All games 3pm unless stated

Saturday

Aston Villa v Arsenal, 5.15pm

Nigel Reo-Coker, the midfield player, will be absent through suspension for Aston Villa. The former West Ham player serves a one-game ban after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season during last weekend’s 3-0 win at Middlesbrough. Leading scorer Gabriel Agbonlahor and midfielder Stiliyan Petrov both look like shaking off ankle injuries as Martin O’Neill’s team aim for a fifth successive win.

Arsenal, the Barclays Premier League leaders, look set to be without midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who has a hamstring problem. Mathieu Flamini (thigh) is back in contention along with captain William Gallas and striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who were both rested for the midweek Champions League game in Sevilla. Full-back Gael Clichy (thigh) and winger Alexander Hleb (hamstring) also face fitness tests, but Abou Diaby (back) remains out and striker Robin van Persie (knee) needs a couple more weeks of rehabilitation.

Aston Villa (from): Carson, Taylor, Sorensen, Mellberg, Laursen, Knight, Davies, Bouma, Gardner, Petrov, Osbourne, Barry, Young, Agbonlahor, Carew, Moore, O’Halloran, Salifou.

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

Blackburn Rovers v Newcastle United

Mark Hughes, the Blackburn manager, will have to reshuffle his pack due Ryan Nelson’s suspension. The New Zealander was sent off in the 4-0 midweek defeat to Aston Villa, meaning right back Andre Ooijer is likely to move into the centre, with Brett Emerton dropping back into defence. Jason Roberts and Matt Derbyshire are pushing for places in the starting line-up and Benni McCarthy may have to be content with a place on the bench.

Sam Allardyce, the Newcastle manager, will make late decisions on three defenders. Steven Taylor (back), Abdoulaye Faye (hamstring) and Claudio Cacapa (knee) are all doubts, although Allardyce is hoping either Taylor or Faye may be able to resume at Ewood Park. Striker Michael Owen (thigh) is continuing his rehabilitation, while Damien Duff (foot) is back in training but well short of match fitness, and Peter Ramage (knee) and Celestine Babayaro (back) are still out.

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

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

Chelsea v West Ham United, 12.45pm

Chelsea will be without the suspended Michael Essien after his sending off against Derby County last Saturday. Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager, has no new injury worries but will still be without a number of experienced players, including goalkeeper Petr Cech (calf). Michael Ballack, the midfielder (ankle), winger Florent Malouda (knee) and defenders Ricardo Carvalho (back) and Paulo Ferreira (ankle) are also absent.

Dean Ashton and Scott Parker are in contention to start for West Ham. The pair came through a midweek reserve game unscathed, while Freddie Ljungberg has shown no ill effects from the migraine which ruled him out of the last match against Tottenham. However, the fitness of Lee Bowyer (hernia) will be assessed ahead of the match and Craig Bellamy (groin) is still out.

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

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

Portsmouth v Everton

Portsmouth have striker Kanu available again after he hobbled off with a thigh injury in the goalless draw with Manchester City three weeks ago. Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, must decide whether to revert to a 4-4-2 formation with Kanu alongside Benjani Mwaruwari up front or stick with the 4-5-1 line-up that brought Portsmouth their sixth away win in a row at Birmingham last week. Hermann Hreidarsson (groin) returns but is unlikely to unseat the impressive Noe Pamarot from the left back position.

Alan Stubbs, the veteran Everton defender, is expected to be out of action for a month after a scan on a training-ground injury revealed a calf problem. Stubbs, who was given the opportunity to manage the reserves earlier in the week, is the club's only injury absentee as David Moyes, the manager, boasts a virtually clean bill of health, with striker James Vaughan making a scoring return from long-term injury in the reserves' win over Wigan.

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

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

Reading v Middlesbrough

Michael Duberry is still recovering from the rib injury he suffered at Fulham at the start of the month and misses out for Reading. Long-term casualty Glen Little (Achilles) is the only other senior player unavailable to manager Steve Coppell.

Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager, will be without Mark Schwarzer and Mido for the trip to Reading. Schwarzer, their goalkeeper, is out for two to three weeks with a broken thumb, with Ross Turnbull in line to replace him, while striker Mido is expected to be sidelined until the new year with his groin injury. However, Julio Arca is ready to resume after playing 59 minutes for the reserves in midweek following his recovery from medial ligament damage, while Robert Huth (ankle) is also in contention.

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

Sunderland v Derby County

Kenwyne Jones, the striker, is fit to lead the line for Sunderland. There were fears earlier in the week that the 23-year-old could miss out with a rib problem, but manager Roy Keane has confirmed the Trinidad and Tobago international is available. Dean Whitehead (knee), Andy Cole (calf) and Carlos Edwards (shoulder) have shown no reaction to their exertions at Everton last weekend, but Nyron Nosworthy (hamstring) is still out.

Paul Jewell, the new Derby County manager, has virtually all of his playing staff to choose from in his first match in charge. Defenders Claude Davis and Dean Leacock are both likely to start in defence after returning from injury for last Sunday’s home defeat by Chelsea. Striker Kenny Miller has also fully recovered from a hamstring problem and is set to play a lone role up front. Long-term absentee Andy Todd, the defender, is still missing with a back injury but should return in the next couple of weeks.

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.

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

Wigan Athletic v Manchester City

Emile Heskey is pushing for a starting place after featuring as a substitute against Arsenal last week. The 22 minutes he played in the 2-0 defeat at the Emirates was his first action since breaking a metatarsal on September 15. Antonio Valencia sat out the Arsenal clash because of a knee problem but is expected to return for new manager Steve Bruce's first match in charge.

Manchester City midfielder Geovanni could return to the starting line-up as Elano is sidelined with a hamstring injury. Geovanni set up a stoppage-time winner for Stephen Ireland in the Barclays Premier League victory against Reading at the weekend. Darius Vassell, Michael Johnson and Nedum Onuoha are all sidelined through injury but Vedran Corluka and Emile Mpenza have shaken off knocks and come into contention.

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

Manchester City (from): Isaksson, Hart, Corluka, Richards, Dunne, Garrido, Ireland, Fernandes, Hamann, Petrov, Geovanni, Mpenza, Ball, Jihai, Samaras, Bianchi, Etuhu, Dabo.

Sunday

Liverpool v Bolton Wanderers

Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, has an unchanged squad at his disposal and hopes defender Daniel Agger will be back in action soon. The Danish youngster suffered a recurrence of a metatarsal injury earlier this month, which delayed his comeback having been out since September. Benitez is still without Xabi Alonso and Jermaine Pennant, both long-term injuries, but will select from the squad that beat Porto in midweek.

Gary Megson, the Bolton manager, has been forced to make three changes. Kevin Nolan and Nicky Hunt, who both featured in the 1-1 draw against Aris in the Uefa Cup last night, are suspended. Danny Guthrie is also sidelined for the fixture at Anfield as he is on loan from Liverpool. Gavin McCann is expected to be available despite needing four stitches in a head wound against the Greek side.

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

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

Tottenham Hotspur v Birmingham City, 4pm

Jermaine Jenas, the midfielder, picked up an ankle injury in the Uefa Cup victory over Aalborg and faces a fitness test ahead of the clash against Birmingham on Sunday. Centre back Younes Kaboul (groin) will also need to be assessed before the Barclays Premier League clash at White Hart Lane, but Jermain Defoe could be back from flu. Ledley King (knee), Ricardo Rocha (ankle), Anthony Gardner (ankle) and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) are still on the sidelines.

Birmingham striker Cameron Jerome has recovered from a hernia operation and is fit for manager Alex McLeish’s first match in charge. Jerome missed the 2-0 home defeat against Portsmouth last weekend but could partner Mikael Forssell in attack. Skipper Damien Johnson is in contention following his long-term hamstring problems after completing 90 minutes for the reserves but midfielder Wilson Palacios, allowed to return home to Honduras after his brother was kidnapped, has been unable to return due to visa problems.

Tottenham Hotspur (from): Robinson, Cerny, Lee, Stalteri, Chimbonda, Dawson, Bale, Zokora, Jenas, Malbranque, Lennon, Tainio, Boateng, Taarabt, Huddlestone, Keane, Berbatov, Bent, Defoe.

Birmingham City (from): Taylor, Kingson, Doyle, Kelly, Ridgewell, Djourou, Schmitz, Queudrue, Larsson, De Ridder, Nafti, Muamba, McSheffrey, Kapo, Jerome, Forssell, O’Connor, Danns, Parnaby, Johnson.

Monday

Manchester United v Fulham, 8pm

Wayne Rooney is set to renew his strike partnership with Carlos Tevez after missing three games, plus two England internationals, since suffering a freak ankle injury in training. Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, has no fresh injury concerns after the midweek win over Sporting Lisbon. Ryan Giggs, Owen Hargreaves, Edwin van der Sar and Wes Brown are among those set for recalls.

Fulham full back Moritz Volz played for the reserves this week but is still building up his fitness and is not expected to feature. Volz has had shoulder, groin and foot problems and has only played twice so far this season. Phillipe Christanval (knee), Kasey Keller (bicep), Lee Cook (knee), Ian Pearce (calf), Brian McBride (knee), Simon Elliott (calf) and Jimmy Bullard (knee) are still sidelined.

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

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