Haaland, João Pedro, Isak and more: Latest FPL injury news for Gameweek 6 ahead of Liverpool v Man City

After the long, long international break, the Premier League is finally back – and with it, of course, a brand new deadline for Fantasy Premier League players to fret about. And thanks to a string of injuries over the past few weeks, there will be even more fretting than usual.

The list of key FPL assets who suffered some kind of knock, strain or serious injury is long and the list of players who withdrew from their national sides is even longer. Among the worries are Erling Haaland, João Pedro, Alexander Isak, Cole Palmer, Kai Havertz, Cody Gakpo… in fact, it would almost be easier to list the important players who aren’t out or doubts for Gameweek 6.

READ MORE: The FPL Stock Report - why you should buy Newcastle and sell Arsenal in Gameweek 6

With Saturday’s deadline fast approaching, we’ve collected all of the latest injury news concerning FPL-relevant players below. We’ll be updating this information as the Friday pre-match press conferences take place, but please be patient – we believe that this is the longest FPL injury report we’ve ever written. Brace yourselves…

Will Haaland start against Liverpool?

Erling Haaland: Let’s start at the top. Haaland, the single most expensive player in the entire game, asked to be substituted during Norway’s final Nations League game and clearly wasn’t fully fit by the time he came off. It appears as though the culprit was muscle fatigue rather than a full-blown injury, however, and Enzo Maresca has now confirmed that Haaland will be available for Manchester City’s first match since they were found guilty of breaking the Premier League’s spending rules.

João Pedro: The only player owned by more FPL managers than Haaland, João Pedro missed Chelsea’s last match before the break and withdrew from the Brazil squad due to a knee injury, and is still a doubt for this weekend’s game against Bournemouth. Xabi Alonso has previously said that the plan was for the striker to be ready to face the Cherries, but it’s not yet been confirmed that he’ll be fit enough. He doesn’t face a long spell on the sidelines either way, so there’s no need for a panic sale.

Cole Palmer & Reece James: Palmer, meanwhile, withdrew from England’s squad due to load management, much to the chagrin of Thomas Tuchel. All indications are that he didn’t suffer an injury and that he’ll be fit for the weekend. Reece James picked up a knock before the break, but should be back in time, while Moisés Caicedo and Marco Palestra are available.

Alexander Isak & Cody Gakpo: Isak picked up a thigh injury after playing – and scoring – for Sweden against Romania, while Gakpo left the Netherlands squad after being on the receiving end of a rough tackle against Serbia. Andoni Iraola has confirmed that both players will miss the game against Manchester City this weekend, although he also stated that neither of them will be out for the long haul. The issue are minor, not that their FPL owners will be all that cheered by the news.

Kai Havertz, Christos Tzolis, Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa and more: Arsenal return to action with a ton of yellow flags next to their players’ names, so we’ll get through these as quickly as possible – Tzolis is out for a couple of weeks, Havertz is a major doubt but is in far better shape than was initially reported after he was injured playing for Germany, Konsa suffered a dead leg and should be fine, and Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapié could return but don’t look all that likely to play. Rice, meanwhile, only withdrew from England duty to manage an ongoing hamstring issue, and is expected to start against Leeds.

Marcus Rashford, Benjamin Šeško, Patrick Dorgu and more: It’s a similar situation for Manchester United, who have 10 players at risk of missing out this weekend – of the more FPL-relevant players, Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo are likely fine to play, Dorgu is out for a period of time due to a hamstring injury, and Šeško will also be stuck on the sidelines for an unsepcified amount of time after suffering a recurrence of a shin injury before the break. A detailed rundown of the United team news can be found here.

Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven & Jan Paul van Hecke: Spurs suffered a few key defensive injuries over the break, too. Van de Ven should be OK after hurting his hand and although Van Hecke was a major doubt with a foot injury, Roberto De Zerbi indicated on Friday that he was fit to play. Porro is expected to miss out as he recovers from a hamstring problem. The Spaniard should be back in a week or two.

Aston Villa, Newcastle & Brighton players among Gameweek 6 injury doubts

Matty Cash, Pau Torres & Leon Goretzka: Cash picked up a knock on Poland duty but was spotted in training ahead of their game against Brentford, but Unai Emery told the press on Friday that he wasn’t going to make it for this weekend’s game against Brentford. Torres and Goretzka are among the players who could make their comebacks this week. Brian Madjo could be back too, if you’re chasing a cheap striker.

Anthony Elanga, William Osula & Tino Livramento: Matthias Jaissle gave a thoroughly unhelpful press conference on Thursday evening during which he said that “three or four” of his injured players would return, but didn’t specify which ones. The best guess based on recent updates is that William Osula, Amar Dedić, Anthony Elanga and Dan Burn will be available, while Livramento and Jacob Ramsey remain out. But we can’t be sure, unfortunately.

Nathan Collins: Brentford’s best defensive asset is on the comeback from a calf injury and stands a good chance of playing against Villa this weekend, but Keith Andrews wouldn’t confirm that he’d be involved. Mikkel Damsgaard is also likely to play after a knock, while Dango Ouattara should be fine after an illness.

Brian Brobbey & Dan Ballard: Sunderland will be without striker Brobbey and defender Ballard this weekend, but Brobbey’s injury isn’t as bad as first feared – he should be back before the end of the month. Ballard, sadly, is set for a lengthier lay-off.

Jack Hinshelwood, Kaoru Mitoma, Lewis Dunk, Mats Wieffer and more: Brighton are another team with a huge number of knocks and scrapes to fuss over this weekend. Fabian Hürzeler has confirmed that Dunk and Ayair are fine and that Hinshelwood is available, but not necessarily 100% despite training through the week. Wieffer and Mitoma remain out, along with longer-term injury victim Yankuba Minteh.

Dean Henderson & Jean-Phillippe Mateta: Reports suggested that both Crystal Palace players seemed to have come through recent injury issues and were expected to be available to play - but according to Pierre Sage, they remain out for the weekend. Apparently Ismaïla Sarr will return to the starting line-up, at least.

Harry Wilson & Joe Rodon: Leeds midfielder Wilson has trained this week but Daniel Farke told the press that he would be subject to late tests to determine whether he plays. A minor doubt as it stands. Rodon and Dan James remain unavailable for the Whites.

Milan van Ewijk: The budget defender is back in training and ready to go after a minor hamstring injury, according to Frank Lampard, so you can proceed with confidence if you have him in your team.

Nikola Milenković & Igor Jesus: We’ll wrap up this long, long FPL injury update with word of the Serbian defender, who returned to training after a hamstring injury this week. Initial local media reports suggested that he should play, but Oliver Glasner instead said on Friday that both he and Igor Jesus were set to miss out this weekend.