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Premier League

Here's all the team news and previews ahead of Saturday night's Barclays Premier League matches.

Chelsea vs Everton

Chelsea will be without midfielder Deco for Saturday's Premier League home clash with Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Deco misses out because his father is ill and defender Alex (thigh) and Salomon Kalou (thigh) are also sidelined.

However, both Alex and Kalou are expected to be fit for the home game with Portsmouth next week. Jose Bosingwa is out with a long-term knee injury.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti will recall Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Nicolas Anelka after resting them for the midweek Champions League game against APOEL.

Everton midfielder Tim Cahill is suspended for Saturday's Barclays Premier League match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The Australia international accumulated his fifth booking of the season in last weekend's 2-2 draw with Tottenham and so must serve a one-match ban.

Manager David Moyes still has defensive problems with centre-half Joseph Yobo ruled out for four weeks with a hamstring problem.

That means full-back Tony Hibbert is likely to continue to deputise alongside Johnny Heitinga, who returns after suspension.

Teams:

Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Turnbull, Ivanovic, Belletti, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Lampard, Ballack, Obi, Malouda, J Cole, Zhirkov, Drogba, Anelka, Kakuta, Bruma, Borini.

Everton (from): Howard, Yobo, Baines, Hibbert, Cahill, Gosling, Rodwell, Bilyaletdinov, Fellaini, Pienaar, Saha, Yakubu, Neill, Nash, Jo, Baxter, Agard, Wallace, Duffy, Coleman.

Manchester United vs Aston Villa

Nemanja Vidic will return to the Manchester United starting line-up on Saturday as the Red Devils injury crisis starts to ease.

Michael Carrick is still going to be required to deputise alongside Vidic at centre-back for the Old Trafford encounter with Aston Villa.

However, with Vidic recovering from a flu virus, Wayne Rooney (hamstring) and Dimitar Berbatov (knee) getting over minor knocks and Ryan Giggs available after being rested, Ferguson does have more options, even if the game comes too early for Fabio Da Silva and Wes Brown (hamstring), who have started training.

Aston Villa central defender James Collins returns to the squad after injury for the trip to Old Trafford.

The former West Ham player has been sidelined for the past month with thigh and groin problems but has now returned to training.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill must decide whether to recall his £5million signing or keep faith with Carlos Cuellar who has impressed in recent weeks alongside Richard Dunne.

O'Neill has no fresh injury worries as Villa look to win at Old Trafford for the first time in 26 years.

Teams:

Manchester United (from): Kusczak, Foster, Fletcher, Vidic, Carrick, Evra, Park, Nani, Valencia, Obertan, Anderson, Scholes, Gibson, Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Welbeck.

Aston Villa (from): Friedel, L. Young, Dunne, Downing, Warnock, Milner, Petrov, A. Young, Heskey, Agbonlahor, Guzan, Sidwell, Carew, Delph, Reo-Coker, Beye, Clark, Collins.

 

Tottenham vs Wolves

Tottenham playmaker Luka Modric is set to return to the squad for the Barclays Premier League clash against Wolves at White Hart Lane.

The Croatia international has recovered from his fractured fibula suffered against Birmingham earlier in the campaign.

"It's a bit early to start him but he'll be involved against Wolves," said boss Harry Redknapp.

Redknapp has played down suggestions of a rift with midfielder David Bentley after reports of a training-ground bust-up.

"Part of it happened, a very small part of it," he said. "It was nothing really.

"David is here and has trained hard this week, he's available for the game."

Ledley King (knee) and Jonathan Woodgate (groin) are ruled out of the match at White Hart Lane, with Carlo Cudicini (wrist and pelvis) also on the sidelines.

Wilson Palacios (ribs) is fit and Giovani dos Santos (ankle) has trained.

Wolves have been rocked by the loss of striker Andy Keogh for up to three months.

Keogh is to have ankle surgery after he was injured in training yesterday.

But Wolves are boosted by the return to the squad of striker Chris Iwelumo after he recovered from the foot injury he suffered against Stoke in October.

French defender Ronald Zubar, who has missed three games with a thigh strain, will again be absent.

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is set to name the same side that started last weekend's 2-1 win against Bolton.

Teams:

Tottenham (from): Gomes, Alnwick, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Bale, Corluka, Bassong, Huddlestone, Lennon, Kranjcar, Jenas, Palacios, Hutton, Crouch, Defoe, Bentley, Keane, Pavlyuchenko, Giovani, Modric.

Wolves (from): Hahnemann, Stearman, Craddock, Berra, Ward, Edwards, Henry, Milijas, Jarvis, Doyle, Ebanks-Blake, Surman, Mancienne, Foley, Maierhofer, Castillo, Elokobi, Halford, Hennessey, Iwelumo.

 

Bolton vs Man City

Kevin Davies will return to the Bolton squad for the visit of Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday having served a one-match ban.

Davies, the club captain, was suspended for last weekend's defeat at Wolves after picking up his fifth booking of the campaign in the previous game against Fulham.

Gavin McCann and Johan Elmander picked up minor knocks in the match at Molineux but should be fit for selection.

Otherwise, aside from long-term absentees Sean Davis and Joey O'Brien, Gary Megson has a full squad to choose from.

Manchester City pair Craig Bellamy and Stephen Ireland are both available after sitting out the victory against Chelsea.

Bellamy had a knee injury - like Ireland - then suffered a touch of swine flu. Vladimir Weiss also had the illness but he too has made a swift recovery.

Micah Richards also comes into contention after limping out of the Chelsea game with a knee problem but Wayne Bridge is sidelined with a similar injury.

Teams:

Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Al-Habsi, Ricketts, Steinsson, Knight, Cahill, A O'Brien, Samuel, Robinson, M Davies, Basham, Muamba, Cohen, McCann, Gardner, Taylor, Klasnic, Lee, Elmander, Davies.

Man City (from): Given, Taylor, Richards, Zabaleta, Toure, Lescott, Onuoha, Garrido, Sylvinho, Wright-Phillips, De Jong, Kompany, Ireland, Barry, Robinho, Bellamy, Petrov, Adebayor, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Benjani, Weiss.

 

Burnley vs Fulham

Fulham will be without Simon Davies for Saturday's trip to Burnley after his recovery from an ankle injury suffered a setback.

Manager Roy Hodgson revealed the midfielder has undergone a second scan after the club's physios discovered the injury, which he suffered against CSKA Sofia last week, was not healing as well as they had hoped.

Dickson Etuhu should recover from a knee injury in time while Andy Johnson (groin) and Diomansy Kamara (knee) are still out.

Burnley captain Stephen Caldwell is available to face Fulham after sitting out the defeat by Portsmouth through suspension.

On-loan striker David Nugent also comes into contention afer he missed the match against his parent club under Premier League rules.

However Martin Paterson, Chris McCann and Jay Rodriguez remain sidelined through injury.

Teams:

Burnley (from): Jensen, Mears, Jordan, Carlisle, Caldwell, Bikey, Alexander, Eagles, Elliott, Blake, Fletcher, Nugent, Gudjonsson, McDonald, Thompson, Duff, Guerrero, Penny, Kalvenes, Edgar.

Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Zuberbuhler, Konchesky, Pantsil, Hangeland, Baird, Smalling, Kelly, Hughes, Etuhu, Murphy, Dempsey, Gera, Riise, Greening, Duff, E Johnson, Nevland, Seol, Zamora.

 

Birmingham vs West Ham

Kevin Phillips will return to the Birmingham squad for Saturday's home Barclays Premier League clash with West Ham.

The veteran striker has been sidelined for the past fortnight with a foot problem and will provide back-up for the first-choice pairing of Cameron Jerome and Christian Benitez.

Fellow forward Garry O'Connor and on-loan Sunderland midfielder Teemu Tainio remain long-term injury absentees after hip and knee operations respectively. Blues manager Alex McLeish has no fresh injury problems as his side look to extend their unbeaten record to seven matches.

West Ham will again be without centre-back Matthew Upson for the clash.

The England defender has failed to recover from a hamstring injury, and stays on the sidelines alongside Carlton Cole (knee ligaments), Valon Behrami (knee) and Luis Jimenez (muscle strain).

Forward Zavon Hines (knee) has also joined the absentee list but midfielder Mark Noble is back after missing last weekend's 4-0 defeat to Manchester United with a virus.

Teams:

Birmingham (from): Hart, Maik Taylor, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Larsson, Ferguson, Bowyer, McFadden, Jerome, Benitez, Fahey, McSheffrey, Queudrue, O'Shea, Carsley, Vignal, Phillips.

West Ham (from): Green, Kurucz, Faubert, Da Costa, Gabbidon, Daprela, Tomkins, Ilunga, Spector, Kovac, Noble, Parker, Collison, Payne, Diamanti, Dyer, Stanislas, Franco.

 

Sunderland vs Portsmouth

Portsmouth goalkeeper David James looks set to return between the posts for Saturday's Barclays Premier League trip to Sunderland.

Asmir Begovic is likely to make way for the England international, who has recovered from a calf injury.

Younes Kaboul is back after serving a one-match ban against Burnley last Saturday, while Papa Bouba Diop could make his first appearance since August as he steps up his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is keeping his fingers crossed over full-back George McCartney.

The Northern Ireland international is battling against the hamstring strain which kept him out of last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Fulham amid a growing defensive crisis.

Phil Bardsley and Kieran Richardson, who occupied the full-back berths at Craven Cottage, are both suspended, while Craig Gordon (broken arm), Anton Ferdinand (ankle), John Mensah (calf), Lee Cattermole (medial ligament) and Bolo Zenden (hamstring) are all out.

Bruce will be forced to use the depth of his squad and has drafted in 18-year-old striker Ryan Noble after his FA Youth Cup hat-trick on Monday.

Teams:

Sunderland (from): Fulop, Carson, McCartney, Da Silva, Turner, Nosworthy, Cana, Reid, Malbranque, Henderson, Campbell, Jones, Bent, Healy, Murphy, Meyler, Reed, Noble.

Portsmouth (from): James, Begovic, Mokoena, Mullins, Kanu, Belhadj, Vanden Borre, Piquionne, Ben-Haim, Yebda, Dindane, Brown, Wilson, Hreidarsson, O'Hara, Smith, Boateng, Kaboul, Diop, Finnan.

Hull vs Blackburn

Hull have injury doubts over defenders Anthony Gardner and Andy Dawson for Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash against Blackburn.

Gardner (knee) and Dawson (thigh) have both missed training this week but manager Phil Brown believes they could be fit for the KC Stadium clash.

Midfielder Seyi Olofinjana is back in contention after missing four games with a hamstring injury. His return could help to offset the loss of star player Jimmy Bullard (knee), who faces six to eight weeks on the sidelines.

Full-back or winger Bernard Mendy has recovered from a leg problem and Brown may consider recalling fit-again goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.

Olofinjana's return, however, could be short-lived with Nigeria wanting the player to report early for international duty ahead of the African Nations Cup, which starts on January 10.

Hull at least want Olofinjana available to face Wigan in the FA Cup on January 2 but Nigeria have asked for him a week earlier.

Manager Phil Brown said: "The Nigerian Football Federation are asking for Seyi Olofinjana as early as December 27.

"We are currently trying to contact the administrators and negotiate to try to extend his stay beyond the Wigan game."

Out-of-favour striker Daniel Cousin (Gabon) and forward Kamel Ghilas (Algeria) are also likely to be involved in the tournament.

Sam Allardyce is unlikely to risk David Dunn as the midfielder continues his recovery from a calf problem.

Dunn sustained the injury two weeks ago against Stoke and missed the Carling Cup victory over Chelsea and the goalless draw with Liverpool, but it is hoped he will be fit again for the match at Birmingham on Tuesday.

Otherwise, Allardyce has a full squad to choose from for the trip to the KC Stadium.

Teams:

Hull (from): Duke, McShane, Zayatte, Gardner, Dawson, Garcia, Marney, Boateng, Olofinjana, Hunt, Altidore, Mendy, Mouyokolo, Kilbane, Barmby, Cairney, Ghilas, Geovanni, Fagan, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Myhill.

Blackburn (from): Robinson, Olsson, Chimbonda, Givet, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Diouf, Pedersen, Andrews, Grella, Jacobsen, Nzonzi, Emerton, Hoilett, Kalinic, McCarthy, Roberts, Brown, Di Santo.