After the international break and a weekend of FA Cup quarter-finals, the Premier League restarts tonight.
But there were some high-profile withdrawals from international duty, including Liverpool’s Alisson, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon, plus Erling Haaland picked up an injury in their FA Cup win over Bournemouth.
So where does each club stand right now? Here, our club reporters provide the latest updates…
Arsenal
The big news from an Arsenal perspective is that Bukayo Saka is fit and available again. Saka, who has been out since December with a hamstring injury, played in a behind-closed-doors game during the international break and is now ready to return.
Riccardo Calafiori picked up an unfortunate knee injury while away with Italy, but manager Mikel Arteta hopes it will only keep him out for “a few weeks”.
Jurrien Timber also left the Netherlands camp with sickness, but has recovered in time for the resumption of the Premier League.
James McNicholas
Aston Villa
Those on international duty had a swift return to Villa action on Sunday, with all passed fit and featuring in the 3-0 FA Cup semi-final victory against Preston North End.
Ollie Watkins was the key doubt going into the match, having picked up a minor injury that caused him to miss England’s World Cup qualifiers, but returned for Villa at Deepdale as a second-half substitute.
Watkins played for Villa on Sunday after missing England’s matches (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
Leon Bailey missed the match due to long-haul flights from Jamaica and needed an extra period of rest ahead of the Premier League coming back.
Jacob Tanswell
Bournemouth
None of Bournemouth’s players picked up injuries while on international duty. Further positive news on the injury front arrived over the weekend, with Marcos Senesi making his first appearance since November in their 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Manchester City, while substitute Adam Smith also returned from a calf injury.
Andoni Iraola provided an encouraging pre-match update on fellow long-term absentee Julian Araujo (thigh injury), indicating that he could return soon.
However, Luis Sinisterra did not join Colombia for their World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Paraguay. He was replaced after just 18 minutes as a second-half substitute in Bournemouth’s final match before the break — against Brentford — with an apparent hamstring problem, having missed 16 league games between October and January with a hamstring injury.
Iraola also explained before the City loss that Marcus Tavernier, who played all 90 minutes against Brentford, was ruled out due to an ankle issue. Tavernier returned from a thigh injury after a month out in late January.
There is currently no return timeline for either player.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
Brentford
It has been a positive international break for Brentford as captain Christian Norgaard signed a new contract until 2027 while Rico Henry, Sepp van den Berg and Gustavo Nunes have stepped up their recovery from injury by playing in friendlies or for the academy side.
It was also a special international camp for Yehor Yarmoliuk, who made his senior debut for Ukraine.
The only concern for head coach Thomas Frank is that Mikkel Damsgaard missed Denmark’s matches against Portugal through illness, but he will hopefully be fit for Wednesday’s trip to face the Carabao Cup winners Newcastle United.
Jay Harris
Brighton
None of the internationals were ruled out of Saturday’s FA Cup exit on penalties against Nottingham Forest, although long-distance travellers Joao Pedro (Brazil) and Diego Gomez (Paraguay) were used as substitutes rather than starters.
Lewis Dunk (ribs) and Matt O’Riley (knee) returned to the matchday squad, but Georginio Rutter (ankle) and Adam Webster (hamstring) were forced off in the second half of normal time.
Rutter against Forest in the FA Cup (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Tariq Lamptey missed the draw at Manchester City before the international break with an ankle problem sustained in training and is expected to be sidelined for several weeks.
Andy Naylor
Chelsea
The sight of striker Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer returning to training last week was significant for everyone connected to Chelsea. Head coach Enzo Maresca said he hoped to have all three available after the international break and it looks like he will get his wish.
Having Jackson back to lead the line is a major boost for the club. Chelsea’s first-choice centre forward has not played since February 3 due to a hamstring injury. The same can be said for Madueke, having picked up a hamstring problem of his own at Brighton last month.
Chelsea fans were understandably particularly concerned about Palmer after a muscular injury caused him to miss their last match against Arsenal and withdraw from England duty. But after having a couple of scans, the 22-year-old has been given the all-clear.
Marc Guiu, absent like Jackson after getting injured (leg abductor) against West Ham, is going to be out for a bit longer than initially planned. He is pain-free but Chelsea don’t want to take any risks by rushing him. The aim is for the 19-year-old to resume first-team duties again for the busy May schedule at the very latest.
Simon Johnson
Crystal Palace
Palace emerged from their three-week break with no new injuries and welcomed back striker Jean-Philippe Mateta for the visit to Fulham in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday after his head injury sustained against Millwall in the previous round.
They remain without defender Chadi Riad, who ruptured his ACL in January, and midfielder Cheick Doucoure, who has a tear in his meniscus. The pair will miss the remainder of the season, with Riad also expected to be absent for part of the 2025-26 campaign.
Will Hughes missed the 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Fulham due to illness.
Matt Woosnam
Everton
Vitalii Mykolenko was the only player to pick up a knock during the break, as he injured his thigh while playing for Ukraine. It is being assessed by the club.
Mykolenko was injured against Belgium (Virginie Lefour/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images)
Iliman Ndiaye and Dwight McNeil are both back in first-team training. Ndiaye sustained a medial ligament problem in the last Merseyside derby in February while McNeil, who has not played since early December, has been kept out with a knee injury.
David Moyes speaks later on Tuesday, where he should give updates on the above as well as Dominic Calvert-Lewin (hamstring).
Orel Mangala is out for the season with an ACL injury.
Patrick Boyland
Fulham
Marco Silva waited until the 71st minute to bring on Raul Jimenez in the 3-0 defeat against Crystal Palace on Saturday, despite the striker scoring four goals in two games to inspire Mexico to the Concacaf Nations League title. He is expected to return to Fulham’s starting XI in tonight’s Premier League game against Arsenal.
Antonee Robinson was absent from the USMNT’s dismal Nations League displays as he continues to manage tendinopathy, but he was back captaining Fulham against Palace.
Long-term absentees Kenny Tete and Harry Wilson should return this month, but Reiss Nelson is unlikely to return from his hamstring injury before the end of the season.
Justin Guthrie
Ipswich
Defender Axel Tuanzebe has returned to training after undergoing surgery on the hand injury sustained while washing up in October and is in contention to feature against Bournemouth.
Conor Chaplin is also back in training, having not featured this year due to a knee injury. Kalvin Phillips picked up an injury against Nottingham Forest last time out and a late call is set to be made on his availability.
Centre-back Cameron Burgess clocked up the air miles during March’s international break, playing the full 90 minutes in Australia’s World Cup qualifiers against Indonesia and China.
Kieran McKenna said assessments would be made on a couple of other players who had returned from international duty with issues.
Ali Rampling
Leicester
Leicester City picked up no new injuries during the international break.
In fact, Ruud van Nistelrooy had around 15 of his first-team squad to work with during the pause in Premier League proceedings and promoted several of the under-21s to work with too, including teenage wingers Jeremy Monga and Jake Evans.
Leicester promoted 15-year-old Jeremy Monga during the break (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Ricardo Pereira was the only injury doubt before the break as he missed the Manchester United defeat with a muscle strain but should return to training before the trip to Manchester City on Wednesday.
Rob Tanner
Liverpool
Alisson suffered a head injury in the closing stages of Brazil’s World Cup qualifying win over Colombia which forced him to be substituted (pictured top). The Liverpool goalkeeper missed their subsequent defeat to Argentina as concussion protocols were followed. However, he’s since recovered well on Merseyside and is expected to be fit to start Wednesday’s Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield.
The same goes for midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, who left the Netherlands’ training camp ahead of their two-legged Nations League tie against Spain after being deemed unavailable for selection by Dutch medical staff. The decision was described as precautionary given Gravenberch’s workload over the course of this season. He was given some time off to rest and recover and is set to feature against Everton.
Liverpool will still be without Trent Alexander-Arnold (ankle), Conor Bradley (hamstring) and Joe Gomez (hamstring). Alexander-Arnold is hopeful of returning to action before the end of April.
James Pearce
Manchester City
Having survived the international break, and even welcomed Ederson back to action after missing the previous league game and Brazil’s matches, City saw Erling Haaland go off with an injury to his left ankle in the FA Cup clash with Bournemouth on Sunday.
The Norwegian left the Vitality Stadium in a protective boot and on Monday the club released a statement which said: “Erling underwent initial tests in Manchester on Monday morning and will now seek specialist consultation to confirm the full extent of the injury.
“Assessment remains ongoing to ascertain a full prognosis. The expectation is that Erling will be fit in time to play a further part in the remainder of this season, including this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.”
City are still without Rodri (knee) and three centre-backs: Manuel Akanji (adductor), Nathan Ake (foot) and John Stones (foot).
Sam Lee
Manchester United
Ruben Amorim will be relieved that his 11 internationals away on duty came through the break unscathed as, back in Manchester, his long injury list finally started to clear over the last fortnight.
Harry Maguire and Leny Yoro returned to training last week and so did long-term absentee Luke Shaw, although the 29-year-old is still some way short of being able to add to his total of three appearances this season.
Harry Maguire is back in training for Manchester United (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Altay Bayindir and Tom Heaton are also training again, giving Amorim a senior goalkeeper in reserve for the first time since early February.
Ayden Heaven will miss tonight’s trip to Nottingham Forest after being stretchered off against Leicester City, but Amorim believes his injury is “not so serious”. Kobbie Mainoo is “almost” ready to play for the first time in six weeks, and Jonny Evans is still “recovering” from a back issue.
Lisandro Martinez is out for the remainder of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
It was also feared an ankle injury could end Amad‘s campaign, although Amorim said he hopes to have the 22-year-old winger back sooner.
Mark Critchley
Newcastle United
Anthony Gordon suffered a hip injury during the closing stages of England’s 2-0 victory over Albania and Thomas Tuchel initially suggested the problem did not look good. However, despite withdrawing from the England squad, early scans were promising and he appears to have avoided serious injury. He is due to serve the final match of his three-game suspension when Newcastle host Brentford, so there is a chance he may be ready to return against Leicester City on Monday.
Tino Livramento was also released from the England squad ahead of their 3-0 win over Latvia, but that was a selection choice, rather than a fitness issue.
Dan Burn made his international debut against Albania, to complete a dream week for the centre-back, following his goal in the Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool.
No significant injuries have been reported for Newcastle’s other internationals, meaning Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Sandro Tonali should all be available against Brentford.
Chris Waugh
Nottignham Forest
Chris Wood was the one casualty among the Forest 14 first-team players who were called up by their countries. The New Zealand international suffered a contusion in his hip during their World Cup qualifier against New Caledonia last week, which saw him sidelined for the FA Cup quarter-final against Brighton.
There is a chance he could face Manchester United tonight, with Nuno Espirito Santo saying he will be assessed right up until the hours before the game.
The same is true of Morgan Gibbs-White, who picked up a knock after colliding with the post during the Cup win at the Amex Stadium on Saturday evening.
Paul Taylor
Southampton
Southampton had a fair few players away on international duty and did not come through entirely unscathed.
Jan Bednarek had to come off at half-time while captaining Poland against Malta on Monday, suffering from a bloody nose. He has had a mixed picture with injuries of late and so he was not risked for the second half.
Jan Bednarek, right, was injured against Malta (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images)
The other main concern is Will Smallbone, after he withdrew from the Republic of Ireland squad and was replaced by Saints team-mate Ryan Manning. A groin injury was the cause of his withdrawal and it had ruled him out of Ivan Juric’s squad for their last Premier League game, against Wolves, before the break.
Nancy Froston
Tottenham
It looks like none of Tottenham’s first-team squad suffered any issues during the international break, while Kevin Danso, Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski are close to returning to full fitness after an extra couple of weeks to work on their rehab.
The main headline from Spurs’ internationals was Cristian Romero helping Argentina to thrash their South American rivals Brazil 4-1 and qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Yang Min-hyeok (South Korea) and Jamie Donley (Northern Ireland), who are on loan at Queens Park Rangers and Leyton Orient respectively, made their senior debuts and that experience could help them in pre-season when they will try to permanently break into the first team.
Jay Harris
West Ham
Niclas Fullkrug is in contention to feature in tonight’s Premier League fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The striker has not featured since sustaining a hamstring injury in the FA Cup loss to Aston Villa in January. But he returned to training ahead of schedule and head coach Graham Potter plans to ease his return to the starting XI.
Cryensio Summerville remains sidelined with a hamstring injury. The Athletic previously reported the winger hopes to return to full fitness towards the end of April.
Vladimir Coufal is an injury doubt, while Michail Antonio will not feature again this season. The 35-year-old forward is still recovering from a broken leg, which he sustained in a car crash in December.
Wolverhampton
Vitor Pereira reported a clean bill of health for the home game with West Ham United despite Jorgen Strand Larsen withdrawing from Norway duty with a broken bone in his hand.
The striker actually suffered the injury before playing in the Premier League games against Everton and Southampton, the latter of which brought him two goals. But he gained permission to miss his country’s games to nurse the injury back to full health.
Otherwise, Wolves’ array of internationals managed to return unscathed.
Steve Madeley
(Top photo: Liverpool’s Alisson receiving medical attention while playing for Brazil after a collision; by Sergio Lima/AFP via Getty Images)
