Saturday May 3, all 3pm unless stated
Aston
Villa v Wigan
Aston Villa team news will appear here
Steve Bruce is confident striker Emile Heskey will be fit for the trip to
Aston Villa. The England international is expected to recover from the ankle
injury which forced him off during last week's 0-0 draw against Reading.
Ryan Taylor is set to fill in at right-back for captain Mario Melchiot, who
has joined Erik Edman on the sidelines after being ruled out of the final
two games with a groin problem.
Wigan (from): Kirkland, Taylor, Scharner, Boyce, Kilbane, Valencia,
Brown, Palacios, Koumas, Bent, Heskey, King, Sibierski, Skoko, Pollitt,
Aghahowa, Bramble, Figueroa, Hagen, Olembe.
Blackburn
Rovers v Derby
County
Benni McCarthy is doubtful for the match with Derby County because of a
hamstring injury. The South Africa international is likely to have to wait
until next week's final game at Birmingham City to add to his 11-goal tally.
Rovers are more hopeful Christopher Samba, who limped out of the action at
Fratton Park with a thigh problem, will recover in time.
Alan Stubbs, the Derby defender, will miss the trip to Ewood Park after an
operation on a knee problem. Paul Jewell will also be without David Jones
(calf) and Dean Leacock (hamstring) but Kenny Miller and Hossam Ghaly will
both be fit for Derby's final away game.
Blackburn (from): Friedel, Reid, Nelsen, Samba, Ooijer, Warnock,
Bentley, Emerton, Vogel, Pedersen, Santa Cruz, Roberts, Dunn, Brown, Tugay,
Derbyshire, McCarthy, Mokoena, Khizanishvili.
Derby (from): Carroll, Moore, McEveley, Mears, Edworthy, Sterjovski,
Savage, Ghaly, Lewis, Miller, Villa, Earnshaw, Todd, Beardsley, Feilhaber,
Price.
Bolton
Wanderers v Sunderland
5.15pm
Kevin Davies returns from suspension for the visit of Sunderland. Davies also
broke his hand on his last appearance against West Ham three weeks ago but
that injury will not prevent him featuring. Gary Megson is waiting on
further fitness updates on Joey O'Brien and Ivan Campo. The pair are both
doubtful with hamstring and calf injuries respectively.
Jonny Evans returns to the squad for the match with Bolton Wanderers. The
centre-back, on loan from Manchester United, has missed the past two games
with a hamstring injury. Daryl Murphy (hamstring) is a doubt while Dickson
Etuhu (knee) and Phil Bardsley (knee) are ruled out. Dwight Yorke and Ross
Wallace come back into contention.
Bolton (from): Al Habsi, Samuel, Andrew O'Brien, Cahill, Steinsson,
Nolan, Campo, Giannakopoulos, McCann, Joey O'Brien, Guthrie, Taylor, Davies,
Rasiak, Diouf, Walker, Fojut, Cohen, Alonso, Helguson.
Sunderland (from): Gordon, Fulop, Whitehead, Harte, Nosworthy, McShane,
Evans, Higginbotham, Collins, Wallace, O'Donovan, Reid, Yorke, Leadbitter,
Miller, Richardson, Edwards, Jones, Chopra, Stokes, Prica, Waghorn.
Fulham
v Birmingham
City
Jari Litmanen is finally fit but will not participate in the match with
Birmingham City. Litmanen has recovered from the head injury sustained in
training last week but is short on match fitness and has been ruled out of
the Craven Cottage showdown.
Otherwise Fulham are at full strength and Roy Hodgson could give Diomansy
Kamara a start following his heroics against Manchester City.
Birmingham City will give late fitness tests to Stephen Kelly and Mehdi Nafti
ahead of the trip to Craven Cottage.
Kelly, who is an ever present this season, has a knee problem while Nafti is
battling to shake off a thigh strain.
Frank Queudrue, the former Fulham defender, is on standby to take over from
Kelly while Damien Johnson is available after completing the three-match ban
he picked up after being sent off at Wigan last month. Birmingham, who could
be relegated if they lose, have not won an away game since Alex McLeish's
first match in charge at Tottenham Hotspur in December.
Fulham (from): Niemi, Keller, Warner, Stalteri, Bocanegra, Hughes,
Hangeland, Konchesky, Davies, Andreasen, Healy, Murphy, Bullard, McBride,
Kamara, Johnson, Bouazza, Dempsey, Volz, Kamara, Nevland.
Birmingham City (from): Taylor, Kelly, Ridgewell, Jaidi, Murphy,
Larsson, Muamba, Nafti, Johnson, Kapo, Forssell, McFadden, O'Connor, Zarate,
Jerome, Queudrue, McSheffrey, Doyle.
Manchester
United v West
Ham United 12.45pm
Wayne Rooney could be on the bench for Manchester United but defender Nemanja
Vidic is definitely out.
The England striker injured his hip against Chelsea last weekend and missed
the Champions League semi-final victory over Barcelona. But Sir Alex
Ferguson said Rooney could be involved at Old Trafford. Patrice Evra is also
available after being carried off on Tuesday after being kicked in the face.
Ferguson said: “Vidic is not fit for tomorrow as with concussion you are out
for ten days but he should be fit for next Sunday. Rooney has given himself
a chance but I don’t know if he will start, maybe he will be on the bench.
“There has been a lot of improvement in the lad and the bruising on his hip
has broken up, but we will still have to see whether he can make tomorrow.
We have got a cup final of major importance and we want to make sure he is
available for that, so we are not rushing him. We need to make sure he is
100 per cent.”
West Ham expect winger Julien Faubert to have shaken off a slight hamstring
problem. Midfielder Freddie Ljungberg (cracked rib) has been added to the
long list of injuries. Defender Anton Ferdinand (hamstring) has returned to
light training, but is not expected to feature at Old Trafford tomorrow, and
neither is fellow centre-half Matthew Upson (calf).
Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand,
Silvestre, Evra, 0’Shea, Ronaldo, Scholes Anderson, Nani, Hargreaves,
Carrick, Giggs, Park, Fletcher, Rooney, Tevez, Kuszczak, Pique, Welbeck.
West Ham (from): Green, Pantsil, Tomkins, Neill, McCartney, Faubert,
Parker, Noble, Boa Morte, Zamora, Ashton, Walker, Mullins, Cole, Solano,
Sears, Spector, Collison.
Middlesbrough
v Portsmouth
Mark Schwarzer, the Middlesbrough goalkeeper, could return for the match with
Portsmouth. The Australian missed last weekend's 3-2 defeat at Sunderland
with a back injury, but both he and Ross Turnbull, who was on the bench at
the Stadium of Light despite nursing a similar problem, are back in training
with Brad Jones likely to make way.
Jeremie Aliadiere should also be available after shaking off the dead leg
which sidelined him for the trip to Wearside, but Robert Huth (foot) remains
a doubt and Gary O'Neil (knee) and Mido (hernia) are out for the remainder
of the season after undergoing
Milan Baros returns to the Portsmouth attack to partner Jermain Defoe at the
Riverside Stadium. The Czech Republic international has not scored in 13
outings for the south coast side but will start in place of the rested Kanu,
after recovering from a calf injury.
David James remains a serious doubt for the FA Cup final with a calf strain
allowing Jamie Ashdown to continue in goal while Hermann Hreidarsson returns
following his one-match ban and could replace Lauren at full-back.
Middlesbrough (from): Schwarzer, Turnbull, Jones, Young, Taylor,
Grounds, McMahon, Wheater, Pogatetz, Boateng, Arca, Downing, Shawky,
Rochemback, Cattermole, Johnson, Aliadiere, Alves, Tuncay.
Portsmouth (from): James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Lauren,
Hreidarsson, Diarra, Diop, Muntari, Kranjcar, Utaka, Baros, Defoe, Kanu,
Davis, Nugent, Hughes, Pedro Mendes, Aubey, Begovic.
Reading
v Tottenham
Hotspur
Reading will be without Ibrahima Sonko and Emerse Fae after both players were
suspended by the club for refusing to play for the reserves on Monday. They
will not feature again this season. Glen Little (calf) is manager Steve
Coppell's only doubt as Brynjar Gunnarsson and Jimmy Kebe are both back in
contention following injury.
Alan Hutton, the Tottenham Hotspur defender, has returned to training after he
picked up a toe injury against Bolton Wanderers. Ledley King will miss the
remaining games of the season as he continues to recover from knee surgery.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) and Gareth Bale (foot) have also been ruled out
for the rest of the campaign.
Reading (from): Hahnemann, Federici, Rosenior, Murty, Ingimarsson,
Duberry, Bikey, Shorey, de la Cruz, Doyle, Oster, Harper, Matejovsky, Cisse,
Hunt, Convey, Kitson, Lita, Long, Gunnarsson, Kebe, Little.
Tottenham (from): Robinson, Cerny, Chimbonda, Lee, Kaboul, Gilberto,
Dawson, Hutton, Rocha, Woodgate, Gunter, Zokora, Tainio, Jenas, Malbranque,
Boateng, Taarabt, Huddlestone, O'Hara, Lennon, Berbatov, Keane, Bent.
Sunday May 4
Arsenal
v Everton
1.30pm
Robin van Persie will miss Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash with
Everton. Van Persie is being rested as a precautionary measure after
sustaining a slight thigh injury in the 6-2 thrashing of Derby.
Mathieu Flamini could return on the bench after recovering from his ankle
problem but winger Alexander Hleb is suspended. Tomas Rosicky (knee) and
Eduardo (broken leg) remain sidelined.
Mikel Arteta is set to return to Everton's starting line-up for the trip to
the Emirates Stadium. The Spaniard was a second-half substitute in last
weekend's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa having previously spent time in his
homeland having treatment on stomach and groin injuries. Tim Cahill (toe)
and James Vaughan (knee) are long-term casualties.
Arsenal (from): Fabianski, Toure, Gallas, Song, Clichy, Walcott,
Fabregas, Flamini, Gilberto, Denilson, Adebayor, Lehmann, Almunia, Bendtner,
Senderos, Eboue, Traore, Djourou.
Everton (from): Howard, Hibbert, Neville, Yobo, Lescott, Jagielka,
Valente, Baines, Carsley, Osman, Pienaar, Fernandes, Arteta, Yakubu,
Anichebe, Johnson, Gravesen, Wessels, Rodwell, Gosling.
Liverpool
v Manchester
City 4pm
There are fitness doubts over Fernando Torres and Martin Skrtel ahead of
Liverpool's final home game of the season.
Torres was withdrawn from the Champions League semi-final at Chelsea with a
hamstring problem but it is not as serious as first thought. While Skrtel
was taken off early on in the same match with a knee injury. Peter Crouch
could come into the side, to give him the chance of scoring in four
successive league outings. Fabio Aurelio, Daniel Agger and Harry Kewell are
long-term injury problems.
Richard Dunne is expected to return to the Manchester City defence for the
trip to Anfield after missing the 3-2 defeat to Fulham with a hamstring
injury. But his fellow defender Micah Richards is unlikely to be risked by
boss Sven Goran Eriksson as he continues to make slower than expected
progress after his knee operation.
Valeri Bojinov may return to the bench for the first time since August after
his knee injury, while Javi Garrido has also returned to training and may be
considered.
Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Skrtel,
Riise, Babel, Benayoun, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Torres, Kuyt, Crouch,
Voronin, Itandje, Lucas, Pennant, Insua, Plessis.
Manchester City (from): Hart, Elano, Corluka, Ball, Dunne, Jihai,
Garrido, Vassell, Caicedo, Gelson, Johnson, Petrov, Ireland, Geovani,
Mwaruwari, Bojinov, Castillo, Logan, Isaksson.
Monday May 5
Newcastle
v Chelsea,
4pm
Mark Viduka will be available for Monday's Barclays Premier League clash with
Chelsea despite battling an Achilles injury.
The 32-year-old Australian is due to have an injection to address the problem,
but will play against the Blues before doing so. James Milner (foot) will
return to the squad after a lengthy absence, while Abdoulaye Faye (groin)
should be available after missing last weekend's trip to West Ham.
David Edgar, who suffered a cut head at Upton Park, is expected to recover in
time and Claudio Cacapa (groin) could also make the squad, although Shay
Given (hernia) is out and Stephen Carr (hamstring) remains a doubt.
Avram Grant has a fully-fit squad to choose from for the trip to St James'
Park. Michael Ballack collected a slight leg injury against Liverpool in the
Champions League on Wednesday but should be fit enough to play. Frank
Lampard is also expected to be included in the squad while the only
long-term absentee is goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini. He remains sidelined with a
hamstring problem.
Newcastle (from): Harper, Forster, Beye, Enrique, Taylor, Faye, Edgar,
Cacapa, Butt, N'Zogbia, Duff, Barton, Geremi, Milner, Owen, Smith, Martins,
Viduka, Carroll.
Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Belletti, Ferreira, Carvalho, Alex,
Ben-Haim, Terry, A Cole, Bridge, J Cole, Ballack, Essien, Lampard,
Wright-Phillips, Malouda, Kalou, Anelka, Drogba, Shevchenko, Obi, Makelele.
