Schär, Son, Aina and more: Latest FPL injury news for Gameweek 34

It’s time to make our transfers ahead of another big weekend of Fantasy Premier League football – and as always, we’re here with the latest injury news, with updates on players such as Ola Aina, Son Heung-Min, José Sá and Fabian Schär.

With four teams – Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Manchester City – not involved in Gameweek 34 due to the FA Cup semi-finals, a lot of FPL players will be using their free hit or other chips this week, and hopefully the latest fitness updates will help you to avoid dropping any clangers at a crucial stage of the season.

And if you need any more specific guidance this week, our resident FPL expert’s latest advice column has a free hit team template and advice on which players to captain this time around – you can find his hints and tips by clicking here.

Fabian Schär

Rumours that the Swiss centre-back – likely to be a popular choice with Gameweek 34’s blanks – could be out with a hamstring injury seem to be unfounded. Eddie Howe, himself back in action after a nasty bout of pneumonia, said that “we hope [Schär] will be OK” ahead of the match against Ipswich.

A little light on details, it seems, but Howe isn’t normally given to telling porkies about the fitness of his players and we suspect the centre-back will be available.

Son Heung-Min

Between Spurs’ form and Son’s recent injury, we doubt that many players will have the South Korean in their team still, but if you were debating slinging him in for a free hit – don’t. Doomed manager Ange Postecoglou told reporters that while Son is close to returning from a foot injury, he won’t play against Liverpool this weekend. He could be back in time for Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first leg, but that’s no use in the FPL.

Ola Aina

Aina has the ever-confounding ‘orange flag’ next to his name on the FPL app, but it’s not likely that he’ll feature on Thursday, when Nottingham Forest face Brentford for the final match of Gameweek 34. He revealed on a podcast that he has a grade two calf tear and while he expects to be back before the end of the season, we’re probably waiting for another couple of weeks. Free hit into different Forest defenders...

Rodrigo Muniz

Not too many players have Muniz in their line-ups, but the fact that Marco Silva is “almost sure” that the striker will miss out this weekend is still relevant – because Raúl Jiménez now becomes a great differential option for free hit players, given that he’s pretty much nailed on for the start. Our expert still recommends a free hit front three of Mathues Cunha, Chris Wood and Alexander Isak in a vacuum, but if you need to find a point of difference this becomes a tempting option.

Emile Smith Rowe

Another Fulham injury issue here - a back injury had rendered former Arsenal midfielder (and current budget FPL option) Smith Rowe a doubt for this week’s game against Southampton, but according to Marco Silva, the player has been in team training all week and while a decision on his involvement will be taken after training today, it sounds pretty likely that he’ll play some part. Alex Iwobi might be a safer bet for your free hit, mind you.

José Sá & Hwang Hee-Chan

Wolves goalkeeper Sá hasn’t been a major consideration in the FPL this season, but Wolves’ recent record and a fixture at home to Leicester makes him an appealing free hit option – and there’s no need to worry about his yellow flag, with Vitor Pereira announcing that he was “working with the team and in a condition to help.”

Likewise, it sounds as though Hwang Hee-Chan, another free hit option, is going to play despite a muscular injury, although it’s not clear that he’ll get a full 90 minutes. Sá, Cunha and Aït-Nouri are probably the top three Wolves options as it stands.