All matches 7.45pm unless stated
Wednesday
Arsenal
v Tottenham
Hotspur, 8pm
Midfielder Denilson (back) will return to the Arsenal squad for the
North-London derby.
Full-back Bacary Sagna is also fit again after a knee problem, while Kolo
Toure is pressing for a first-team recall along with Emmanuel Adebayor, who
came off the bench to score at West Ham on Sunday.
Striker Eduardo is closing in on a return from his broken leg, but Czech
winger Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) looks set to remain in recovery until the
new year.
Gareth Bale will return from suspension for Tottenham's clash against rivals
Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
Michael Dawson is still banned but Hossam Ghaly, Ricardo Rocha, Paul Stalteri,
Kevin-Prince Boateng and Adel Taarabt are in contention after being given
squad numbers following the arrival of Harry Redknapp as boss.
Skipper Ledley King is a doubt after playing twice in the last week, while
Jonathan Woodgate has been struggling with a groin complaint.
Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Toure, Clichy, Walcott,
Fabregas, Song, Nasri, Adebayor, van Persie, Fabianski, Denilson, Ramsey,
Djourou, Silvestre, Diaby, Bendtner.
Tottenham (from): Gomes, Cesar, Hutton, Bale, Gilberto, Stalteri,
Gunter, Corluka, King, Assou-Ekotto, Woodgate, Zokora, Bentley, Huddlestone,
Lennon, Jenas, Modric, Ghaly, Taarabt, Boateng, O'Hara, Pavlyuchenko, Bent,
Giovani, Campbell.
Aston
Villa v Blackburn
Rovers
Aston Villa hope former captain Gareth Barry will be fit to face Blackburn in
Wednesday's home Barclays Premier League clash.
The midfielder limped out of the 4-0 win at Wigan on Sunday early in the
second half with a bruised foot. But, if he is ruled out, Steve Sidwell
could make his first league start after scoring Villa's fourth goal as a
substitute against the Latics.
Striker John Carew may return to the starting line-up after being heavily
fined for being out in the early hours before last week's UEFA Cup clash
with Ajax.
Blackburn expect to have central defender Chris Samba back for their trip to
Aston Villa.
The 24-year-old missed Saturday's draw with Middlesbrough at Ewood Park due to
an ankle injury, but he should come into the starting XI .
Striker Benni McCarthy, who came off the bench to score the last-ditch
equaliser against Boro, is in contention for a first start of the campaign
after regaining match fitness, although Australian midfielder Vince Grella
may sit out the match to rest a hamstring problem.
Aston Villa (from): Friedel, Guzan, L Young, Cuellar, Laursen, Davies,
Shorey, Milner, Petrov, Barry, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, A Young, Carew,
Agbonlahor, Harewood, Knight, Gardner.
Blackburn (from): Robinson, Simpson, Samba, Nelsen, Ooijer, Emerton,
Tugay, Warnock, Villanueva, Roberts, Fowler, McCarthy, Derbyshire, Pedersen,
Olsson, Andrews, Brown, Grella, Khizanishvili, Treacy.
Bolton
Wanderers v Everton,
8pm
Bolton manager Gary Megson is without midfielder Gavin McCann through
suspension for the visit of fellow Barclays Premier League strugglers
Everton.
McCann was sent off during Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Tottenham and serves a
one-match ban.
Megson will check on another couple of minor knocks picked up at White Hart
Lane but expects McCann to be his only major absentee.
Tim Cahill will return to the Everton side for their trip to Bolton, after
serving a three-match suspension for his dismissal in the Merseyside derby a
month ago.
Tony Hibbert has a sore ankle and will need to be reassessed in the morning to
see if he is fit enough to play against Gary Megson's side.
Yakubu got a kick during Everton's 1-1 draw with Manchester United at the
weekend and Nuno Valente also has a sore knee, meaning both of them will
also have to be checked out before the Reebok Stadium clash.
Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Shittu, A O'Brien,
Samuel, Gardner, Muamba, Nolan, J O'Brien, Smolarek, Elmander, Davies,
Helguson, Riga, Hunt, Cohen, Fojut, Al Habsi.
Everton (from): Howard, Baines, Hibbert, Yobo, Lescott, Jagielka,
Arteta, Cahill, Osman, Fellaini, Pienaar, Vaughan, Saha, Anichebe, Yakubu,
Nash, Rodwell, Valente, Jutkiewicz, Gosling, Baxter
Fulham
v Wigan
Athletic,
Seol Ki-Hyeon and Toni Kallio are doubts for Fulham's clash with Wigan.
Forward Seol is suffering from a knee injury while defender Kallio is
struggling with a virus. Midfielder Dickson Etuhu could be involved in
reserve team action next week after recovering from a knee problem.
Wigan will welcome back Antonio Valencia at Fulham after the Ecuadorian winger
completed a one-match ban. Valencia was sent off in the 3-2 defeat by
Liverpool and was forced to sit out Sunday's 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa.
Emile Heskey is expected to keep his place after returning from a hamstring
injury and reporting no problems after the weekend fixture.
Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky,
Davies, Bullard, Murphy, Gera, Zamora, Johnson, Zuberbuhler, Nevland, Gray,
Dempsey, Andreasen, Kallio, Baird, Seol.
Wigan (From): Kirkland, Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, De
Ridder, Cattermole, Palacios, Kapo, Heskey, Zaki, Boyce, Brown, Camara,
Valencia Kilbane, Koumas, Kupisz, Taylor, Pollitt, Kingson.
Hull
City v Chelsea
Hull left-back Andy Dawson is hoping to overcome a dead leg for his sides
encounter with Chelsea. Dawson was taken off after just 10 minutes of
Saturday's 3-0 win at West Brom and was initially ruled out of the Blues
clash but has since responded well to treatment.
Should Dawson miss out, Phil Brown would be forced into making his first
change for five games with Sam Ricketts the most likely to come in.
Record signing Anthony Gardner must continue to wait his turn while Stelios
Giannakopoulos and Nick Barmby will hope to force their way into contention.
Captain Ian Ashbee plays his last game before a one-match ban.
Joe Cole returns to the Chelsea squad for their visit to Hull after three
weeks sidelined with a foot injury.
Didier Drogba is back in training after suffering a knee injury but will not
be ready to be involved at the KC Stadium.
Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari is also without Michael Ballack (foot) and
Michael Essien (knee).
Hull City (from): Myhill, McShane, Zayatte, Dawson, Ricketts, Marney,
Ashbee, Boateng, Geovanni, King, Cousin, Hughes, Dawson, Mendy, Folan,
Gardner, Windass, Giannakopoulos, Barmby, Duke.
Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Cudicini, Ivanovic, Ferreira, Malouda,
Obi, Deco, Kalou, Bosingwa, Terry, Lampard, Anelka, Belletti, Alex,
Carvalho, Mancienne, Bridge, Di Santo, J Cole.
Liverpool
v Portsmouth,
8pm
Fernando Torres will miss his fourth consecutive Liverpool match against
Portsmouth as he continues his comeback from a hamstring injury.
The Spanish striker trained for the first time today since picking up the
injury on international duty earlier this month. The 24-year-old has a
chance of being involved at Spurs on Saturday.
Liverpool have minor problems following Sunday's win at Chelsea, with Robbie
Keane still effected by his groin problem.
Skipper Sol Campbell and full-back Glen Johnson are again both likely to be
missing from Portsmouth's line-up as new manager Tony Adams starts his reign
with a major test at Liverpool.
Campbell missed the draw with Fulham after complaining about tight hamstrings
and is still sore while Johnson's pelvic injury makes him a big doubt after
missing the last two games.
Younes Kaboul and Noe Pamarot look likely to step into the defensive breach
once more and Lassana Diarra has been passed fit despite limping off near
the end against Fulham with more knee trouble.
Fit-again Niko Kranjcar is likely to get a longer substitute run-out than last
Sunday's six minutes against Fulham and Sean Davis provides another midfield
option by returning from a one-match suspension.
Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Hyypia, Aurelio,
Dossena, Babel, Lucas, Mascherano, Gerrard, Benayoun, Alonso, Riera, Keane,
Kuyt, Ngog, Pennant, El Zhar, Cavalieri.
Portsmouth (from): James; Pamarot, Kaboul, Distin, Belhadj,
Hreidarsson, Diarra, Diop, Davis, Hughes, A Traore, Crouch, Defoe, Kanu,
Utaka, Mvuemba, Kranjcar, Thomas, D Traore, Ashdown.
Manchester
United v West
Ham United, 8pm
Michael Carrick could return to for Manchester United against West Ham at Old
Trafford.
Carrick has been restricted to just 70 minutes' senior action this term as he
battled to overcome an ankle problem but after returning to training last
week, is expected to come into consideration.
Carlos Tevez is also due to a recall, with one of Wayne Rooney, Dimitar
Berbatov and FIFPro world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo expected to
be rested for the Barclays Premier League match.
Carlton Cole, the West Ham forward, is suspended for the trip after being sent
off against Arsenal at the weekend.
Gianfranco Zola is also without long-term injury victim Dean Ashton while new
arrival Diego Tristan is not expected to be match fit in time.
In midfield, Mark Noble is out with a calf injury but Matthew Etherington
could come back into the side after spending the Arsenal game on the bench.
Manchester Utd (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Brown, Neville,
Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, O'Shea, Carrick, Ronaldo, Park,
Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs, Nani, Rooney, Berbatov, Tevez.
West Ham (from): Green, Faubert, Neill, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Parker,
Di Michele, Bellamy, Etherington, Sears, Lastuvka, Lopez, Boa Morte,
Mullins, Davenport, Bowyer, Collins.
Middlesbrough
v Manchester
City, 8pm
Middlesbrough midfielder Julio Arca will return to the squad for their
encounter with Manchester City after finally shaking off an ankle injury.
The Argentinian has not made a single senior appearance during the campaign
to date after picking up the problem in pre-season.
However, striker Mido (groin) remains a doubt, while defenders Justin Hoyte
(also groin) and Robert Huth (ankle) remain on the sidelines.
Richard Dunne, the City captain, and teenage striker Ched Evans are expected
to recover from injury to be included in an unchanged Manchester City squad
for the trip to Middlesbrough.
Dunne came off during City's 3-0 victory over Stoke with a chest problem but
scans have revealed no major damage, while Evans has responded well to
treatment for a knee injury.
Defender Pablo Zabaleta is suspended, Jo is again expected to miss out
following a bout of tonsilitis, while Martin Petrov, Michael Johnson and
Valeri Bojinov remain sidelined - but striker Benjani Mwaruwari is set to
step up his comeback from long-term injury in a practice match this week.
Middlesborough (from): Turnbull, Jones, Wheater, J Johnson, Taylor,
Grounds, Riggott, Pogatetz, Shawky, Digard, O'Neil, A Johnson, Downing,
Alves, Aliadiere, Tuncay, Emnes, Walker.
Manchester City (from): Hart, Richards, Dunne, Ben Haim, Garrido,
Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Kompany, Elano, Robinho, Evans, Sturridge,
Fernandes, Onuoha, Caicedo, Hamann, Berti, Ball, Schmeichel.
Stoke
City v Sunderland
Ibrahima Sonko remains doubtful ahead of Sunderland's visit to the Britannia
Stadium.
The summer signing from Reading missed Sunday's defeat at Manchester City with
a groin injury and Stoke boss Tony Pulis will make a late decision on his
fitness. Ryan Shawcross will continue in the side should Sonko not make it.
Dave Kitson, demoted to the bench at Eastlands, is likely to be a substitute
once more as Ricardo Fuller and Mamady Sidibe continue their partnership in
attack.
Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon has only a 50-50 chance of returning to
action in tomorrow's Barclays Premier League match at Stoke. The Scotland
international twisted an ankle in training last Wednesday and was replaced
by Marton Fulop for Saturday's derby win over Newcastle, and the Hungarian
is standing by to continue at the Britannia Stadium.
Kenwyne Jones has suffered no reaction to his appearance as a substitute at
the weekend after four months out with a knee ligament injury, with manager
Roy Keane reporting no new fitness concerns.
Stoke (from): Sorensen, Griffin, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye,
Higginbotham, Soares, Diao, Olofinjana, Delap, Kitson, Fuller, Sidibe,
Simonsen, Whelan, Cresswell, Amdy Faye, Tonge, Cort, Sonko.
Sunderland (from): Gordon, Fulop, Colgan, Chimbonda, Ferdinand,
Collins, Nosworthy, McCartney, Diouf, Whitehead, Miller, Reid, Richardson,
Malbranque, Tainio, Henderson, Cisse, Murphy, Healy, Chopra, Jones, Waghorn.
