Ahead of the Gameweek 10 deadline on Friday at 18.30 (UK time), we assess the FPL news landscape after another round of Champions League fixtures.

Check out our Ultimate Guide to FPL Gameweek 10 for all the key information, stats and tips you need going into the weekend’s action.

Champions League

Chelsea

Next four fixtures: Spurs (H), Leeds (H), Everton (a), Wolves (a)

Timo Werner (£9.5m) missed a gilt-edged chance on Tuesday as Chelsea beat Rennes 2-1. A late Olivier Giroud (£6.7m) goal ensured the Blues’ passage to the knockout stage with two games to spare. On Werner, Frank Lampard said:

“The chance today, Timo wants to score that but the ball’s bobbling as it comes along, I know those finishes look a lot easier from afar. He’s feeling his team-mates and his team-mates are feeling him, hence he’s getting in positions to score in every game; so more goals will come, as a progression from that.”

Interestingly, the Chelsea manager’s comments regarding Giroud and Tammy Abraham (£7.2m) suggest that Werner may continue in left-forward position for the time being. Speaking to BT Sport, Lampard explained:

“I have a problem because Tammy is playing well and Olivier in the restart was incredible. I have two players fighting for the position but it’s a good problem.”

The Blues boss also reserved praise for Mason Mount (£6.8m) as Kai Havertz (£8.3m) made his return from a Covid-enforced absence.

“When we have two number eights, he’s got all the qualities; he can get more goals and assists. The pass for Callum Hudson-Odoi’s goal was top class. You saw Kai [Havertz] coming on too, we need to keep that competition.” – Lampard

Christian Pulisic (£8.2m) did not travel to France but Lampard stated that “hopefully he’s ready for selection from the weekend onwards”.

Pulisic is nearing match fitness

Manchester United

Next four fixtures: Southampton (a), West Ham (a), Man City (H), Sheffield Utd (a)

A penalty handed over by Bruno Fernandes (£10.8m) to Marcus Rashford (£9.6m) was the biggest talking point for Man Utd’s 4-1 victory at home to Istanbul Basaksehir.

Despite already having a brace to his name in the match, the Portuguese midfielder kept his word by giving Rashford the spot-kick opportunity. Fernandes explained:

“Of course every player wants a hat-trick. But after the [last] game, I told Rashford that he could take the next one and he’s one of the top scorers in the Champions League so it’s important for [Rashford] to get confidence. It doesn’t matter who takes the penalty as long as the team scores. When the team scores, I score too.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s comments will have done little to ease the worry for Fernandes owners, though one suspects that the Portugal man will continue to take the majority of United’s penalties.

“Marcus is a very good penalty taker and Bruno is very confident; if Bruno wants to give it to [Rashford] then why not? Anthony Martial took one against Leipzig too; why not share it around?” – Solskjaer

A start for Edinson Cavani (£8.0m) saw Anthony Martial (£8.7m) take up a left-sided attacking role, with Rashford moved over to the right of Solskjaer’s 4-2-3-1 formation. The Man Utd manager explained:

“The two are getting used to how we want them to play. Donny [van de Beek] can play in different positions and Edinson is an old-fashioned No 9; we haven’t had that for a while and I was happy with how Anthony played off the left.”

On the injury front, both Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.4m) and Victor Lindelof (£4.9m) are doubts for Gameweek 10. The latter’s back problem was described as “not great” by Solskjaer ahead of the 1-0 win against West Brom in Gameweek 9. Lindelof played 90 minutes in that tie before being substituted at half time on Tuesday.

“Hopefully they’ll be ready for the weekend. It’s ankle for Aaron and back for Victor. There was no point taking any more risks.” – OGS

United are three points ahead of Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig with two games remaining in Group H.

Fernandes gave Rashford the penalty midweek; owners will be hoping he takes them back for Gameweek 10!

Manchester City

Next four fixtures: Burnley (H), Fulham (H), Man Utd (a), West Brom (H)

The Citizens are through to the next round of the Champions League after a 1-0 win away to Olympiakos. Neither Kevin de Bruyne (£11.6m) nor Kyle Walker (£6.1m) made the trip to Greece. Pep Guardiola explained:

“They are fatigued, many games, mental fatigue. They were a little bit tired. We couldn’t do it [the resting] with all the problems [at the start of season]. Now we have players back, it was good for them to have a week off.”

De Bruyne himself did flag the need for rotation after City’s 2-0 defeat at Spurs in Gameweek 9:

“We always try to play our football, control the game, score goals. I hope we can recover some of the players out soon and we can afford to rotate a little bit, which is necessary at the moment with so many games on.”

With Guardiola’s team set for a glorious run of fixtures, FPL bosses will be encouraged by his assessment of City’s performance in Europe on Wednesday. The Spaniard said:

“We played really, really well in all departments. We are in the next round and can focus on other competitions. We’d love to score more but it will come and one day we will break everything.”

Before kick-off in that clash, Guardiola delivered updates on premium assets Raheem Sterling (£11.5m) and Sergio Aguero (£10.3m). The England forward played 76 minutes on Wednesday, while the Argentina striker logged 15 minutes as he continues to build up match fitness.

“He’s ready to go. That’s why he plays.” – Guardiola on Sterling

“Not [ready] for 90 minutes. He comes from the injury, one step at a time. It depends [if he will come off the bench]. Always before I have some idea.” – Guardiola on Aguero

Sterling lined out on the right of Guardiola’s 4-3-3 system this week, with Phil Foden (£6.5m) on the opposite side of Gabriel Jesus (£9.3m). It was the two widemen who combined for City’s sole strike, as Foden’s goal sent them through to the knockout round.

“We put our wingers closer to the striker. All of them, Bernardo [Silva], Phil [Foden], Raz [Sterling] were so aggressive. [Benjamin] Mendy and Joao [Cancelo] were outstanding too. In general the performance was of a top, top level.” – Guardiola

Can Foden get a start against Burnley in Gameweek 10?

Liverpool

Next four fixtures: Brighton (a), Wolves (H), Fulham (a), Spurs (H)

Mohamed Salah (£12.2m) made his return from a Covid-19 enforced absence on Wednesday, playing 61 minutes as Liverpool lost 2-0 at home to Atalanta. That result leaves the Reds just two points ahead of the Italian side and Ajax in Group D. Before the match, Jurgen Klopp said of Salah:

“He trained with us now a couple of times and looked good. Now we see how long he can play.”

The Liverpool manager continued his war of words with Premier League broadcasters following the defeat, while reporting no new injury issues ahead of a trip to Brighton for Saturday’s early kick-off.

“We had moments but not real chances. You ask us to go Saturday at 12:30, which is nearly a crime. That is nothing to do with the result but congratulations to you. Thumbs up, no injuries and we go again.” – Klopp

On his team’s performance against Atalanta, Klopp added:

“Making the five changes [to the starting line-up] means we had no real rhythm, which usually we can get during the game. If you don’t have a shot on target, that’s never a good sign.”

Salah played a big part in the Liverpool’s midweek Champions League game

Europa League

Arsenal

Next four fixtures: Wolves (H), Spurs (a), Burnley (H), Southampton (H)

The Gunners play away to Molde on Thursday evening. Bukayo Saka (£5.2m) did not travel to Norway and is a doubt for Wolves’ visit at the weekend. Mikel Arteta explained:

“It’s very doubtful [that he’ll be back for the weekend]. We have a few players in contention. He’s been in a lot of pain for the last few days so I cannot say today that he’s going to be fit. We’ll have to assess what happens the day before the game against Wolves. But we have other players fit and whether he’s fit or not, we’ll try to find the right solutions for our attacking players to prepare for the game against Wolves.”

Asked if Arsenal are too reliant on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.6m) for goals, Arteta responded:

“When you have a player like him, you have to rely on him. It’s not something that has happened this year, it’s something that has happened in previous seasons. That we have relied too much on him in recent years to score the goals, we need other people to step in and to take more responsibility. We need goals from midfield, and defenders [to score] from set-pieces to contribute. All players go through these periods, I know Auba will be back and scoring goals again very soon.”

Leicester City

Next four fixtures: Fulham (H), Sheffield Utd (a), Brighton (H), Everton (H)

Brendan Rodgers delivered a lengthy injury update ahead of the Foxes’ clash away to Sporting Braga. As with Arsenal, Leicester can qualify for the next round of the Europa League with a win on Thursday.

James Justin (£4.8m) looks set to continue at wing-back for Leicester in the short term, at least, as Ricardo Pereira (£5.9m) builds up match fitness. On the Portuguese defender, Rodgers said:

“Hopefully [he’ll be back] very soon. He played his first competitive football for the second team on Monday, which was really, really good. So over these next two to three weeks he can build up his match fitness and then hopefully very soon play in the first team.

“But we’re so happy that he’s come back very strong, it will be great to have him coming back into the team and we’re very excited for that. The intensity of the Premier League is at a very high level, so we just have to ensure that his football fitness is going to be enough to allow him to play the games.”

Another attacking defender in Timothy Castagne (£5.7m) did not travel to Portugal, as is the case with Wilfred Ndidi (£4.8m) and Caglar Soyuncu (£5.3m). Rodgers added:

“Timothy hasn’t travelled so we’re just monitoring him over the course of this week and we’ll see where he’s at for the game next Monday (versus Fulham). Wilf is progressing really, really well so we’ll see the possibility of him when we play in the Ukraine, so that’ll be great news.

“And then Cags as well, a little bit further down the line with him, but we’ll see where he’s at in the next few weeks. So they are progressing really well, but none of them are here to play. With the players we’ve got coming back, the squad is competitive and that’s what you need.”

Tottenham Hotspur

Next four fixtures: Chelsea (a), Arsenal (H), Crystal Palace (a), Liverpool (a)

Another recent coronavirus absentee, Matt Doherty (£5.8m), is now available for Spurs. Jose Mourinho’s men have work to do in Europa League Group H, as one of three teams currently on six points. On the Ireland right-back, the Spurs boss said:

“He’s back. By the legal and clinical point of view, he’s ready. Is he ready to start a match? We don’t know. I still have some work to do with him to understand that but to participate in the game, playing or being on the bench, it’s good.”

Ahead of Ludogorets’s visit to London, Mourinho also revealed that Toby Alderweireld (£5.4m) faces a short spell on the sidelines:

“He has a muscular injury but not as big as we initially thought. He will have time to be out but not like a month which is what we immediately thought. So I would say between two and four weeks. But of course he is not playing tomorrow.”

The Portuguese manager was not giving away his team for Thursday night but will rotate ahead of the London derby at Chelsea in Gameweek 10. Mourinho explained:

“I will not play the same team I played against Manchester City. Of course I’m not going to. There are different reasons for that. Of course the accumulation of matches is a problem. The Toby injury has a relation with an accumulation of minutes.

“It’s also about players that work a lot. They’re not starting matches and they deserve to start. Ben Davies has to start. He didn’t play Sunday, he plays tomorrow.”

Spurs will likely rotate in the Europa League ahead of their key Gameweek 10 clash with Chelsea

Conclusion

All of the above-mentioned managers will have another press offering before the Gameweek 10 deadline on Friday [18:30 UK time]. Arteta, Rodgers and Mourinho could blend their pre-Gameweek 10 news conferences into their post-Europa League duties while the rest will speak on Friday. Embargoed quotes will unfortunately not be available before FPL bosses lock their teams in but if you want to follow those, get yourself here on Friday at 22:30 UK time.

Check out our Ultimate Guide to FPL Gameweek 10 for all the key information, stats and tips you need going into the weekend’s action.

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The key Champions League news, quotes and injury updates ahead of FPL Gameweek 10

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