Saturday December 22, kick-off 1500 unless otherwise stated

Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur 1245

Arsenal striker Theo Walcott is still struggling with a knee injury and will not be available for another week. Emmanuel Eboue is included in the squad after a scan today revealed the knee/ankle injuries sustained against Chelsea last Sunday are not serious.

Robbie Keane, the Tottenham striker, returns from suspension but Didier Zokora starts a three-match ban. Darren Bent (hip), Ricardo Rocha (thigh), Michael Dawson (migraine) and Jermaine Jenas (ankle) require late checks. Ledley King has a picked up a thigh strain while recovering from knee surgery, and Anthony Gardner (ankle), Gareth Bale (foot) and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) remain sidelined.

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Lehmann, Sagna, Gallas, Toure, Clichy, Eboue, Gilberto, Diarra, Rosicky, van Persie, Adebayor, Senderos, Traore, Song, Denilson, Bendtner, Diaby, Eduardo.

Tottenham Hotspur (from): Robinson, Cerny, Chimbonda, Kaboul, Lee, Dawson, Rocha, Lennon, O'Hara, Jenas, Boateng, Malbranque, Huddlestone, Berbatov, Defoe, Tainio, Taarabt, Bent, Keane.

Aston Villa v Manchester City

Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov is back in contention after a two-game absence. The Bulgarian international missed the games with Portsmouth and Sunderland after suffering a hamstring injury during the first half at home to Arsenal. Central defender Curtis Davies is also pushing for a starting place after recovering from a broken nose sustained in training a week ago. The former West Brom player has still to start a League game for Villa but is challenging strongly for Zat Knight's place.

Michael Johnson is a major doubt for Manchester City as Sven-Goran Eriksson's men look to record their first Barclays Premier League away win since the opening day of the season. Johnson is still suffering some discomfort from an abdominal injury which required surgery last month and has been ordered to rest for a couple of days. If the England Under-21 man misses out, Eriksson could hand Geovanni a rare start alongside Dietmar Hamann as Stephen Ireland is serving the final game of a three-match ban. Joe Hart will definitely be in goal after being preferred to Andreas Isaksson.

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

Manchester City (from): Hart, Isaksson, Corluka, Sun, Onuoha, Richards, Dunne, Garrido, Ball, Hamann, Fernandes, Johnson, Geovanni, Petrov, Elano, Bianchi, Vassell, Mpenza, Etuhu.

Bolton Wanderers v Birmingham City

Andy O'Brien is set to return to the Bolton defence. The Republic of Ireland international is fit again after a bout of food poisoning. Midfielder Kevin Nolan has shaken off a minor foot injury he suffered last week and although long-term absentee Heidar Helguson (ankle) has returned to training, the Icelandic striker is yet to regain full fitness.

Birmingham will be without Liam Ridgewell for the trip to Bolton with the central defender having to serve a one-match ban for incurring five bookings this season. But midfielder Mehdi Nafti will be available again to face Gary Megson's side after serving a one-game ban against Reading last weekend for the same offence. Former Bolton player Rahdi Jaidi is included in the squad while on-loan Arsenal defender Johan Djourou, who will return to the Emirates Stadium next month, has recovered from a pelvic problem. Stuart Parnaby is ruled out of contention with a foot injury. Last season's skipper Damien Johnson will captain the side in Ridgewell's absence.

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

Birmingham City (from): Taylor, Kingson, Doyle, Kelly, Djourou, Schmitz, Jaidi, Sadler, Larsson, McSheffrey, Muamba, Nafti, Johnson, Kapo, Jerome, Forssell, O'Connor, De Ridder.

Fulham v Wigan Athletic

Fulham are still without Jimmy Bullard who is recovering from a serious knee injury. The former Wigan midfielder stepped up his comeback by featuring in a reserve game in midweek, but the meeting with his old club comes too soon. The visit of Steve Bruce's side will be the first game for Fulham following the dismissal of boss Lawrie Sanchez on Friday.

Emile Heskey could be a surprise inclusion in Wigan's squad at fellow strugglers Fulham. Heskey was carried off in Wigan's 5-3 win over Blackburn last weekend and was expected to be out for a number of weeks with an ankle injury. But the England international is now rated "touch and go" to play at Craven Cottage by manager Steve Bruce, who gives Jason Koumas (groin) and Antoine Sibierski (thigh) the same chance of being involved.

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

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

Liverpool v Portsmouth

Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are set to return for Liverpool after they both missed Wednesday's Carling Cup defeat to Chelsea through illness.

Peter Crouch begins a three-match ban for his sending off at Stamford Bridge but Xabi Alonso is in contention. The Spain midfielder came through unscathed against the Blues on his return from a broken metatarsal.

Noe Pamarot, the Portsmouth defender, is out with a hamstring injury and midfielder Sean Davis (ankle) is a doubtful starter. Hermann Hreidarsson is set to return and Pedro Mendes could keep his place despite being replaced at half-time by Davis in last week's defeat by Tottenham. Pamarot is hopeful of a Boxing Day return at home to Arsenal. Linvoy Primus (knee) and Martin Cranie (broken leg) remain long-term absentees but striker Kanu is available again after attending his father's funeral in Nigeria last week and is likely to be on the substitutes' bench.

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

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

Middlesbrough v West Ham United

Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager, faces an anxious wait over midfielders Stewart Downing and Gary O'Neil. Downing picked up a hip injury during last Saturday's 1-0 win at Derby and has been ill this week and, although he is hopeful of making the game, O'Neil is a major doubt after being sent for a scan on a hamstring problem he sustained in training yesterday. Julio Arca could return after missing out at Pride Park as he returns from his knee ligament injury, but Fabio Rochemback is suspended and Andrew Taylor (foot), Chris Riggott (calf) and Mido (groin) are still out.

West Ham will give a late fitness tests to James Collins and Luis Boa Morte who are both rated 50-50 for their trip to Middlesbrough. Striker Carlton Cole is suspended while Fredrik Ljungberg and Danny Gabbidon are also doubtful. Long-term absentees Calum Davenport (groin), Matthew Etherington (groin), Craig Bellamy (stomach strain), Anton Ferdinand (hamstring), Lee Bowyer (groin), Bobby Zamora (knee), Kieron Dyer (broken leg) and Julien Faubert (Achilles) are all out.

Middlesbrough (from): Schwarzer, Turnbull, Young, Woodgate, Wheater, Pogatetz, Huth, Cattermole, O'Neil, Boateng, Arca, Johnson, Shawky, Aliadiere, Downing, Tuncay, Lee, Hutchinson.

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

Reading v Sunderland

Reading are waiting on the fitness of midfielder Brynjar Gunnarsson who suffered a knee injury in last week's 1-1 draw at Birmingham. Kalifa Cisse stands by. Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, has no new injury worries but is still without wingers John Oster (ankle) and Glen Little (heel).

Roy Keane, the Sunderland manager, will once again be without Liam Miller, who serves the second game of his three-match ban after being sent off at Chelsea. Kieran Richardson (back) and Russell Anderson (ankle) are back in training but still some way from playing, while Nyron Nosworthy (hamstring) is progressing well, although Carlos Edwards (broken leg) will be out for some time.

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

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

Sunday December 23

Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea 1610

Blackburn team news to follow

Chelsea are waiting on the fitness of Andriy Shevchenko, who suffered a knock to his ankle in the final moments of their Carling Cup win over Liverpool on Wednesday night. John Terry is out with fracture bones in his foot while Florent Malouda remains doubtful with a knee injury. Didier Drogba is sidelined after knee surgery but Claudio Pizarro should have shaken off a virus in time to be included in the squad.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Cudicini, Hilario, Belletti, Ferreira, Carvalho, Alex, Ben-Haim, A Cole, J Cole, Lampard, Essien, Sidwell, Kalou, Shevchenko, Mikel, Sinclair, Wright-Phillips, Pizarro.

Manchester United v Everton 1200

Rio Ferdinand, Carlos Tevez and Wes Brown are all expected to shake off minor knocks as Manchester United look to maintain winning ways at Old Trafford. The trio all left Anfield last weekend with injuries picked up in the victory over Liverpool, but Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed they have all now returned to training and should be involved against the Toffeemen on Sunday. Park Ji-sung is unlikely to figure, having missed out on a reserve-team appearance at Oldham this week. But the South Korean is expected to have some involvement over the festive period after recovering from cruciate knee-ligament surgery.

David Moyes, the Everton manager, looks certain to reshuffle his side. Goalkeeper Tim Howard, Ayegbeni Yakubu, Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill, and Joseph Yobo could all return after being rested last night when AZ Alkmaar were beaten in the Uefa Cup. Everton are unbeaten in 13 matches in all competitions but will again be without Leon Osman, Alan Stubbs and Leighton Baines through injury.

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

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

Newcastle United v Derby County 1400

England Under-21 captain Steven Taylor returns to the Newcastle United squad. The United defender missed last Saturday's victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage with a hamstring injury but is not sure of his place against Derby after central defenders Claudio Cacapa and David Rozehnal helped Sam Allardyce's side to their first clean sheet since September 1. Sam Allardyce, the Newcastle manager, is hoping United's other injured players Michael Owen, Shola Ameobi, Abdoulaye Faye, Stephen Carr and Damien Duff will all be fit for the Boxing Day trip to Wigan Athletic.

Derby midfielder Matt Oakley is a doubt as he is struggling with a thigh strain although Paul Jewell, the Derby manager, hopes he will have recovered by Sunday to face Newcastle, who are the only side Derby have beaten in the league this season. A groin injury looks set to rule David Jones out of the clash, and long-term absentee Andy Todd (back) will again be missing.

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

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