Football Injury Updates (2026)

Football Injury Updates (2026)

Last updated: 5 November 2026, 8:30am (WAT)

Welcome to the standing football injury updates hub. We refresh this page regularly so Nigerian fans following the Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and the UEFA Champions League can see which big-name absences shape each squad, without digging through ten club sites. It is educational and 18+; it is not medical advice and not a tip sheet.

Champions League Matchday 4 is finished. On Wednesday night Arsenal beat Slavia Praha 2-1, Real Madrid came from behind twice to win 3-2 at AEK Athens, Manchester City edged RB Leipzig 3-2 and Liverpool lost 3-2 at Fenerbahçe after leading twice (BBC Sport, Real Madrid, Sky Sports). Como equalled a Champions League scoring record with a 9-1 win at Lens, while Dortmund, Porto and Club Brugge also won (The Guardian, AFP). In the Premier League, Arsenal lead after winning 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday, and one more league round follows this weekend before the November international break. Treat every status below as a snapshot taken on the refresh date, and re-check club media, BBC Sport, ESPN or the competition’s official channels before you stake. For the domestic schedule, see today’s Premier League fixtures.

Kylian Mbappé: Fully fit and still scoring. He tapped in Real Madrid’s equaliser in the 78th minute at AEK Athens, his fourth Champions League goal in four games this season, and Madrid stay perfect on 12 points from four matches alongside Paris Saint-Germain (Real Madrid). Read our Real Madrid and Mbappé news for the wider picture.

Biggest injury and squad news today (5 November): Barcelona have confirmed that Rodri has a minor injury to his right hamstring (biceps femoris) after leaving the Villa game at half-time, and he will miss Sunday’s meeting with Atlético de Madrid; recovery time “will depend on how the injury develops” (FC Barcelona). William Saliba travelled and sat on Arsenal’s bench in Prague but did not play a minute as Arsenal won 2-1 through Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres; Arteta took Ezri Konsa off with “some issues” after a heavy workload, and Bukayo Saka is still not expected to face Hull on Saturday (Arsenal, Evening Standard). Fede Valverde came off the bench at AEK and scored the stoppage-time winner that kept Real Madrid perfect, with Vinícius Júnior starting after his domestic ban and Thibaut Courtois in goal (Real Madrid). Liverpool’s first Champions League defeat of the season came without Ryan Gravenberch, who remains at home with a heel fracture; Andoni Iraola blamed three “cheap” set-piece goals (Liverpool FC, BBC Sport). Manchester United are still waiting on Carlos Baleba’s hamstring scans after Carrick said the injury “doesn’t look great”, and Matheus Cunha serves his Champions League ban next time out against Sporting (Manchester Evening News). Erling Haaland’s late tap-in earned City a 3-2 win at Leipzig, with Antoine Semenyo still the only senior absentee (Sky Sports, BBC Sport).

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Premier League injury list 13 October 2026 with player photos and club crests

Player photos via Wikimedia Commons, cropped. Piero Hincapié, Martín Zubimendi, William Saliba, Kai Havertz, Declan Rice, Reece James, Moisés Caicedo, Noussair Mazraoui, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford, Alexander Isak, Erling Haaland, Antoine Semenyo, Nico O’Reilly, Dan Burn, Pedro Porro: Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0); Christos Tzolis: Mikael Hervestad (CC BY-SA 4.0); Cristhian Mosquera: Chensiyuan (CC BY-SA 4.0); Cole Palmer: The White House (Public domain); João Pedro: DHSgov (Public domain); Benjamin Šeško: Werner100359 (CC BY-SA 4.0); Luke Shaw: Ardfern (CC BY-SA 4.0); Matthijs de Ligt: ОЛЕГ БАТРАК (CC BY-SA 3.0); Manuel Ugarte: Atmedia25 (CC BY 4.0); Cody Gakpo: elisfkc3 (CC BY-SA 4.0); Dominik Szoboszlai: Timmy96 (CC0); Virgil van Dijk: Ailura (CC BY-SA 3.0 AT); Ryan Gravenberch: Steffen Prößdorf (Stepro), crop by Sepguilherme (CC BY-SA 4.0); Jérémy Jacquet: HuyBero (CC BY 4.0); Hugo Ekitike: Liondartois (CC BY-SA 4.0); Conor Bradley: Biser Todorov (CC BY 4.0); Phil Foden: Steffen Prößdorf (CC BY-SA 4.0); Joelinton: Silesia711 (CC BY-SA 4.0); Nico González: Werner100359 (CC0); Anthony Elanga: Amanda Aikioniemi (Public domain); Rodrigo Bentancur: Ailura, derivative by Danyele (CC BY-SA 3.0 AT); James Maddison, Micky van de Ven: KrispyKrumpets (CC BY 4.0). Licences: CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, CC BY 4.0, CC0 / public domain. Crest tiles stand in where no licensed photo exists. Club crests belong to their clubs. The graphic shows the 13 October list; the text below is current.

Premier League injury news

The six Premier League clubs in the Champions League have finished Matchday 4, and one more league round follows this weekend before the November international break. Full fixtures are in our Premier League fixtures guide. Below is what managers, clubs and reputable reporting had confirmed by Thursday morning.

Arsenal

Chelsea

Manchester United

Liverpool

Manchester City

Tottenham Hotspur

Newcastle United 0-1 Everton

Aston Villa and Crystal Palace

Other Matchweek 9 results and team news: Bournemouth beat Leeds 2-0, Brentford beat Nottingham Forest 2-0, Coventry beat Sunderland 3-1 and Hull drew 2-2 with Ipswich (BBC Sport). Brentford’s Rico Henry and Fabio Carvalho are out until after the international break (BBC Sport). Bournemouth’s Alex Tóth (hamstring) is out for “some weeks”, according to head coach Rose, who has given no exact date (Bournemouth). Sunderland, now bottom, were again without Dan Ballard and Romaine Mundle (BBC Sport). We only list names when a recent reputable source attaches a clear status, because made-up return dates help nobody.

Europe injury news Mbappé 7 October 2026

Champions League / UCL squad news

Matchday 4 of the league phase ran from Tuesday 3 November to Wednesday 4 November and is now complete (UEFA.com). All times below are WAT, which is the same as CET in November.

Kylian Mbappé injury update

  • The injury: Real Madrid diagnosed a “hyperextension of the posterior capsule of his left knee” on 26 September 2026 after he hurt it playing for France against Türkiye. (Real Madrid, Al Jazeera/AFP)
  • Comeback: Since returning against Villarreal on 10 October, he has scored at Roma, twice against Sevilla, once against RB Leipzig, twice in the Clásico, from the penalty spot at Racing on Sunday and again at AEK Athens on Wednesday. That is four Champions League goals in four games this season. (Real Madrid, UEFA.com)
  • Squad around him: Courtois started at AEK after flu, Vinícius Júnior started after serving his domestic ban, and Fede Valverde came off the bench to score the stoppage-time winner. Aurélien Tchouaméni and Arda Güler were left out to rest (Real Madrid).
  • Transfer angle: For contract and squad-planning news around him, see our Real Madrid transfer news hub. (photonfire)
  • Next Champions League game: Real Madrid host PSV Eindhoven on Matchday 5 (Tuesday 24 November). Our UCL table and fixtures has the full round. (UEFA.com, NBC Sports schedule)

Europa League and Conference League: Premier League clubs

Domestic bans and UEFA bans are separate. Lisandro Martínez and Mateta stay eligible in Europe, and Cunha’s Champions League red card does not stop him playing in the Premier League. Always cross-check official UEFA and club squad lists before European kick-off, and use our UCL table page to see who plays next.

Nations League updates

England have two League A games left (our England vs Spain preview sets the scene for the group). They host Croatia at Wembley on Thursday 12 November at 7.45pm GMT (8:45pm WAT) and finish against Spain at the Metropolitano in Madrid on Sunday 15 November at 5.30pm GMT (6:30pm WAT). The squad will be named on Friday 6 November at 10am GMT (11am WAT) (England Football). This week’s club news shapes that squad (our Premier League fixtures page shows the club games before the break):

Elsewhere in League A, France play Italy and Türkiye on 12 and 15 November. Dembélé (thigh, still out for PSG) and Lacroix (hamstring) are both in doubt for France. Outside the Nations League, Alonso has said João Pedro is “not ready for the next games”, which makes Brazil duty in November unlikely, and Kvaratskhelia’s ACL surgery rules him out for Georgia. Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen is fit and played 90 minutes against Stuttgart. Clubs and national associations often disagree about “fit to travel”, so treat early withdrawal stories with care.

Other sports: NBA star watch

How injuries affect betting markets

Injuries do not automatically mean you should “fade the favourite.” Markets usually reprice three things first:

  1. Starting XI probability: a forced change in goal (Penders for Emiliano Martínez at Chelsea), a missing first-choice defender (Lacroix, Koundé, Shaw, Wan-Bissaka, Nuno Mendes, Marquinhos, possibly Konsa if his Prague issue lingers), a midfield loss (Baleba at United, Gravenberch at Liverpool, Rodri at Barcelona) or a suspended player (Cunha in Europe, Lisandro Martínez against Villa, Mateta’s three-game ban at Palace) changes how a team builds attacks and defends set pieces.
  2. Goal expectancy: missing creators and forwards (Saka, João Pedro, Šeško, Semenyo, Dembélé, Kvaratskhelia, Musiala, Gnabry, Saibari) often move total-goals and anytime-scorer lines, and so do returning ones (Saliba available for Arsenal, Valverde and Vinícius available for Real Madrid, Olise at Bayern, Gyökeres in form for Arsenal).
  3. Live volatility: confirmed long absences (Lacroix until after the break, Šeško until January, Rodri out of Sunday’s Clásico-adjacent Atlético game) are usually priced in quickly. Late fitness news often moves prices more than the original injury: whether Saliba starts against Hull, Baleba’s scan result, Saka’s next update, and whether Gravenberch can train before Palace. A red card changes a match in real time, as Cunha showed in stoppage time against Roma, and set-piece collapses can rewrite a live total, as Fenerbahçe showed against Liverpool.

For Nigeria-based readers comparing prices, an 18+ sportsbook such as 8xbet / 8X is useful for checking 1X2, both-teams-to-score and player markets after official line-ups drop an hour before kick-off. It is not a reason to chase every rumour. Wait for confirmed absences, compare the same market at different times, and never stake money you cannot afford to lose. Our football betting guide, live betting explainer and weekly football predictions show how team news feeds into prices. Our 8xbet vs SportyBet and 8xbet vs BetKing comparisons cover market depth, and our most reliable betting websites guide explains what to check before you sign up. Current 18+ offers are on our promotions page. Read our responsible gambling page before you play. Past performance and injury lists are information, not guarantees.

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Sources (2026)

Sources consulted for this refresh: UEFA.com (Matchday 4 Tuesday round-up and fixtures), BBC Sport (Fenerbahçe 3-2 Liverpool, City player ratings, Villa at Barcelona, Premier League November fixtures, Maddison), Real Madrid (AEK match report and starting XI), Arsenal (team news and Arteta post-Slavia Prague presser), FC Barcelona (Rodri injury news, Espart, Flick), Liverpool FC (Iraola post-match and pre-match squad news), Sky Sports (RB Leipzig 2-3 Manchester City report), The Guardian and AFP (Wednesday Champions League round-up, Como 9-1 Lens), Manchester Evening News (Baleba, Cunha, United injury list, City training), Evening Standard (Saka, Saliba, Konsa, Hull availability), Manchester City, Chelsea FC, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, PSG, Galatasaray, Bundesliga.com (Bayern absentees), England Football (Nations League squad announcement timing) and NBA.com/AP. Player photos: Wikimedia Commons (credits under the Premier League graphic). Statuses can change within hours, so check again before kick-off.

FAQ

How often is this football injury updates hub refreshed?

We overwrite this page around major Premier League weekends, Champions League and Europa League matchdays and international windows. The “Last updated” stamp at the top is the source of truth. After a weekend, we recommend a second check once clubs publish scan results and managers hold their midweek press conferences.

Where should I verify a rumour before betting?

Prefer club official sites, BBC Sport, ESPN, Reuters, Sky Sports and UEFA.com medical or squad releases. Fan blogs and unverified social posts are weak evidence, and a player who “went off with a knock” is not confirmed out until the club or manager says so.

Does a clear scan mean a player is ready for the next game?

Not always. Fede Valverde came off in the Clásico and was left out at Racing because the discomfort had not settled, even after reports that tests had ruled out a muscle tear. He only returned for AEK Athens, started on the bench and then scored the stoppage-time winner. Managers usually clarify availability in the press conference before the next league or Champions League fixture.

Is this page tips or medical advice?

Neither. It is an educational hub for sports fans aged 18+. Injury news is information, not a guarantee of any result. Betting involves risk, so please gamble responsibly and never stake money you cannot afford to lose.