🤕 Gameweek 38 Injury Updates
Nobody wants to spend their Saturday morning refreshing a goalkeeper’s hamstring status. And yet here we are. Again.
Injuries don’t care about your rank. They don’t care that you spent a free transfer bringing someone in last week, or that they’re sitting in 60% of teams with the armband on them. They happen at 9pm on a Wednesday and ruin your Thursday.
Here’s what you need to know heading into this gameweek.
The ones actually worth worrying about
Alisson Becker (Liverpool, GK): Alisson picked up a muscle issue and missed GW37, but Slot confirmed he’d train on Friday — “Ali will train with us today, so that’s a positive.” Whether training on a Friday translates to starting on a Sunday is a different question entirely, and Liverpool managers will need to watch the predicted lineups closely before deadline. We wouldn’t gamble on him being fit, quite frankly. Caoimhín Kelleher is a perfectly capable deputy, but if you’ve got Alisson for the clean sheet security, the uncertainty is real. xG StatPremier League
David Raya (Arsenal, GK): Raya went down in apparent agony late in Arsenal’s win over Burnley, but confirmed after the match he had suffered “a dead back, a dead glute and a dead shoulder” and expected to be fine. Which is the kind of injury description you’d expect from a man who once played through a dislocated shoulder because the FDR was green. He should start, but with the title already won and a Champions League final on the horizon, there’s always a chance Arteta rests him. Watch for team news. Premier League
Joao Pedro (Chelsea, FWD): Pedro picked up a slight knock in the FA Cup final and had to come off, with McFarlane describing it as “nothing massively concerning” but a wait-and-see situation. The good news is he trained on Friday and McFarlane was “hopeful” he’d be fit for the trip to Sunderland. Still worth checking closer to deadline. Liam Delap came on as replacement and played poorly, which is arguably the most reassuring injury context you’ll get — a manager is much more likely to push a key player through fitness doubts when the backup is unconvincing. Fantasy Football Fix + 2
James Maddison (Spurs, MID): De Zerbi confirmed Maddison is available, but it will be a late call on how many minutes he gets, with the Italian weather and the length of his absence both factors in the decision. In other words: available in the squad, possibly 60 minutes, possibly nothing. If you need a full 90 from him, this week is not your week. xG Stat
Alexander Isak (Liverpool, FWD): Isak will train for the first time with the squad on Friday after his unspecified absence, with Slot calling it “a positive” but stopping well short of a guarantee. Liverpool managers sitting on him in their squad are holding their breath and hitting refresh. Understandable. Don’t make decisions until the lineups drop. xG Stat
The confirmed absentees
Hugo Ekitike (Achilles), Conor Bradley (knee), Stefan Bajcetic (hamstring), Jayden Danns (hamstring) and Giovanni Leoni (knee) all remain out for Liverpool. None of them were in most FPL teams, but worth knowing in case you had a leftfield defensive punt. xG Stat
Jurriën Timber and Mikel Merino are also long-term absentees and unlikely to feature in GW38. If you’re still holding either of them waiting for a miraculous return in the final week of the season — let them go. You’ve held on long enough. Premier League
The general rule on injury news
Press conferences happen on Thursdays and Fridays, and managers range from genuinely informative to spectacularly unhelpful. Pep Guardiola once spent an entire presser discussing the philosophy of rest without confirming a single name. Always monitor injury news and predicted lineups before the deadline, since late rotation news can quickly change the optimal squad setup. YouTube
Check Fantasy Football Scout’s injury page on the morning of deadline day. Then check it again an hour before. Then panic slightly. That’s the process.