Arsenal

Cesc Fàbregas, who suffered a hamstring injury against Seville, will have a fitness test today before tomorrow’s game against Aston Villa. Gaël Clichy (thigh) and Alexander Hleb (hamstring) will also be assessed to see if they will travel to Villa Park.

Played 13 Won 10 Drawn 3 Lost 0 For 29 Against 10 Points 33
Next match Tomorrow Aston Villa (a)

Manchester United

Carlos Queiroz has rejected criticism from Filipe Soares Franco, the Sporting Lisbon president, for talking favourably of Miguel Veloso, the club’s midfield player. “Franco doesn’t understand what I said,” the assistant manager said.

Played 14 Won 9 Drawn 3 Lost 2 For 23 Against 7 Points 30
Next match Monday Fulham (h)

Manchester City

Elano, the Brazil playmaker, will miss tomorrow’s game away to Wigan Athletic with a hamstring injury and could be out for four weeks. Sven-Göran Eriksson, the manager, remains hopeful, though, that he will be back within a fortnight.

Played 14 Won 9 Drawn 2 Lost 3 For 18 Against 14 Points 29
Next match Tomorrow Wigan Athletic (a)

Chelsea

Joe Cole believes that qualifying for the next stage of the Champions League will help the club’s domestic form. “It’s put it to bed and we can concentrate on the Premier League,” the midfield player said.

Played 14 Won 8 Drawn 4 Lost 2 For 21 Against 9 Points 28
Next match Tomorrow West Ham United (h)

Liverpool

Jamie Carragher has hailed Fernando Torres as “world-class” after the forward’s two goals, his ninth and tenth of the season, in the 4-1 win over FC Porto. “He’s probably right up there with anyone now in striking terms,” the defender said.

Played 13 Won 7 Drawn 6 Lost 0 For 22 Against 6 Points 27
Next match Sunday Bolton Wanderers (h)

Aston Villa

Gabriel Agbonlahor faces a race to be fit for tomorrow evening’s game with Arsenal after he suffered a cut ankle during Wednesday’s 4-0 win away to Blackburn Rovers. “There’s a bit of swelling so we’ll have to see,” Martin O’Neill said.

Played 14 Won 8 Drawn 3 Lost 3 For 25 Against 14 Points 27
Next match Tomorrow Arsenal (h)

Portsmouth

John Utaka hopes that Berti Vogts, the Nigeria manager, will relax his plans to call players together 14 days before their first African Cup of Nations match on January 21. “It’s not good to leave that early,” the forward said.

Played 14 Won 7 Drawn 5 Lost 2 For 25 Against 13 Points 26
Next match Tomorrow Everton (h)

Everton

Mikel Arteta is determined to force his way into Spain’s squad for next year’s European Championship. “I would love to go,” the midfield player, who is uncapped, said. “It would be one of the best things to happen, but I know it will be hard.”

Played 14 Won 7 Drawn 2 Lost 5 For 26 Against 16 Points 23
Next match Tomorrow Portsmouth (a)

Blackburn Rovers

The club will be without Ryan Nelsen for tomorrow’s game at home to Newcastle United. The New Zealander was sent off in the 4-0 defeat by Aston Villa on Wednesday, so André Ooijer is set to move to centre back.

Played 14 Won 6 Drawn 5 Lost 3 For 17 Against 17 Points 23

Next match Tomorrow Newcastle United (h)

West Ham United

Scott Parker should make only his third start of the season against Chelsea tomorrow. The 27-year-old played in two matches this week, for the first team on Sunday and the reserves on Monday, after recovering from a knee injury.

Played 13 Won 5 Drawn 4 Lost 4 For 19 Against 11 Points 19
Next match Tomorrow Chelsea (a)

Newcastle United

Damien Duff has revealed the extent of his career-threatening foot injury. Duff, who could return early next year, said: “It was a dislocation in the middle of my foot. The surgeon said he’d never seen anything like it on a footballer before.”

Played 13 Won 5 Drawn 3 Lost 5 For 19 Against 21 Points 18
Next match Tomorrow Blackburn Rovers (a)

Fulham

Lawrie Sanchez will wait until the end of the season before deciding whether to extend Danny Murphy’s one-year contract. The midfield player has scored twice since arriving from Tottenham Hotspur on transfer deadline day in August.

Played 14 Won 2 Drawn 7 Lost 5 For 18 Against 22 Points 13
Next match Monday Manchester United (a)

Reading

Michael Duberry will be out for about two more weeks after sustaining a rib injury at the start of the month. “He has a residue clot from a little bit of bleeding on the edge of his lung,” Steve Coppell, the manager, said.

Played 14 Won 4 Drawn 1 Lost 9 For 17 Against 31 Points 13
Next match Tomorrow Middlesbrough (h)

Tottenham Hotspur

Gareth Bale has said it will take time to return to match sharpness after missing six games with a badly bruised right foot. “I felt it a bit against West Ham United on Sunday,” he said. “It could take a while to get back in the flow.”

Played 14 Won 2 Drawn 6 Lost 6 For 24 Against 25 Points 12
Next match Sunday Birmingham City (h)

Bolton Wanderers

Martin Dahlin, Jonas Olsson’s agent, has confirmed that the Swedish defender, said to be a target for Bolton, could leave NEC Nijmegen in the January transfer window. “Jonas is ready to move to a bigger league,” Dahlin said.

Played 14 Won 3 Drawn 2 Lost 9 For 12 Against 18 Points 11
Next match Sunday Liverpool (a)

Birmingham City

Alex McLeish has highlighted the calibre of Roy Aitken and Andy Watson, the joint first-team coaches he has brought in to help him at St Andrew’s. “They are two people I trust, they can relate to players,” the new manager said.

Played 14 Won 3 Drawn 2 Lost 9 For 13 Against 22 Points 11
Next match Sunday Tottenham Hotspur (a)

Middlesbrough

Smarting from the blow that Mido has been ruled out until the new year with a groin injury, Gareth Southgate has learnt that he will be without Mark Schwarzer for six weeks after the first-choice goalkeeper broke his thumb in training.

Played 14 Won 2 Drawn 4 Lost 8 For 12 Against 26 Points 10
Next match Tomorrow Reading (a)

Sunderland

Kieran Richardson is on schedule to return to training within a fortnight in his rehabilitation from a stress fracture of the back. “He’s doing some gentle jogging and there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” Roy Keane, the manager, said.

Played 14 Won 2 Drawn 4 Lost 8 For 14 Against 29 Points 10
Next match Tomorrow Derby County (h)

Wigan Athletic

Emile Heskey is set for his first start tomorrow since suffering a foot injury in September against Manchester City. The forward made his first appearance in more than two months as a substitute against Arsenal last Saturday.

Played 14 Won 2 Drawn 2 Lost 10 For 10 Against 25 Points 8
Next match Tomorrow Manchester City (h)

Derby County

Adam Pearson, the chairman, believes that Paul Jewell was right to speak to Dave Whelan, his chairman when he was at Wigan, before he signed as manager. “He didn’t have to,” Pearson said, “but he’d had a good relationship with him.”

Played 14 Won 1 Drawn 3 Lost 10 For 5 Against 33 Points 6
Next match Tomorrow Sunderland (a)