Gabriel - 85 %

What happened?

Gabriel limped off late in Arsenal’s midweek clash against Sporting, leaving FPL managers and fans alike biting their nails about his availability for the weekend. The early signs suggested it was just a bit of tightness, as he didn’t appear overly hindered on the pitch. However, he was eventually subbed off, raising questions.

Enter Arteta with his classic cryptic press conference routine. The boss revealed Gabriel hadn’t trained yet and added the ever-so-vague “we’ll wait and see.” Oh, Arteta, you master of suspense.

My Analysis:

The situation is as clear as mud. Was it just a precautionary sub? Or is there a genuine injury concern? Gabriel not training could point to an issue, but it might just be Arsenal’s tried-and-true load management strategy. They’ve done it before. Even if it was a minor strain, recovery times vary, and there’s still a chance he could feature.

The fixtures add another wrinkle to the debate. Arsenal face United at home midweek, and if there’s any uncertainty about Gabriel’s fitness, they might prioritize his recovery for that game. Although, let’s be honest—picking which match is more challenging between United and a West Ham away isn’t straightforward.

There’s one hopeful clue: Arteta’s use of the word “hopefully.” If we were to crunch the stats on Arteta’s “hopefully” success rate, I’d bet it correlates well with players actually making the squad. Fingers crossed Gabriel owners get the green light!

Prediction:

Gabriel will play.

Konate - 70 %

What happened?

Just before the final whistle, Konate went down following a duel with Endrick, sparking panic among FPL managers—especially the 15% who have him in their squads.

The footage isn’t exactly helpful, leaving plenty of questions. There are hints it might involve damage to his MCL, as physios were seen performing MCL-specific tests. However, others suggest that Endrick may have stepped on Konate’s knee while getting up.

Confusion is the name of the game here. This is one of the tougher injuries to analyze, but let’s break it down and see if we can make some sense of it anyway.

My analysis:

So we don’t know what exactly happened during the incident. Then we must look at other footage.

Footage of Konate leaving the pitch shows he’s in visible discomfort, but it doesn’t seem overly severe. His movement hints at a reduced range of motion in the knee, which could indicate a knock—or potentially something more concerning.

At one point, he pauses, touching the inside of his knee (where the MCL is), but also seems to check various other spots. Not exactly definitive, but it’s something to note

UPDATE!

Konate is now rumored to be out for 5-6 weeks, which probably confirms a ligament injury

My prediction:

Konate is out

Eze - 100 %

Eze has been out with a hamstring injury and it now set for his return. Watch out though, as a normal “return to 90 minutes” protocol wouldn’t let him play 90 minutes from the start.

I could see Eze get between 30 as a sub or 65 ish if he starts.

Other Injury news!

Vicario - Out with a fractured ancle and will be out for months.

J. Andersen - Will be out for a few games with a calf injury.

Romero - Not ruled out by Ange, but I don’t expect him to play.

Chelsea - Reece James of course is still out, but Gusto and Neto could return this GW.

Man. City - Gave nothing away on the press conference, but I don’t expect Kovacic to return.