Castagne is set to be out for the final 2 games of the season after he had surgery. Tete will start at RB, as he was likely to anyway.
Harry Wilson looked rusty and failed to make an impact in the loss to Villa last weekend. Smith-Rowe replaces him in the no 10 role while Pereira will likely play deeper alongside Berge due to Lukic being out injured.
While Sessegnon failed to make the kind of impact against Villa that he had been in previous games, he’s been in such good form it is hard to see Silva dropping him in favour of Adama or Willian.
Moyes, speaking on Doucoure, revealed “He’s available this week, he had a personal issue.” Safe to assume Doucoure will return to the starting XI in the 10 role he has played all season.
McNeil immediately made more of an impact in his first start since returning from injury than Harrison had made in months. He’ll retain his spot in the starting lineup at RW.
With Doucoure back, one of Alcaraz or Ndiaye will be dropped. I think Alcaraz will give way, with Ndiaye shifting to LW.
Moyes spoke on Calvert-Lewin stating “The truth is, my plan was not to play Dom last week”, which would indicate he is not quite match fit. Beto will start.
McKenna speaking on Tuanzebe said “Axel came through the week well and he’s had a good training week.” He will likely start at RB with O’Shea shifting central and Woolfenden dropping to the bench.
Taylor will likely start in midfield alongside Morsy given McKenna revealed “Still struggling a little bit with Kalvin [Phillips] and Jens Cajuste in terms of the ongoing issues they have…”
Clarke comes in for Chaplin, with Enciso shifting back into the 1o role he has typically played and Clarke playing LW.
Hirst has gotten the nod over Delap in some recent weeks, and then scored last weekend coming off the bench against Everton. While I’m leaning Delap to get the nod, given he is looking likely to depart and Hirst is in good form, that could go either way.
Players to watch:
Tuanzebe:
Taylor:
Hutchinson:
Cajuste:
Clarke:
Delap:
Hirst:
Flekken: 33/35
Kayode: 3/35
Collins: 35/35
Van Den Berg: 26/35
Lewis-Potter: 33/35
Norgaard: 31/35
Yarmoliuk: 12/35
Damsgaard: 31/35
Mbeumo: 35/35
Schade: 23/35
Wissa: 31/35
An unchanged lineup from Thomas Frank.
Kayode has started Brentford’s last 3 league games, and the young January signing looks to have ousted Ajer and taken the RB role that will surely be his for the foreseeable future.
Pep may have the FA Cup Final in mind with his team selection give it is next Saturday. However they do not have Champions League football next season locked up yet and will likely need to win 2 of their last 3 in order to do so.
Facing one of the worst teams in Premier League history, I think Pep will opt to go a little more attacking than he has in recent weeks when he’s played midfielders in wide roles and only really having 1 or 2 true forwards on the pitch.
Whether Haaland starts tomorrow or not is going to swing this Gameweek. Simple as. It’s hard not to see the big man scoring if he starts, however he has not played at all in nearly 2 months and played against Wolves in GW35.
Pep speaking on Haaland on Friday stated “He’s ready, he’s fit. If he’ll start, we’ll decide tomorrow.” I do believe Haaland will start on the bench, and get 30 minutes off the bench to gain match fitness and possibly try to find form quickly against a terrible defensive team ahead of the FA Cup Final next weekend.
Vitor Pereira will likely opt to go with the exact same lineup he did in GW35.
Speaking on Strand Larsen, Pereira said “[Jorgen Strand Larsen] has started to work with the group, we will see about Brighton”. He does not sound particularly confident that Strand Larsen will be 100% fit for Saturday and in all likelihood he starts on the bench.
Players to watch:
Bellegarde:
Strand-Larsen:
Games started:
Verbruggen: 33/35
Veltman: 19/35
Van Hecke: 30/35
Dunk: 23/35
Estupinan: 24/35
Baleba: 28/35
Hinshelwood: 21/35
O’Riley: 10/35
Minteh: 17/35
Mitoma: 28/35
Welbeck: 22/35
Veltman comes in to play RB. Wieffer drops to the bench.
Hurzeler revealed “Kaoru is back on the pitch. He trained with the team. He will be an option for tomorrow.” Given Brighton are still mathematically in contention for European football next season, and their poor form of late, I think Mitoma goes straight back in to the starting XI.
Players to watch:
Veltman:
Mitoma:
Bournemouth vs Aston Villa (Saturday 5:30pm kick-off):
Iraola could opt to go with Smith or Araujo or even Cook at RB. Bournemouth scored twice against Arsenal in GW35 after they brought off Araujo and put Scott on in his place. If Iraola did decide to play a midfielder at RB, Cook would likely be choice given he has many times this season.
Semenyo returns to the starting lineup in place of the injured Ouattara.
Players to watch:
Smith:
Tavernier:
Semenyo:
Araujo:
Games started:
Martinez: 34/35
Cash: 21/35
Konsa: 30/35
Pau: 21/35
Digne: 27/35
Kamara: 17/35
Onana: 17/35
Asensio: 6/35
Rogers: 33/35
McGinn: 25/34
Watkins: 28/35
Maatsen has started 4 of the last 5 league games but much of that could have been rotation when Villa were still in the FA Cup and Champions League. I think Emery may opt to go with Digne who is a more sound defensive LB option.
Tielemans is out for at least this game. There is a chance his brilliant season is over.
Onana is the likely candidate to come into midfield to play alongside Kamara, although Emery could opt to have McGinn play deeper instead.
Asensio’s blistering start to his Villa career has cooled down but he started last week and is the safest bet to start again. McGinn could also play in the 10 role which would likely mean Ramsey would play LW.
Howe could very well stick with the starting lineup he has favoured since Joelinton has been injured. However, Gordon is Newcastle’s most talented winger and with only 1 win in their last 3 games, and chasing Champions League football, this may be the time Howe chooses to reintegrate him to the starting lineup.
Gordon and Barnes either side of Isak could be fireworks and cause an inconsistent and average Chelsea defence serious problems.
An unchanged starting lineup from GW35 for Enzo Maresca after a huge win over Champions Liverpool last weekend. Whether Liverpool were mentally on the beach or not, Chelsea have won 5 games in a row in all competitions including 3 straight in the league and Maresca will ride with this starting XI in the midst of their chase for Champions League football next season.
United have nothing to play for in the league and Amorim essentially said as much in his Friday press conference. He said “I have to make a choice – what is the best for the club, not what is the best for me. I make a choice in this moment. I’m going to try to save all the players because it’s really important for us to win the [Europa League] final.”
Maguire and De Ligt are out with injury, meaning the back 3 will likely be Fredericson, Lindelof and Shaw with Yoro getting to rest. Maguire might be fit enough to make the bench but hard to see him starting.
Amass and Mazraoui likely play the wingback spots.
Amad and Mount likely play the 10 roles with Fernandes and Garnacho getting a rest.
Obi-Martin starts up-front as he did in GW35, with Hojlund prioritised for the Europa League Final.
Mavropanos comes in to replace Cresswell in the starting lineup. With the veteran leaving West Ham at the end of the season, it’s possible last weekends start was a farewell send off.
No other changes from Potter’s GW35 starting lineup.
Players to watch:
Mavropanos:
Fullkrug:
Nottingham Forest vs Leicester (Sunday 2:15pm kick-off):
Nuno spoke on Murilla revealing “He has been able to do part of the training sessions. But we still have to assess him tomorrow. He is doing part of the training session, not the full session. Hopefully, for Sunday.” It seems there is a decent chance Murillo is fit enough and with Forest faltering in their chase for Champions League football, and therefore desperate for a win, hard to see Brazilian not starting if the medical team clears him fit enough to make the squad.
Cannot see Forest shifting to a back 5 against Leicester at home. They need to hunt that first goal and then the gamestate shifts completely in their favour.
Hudson-Odoi is still out.
With Anderson shifting to play wide left, Nuno opted to go with Sangare in midfield alongside Dominguez in GW35. He will almost certainly do so again.
Buonanotte has cleared the concussion protocol and I think will immediately replace Ayew in the starting lineup to play in the 10 role. He’s just a far more dynamic player and Leicester have nothing to lose.
With the injuries Spurs have suffered, it is safe to say Ange is going to play it safe with the players he is going to start in the Europa League Final. With only 3 days in between games after playing in Norway on Thursday, I think Ange will opt to go with the same starting lineup as he went with in GW35.
Maddison and Bergvall are out for the season potentially.
Son was not fit enough to make the squad Thursday night, and while Ange didn’t rule him out from doing so on Sunday, it’s unlikely he starts.
Wharton is out for GW36 at least. Glasner revealed “No, unfortunately he’s [Wharton] not available. If everything goes right he’ll be re-integrated in full training next week…”. Hughes will take his place in the starting lineup alongside Kamada.
Outside of that one forced change, Glasner sticks with his strongest XI.
Players to watch:
Hughes:
Wharton:
Liverpool vs Arsenal (Sunday 4:30pm kick-off):
Games started:
Alisson: 25/35
Bradley: 4/35
Konate: 26/35
Van Dijk: 35/35
Robertson: 27/35
Gravenberch: 34/35
Mac Allister: 30/35
Szoboszlai: 26/35
Salah: 35/35
Gakpo: 20/35
Diaz: 26/35
After giving the large majority of his usual starting lineup outside of Alisson, Salah, Van Dijk and Gakpo, a rest against Chelsea in GW35, I think Slot will go strong against their title rivals Arsenal at home. The fans will want to beat Arsenal and I imagine Slot and the team want to finish the season strong to send a message to anyone thinking about trying to dethrone them next season.
Bradley starts as Slot himself confirmed.
Robertson comes back in with Tsimikas making way.
The midfield 3 all return.
Jota could start but Gakpo and Diaz have had much better seasons than the Portugese striker.
After a disappointing exit from the Champions League in a loss to PSG on Wednesday, it is hard to know what Arteta will do with his starting lineup heading to Anfield. Arsenal have little left to play for but do need more points to make Champions League football next season a certainty.
White starts at RB as he has in the league lately but it could be Timber now they’re out of the CL.
The midfield 3 start.
Trossards starts up-front however it could be Merino who did score in the reverse fixture.
09 May, 2025
