Skonto Rigga
There’s plenty of team news to come on Thursday as seven Premier League managers face the media ahead of Gameweek 2.
Mikel Arteta, Andoni Iraola and Enzo Maresca are among those taking questions from reporters, and we’ll bring you the key quotes and injury updates in the article below.
These head coaches follow on from Pierre Sage’s presser on Wednesday.
KEY GAMEWEEK 2 TEAM NEWS FROM THURSDAY
- Arsenal: Konsa should be ready, Bruno G could yet be involved
- Manchester City: Doku out, Nunes “not 100%”, Anderson fit, Bouaddi available
- Liverpool: Chiesa out, Iraola coy on Barcola + Gakpo
- Newcastle United: Gonzalez “an option”, Osula still out, Toure should be fine
- Bournemouth: Christie back from a ban, no fresh injury concerns, Rose on Scott
- Coventry City: Wright the only absentee, Lampard on selection headaches
- Hull City: £4.0m defenders set to be fit
THURSDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE TIMES
🚨 Thursday's FPL Press Conferences!
🔵 10.30am – Maresca
🐯 1pm – Jakirovic
⭕️ 1.30pm – Arteta
🍒 1.30pm – Rose
🔴 1.30pm – Iraola
🩵 2.30pm – Lampard
⚫️ 6.30pm – Jaissle pic.twitter.com/AHdEQhcxLD— Fantasy Football Scout (@FFScout) August 27, 2026
ARSENAL
Mikel Arteta says that new signing Ezri Konsa is training well and ready to be involved.
“Yeah, he’s available. He’s been training really well and I think he will be available for selection.” – Mikel Arteta on Ezri Konsa
“The way I seen Ezri since day one, knowing his personality really well that I know, with all the feedback that I got from all the people that has worked with him, there’s nothing that concerns me there.” – Mikel Arteta on whether the prospect of Enzi Konsa facing his old club on his Arsenal debut would concern him
Bruno Guimaraes (groin) could “potentially” be available for Monday’s clash with Aston Villa but is having his load managed in training. He wasn’t seen by the watching press on Thursday.
“Yes, he’s potentially available.
“We just managed the last few days with him. He’s out on the pitch. He’s been doing training sessions but we need to manage the load to get to Monday in the best possible condition to be able to get selected.” – Mikel Arteta on Bruno Guimaraes
Jurrien Timber (groin) and William Saliba (back) remain out.
“Jurrien is progressing really well. Let’s see how he ends up this week. It’s the third week in a row that he’s been outside and we have increased his load. So, he’s on the right trajectory. If everything goes well, I think next week we’re going to step it up again.
“Wilo, obviously not much, he’s in conservative load management right now, so that’s going to take a while.” – Mikel Arteta
Gabriel Jesus wasn’t involved in training on Thursday, while Gabriel Martinelli exited before the end of the session. Both Brazilians are seemingly heading out of the club.
Arteta predictably wouldn’t be drawn on rumours linking the Gunners with Julian Alvarez, meanwhile.
Arsenal have, on paper, one fewer left-winger than they did in 2025/26, with Martinelli set to follow Leandro Trossard out of the door and only Christos Tzolis arriving. Arteta was thus asked if we’ll see Eberechi Eze a bit more in wide areas this season.
“The great thing that we have in the team is that a lot of players have a huge versatility to play and occupy different spaces. Ebz is one of them. He’s playing as a left winger, as a left attacking midfielder, right midfielder, and he can deliver their role in a great way in those positions.” – Mikel Arteta on Eberechi Eze
MANCHESTER CITY
Ayyoub Bouaddi is available for selection for Manchester City’s trip to Crystal Palace on Friday evening.
The Moroccan international only signed from Lille on Wednesday but Enzo Maresca says he is fit enough to feature.
“Yeah, he is ready. He was working with his former club, so he is fit. We will see how long it is in terms of that adaptation but for sure he is ready to go.
“He doesn’t look 18. He looks older, which is important, but in this case we need to go slowly because he is very young, came from a different country, needs adaptation. No rush for him. For sure, he is going to help us now and in the future.
“It is my job, also from the club, to try to manage him in the best way. Don’t put pressure on him, we know that he is young and he needs time.” – Enzo Maresca on Ayyoub Bouaddi
On the team news front, Jeremy Doku (calf) remains out.
Matheus Nunes is also not quite fully fit. The right-back pulled out of the Manchester City squad ahead of kick-off in the Community Shield before making a swift return as a second-half substitute against Bournemouth, but Maresca suggested he’s still struggling.
“No [new injury concerns]. Jeremy is out. Matheus, we will see. He is still not 100%.” – Enzo Maresca
Elliot Anderson, however, is fine.
“Yeah, Elliot is fully fit. The last week was just for cramp.” – Enzo Maresca on Elliot Anderson
Away from injuries, Maresca was asked about Rayan Cherki after his impact off the bench in Gameweek 1. He was then grilled about the chances of us seeing Marc Guehi in midfield again.
“Rayan, yeah, he made an impact the other day. For sure, he is one of the players, in terms of quality, who is a different player compared to the rest because he can give us… in some moments, when we struggle, especially in the last third, he can give us the quality that we need. It depends a lot also on the game plan, how the opponent plays, if they play in one way or the other way, but no doubt that again, he is going to help now and in the future. Even Rayan is still very young.” – Enzo Maresca on Rayan Cherki
“We’ll see. It’s an option. We’ll see. For sure, the good thing about Marc is that, in this moment, it gives us one more option in the middle in case we need [it]. For tomorrow, we’ll see. We have a session now in a few hours and then we’ll decide on the first 11 for tomorrow.” – Enzo Maresca on the prospect of starting Marc Guehi in midfield again
The new City boss also confirmed that Omar Marmoush is on his way out of the club.
“Omar is set to leave. It’s not done yet; we are waiting for that. But Nico Gonzalez left, Savio left, and probably Omar is going to leave.” – Enzo Maresca
LIVERPOOL
Hugo Ekitike (Achilles), Conor Bradley (knee), Giovanni Leoni (knee) and Joe Gomez (muscle) remain out for the Reds.
Andoni Iraola meanwhile revealed why Federico Chiesa wasn’t in the matchday squad in Gameweek 1.
“Fede is not available. In the [pre-season] game against Como, he felt something at the back and it’s a small muscle injury. He is not available.” – Andoni Iraola on Federico Chiesaa
Jeremy Jacquet is fine after his substitution last weekend. That was merely down to fatigue.
“I think overall he played very well, considering it’s his first game [and] also basically 45 minutes of pre-season. It’s true that he finished tired; we had to sub him because I was feeling the last five minutes on the pitch he was tired. You can feel [it], especially with centre-backs. He’s been very confident on the ball, good without the ball, and he’s very young, a new signing. For sure, he will make some mistakes, we will have to accept this, but he’s performing for me and training very well.” – Andoni Iraola on Jeremy Jacquet
Away from injury news, Iraola was tight-lipped on the seemingly imminent arrival of Bradley Barcola and the possible exit of Cody Gakpo.
“As you know, we are trying to sign in that position and also, as you know, we cannot talk about players that right now are not ours. But it’s evident that we are trying to improve or try to fill that position because we don’t have the numbers. I hope we can have good news soon but we are still not there.” – Andoni Iraola, when asked about Bradley Barcola
“I can say what I said last week, and even after the performance he had in the first game, I say the same again: he’s playing very well for us. He’s been very good since he came back from the World Cup, after the holidays. Very good attitude. I hope we can keep him at that level because I think he’s been very influential in our games.
“When the market is open – we have almost 30 players – you cannot guarantee anything with anyone. You never know who is going to arrive.
“I don’t know what is going to happen with any of our players. I cannot guarantee anything.” – Andoni Iraola on Cody Gakpo
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Big-money midfield signing Nico Gonzalez could be set for his Newcastle United debut this weekend.
“He trained with us and he looks sharp.
“He is an option.
“It will take time [to learn Jaissle’s methods], and I cannot tell you how long it takes, but he’s a smart player. He has huge potential and already brings so much quality to the squad. So, I think he will adapt fast into our system, into our way of playing, and then we can enjoy.” – Matthias Jaissle on Nico Gonzalez
On the injury front, Joelinton (unspecified), Dan Burn (ankle) and Will Osula (foot) remain out.
“He’s getting now permanently the best treatment. We have a fantastic medical department but it’s still too early to make a clear prognosis, a clear timeframe when he’s back. But he’s working hard in the rehab like all the others, Joe[linton] and Dan Burn as well.
“Hopefully, they’re all back as soon as possible.” – Matthias Jaissle on Will Osula
Bazoumana Toure came off at half-time in Wednesday’s EFL Cup win but should be fine.
“He was feeling a bit of pain, one of the first actions, but should be fine for the weekend. Of course, we didn’t want to take any risks, but he should be fine.” – Matthias Jaissle on Bazoumana Toure
Tino Livramento (calf) is back in training but it sounds like Gameweek 2 comes too soon for him.
“Step by step. First of all, we’re happy that he’s back in training, now also fully integrated. He still follows some individual program but yeah, sooner rather than later, he’s fully back in training and then we can also talk about… when he will be able to be in a matchday squad, getting the first minutes.
“But again, step by step. He was now long out and we want to take our time, learn out of the past also, giving him rather one week longer than shorter to have him then on a consistent base back.” – Matthias Jaissle on Tino Livramento
BOURNEMOUTH
Amine Adli (calf), Eli Kroupi (foot), Veljko Milosavljevic (knee) and Julian Araujo (thigh) are on the medium-term injury list but Marco Rose has no fresh concerns for the visit of Everton.
Ryan Christie returns from suspension and injury.
“Ryan Christie is back from the suspension and from his injury. The other players already were in the squad. No new injuries, so just the long-term guys – Amine, Junior and Veljko.” – Marco Rose
There was fighting talk from Rose when it came to Adam Scott, who has been heavily linked with a move away this summer.
“I’m not just confident, I’m sure. Not just *quite* sure, I’m sure.
“Is there [such a thing as] 120% [sure]? I’m sure.” – Marco Rose on whether he’s confident that Adam Scott will stay
The Cherries have brought in goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio this week but it sounds like Djorde Petrovic may still have the gloves for now.
“It’s about competition. We were very happy with Will [Dennis], a really good lad. We had talks with him about his future. He’s now 26 and I think it’s an important phase in his career: to stay a number two for the next five, six, seven years, or going for number one in another club, and that’s what he’s looking for. And that’s why we said, ‘Okay, now we need another number two’.
“Even Petro said to me, ‘Coach, I love the competition’. It’s just a win-win situation for, it seems, everyone.” – Marco Rose on bringing in Michele Di Gregorio
COVENTRY CITY
Haji Wright (thigh) is the only absentee for the visit of Hull City this weekend.
“No, that’s where we’re at.” – Frank Lampard, when asked if there was anything else on the team news front
Frank Lampard has a welcome selection headache in some positions, then, particularly after a much-changed Sky Blues side won in the EFL Cup in midweek.
“Yeah, I think some have given me pause for thought in different directions because, you know, I go again with what I said. It was a good chance for me to look at individuals for fitness in this early stage of the season, for connections between the team, because when you bring in new players, it obviously brings in different connections and we were very pretty consistent in selection etc last year. Now, it looks different and the competitive nature of the squad is higher and it has to be higher. So, it’s good to see individuals go and show me what you can do – and certain players did that.” – Frank Lampard on the midweek cup win
Lampard also now has an additional option at centre-half in the form of Ethan Pinnock.
“He comes in, he’s a centre-back who can play clearly in a back four, back three, whatever, with lots of experience of doing that. So, he just adds to to strength in the squad.
“Yeah, he’s ready [to play].” – Frank Lampard on Ethan Pinnock
HULL CITY
There’s a big boost for Hull as the four £4.0m defenders who came off on Saturday look to be okay.
Nobel Mendy, Semi Ajayi and Ryan Giles all merely had cramp, while Lewie Coyle has ongoing ankle niggles rather than a fresh injury.
“We are fine. All these players have a training session today. They are all completely fine, so we are ready for Saturday.” – Sergej Jakirovic
Jack Butland (shoulder), Elliot Matazo (knee), Charlie Hughes (groin), Darko Gyabi (thigh), Joe Gelhardt (ankle), Oscar Zambrano (hamstring) and Matty Jacob (hip) remain out.
Hull look set to welcome winger Mohamed-Ali Cho and forward Ilyas Ansah to the club in the coming days.
“We agreed everything with Ali Cho. So, I think he will be announced today. With Ansah, he will go on medical check. So, after a medical check, I am expecting that tomorrow it will be finished.” – Sergej Jakirovic
