Villa after his absence against Tottenham.
On Alejandro Garnacho, Ten Hag said: “He will return tomorrow (Friday) in team training, partially. Then we will have to see when he can return totally in the training, and back into games.”
Donny van de Beek is out for the season.
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Newcastle United
Eddie Howe has confirmed that Allan Saint-Maximin is likely to miss Newcastle’s next couple of matches.
Emil Krafth is not likely to feature again this season and Ryan Fraser is training with the under-21s after being banished from the first-team squad.
Nottingham Forest
Neco Williams is out for the season after undergoing surgery on a fractured jaw he sustained during the win against Brighton.
Head coach Steve Cooper added on Friday that Moussa Niakhate’s injury was “inconclusive,” but did not rule the defender out of their trip to Brentford. The same applies to striker Taiwo Awoniyi, who injured his shoulder against Brighton.
Dean Henderson remains out, with Cooper saying earlier this week that the goalkeeper is “no closer” to returning.
Omar Richards, Willy Boly, Scott McKenna, Gustavo Scarpa and Ryan Yates are also out injured, while Jack Colback is in concussion protocols.
Giulian Biancone and Chris Wood are out for the season.
Southampton
James Ward-Prowse is being assessed after lasting only 45 minutes during Southampton’s home loss against Bournemouth on Thursday. The England international suffered from illness and could not continue in the second half of that match.
Mohamed Salisu and Juan Larios are out and Tino Livramento is continuing his recovery from an ACL injury, but Armel Bella-Kotchap could return for the trip to Newcastle. Interim head coach Ruben Selles said of the German defender: “He will be ready for Sunday. He was not able to perform today (Thursday).”
Romain Perraud is a doubt for Sunday’s game after being withdrawn in the first half of the Bournemouth fixture.
Tottenham Hotspur
Hugo Lloris missed the draw against Manchester United and said after last Sunday’s defeat by Newcastle that his injury “does not look good”.
Interim head coach Ryan Mason then ruled Lloris out of Sunday’s trip to Liverpool on Friday afternoon, with Ryan Sessegnon, Emerson Royal and Yves Bissouma all likely to be missing too.
Mason said: “Hugo won’t be available Sunday. The other injuries we’re assessing day by day. The lads haven’t trained yet so we’re going to see how they’re feeling in training this afternoon and also tomorrow leading into the game.”
Rodrigo Bentancur is out for the season.
West Ham United
Gianluca Scamacca is West Ham’s only absentee, with the Italian striker undergoing knee surgery earlier this month. No timeframe has yet been placed on his recovery.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Sasa Kalajdzic and Chiquinho are long-term absentees for Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves.
Boubacar Traore may yet return for Saturday’s trip to Brighton.
Saturday, April 29
- Crystal Palace vs West Ham (12.30pm BST / 7.30am ET / 4.30am PT)
- Brentford vs Nottingham Forest (3pm / 10am / 7am)
- Brighton vs Wolves (3pm / 10am / 7am)
Sunday, April 30
- Bournemouth vs Leeds (2pm / 9am / 6am)
- Fulham vs Manchester City (2pm / 9am / 6am)
- Manchester United vs Aston Villa (2pm / 9am / 6am)
- Newcastle United vs Southampton (2pm / 9am / 6am)
- Liverpool vs Tottenham (4.30pm / 11.30am / 8.30am)
Monday, May 1
- Leicester vs Everton (8pm / 3pm / 12pm)
Tuesday, May 2
- Arsenal vs Chelsea (8pm / 3pm / 12pm)
Wednesday, May 3
- Liverpool vs Fulham (8pm / 3pm / 12pm)
- Manchester City vs West Ham (8pm / 3pm / 12pm)
Thursday, May 4
- Brighton vs Manchester United (8pm / 3pm / 12pm)
(Photo: Getty Images)