07 Mar, 2025

Gameweek 28: Predicted Lineups

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This article will be updated in live time as and when injury and line-up news is announced

Green Light: Confident the player will start.

Amber Light: A toss up on whether the player will start.

Red Light: Confident the player will not start.

Nottingham Forest vs Man City (Saturday 12:30pm kick-off):

Games started:

Sels: 27/27

Aina: 27/27
Milenkovic: 26/27
Murillo: 26/27
Williams: 17/27

Anderson: 21/27
Dominguez: 14/27
Gibbs-White: 23/27

Elanga: 21/27
Hudson-Odoi: 20/27
Wood: 26/27

• Nuno elects to go with an unchanged starting XI from last weeks draw against Arsenal.
• Forest elected to go with a 4-2-3-1 in the reverse fixture against City earlier this season and did suffer a 3-0 loss. While Nuno may elect to go with a 5 at the back system in this game due to that, City being weak defensively and no longer the inevitable attacking force they once were makes a 4-2-3-1 a viable and desirable option to punish City’s flaws.

Players to watch:

Hudson-Odoi:

Games started:

Ederson: 17/27

Nunes: 11/27
Khusanov: 4/27
Dias: 14/27
Gvardiol: 25/27

Gonzalez: 3/27
Kovacic: 19/27
Foden: 16/27

Savinho: 16/27
Marmoush: 5/27
Haaland: 26/27

• An unchanged starting lineup from City’s 1-0 win over Spurs last Gameweek outside of Foden coming back in to replace Doku. Foden will play in the number 10 role while Marmoush moves back out to left-wing.
• There is a chance Doku, Marmoush and Savinho behind Haaland is now Pep’s preferred front 4, however I am still willing to bet Pep still wants to try to play Foden into some form and confidence.

Players to watch:

Foden:

Brighton vs Fulham (Saturday 3pm kick-off):

Games started:

Verbruggen: 25/27

Hinshelwood: 12/27
Van Hecke: 24/27
Webster: 6/27
Estupinan: 16/27

Baleba: 21/27
Gomez: 1/27
Rutter: 17/27

Minteh: 11/27
Mitoma: 24/27
Joao Pedro: 18/27

• Hurzeler sticks with the 4-2-3-1 system that has brought him success in recent weeks including the wins over Bournemouth and Newcastle in the last 2 weeks.
•  Hinshelwood has to move to right-back due to Veltman’s injury and Lamptey’s suspension.
• Diego Gomez comes into midfield – Hurzeler has seemingly began to favour him over Yasin Ayari in recent weeks.

Players to watch:

Gomez:

Joao Pedro:

Games started:

Leno: 27/27

Castagne: 12/27
Diop: 13/27
Andersen: 19/27
Bassey: 25/27
Robinson: 26/27

Berge: 16/27
Pereira: 17/27

Smith-Rowe: 20/27
Iwobi: 26/27
Jimenez: 21/27

• Fulham elect to go with a back 5, as they did in their win against Wolves in Gameweek 27. This is not only due to a positive result while using this sytem, but also due to the injuries to Nelson, Wilson and now Adama that have limited Silva’s attacking options.
• Pereira starts in midfield in the place of the injured Lukic.
• Smith-Rowe, Iwobi, Robinson and Jimenez all return to the starting lineup.

Players to watch:

Smith-Rowe:

Jimenez vs Muniz:

Crystal Palace vs Ipswich (Saturday 3pm kick-off):

Games started:

Henderson: 27/27

Munoz: 26/27
Richards: 14/27
Lacroix: 24/27
Guehi: 26/27
Mitchell: 27/27

Lerma: 17/27
Wharton: 9/27

Sarr: 20/27
Eze: 22/27
Nketiah: 6/26

• Only 2 forced changes to the starting XI that Glasner elected to go with in their 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa in Gameweek 27.
• Lerma comes in to midfield due to Hughes suspension.
• Nketiah replaces the injured Mateta up-front, as Glasner confirmed the French striker is doing well and avoided any serious head injury, but will not be fit to play this weekend.

Games started:

Palmer: 3/27

O’Shea: 24/27
Woolfenden: 8/27
Greaves: 17/27
Davis: 26/27

Cajuste: 22/27
Morsy: 17/27

Johnson: 9/27
Philogene: 5/27
Clarke: 7/27
Delap: 25/27

• O’Shea moves to right-back with Woolfenden coming into the starting XI to play centre-back, all due to Tuanzebe’s injury.
• McKenna elects to go with Johnson at right-wing for what he offers defensively against a Palace side in the best form of their season, coming off a 4-1 win.
• Philogene starts with Hutchinson and Enciso close calls to be fit but likely to only make the bench if they are.

Players to watch:

Philogene:

Johnson:

Woolfenden:

Liverpool vs Southampton (Saturday 3pm kick-0ff):

Games started:

Alisson: 20/28

Alexander-Arnold: 25/28
Konate: 21/28
Van Dijk: 28/28
Tsimikas: 6/28

Mac Allister: 25/28
Jones: 12/28
Elliott: 0/28

Salah: 28/28
Diaz: 21/28
Nunez: 7/28

• Slot hinted at a decent amount of rotation being likely for this game at home against the worst team in the league in Southampton.
• Specifically, Slot revealed “If there was three, four, five days in between the last game and this one I would have probably started the same 11 again… Since there is only two days in between and we had to fight really hard and it’s not the first game after being out for three or four weeks, it’s probably the 50th game in three months – I don’t know how many”.
• Tsimikas comes into the starting lineup to give the older Robertson a rest. Tsimikas performed well against Newcastle in Gameweek 27.
• Gravenberch and Szoboszlai get much needed rests after putting in serious miles and covering a lot of ground against PSG on Wednesday.
• Jones moves into a deeper midfield role alongside Mac Allister and the hero from Liverpool’s dramatic 1-o win over PSG, Harvey Elliott, gets his first start of the season in his preferred number 10 role. There’s a strong argument to be made Elliott has been deserving of more minutes than Slot has given him.
• Nunez, also a bit of a hero from the win against PSG, gets his first start in a while. Jota has not been performing at his best level since returning from injury, and few better games to help get Nunez’s confidence up than Southampton at home.

Players to watch:

Tsimikas:

Jones:

Elliott:

Nunez:

Games started:

Ramsdale: 19/27

Walker-Peters: 25/27
Bree: 11/27
Bella-Kotchap: 1/27
Harwood-Bellis: 22/27
Sugawara: 14/27

Downes: 18/27
Aribo: 18/27

Sulemana: 6/27
Fernandes: 23/27
Onuachu: 9/27

• Aribo moves back into midfield with Harwood-Bellis returning to fitness and of course the starting lineup.
• Sugawara keeps his place in the starting XI over Manning.

Brentford vs Aston Villa (Saturday 5:30pm kick-off):

Games started:

Flekken: 25/27

Ajer: 12/27
Collins: 26/27
Pinnock: 17/27
Lewis Potter: 18/27

Yarmolyuk: 6/27
Janelt: 22/27
Damsgaard: 23/27

Mbeumo: 26/27
Schade: 14/27
Wissa: 22/27

• An unchanged starting lineup outside of Norgaard re-taking his starting spot after he missed the last game due to being in concussion protocol.
• Van Den Berg should return to the squad for Gameweek 29 but is not yet fit to do so.

Games started:

Martinez: 28/28

Garcia: 4/28
Konsa: 23/28
Mings: 7/28
Digne: 26/28

Tielemans: 28/28
McGinn: 21/28
Asensio: 2/28

Ramsey: 14/28
Rogers: 27/28
Watkins: 24/28

• Villa do have some key players returning from injury, but Emery spoke about easing those players back in and maintaining players fitness over longer stretches. He said “We anticipated Boubacar Kamara’s comeback (on Tuesday against Club Brugge) because we needed him but we were trying to protect him by not being in the starting eleven – with Pau Torres the same and Matty Cash the same. They are closer to playing more minutes but we have to be intelligent with every player.”
• I believe Torres, Kamara and Cash will start on the bench for one more game.
• Asensio has played too well to not be in the starting lineup, especially after a brace in the FA Cup.
• Ramsey retains the starting left-wing spot over Rashford. Rashford has been performing well under Emery and could certainly take that starting spot off Ramsey who has failed to wow or show why he is too valuable to drop.

Players to watch:

Garcia:

Asensio:

Mings:

Ramsey vs Rashford:

Wolves vs Everton (Saturday 8pm kick-off):

Games started:

Sa: 20/27

Semedo: 22/27
Doherty: 16/27
Bueno: 17/27
T. Gomes: 19/27
Ait-Nouri: 26/27

Bellegarde: 13/26
Gomes: 25/26

Sarabia: 6/27
Munetsi: 2/27
Strand Larsen: 22/27

• With Cunha suspended, a now fit Strand Larsen starts up-front with Munetsi and Sarabia playing behind him.
• Gomes moves back into a deeper midfield role alongside Bellegarde who seems to be favoured over Andre.

Players to watch:

Sarabia:

Munetsi:

Games started:

Pickford: 27/27

O’Brien: 7/27
Tarkowski: 27/27
Branthwaite: 18/27
Mykolenko: 25/27

Gueye: 24/27
Garner: 7/27
Doucoure: 22/27

Lindstrom: 14/27
Harrison: 15/27
Beto: 6/27

• No changes to the starting lineup from Everton’s 1-1 draw against Brentford in Gameweek 27, except Doucoure coming back in to play the most advanced midfield role after missing out last Gameweek due to the birth of his child. Alcaraz moves to the bench.

Players to watch:

Doucoure:

Chelsea vs Leicester (Sunday 2pm kick-off):

Games started:

Jorgensen: 4/27

Gusto: 17/27
Tosin: 10/27
Colwill: 26/27
Cucurella: 23/27

Caicedo: 26/27
Fernandez: 20/27
Palmer: 27/27

Nkunku: 6/27
Sancho: 15/27
Neto: 15/27

• An unchanged starting lineup from the 4-0 win over Southampton in Gameweek 28.
• James could come in to start at right-back over Gusto, however Maresca talked at length prior to Chelsea’s Conference League game against Copenhagen about James and his ability to play in midfield. Safest bet is Gusto starting at right-back again as James rarely plays 2 games in a week.

Players to watch:

Gusto:

Games started:

Hermansen: 20/27

Justin: 25/27
Faes: 20/27
Vestergaard: 16/27
Kristiansen: 24/27

Soumare: 16/27
Ndidi: 18/27
El Khannous: 17/27

Buonanotte: 13/27
Reid: 7/27
Vardy: 25/27

• An unchanged starting XI from the Gameweek 27 loss to West Ham.
• Van Nistelrooy tried something different against West Ham, bringing Buonanotte in and to some extent it worked. Leicester played well, took more shots on goal than West Ham and on another day the result is different. I think Van Nistelrooy will persist with this lineup for the short term at least.

Players to watch:

Buonanotte:

Spurs vs Bournemouth (Sunday 2pm kick-off):

Games started:

Vicario: 14/27

Porro: 22/27
Romero: 2/27
Van De Ven:/27
Spence: /27

Bentancur: 13/27
Bergvall: 7/27
Maddison: 16/27

Johnson: /27
Tel: 2/27
Son: 21/27

• Postecoglou spoke on the long awaited returns of his two starting centre-backs Romero and Van De Ven, stating “There’s a chance [they could return to face Bournemouth on Sunday]. When I saw the pitch the night before I pretty much made up my mind I wasn’t going to risk them last night. It wasn’t a great pitch, it wasn’t steady underfoot… But a couple of extra days’ training and recovery, and hopefully both are in line to feature.”
• Given Postecoglou’s confidence around Romero and Van De Ven’s fitness for Sunday, stating they are “both in line to feature” – I am going to assume they are both fit to and will start. However, he may mean fit to feature in the game but likely off the bench. If that is what Ange meant, Danso and Gray would start at centre-back once again.
• Kulusevski has suffered a foot injury so Johnson starts at right-wing.

Players to watch:

Van De Ven:

Romero:

Games started:

Arrizabalaga: 20/27

Cook: 24/27
Hill: 5/27
Hujisen: 16/27
Kerkez: 27/27

Scott: 2/27
Adams: 11/27
Kluivert: 22/27

Semenyo: 26/27
Ouattara: 15/27
Evanilson: 17/27

• Evanilson returns to Bournemouth’s Premier League starting lineup after getting his first start since returning from injury in the FA Cup victory over Wolves last weekend.
• Scott starts in midfield for the injured Christie.
• Hill starts at centre-back while Zabarnyi remains suspended.
• Outtara retains his place in the starting XI, moving to right-wing. I believe he has performed well enough to be the clear choice over Tavernier or Brooks.

Players to watch:

Outtara:

Evanilson:

Man United vs Arsenal:

Games started:

Onana: 27/27

Dalot: 26/27
De Ligt: 21/27
Lindelof: 0/27
Yoro: 6/27
Mazraoui: 25/27

Casemiro: 12/27
Fernandes: 27/27

Zirkzee: 11/27
Garnacho: 15/27
Hojlund: 16/27

• Yoro and Lindelof come into the starting lineup for the injured Maguire and suspended Dorgu. Mazraoui moves to the left sided wing-back spot.
• Casemiro starts in midfield for Uguarte who is carrying a knock and likely only fit enough for the bench.

Games started:

Raya: 27/27

Timber: 23/27
Saliba: 25/27
Gabriel: 25/27
Lewis Skelly: 8/27

Odegaard: 18/27
Partey: 23/27
Rice: 23/27

Nwanieri: 6/27
Merino: 10/27
Trossard: 19/27

• An unchanged starting lineup from the midweek 7-1 thrashing of PSV. The only change from the 0-0 draw against Forest in Gameweek 27 is the suspended Lewis-Skelly returning.

Players to watch:

Lewis-Skelly:

West Ham vs Newcastle (Monday 8pm kick-off):

Games started:

Areola: 15/27

Wan-Bissaka: 23/27
Todibo: 10/27
Kilman: 27/27
Cresswell: 5/27
Scarles: 2/27

Alvarez: 17/27
Soucek: 21/27
Ward-Prowse: 7/27

Kudus: 22/27
Bowen: 23/27

• The same formation and starting XI that Potter has opted to go with the last 2 Gameweeks. West Ham won both of those games including a 1-0 win over Arsenal.

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Games started:

Pope: 17/27

Livramento: 21/27
Schar: 22/27
Burn: 26/27
Trippier: 6/27

Guimaraes: 27/27
Tonali: 17/27
Joelinton: 23/27

Murphy: 18/27
Barnes: 6/27
Isak: 25/27

• Trippier starts at left-back after the news that Hall will miss the remainder of this season with an injury.
• Joelinton returns to full fitness and the starting lineup.
• Barnes starts at left-wing for the suspended Gordon. They are the most similar in profile of all of Howe’s options to replace his star winger.

Players to watch:

Joelinton:

Barnes:

Click here for more Game Week 28 Tips.

By: Ahsan Ejaz

Last Updated: 07/03