Tottenham have eight players out for their London derby with Chelsea
In-form Bournemouth head to Manchester City with a fully-fit squad
Ryan Gravenberch may return for Liverpool but Alisson and Alexander Isak could miss out
The Premier League returns for gameweek 10, which features a mammoth seven games on Saturday, two more on Sunday and an additional serving of Monday night football.
The unforgiving winter schedule looms and teams like Tottenham and Liverpool will be hoping to get some key men back as we enter November.
We have picked out some standout team news for the weekend's key fixtures.
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United (Saturday, 3pm)
After a dreadful few months, things are finally looking up for Ruben Amorim and Manchester United, who have beaten Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton in their last three games.
The good news does not end there either, as United’s treatment room is practically empty. Harry Maguire is a doubt and Lisandro Martinez is lacking match fitness but Amorim has an otherwise fit squad to choose from at the City Ground, opening the door for another strong performance.
In contrast, Nottingham Forest have lost five of their last six games and are not in a strong position when it comes to injuries.
Star striker Chris Wood remains out alongside tricky winger Dilane Bakwa, first-choice right-back Ola Aina, loanee Oleksandr Zinchenko and back-up goalkeeper Angus Gunn, who underwent ligament surgery this week.
Tottenham vs Chelsea (Saturday, 5.30pm)
No Premier League side has more players out than Tottenham, who are without eight players for a visit from Chelsea.
Archie Gray, Yves Bissouma, Kota Takai, Domuinic Solanke, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies make up their eight-man absentee list, although there is some positive news as Destiny Udogie and captain Cristian Romero make a timely return for this London derby.
Chelsea’s injury list is much shorter but arguably just as damaging given star man Cole Palmer and elite defender Levi Colwill remain on it.
Benoit Badiashile and Dario Essugo are also sidelined while Liam Delap’s unnecessary red card — not Chelsea’s first silly sending off of the season — in the Carabao Cup win over Wolves means he is suspended for the short trip to Tottenham.
Liverpool vs Aston Villa (Saturday, 8pm)
Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace means Liverpool have now lost six of their last seven games. To make matters worse, Alexander Isak and Alisson are still sidelined alongside Jeremie Frimpong and Curtis Jones for a tricky clash with Aston Villa.
One boost is Ryan Gravenberch could return but he is unlikely to provide the answer to all the problems currently plaguing Arne Slot.
Villa have their own injury concerns, with Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia and Andres Garcia out, but they will still fancy their chances against an out-of-sorts Liverpool, even if loanee Harvey Elliott is unable to face his parent club.
Manchester City vs Bournemouth (Sunday, 4.30pm)
Erling Haaland missed Manchester City’s midweek win over Swansea due to a knock but he was never likely to play that Carabao Cup match even if fit and Pep Guardiola has confirmed he is available for Sunday.
Guardiola has also confirmed that Rodri is available to ‘help us’ but the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner is unlikely to start.
The Cherries start the weekend in second and things only continue to get better at the aptly named Vitality Stadium as Evanilson’s return to training means they, like their hosts, have a clean bill of health.
Andoni Iraola has some tough decisions to make with so many of his players performing at a high level but, given their current form, they should give City a real game no matter who starts.
