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Premier League

We bring you the latest team news from the Red Devils' noisy neighbours, London and Lancashire where the BPL big boys are.

Man City vs Chelsea

Ashley Cole will return for Chelsea's match with Barclays Premier League rivals Manchester City on Saturday.
Cole (hamstring) was missing from Wednesday's Carling Cup loss at Blackburn but will return to a starting XI that is likely to include several changes from the Blackburn defeat.

Salomon Kalou (thigh), Daniel Sturridge (knee), Alex (hip) and Jose Bosingwa (knee) are all unavailable.

Mark Hughes has doubts over Craig Bellamy and Stephen Ireland.

The pair both picked up knee injuries in Wednesday's Carling Cup win over Arsenal and are rated as extremely doubtful.

Vladimir Weiss, who scored his first senior goal in midweek, is also unlikely to figure after being laid low by tonsillitis but Martin Petrov and Nigel de Jong should be available after missing out on the Arsenal triumph.

Teams:

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

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

West Ham vs Man Utd

Edwin van der Sar is set to return to the Manchester United line-up for Saturday's trip to West Ham.
The veteran Dutchman has missed three games since injuring his knee in a collision with Everton's Tim
Cahill at Old Trafford a fortnight ago but has now recovered and is expected to replace Tomasz Kuszczak.

Jonny Evans (calf) and John O'Shea (dead leg) are still sidelined, along with long-term casualties Rio Ferdinand (back) and Owen Hargreaves (knee).

West Ham will be without England pair Carlton Cole and Matthew Upson.

Striker Cole is set to be out until the end of January with a knee ligament injury sustained in the Hammers' 5-3 win against Burnley last weekend, while centre-back Upson has not fully recovered from a hamstring strain.

Switzerland midfielder Valon Behrami is missing with a knee injury while a muscle strain sidelines Luis Jimenez.
Alessandro Diamanti is back from a hip complaint and is in contention but Mark Noble is a doubt with a virus.

Teams:

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

Man Utd (from): Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, O'Shea, Brown, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Rafael, Valencia, Anderson, Fletcher, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney, Owen, Macheda, Welbeck.

Arsenal vs Stoke

Stoke will give a late fitness test to central defender Ryan Shawcross ahead of Saturday's trip to face Arsenal.
The 22-year-old has a groin injury that forced him off in last weekend's 0-0 draw at Blackburn, and is considered a major doubt for the trip to the Emirates.

Stoke are without midfielder Dean Whitehead, who is suspended. Potters boss Tony Pulis also has four other players - Ricardo Fuller, Robert Huth, Glenn Whelan and Shawcross - all one booking away from a ban.

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott will miss out because of a hamstring injury.

However, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger expects Walcott to be available for Wednesday's Champions League match against Olympiacos.

Alex Song is suspended for the showdown at the Emirates Stadium but right-back Bacary Sagna has recovered from his ankle injury.

Gael Clichy (back), Abou Diaby (calf) and Nicklas Bendtner (groin) are still missing, as are Johan Djourou (knee), Kieran Gibbs (foot) and Robin van Persie (ankle).

Teams:

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Traore, Denilson, Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Mannone, Eduardo, Eboue, Vela, Senderos, Wilshere, Silvestre, Ramsey, Rosicky.

Stoke (from): Sorensen, Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Collins, Lawrence, Diao, Delap, Etherington, Sidibe, Beattie, Fuller, Tuncay, Whelan, Simonsen, Higginbotham, Cort.

Blackburn vs Liverpool

David Dunn could miss out again for Blackburn when they host Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday.

Dunn did not play in Rovers' Carling Cup triumph over Chelsea on Wednesday after picking up a calf problem in the previous match against Stoke, and his involvement will be subject to a late fitness check.

Keith Andrews is also nursing a calf injury but is more likely to be available for selection.

Manager Sam Allardyce returned to work on Friday after undergoing heart surgery and is likely to watch the game from the stands at Ewood Park, with assistant Neil McDonald continuing in the dugout.

Liverpool have decided against risking Fernando Torres.

The Spanish striker has been involved in three first-team training sessions this week, but there are still concerns over his groin problem. Boss Rafael Benitez is now thinking of playing his top scorer against Fiorentina in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Italian Alberto Aquilani will also again be amongst the substitutes, while Ryan Babel is still out with an ankle injury. .

Teams:

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

Liverpool (from): Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Insua, Benayoun, Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Ngog, Aquilani, Skrtel, Riera, El Zhar, Aurelio, Kyrgiakos, Cavalieri, Dossena.

Aston Villa vs Hull

Hull are again without midfielder Seyi Olofinjana as they travel to Aston Villa in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday.

The Nigeria international has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury but should return to training next week.

Winger or full-back Bernard Mendy could be doubtful after suffering a knock in a midweek reserve outing.

Craig Fagan (rib) is back in contention but third-choice goalkeeper Tony Warner is unavailable due to his wife giving birth.

Aston Villa striker John Carew is poised to return.
The Norwegian international missed the Carling Cup quarter-final victory over Portsmouth at Fratton Park in midweek with a hamstring strain.

Carew must wait to see whether he regains his starting spot after a resurgent Emile Heskey has netted twice in the past three games.

Central defender James Collins is again ruled out with a calf problem and Carlos Cuellar will again partner Richard Dunne at the heart of the back four.

Teams:

Aston VIlla (from): Friedel, Guzan, Luke Young, Cuellar, Dunne, Warnock, Milner, Downing, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Delph, Gardner, Ashley Young, Agbonlahor, Heskey, Carew, Delfouneso, Beye, Clark.

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

Portsmouth vs Burnley

Burnley captain Steven Caldwell is suspended for the trip to Portsmouth on Saturday after his red card last week at West Ham.

Manager Owen Coyle will therefore have to change his defence for the first time in eight matches and is likely to drop Andre Bikey back from a defensive midfield position, which could pave the way for Kevin McDonald to come in.

On-loan striker David Nugent is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Portsmouth boss Avram Grant is missing influential defender Younes Kaboul.

The former Tottenham man serves a one-match ban for picking up five bookings, but Jamie O'Hara, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Mike Williamson and Tommy Smith all return after being cup-tied for the Carling Cup clash with Aston Villa on Tuesday.

Goalkeeper David James is a doubt as he struggles with a calf injury, while the game probably comes too soon for Papa Bouba Diop (hamstring) and Steve Finnan (groin), who both returned to training this week.

Team:

Portsmouth (from): James, Begovic, Mokoena, Mullins, Kanu, Belhadj, Vanden Borre, Piquionne, Ben-Haim, Yebda, Dindane, Webber, Brown, Wilson, Ashdown, Hreidarsson, Utaka, O'Hara, Smith, Boateng, Williamson

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

Wigan vs Birmingham

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has a fully-fit squad to choose from for Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash with Birmingham at the DW Stadium.

It means Martinez is likely to name to unchanged side following the 1-0 home win over Sunderland last Saturday as the Latics firmly put behind them their embarrassing 9-1 defeat at Tottenham.

Martinez is demanding consistency, however, as the Latics seek back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish has no fresh injury problems either.

The former Scotland boss is likely to keep faith with the squad which impressed in beating Wolves 1-0 last weekend to climb into 11th spot.

Striker Cameron Jerome picked up a first-half injury to his leg but has recovered and is set to continue his partnership with Christian Benitez.

Teemu Tainio, Garry O'Connor, Martin Taylor and David Murphy remain long-term casualties as City look to extend their unbeaten run to six games.

Teams:

Wigan (from): Kirkland, Edman, Bramble, Scharner, Melchiot, Thomas, Figueroa, Boyce, N'Zogbia, Diame, Scotland, Koumas, Sinclair, Cho, Rodallega, Amaya, De Ridder, Gomez, Pollitt.

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

Wolves vs Bolton

Wolves will be without winger Michael Kightly for up to two months as he prepares to undergo surgery on an ankle injury and will miss the clash against Bolton on Saturday.

Kightly had only just returned to action after seven months on the sidelines because of foot and hip setbacks.
Defender Ronald Zubar and striker Chris Iwelumo are still not ready to return from injury.

But Wolves boss Mick McCarthy expects Greg Halford and Stefan Maierhofer to recover from knocks sustained in training as his side look to end an eight game winless sequence.

Bolton will be without their captain Kevin Davies.
Davies will serve a one-match suspension after picking up his fifth booking of the campaign against Fulham last Sunday.

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

Teams:

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

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.