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Saturday March 29

Birmingham City v Manchester City, 15:00

Liam Ridgewell will be unavailable for Birmingham as he begins a two-game suspension. Ridgewell will also be ruled out of the away encounter with Wigan Athletic next weekend after picking up ten bookings during the current campaign. Martin Taylor is favourite to replace him and start his first senior game since his red card against Arsenal for the tackle on Eduardo which earned him a three-game ban. Playmaker James McFadden (knee) is still injured but Olivier Kapo could play some part after returning to training following a hamstring problem.

Dietmar Hamann, the Manchester City midfielder, returns from suspension. Of City's midfielders, only Martin Petrov has made more league starts than Hamann this season. Michael Johnson, 20, should be fit despite struggling this week with a chest infection but England defenders Michael Ball and Micah Richards (both knee) remain on the sidelines.

Birmingham (from): Maik Taylor, Kelly, Martin Taylor, Jaidi, Murphy, Larsson, Muamba, Nafti, McSheffrey, Forssell, Zarate, Doyle, Jerome, O'Connor, Johnson, De Ridder, Parnaby, Kapo.

Manchester City (from): Hart, Corluka, Onuoha, Dunne, Garrido, Jihai, Ireland, Fernandes, Hamann, Petrov, Johnson, Castillo, Elano, Benjani, Vassell, Caicedo, Geovanni, Sturridge, Isaksson.

Bolton Wanderers v Arsenal, 15:00

Kevin Nolan, the Bolton captain, will miss the Premier League match with Arsenal through suspension. Nolan picked up his tenth booking of the season during last weekend's goalless home draw against Manchester City and begins a two-match ban.

Ricardo Gardner, the Jamaica international defender, will be missing for at least a month after being carried off on a stretcher against Sven-Goran Eriksson's men with a broken rib.

He joins Jussi Jaaskelainen (back) on the sidelines but midfielder Ivan Campo will feature following his apology to Gary Megson for storming down the tunnel after being substituted against City.

Arsenal will be without full-back Bacary Sagna who has a bad ankle. Emmanuel Eboue could slot into defence, which would allow Theo Walcott another chance to impress down the right wing. Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) also remains sidelined, while Eduardo da Silva is out for the season with a broken leg.

Bolton (from): Al Habsi, Davies, Taylor, Diouf, Campo, A O'Brien, McCann, Steinsson, Hunt, Samuel, Cahill, Giannakopoulos, Helguson, J O'Brien, Rasiak, Cohen, Walker.

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Eboue, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb, van Persie, Bendtner, Lehmann, Adebayor, Diaby, Senderos, Hoyte, Gilberto, Denilson.

Derby County v Fulham, 15:00

Jay McEveley, the Derby County defender, faces a late fitness test ahead of tomorrow's home Barclays Premier League game against Fulham.

The left-back returned from international duty with a dead leg but Derby are hopeful he will recover in time to play. Tyrone Mears is on his way back after an operation on his left shin but will not be involved and Alan Stubbs is still out with a calf injury - but Roy Carroll and Mile Sterjovski will play after recovering from groin injuries which forced them to withdraw from international duty.

David Healy, the Northern Ireland striker, is a doubt for Fulham's trip to rock-bottom Derby after suffering an ankle injury on international duty.

However, Roy Hodgson, the Fulham manager, is hoping Healy will recover in time to travel after the rest of his internationals came through their games unscathed. Kasey Keller is set to continue in goal ahead of Ricardo Baptista as Fulham look to bring an end to a run of 18 months without a win away from home.

Derby County (from): Carroll, Edworthy, Moore, Leacock, McEveley, Sterjovski, Savage, Ghaly, Lewis, Miller, Villa, Earnshaw, Todd, Jones, Robert, Price.

Fulham (from): Keller, Konchesky, Johnson, Stalteri, Hughes, McBride, Bullard, Davies, Andreasen, Murphy, Hangeland, Batista, Volz, Healy, Bocanegra, Dempsey.

Manchester United v Aston Villa, 17:15

Darren Fletcher, the Manchester United midfielder, has been sidelined for six weeks because of a knee ligament injury. Fletcher suffered the setback in Scotland's 1-1 draw against Croatia in midweek in a friendly at Hampden Park.

Sir Alex Ferguson said: "It is a bad blow for us as Darren will be out for six weeks."

Louis Saha is also ruled out of the match against Aston Villa tomorrow because of a hamstring problem and Nani remains doubtful because of thigh problem. Gary Neville and Mikael Silvestre remain sidelined through injury.

Olof Mellberg is poised to return to the Aston Villa side for the trip to Old Trafford. The Swedish international, who is bound for Juventus in the summer, was suspended for the shock defeat by Sunderland, but is set to replace Craig Gardner.

Martin O'Neill has to decide whether to keep faith with on-loan Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson who has looked short of confidence in recent games and made crucial errors. Villa will be looking to end a run of four games without a win but have not beaten United in the Barclays Premier League for 12 years.

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

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, 0'Shea, Ronaldo, Scholes, Nani, Anderson, Hargreaves, Carrick, Giggs, Park, Rooney, Tevez, Kuszczak, Foster.

Portsmouth v Wigan Athletic, 15:00

Sol Campbell and Jermain Defoe will return for Portsmouth's Premier League clash with Wigan, however, Lassana Diarra misses out. Hermann Hreidarsson and Lucien Aubey are also injury doubts ahead of the game, but Lauren has recovered from a virus and could be involved.

Campbell returns after two weeks out with knee trouble while Defoe is back in action after being banned on a technicality from facing Tottenham Hotspur last week. Niko Kranjcar may be due for a rest and Diarra (hamstring) will not be risked before next week's FA Cup semi-final against West Brom, for which he remains a doubt. Sulley Muntari and Papa Bouba Diop complete two-match bans.

Steve Bruce will be forced into a reshuffle with four key players missing through injury or suspension. Erik Edman is set to be out for up to six months after rupturing his cruciate knee ligament in last week's 3-1 defeat at Blackburn, while midfield trio Michael Brown, Wilson Palacios and Jason Koumas are all suspended.

Bruce has received some positive news, however, with Chris Kirkland expected to be available after withdrawing from the England squad to rest a back injury, while Antoine Sibierski has recovered from a calf problem.

Portsmouth (from): James; Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Pedro Mendes, Davis, Utaka, Kranjcar, Hughes, Defoe, Baros, Kanu, Nugent, Aubey, Mvuemba, Wilson, Lauren, Ashdown (gk).

Wigan (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Scharner, Boyce, Kilbane, Olembe, Skoko, Taylor, Valencia, Heskey, King, Aghahowa, Bent, Bramble, Sibierski, Pollitt, Figueroa, Hagen.

Reading v Blackburn Rovers, 15:00

Reading will check on the fitness of Jimmy Kebe ahead of tomorrow's Barclays Premier League clash with Blackburn at the Madejski Stadium after the winger picked up a knock on international duty with Mali.

Graeme Murty (knee) and winger Glen Little (heel) both made comebacks in a reserve match but will not be considered for recalls. The same applies to Brynjar Gunnarsson (groin) despite the Iceland international's return to the training ground, while Emerse Fae remains doubtful following a bout of malaria.

Ryan Nelsen, the Blackburn captain, is poised to return to the side for the trip to the Madejski Stadium.

Nelsen has been out for 10 weeks with a scar-tissue injury after surgery in the summer of 2006 to reattach a tendon at the top of his hamstring to the bone. If Mark Hughes decides he is fully fit, the centre-back will replace the suspended Christopher Samba following his dismissal in last week's 3-1 win over Wigan at Ewood Park.

However, Roque Santa Cruz, the club's leading scorer, is doubtful with an ankle knock sustained on international duty with Paraguay, while Brett Emerton will undergo a late fitness test on a groin injury. Johann Vogel finally comes into the reckoning after receiving international clearance following his recent move.

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

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

Sunderland v West Ham United, 15:00

Kenwyne Jones, the Sunderland striker, could return to the squad for tomorrow's Barclays Premier League clash with West Ham after recovering from a virus.

The 23-year-old should be available after missing last Saturday's victory at Aston Villa and Trinidad and Tobago's midweek friendly, although Carlos Edwards is rated at only 50-50 with a groin problem.

Danny Collins (dead leg) and Nyron Nosworthy (groin) are expected to retain their places in the squad, but Dickson Etuhu (knee) will be missing for several weeks yet.

Freddie Sears is struggling to be fit for West Ham, after suffering a groin injury. However, Bobby Zamora is expected to return to the squad after missing the 1-1 draw at Everton last weekend with blisters. Matthew Upson is still a doubt after missing the last three games - and England's defeat to France - with a calf injury.

And with Danny Gabbidon (groin) and James Collins (knee) also sidelined, England Under-19 defender James Tomkins could continue at the back after making his West Ham debut at Goodison Park. Alan Curbishley is still without Julien Faubert (calf), Craig Bellamy (stomach), Matthew Etherington and Lee Bowyer (both groin) while Kieron Dyer (broken leg) is out for the season.

Sunderland (from): Gordon, Fulop, Bardsley, Collins, McShane, Evans, Higginbotham, Harte, Whitehead, Reid, Leadbitter, Edwards, Miller, Richardson, O'Donovan, Jones, Waghorn, Murphy, Stokes, Chopra, Prica.

West Ham (from): Green, Walker, Neill, Ferdinand, Upson, Tomkins, Spector, McCartney, Pantsil, Solano, Parker, Mullins, Noble, Collison, Ljungberg, Boa Morte, Ashton, Zamora, Cole, Sears.

Sunday March 30

Chelsea v Middlesbrough, 13:30

Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager, faces an anxious wait to see if John Terry and Frank Lampard will be fit enough to face Middlesbrough on Sunday. Terry was forced out of England's friendly defeat to France at half-time with a hamstring problem while Lampard was struck down by illness.

However, Petr Cech should have recovered from his ankle problem to be included in Grant's squad.

Gareth Southgate must give late fitness tests to Robert Huth and Luke Young ahead of his side's trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Huth was forced to sit out of midweek action with Germany due to a foot injury and is rated a major doubt, while Young is on the road to recovery after sustaining a hamstring injury last week.

To make matters worse for Southgate, he is also still without suspended pair Mido and Fabio Rochemback.

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

Middlesbrough (from): Schwarzer, Turnbull, Young, Wheater, Pogatetz, Huth, Taylor, Grounds, O'Neil, Boateng, Shawky, Downing, Johnson, Cattermole, Tuncay, Alves, Aliadiere.

Liverpool v Everton, 16:00

Fernando Torres has overcome injury to declare himself fit for Sunday's 207th Merseyside derby.

Torres, Liverpool's top-scorer, needed precautionary scans on back and ankle knocks after the controversial defeat at Manchester United last weekend. The Spaniard only played 50 minutes of his country's win over Italy in midweek, an agreement that Rafael Benitez had struck with Luis Aragones, the Spain manager.

Javier Mascherano will be suspended, while Steve Finnan is close to a return after a groin problem. Yossi Benayoun scored in Israel's midweek 1-0 win over Chile to stake his claim for a place in the side, while John Arne Riise is also in contention, having been on the bench for the past three games.

Tim Cahill, the Everton midfielder, has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken metatarsal. Cahill lasted just 10 minutes against Fulham, breaking down with a recurrence of the injury.

However, Andrew Johnson, the England striker, has overcome the groin injury which forced him to miss last weekend's 1-1 draw with West Ham United. Steven Pienaar's fitness will be assessed after illness but Victor Anichebe has shown no ill-effects after recovering from a hip injury to play last week.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Skrtel, Riise, Arbeloa, Babel, Benayoun, Gerrard, Alonso, Lucas, Torres, Kuyt, Voronin, Crouch, Pennant, Itandje.

Everton (from): Howard, Hibbert, Neville, Yobo, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Valente, Arteta, Osman, Carsley, Pienaar, Fernandes, Anichebe, Yakubu, Johnson, Wessels, Rodwell.

Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United, 15:00

Jonathan Woodgate, the Tottenham defender, should overcome a tight hamstring before the Barclays Premier League clash against Newcastle on Sunday.

However, Ledley King could be rested as he comes back gradually from knee surgery, while Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) and Gareth Bale (foot) are expected to miss the rest of the campaign.

Kevin Keegan will be without Claudio Cacapa, the Brazi defender, for Sunday's trip to Tottenham.

Cacapa is likely to be out for several weeks with a groin problem, and joins Shay Given (also groin) on the long-term casualty list.

James Milner (foot), Emre (calf) and Stephen Carr (hamstring) are on the road to recovery, but still some way short of match fitness, while Shola Ameobi has joined Stoke City on loan.

Tottenham (from): Robinson, Cerny, Chimbonda, Hutton, Lee, Gunter, Gilberto, Woodgate, King, Kaboul, Dawson, Tainio, Jenas, Zokora, Huddlestone, Taarabt, Boateng, Bent, Keane, Berbatov, O'Hara, Malbranque, Lennon.

Newcastle United (from): Harper, Forster, Beye, Enrique, Taylor, Faye, Edgar, Butt, N'Zogbia, Duff, Barton, Geremi, Owen, Smith, Martins, Viduka, Carroll.