To sell or not to sell, that is the question for Fantasy Premier League managers after Erling Haaland was replaced at half-time in midweek.
All eyes are on Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola for a heads up on Friday afternoon in his press conference ahead of the Saturday lunchtime match against Leicester.
Second-guessing Guardiola’s line-ups are tricky at the best of times, and he may gave little away on Friday, but the fact Haaland came off for three reasons against Borussia Dortmund suggests the striker may not feature at Leicester.
“Three things,” Guardiola said on Wednesday. “I saw him so tired. Second one, he had a little bit of influenza in his body.
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The triple blow of fatigue, flu and a knock to the foot means some FPL managers may have swapped Haaland out already, with Harry Kane the obvious candidate to replace him, but with the deadline 11am on Saturday this decision need not be rushed.
Beyond Haaland, there are also some other injury concerns throughout the Premier League, so here’s what we know ahead of Gameweek 14.
Will Cancelo play against Leicester?
Haaland was not the only City player substituted at half-time of the 0-0 draw with Borussia Dortmund, as Joao Cancelo was also forced off.
The City defender is a staple in the majority of FPL defences – he’s in 55.7 per cent of teams at the time of writing – and is currently joint-eighth for points this season on 65, with Kieran Trippier (66 points) the only defender outscoring Cancelo as it stands.
Guardiola said Cancelo has suffered with a fever since last weekend, but providing it has cleared then the full-back is likely to play some part against Leicester.
Haaland and Cancelo are City’s only concerns beyond long-term absences Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker, who look set to miss the World Cup.
Bowen injury ‘not too bad’
Jarrod Bowen sat out of West Ham’s Europa Conference League win over Silkeborg on Thursday night, with David Moyes confirming the 25-year-old has an ankle injury.
West Ham travel to Manchester United on Sunday, and Moyes suggested Bowen will be a late fitness call ahead of the match at Old Trafford.
“I will asses it tomorrow [Friday], see how he is,” said Moyes. “I don’t know yet, I don’t think it’s too bad.”
FPL injury round-up
Leaders Arsenal host Nottingham Forest on Sunday, and Oleksandr Zinchenko is rated 50-50 to feature at the Emirates.
The versatile Ukrainian is having problems with a recurring calf injury, but last week Mikel Arteta suggested Zinchenko – still in 8.3 per cent of FPL teams – is “close” to a return.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s Kalidou Koulibaly missed the midweek win over RB Salzburg and is therefore a doubt to face Brighton on Saturday.
The defender was not in team training on Thursday, and so Graham Potter could be tempted to resume with Marc Cucurella, Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah on Saturday in a formation which saw Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic play as wing backs.
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Arsenal star Pablo Mari in hospital with stab wounds after knife attack in Milan27 October, 2022Elsewhere, beyond table-topping Haaland as far as FPL points are concerned, the next name down the list with the dreaded yellow triangle and exclamation mark is Leeds’ Rodrigo, rated with a 75 per cent chance of playing against Liverpool on Saturday.
Rodrigo is one of five concerns for Jesse Marsch, with Rodrigo, Luis Sinisterra, Tyler Adams, Joe Gelhardt and Liam Cooper all facing late fitness tests ahead of the match at Anfield.
“We’ll see how the next 48 hours go for all of those players,” said Marsch.
Liverpool themselves could be without Thiago and Jordan Henderson, both doubts as it stands, although the pair are not exactly FPL favourites – sitting in less than one per cent of teams.
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