All games 3pm unless stated

SATURDAY

Arsenal v Wigan Athletic

Arsenal will be without key midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Alexander Hleb for the visit of struggling Wigan.

Fabregas is suspended while Hleb is facing around three weeks on the sidelines after injuring a hamstring on Belarus' win over Hollland in midweek, while Mathieu Flamini (thigh), Abou Diaby (back) and Gilberto (travel fatigue) are also set to miss out.

Denilson, Lassana Diarra and Theo Walcott are in contention, along with fit-again Philippe Senderos - but Robin van Persie (knee) remains unavailable.

Emile Heskey is set to return to the Wigan squad for the first time since September. Heskey has been declared fit after the broken foot injury he sustained against Fulham and will hope to play some part tomorrow.

With Steve Bruce not officially due to take over until Monday, responsibility will fall on caretaker boss Frank Barlow to pick a side to stem a run of seven consecutive defeats and haul the side out of the drop zone.

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Eboue, Denilson, Diarra, Rosicky, Walcott, Adebayor, Lehmann, Bendtner, Song, Hoyte, Traore, Eduardo, Randall.

Wigan (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Granqvist, Bramble, Kilbane, Cotterill, Sibierski, Landzaat, Scharner, Skoko, Brown, Taylor, Bent, Heskey, Aghahowa, Pollitt, Hall, Olembe.

Birmingham City v Portsmouth

Mikael Forssell could be poised for his first start for more than two months.The Finnish international last appeared in the starting line-up for the 2-0 reversal at Middlesbrough in September.

But he impressed when scoring as a substitute against Aston Villa and may replace Cameron Jerome who is recovering after undergoing a hernia operation.

Caretaker manager Eric Black will assess the fitness of a posse of players who have been on international duty for the past fortnight before finalising his side.

John Utaka has recovered from the hamstring injury which forced him off at half-time in their goalless draw with Manchester City.

But Kanu is a major doubt for tomorrow's trip to Birmingham after suffering a hamstring strain in the same match.

Papa Bouba Diop returns after a one-match ban so Redknapp will revert to his preferred 4-5-1 formation.

Noe Pamarot is likely to keep his place at left-back at the expense of fit-again Hermann Hreidarsson.

Birmingham (from): Taylor, Kingson, Doyle, Kelly, Djourou, Ridgewell, Schmitz, Queudrue, Nafri, Muamba, Larsson, De Ridder, Kapo, McSheffrey, Palacios, Danns, O'Connor, Forssell.

Portsmouth (from): James, Ashdown, Johnson, Lauren, Campbell, Distin, Pamarot, Hreidarsson, Utaka, Davis, Mendes, Diop, Muntari, Kranjcar, Benjani, Nugent, Kanu.

Bolton Wanderers v Manchester United

Bolton are set to welcome back Nicolas Anelka who has missed the last four games due to a hamstring injury. Anelka used as a substitute for France against Morocco last weekend and came through unscathed.

Gary Megson has no major injury concerns from the international break and can also bring back El-Hadji Diouf following a one-match ban.

Carlos Tevez is fit and ready to face Bolton rejecting reports from Argentina that the forward was "feeling tired". Apart from long-term injury victims Paul Scholes, Park Ji-sung, Mikael Silvestre and Ben Foster (all knee) Sir Alex Ferguson's only doubt for tomorrow is defender Nemanja Vidic. The Serbian has been released from international duty but picked up a knock against Poland which could see Wes Brown start at centre-half alongside Rio Ferdinand.

Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney has been pencilled in to make his Manchester United comeback against Fulham on December 3. Rooney suffered an ankle injury in a training ground accident at Carrington a fortnight ago and was initially ruled out for a month. However, while Sir Alex Ferguson denied reports the 22-year-old had already returned to training, he did confirm Rooney should be fit to face Fulham a week on Monday.

Ferguson also confirmed Gary Neville will make an appearance for Manchester United's second string next week as he steps up his battle back from a series of muscular problems.

Bolton Wanderers (from): Jaaskelainen, McCann, Michalik, A O'Brien, Meite, Gardner, Cid, Campo, Guthrie, Nolan, Speed, Alonso, Diouf, Davies, Anelka, Al Habsi, Samuel, Teymourian, Braaten, Giannakopoulos.

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Brown, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Pique, Evans, Evra, Simpson, Ronaldo, Hargreaves, Anderson, Fletcher, Eagles, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Saha, Tevez.

Derby County v Chelsea, 5.15pm

Claude Davis and Dean Leacock have been passed fit after both were injured during the 5-0 home defeat to West Ham.

Kenny Miller has now recovered from a hamstring problem but Andy Todd is still missing with a back injury.

Petr Cech (calf) is doubtful while Paulo Ferreira (knee) and Michael Ballack (ankle) are out. Ricardo Carvalho (back) is also sidelined.

Ashley Cole and John Terry are named in the squad. However, Terry is short of match fitness after recovering from knee surgery and may be saved until their trip to Rosenborg in the Champions League next week.

Derby (from): Bywater, Mears, Davis, Moore, McEveley, Griffin, Leacock, Barnes, Oakley, Pearson, Lewis, Fagan, Howard, Miller, Teale, Earnshaw, Lewis, Jones.

Chelsea (from): Cudicini, Hilario, Cech, Belletti, A Cole, Alex, Ben-Haim, Bridge, J Cole, Lampard, Essien, Sidwell, Kalou, Malouda, Shevchenko, Wright-Phillips, Drogba, Obi, Pizarro, Makelele.

Everton v Sunderland

Mikel Arteta is hoping to have recovered sufficiently from a groin injury to be involved.

The Spanish star has spent the international break trying to get fit for the match, as has Tim Cahill who missed Australia's game last week to recover from "bumps and bruises".

Victor Anichebe is still nursing a hand injury but also has a chance of being fit, while Andrew Johnson has recovered from an ankle injury.

Roy Keane could be boosted by the return of three experienced players. Dwight Yorke could resume after the calf injury which has sidelined him for the last four games, while Dean Whitehead (knee) and Andy Cole (also calf) are back in contention after long-term lay-offs.

Keane will hope Carlos Edwards (shoulder) is fit, while full-back Greg Halford is available once again after serving a two-match ban, but Nyron Nosworthy is facing up to six weeks on the sidelines with a torn hamstring.

Everton (from): Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Lescott, Stubbs, Valente, Baines, Arteta, Cahill, Carsley, Osman, Jagielka, Gravesen, Neville, McFadden, Yakubu, Anichebe, Johnson, Vaughan, Pienaar, Wessels

Sunderland (from): Gordon, Ward, McShane, Halford, Harte, Higginbotham, Collins, Yorke, Edwards, Etuhu, Miller, Leadbitter, Wallace, Whitehead, Kavanagh, O'Donovan, Jones, Chopra, Connolly, Murphy, Stokes, Cole.

Manchester City v Reading

Rolando Bianchi is out for Manchester City with an ankle injury sustained in training yesterday. Andreas Isaksson has been promised the goalkeeping berth by Sven-Goran Eriksson, while Richard Dunne should be fit to partner Micah Richards in central defence.

Reading will be without Michael Duberry who is still recovering from cracked ribs and joins long-term casualty Glen Little (Achilles) on the sideline.

Ibrahima Sonko has been passed fit to play following treatment for a groin problem.

Manchester City (from): Isaksson, Hart, Corluka, Sun, Dunne, Richards, Garrido, Ball, Ireland, Hamann, Fernandes, Geovanni, Petrov, Elano, Vassell, Mpenza, Samaras.

Reading (from): Hahnemann, Federici, Murty, Rosenior, de la Cruz, Sonko, Ingimarsson, Bikey, Shorey, Oster, Gunnarsson, Harper, Fae, Hunt, Convey, Doyle, Kitson, Long, Lita, Cisse.

Middlesbrough v Aston Villa

Jonathan Woodgate is back in contention after he missed the club's last two games with a hamstring injury. Andrew Taylor (foot), Robert Huth (ankle) and Fabio Rochemback (hamstring) may also be involved.

Midfielder Julio Arca is back in training, but the game could come too soon for him, while striker Mido is still struggling.

Gabriel Agbonlahor and Luke Moore are expected to be fit for tomorrow's clash at the Riverside Stadium.

Moore was forced to pull out of the England Under-21 games with Bulgaria and Portugal because of a niggling groin problem suffered in the derby win over Birmingham but has now resumed training.

Agbonlahor was not risked for the midweek draw with Portugal after picking up a knee injury against Bulgaria.

Martin O'Neill is expected to keep faith with Scott Carson despite his error strewn England debut against Croatia.

Middlesbrough (from): Schwarzer, Turnbull, Young, Taylor, Woodgate, Wheater, Riggott, Pogatetz, Huth, Hines, Cattermole, Rochemback, O'Neil, Boateng, Aliadiere, Downing, Tuncay, Lee, Hutchinson, Craddock

Aston Villa (from): Carson, Taylor, Sorensen, Mellberg, Laursen, Knight, Davies, Bouma, Gardner, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Barry, Young, Moore, Carew, Agbonlahor, Harewood, Salifou, Berger, Osbourne, Maloney.

Newcastle United v Liverpool, 12.45pm

Sam Allardyce has been left counting the cost of England duty after losing Michael Owen and Steven Taylor.

Owen is in Germany for treatment on the thigh problem he suffered in his country's 1-0 friendly victory in Austria last Friday, while Taylor aggravated a back injury on under-21 duty in Portugal.

With Abdoulaye Faye and Stephen Carr (both hamstring) and Claudio Cacapa (knee) still out, Allardyce has a major problem at the back.

Shay Given (groin) is fit and Nicky Butt is available after suspension, but Celestine Babayaro (back) and Damien Duff (ankle) are not yet ready to return.

Fernando Torres is expected to be restored to Liverpool's starting line-up. The Reds' record signin remained at the club's Melwood training ground to build up his fitness from an adductor injury rather than join up with Spain for the recent internationals.

Daniel Agger may also return after a two-month absence with a broken metatarsal, while Harry Kewell is pushing for a starting spot after playing 90 minutes in Australia's friendly against Nigeria last Saturday.

Newcastle (from): Harper, Given, Beye, Enrique, Rozehnal, Edgar, Butt, Milner, Geremi, Emre, N'Zogbia, Barton, Smith, Viduka, Martins, Ameobi.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Finnan, Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Agger, Aurelio, Riise, Babel, Benayoun, Gerrard, Mascherano, Sissoko, Kewell, Voronin, Kuyt, Crouch, Torres, Martin, Lucas.

SUNDAY

Fulham v Blackburn Rovers, 4pm

Defender Moritz Volz is unlikely to feature for Fulham despite a return to training following shoulder and groin problems but Paul Konchesky and Elliott Omozusi are available again following bans. Phillipe Christanval (knee), Kasey Keller (bicep), Lee Cook (knee), Ian Pearce (ankle), Brian McBride (knee), Nathan Ashton (thigh), Simon Elliott (calf) and Jimmy Bullard (knee), are all still sidelined.

Robbie Savage is set to complete his rapid comeback from a knee operation. The Wales midfielder went under the surgeon's knife less than three weeks ago but has made a quicker than expected recovery and is likely to go straight back back into the starting line-up.

Matt Derbyshire faces a late test on a thigh injury while Rovers are without the suspended David Dunn.

Fulham (from): Niemi, Warner, Baird, Hughes, Stefanovic, Bocanegra, Konchesky, Davies, Davis, Murphy, Dempsey, Kamara, Kuqi, Healy, Bouazza, Smertin, Leijer, Seol, Omozusi, Volz.

Blackburn (from): Friedel, Brown, Emerton, Nelsen, Samba, Ooijer, Warnock, Berner, Bentley, Pedersen, Santa Cruz, McCarthy, Derbyshire, Tugay, Mokoena, Rigters, Khizanishvili, Treacy

West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur, 1.30pm

West Ham's injury crisis is easing with Dean Ashton, Scott Parker, Mark Noble and Hayden Mullins all in contention. Ashton has been sidelined for six weeks with medial ligament damage and Parker has managed just two appearances since his summer switch from Newcastle due to knee trouble, but both played a behind-closed-doors friendly in midweek to prove their fitness.

Mullins is fit after suffering an ankle injury against Bolton three weeks ago, while Noble is also back in full training after a recent hernia operation. But Craig Bellamy is still sidelined with a groin problem and Lee Bowyer - who would have been suspended anyway - had a hernia operation over the international break.

Steed Malbranque and Younes Kaboul are both doubts.

Malbranque has an ankle injury and Kaboul picked up a thigh complaint during the international break, but Gareth Bale has been back in training after a foot injury and could return.

Ledley King (knee), Ricardo Rocha (ankle), Anthony Gardner (ankle) and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) are sidelined.

West Ham United (from): Green, Neill, Upson, Gabbidon, McCartney, Solano, Mullins, Noble, Etherington, Cole, Ashton, Wright, Spector, Collins, Pantsil, Ljungberg, Parker, Boa Morte, Reid, Camara.

Tottenham (from): Robinson, Cerny, Chimbonda, Stalteri, Lee, Kaboul, Dawson, Tainio, Jenas, Zokora, Lennon, Malbranque, Boateng, Bale, Huddlestone, Taarabt, Routledge, Bent, Defoe, Berbatov, Keane, Archibald-Henville