Weekend Premier League Team News

Wolves v Arsenal:Arsenal will again be without defender Gael Clichy (back) and striker Nicklas Bendtner (groin) for Saturday's trip to Wolves.

Left-back Armand Traore and forward Carlos Vela (both groin) are close to fitness but will not be included, neither will midfielder Jack Wilshere (ankle) and goalkeeper Lukas Fabianski (thigh).

Brazilian midfielder Denilson (back) and England forward Theo Walcott (knee) should resume training following the international break, but centre-back Johan Djourou (knee) remains out.

Wolves striker Chris Iwelumo has been ruled out after he suffered a recurrence of a metatarsal problem during his full Premier League debut at Stoke last weekend - although there is no repeat of the close season fracture.

Boss Mick McCarthy has already confirmed that last season's top scorer Sylvan Ebanks-Blake will return to the starting line-up against Arsene Wenger's side.

Blake was axed from the first XI for the trip to the Britannia Stadium despite scoring his first Premier League goal, albeit from the penalty spot, against Aston Villa a fortnight ago.

Teams:

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

Arsenal(from): Almunia, Gibbs, Vermaelen, Gallas, Sagna, Song, Fabregas, Diaby, Arshavin, van Persie, Eduardo, Mannone, Eboue, Ramsey, Senderos, Nasri, Rosicky, Silvestre.

Manchester City v Burnley

Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor and defender Kolo Toure look certain to return for Saturday's Premier League visit of Burnley to Eastlands.

Adebayor and Toure missed Sunday's goalless draw at Birmingham with ankle and heel injuries respectively, yet have trained without issues over the past two days.

Left-back Wayne Bridge and striker Roque Santa Cruz are doubtful and rated as 50-50 by City manager Mark Hughes with knee and ankle problems.

Burnley manager Owen Coyle could be tempted to name an unchanged side.

Full-back Stephen Jordan is expected to face his former club after overcoming a thigh problem sustained in the victory over Hull last weekend.

Burnley are still without Martin Paterson, Chris McCann (both knee) and Jay Rodriguez (ankle) through injury as they aim to pick up their first point on the road.

Teams:

Manchester City(from): Given, Bridge, Zabaleta, Lescott, Wright-Phillips, de Jong, Toure, Ireland, Barry, Kompany, Bellamy, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Adebayor, Petrov, Sylvinho, Richards, Taylor, Johnson, Weiss.

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

Tottenham v Sunderland

Aaron Lennon could return for Tottenham from an ankle injury for their Premier League match against Sunderland at White Hart Lane.

The England winger picked up the problem in the loss against Stoke a fortnight ago and was expected to be missing ,on Saturday but manager Harry Redknapp has now given him a "50/50 chance" of featuring.

Playmaker Luka Modric is still recovering from a fractured fibula and is absent, while defender Sebastien Bassong's hamstring injury will keep him sidelined for another couple of weeks.

Striker Jermain Defoe is available again after serving a three-match suspension.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce faces a major selection headache.

Striker Kenwyne Jones is suspended after being sent off during last weekend's 2-2 draw with West Ham, while skipper Lorik Cana, who picked up his fifth booking of the season in the same game, also misses out.

Forward Fraizer Campbell is expected to shake off a thigh problem, but Cana's absence is a real blow with Lee Cattermole (medial ligaments) also sidelined.

John Mensah (calf) and Bolo Zenden (hip) are again likely to be missing, and youngsters David Meyler and Adam Reed are included in the squad.

Teams:

Tottenham(from): Gomes, Cudicini, Corluka, Hutton, Naughton, King, Dawson, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto, Bale, Lennon, Bentley, Huddlestone, Jenas, Palacios, Kranjcar, Pavlyuchenko, Keane, Crouch, Defoe.

Sunderland(from): Gordon, Fulop, Bardsley, Da Silva, Nosworthy, Ferdinand, Turner, Richardson, McCartney, Reid, Malbranque, Henderson, Campbell, Bent, Healy, Murphy, Meyler, Reed.

Aston Villa v Bolton

ston Villa will be without skipper Stiliyan Petrov and defender Habib Beye through suspension for Saturday's Premier League match with Bolton.

Petrov collected his fifth booking of the campaign during the midweek defeat at West Ham - a game in which Beye was also sent off.

Nigel Reo-Coker will be a strong candidate to replace Petrov after impressing as a substitute against his former club while right-back Carlos Cuellar will return after a one-game ban and is likely to take over from Beye.

Striker Emile Heskey (back), wide player James Milner (calf) and midfielder Craig Gardner (groin) are major doubts for the meeting with the Trotters.

Paul Robinson is set to deputise for the suspended Jlloyd Samuel in the Bolton defence.

Samuel was sent off in last week's 4-0 defeat against Chelsea after bringing down Didier Drogba.

Danny Shittu and Mustapha Riga are both doubts with hamstring problems, while Sean Davis and Joey O'Brien are long-term absentees with knee injuries.

Teams:

Aston Villa(from): Friedel, Guzan, Cuellar, L Young, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Shorey, Milner, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Delph, Gardner, A Young, Agonlahor, Carew, Heskey, Delfouneso, Albrighton, Clark.

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

Blackburn v Portsmouth

Portsmouth will be without right-back Steve Finnan for their Premier League trip to Blackburn on Saturday.

The defender is suffering with an abductor muscle problem, but striker Frederic Piquionne should be available, despite being carried off against Wigan last Saturday after taking a knock to his neck.

Papa Bouba Diop (hamstring) and Hermann Hreidarsson (foot tendon) are still on the road to recovery and will not play at Ewood Park.

Blackburn striker Benni McCarthy has returned to training ahead of Saturday's clash.

The South African is back in the Rovers fold after recovering from swine flu.

Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has virtually a full squad to choose from with only Vince Grella (thigh) missing.

Teams:

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

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

Chelsea v Manchester United

Nemanja Vidic is set to return for Manchester United's eagerly-anticipated visit to Chelsea on Sunday.

The Serbian has missed two games due to a calf strain but returned to training earlier this week and is expected to be fit, along with £30.75million record signing Dimitar Berbatov, who did not feature in Tuesday's draw with CSKA Moscow after taking a bang on his knee-cap.

Rio Ferdinand (calf) is definitely out, along with Park Ji-sung (knee), while Gary Neville is suspended, so John O'Shea is set to return.

Chelsea have just one player missing from their squad: full-back Jose Bosingwa is still suffering from his knee problem and is unavailable.

But Yuri Zhirkov and John Mikel Obi are in the squad along with goalkeeper Hilario.

Teams:

Chelsea(from): Cech, Hilario, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, Alex, A. Cole, Belletti, J. Cole, Ballack, Lampard, Deco, Obi, Essien, Kalou, Malouda, Drogba, Anelka, Lampard, Sturridge, Ferreira, Zhirkov.

Manchester United(from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, O'Shea, Rafael, Brown, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Valencia, Obertan, Anderson, Scholes, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani, Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Macheda.

Hull v Stoke

Geovanni and Boaz Myhill will miss Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash against Stoke at the KC Stadium.

Geovanni is suspended after his red card at Burnley last week while goalkeeper Myhill is still troubled by a knee injury.

Record signing Jimmy Bullard is included in the squad and could make his long-awaited home debut. The £5million midfielder has missed two games with a shin problem since returning from a nine-month knee injury lay-off.

Craig Fagan could be recalled after being overlooked for five games while Ian Ashbee (knee) is the club's only other significant absentee.

Andy Wilkinson will be hoping to have done enough to keep Robert Huth out of the Stoke side.

Huth returns to the Potters squad after serving a three-match suspension, but Wilkinson has impressed at right-back in his place and manager Tony Pulis has a tough decision to make.

Mamady Sidibe has been struggling with a hamstring problem but could be in contention after taking part in training on Friday.

Salif Diao also trained with the squad but remains a doubt due to the calf injury that forced him to miss the match with Wolves last week, while Amdy Faye has a back problem and is unlikely to feature.

Teams:

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

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

Wigan v Fulham

Swedish full-back Erik Edman could return to the Wigan side against Fulham at the DW Stadium on Sunday.

Edman has returned to training after a bout of concussion and is in line to make his comeback

Wigan are aiming to get back on track after losing to Portsmouth but will again be without Maynor Figueroa, who has a knee injury.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is likely to be without key duo Andrew Johnson and Danny Murphy.

Johnson (shoulder) and captain Murphy (knee) both missed Thursday's Europa League defeat against Roma which could mean a start for Bobby Zamora in attack.

Dickson Etuhu could start after recovering from a knee injury while Damien Duff will be given a fitness test to see if he has overcome an Achilles injury.

Teams:

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

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

West Ham v Everton

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola is awaiting news on Herita Ilunga and Carlton Cole ahead of Sunday's game with Everton.

Both players were forced off with suspected hamstring injuries during Wednesday's 2-1 victory over Aston Villa and Jonathan Spector and Zavon Hines are standing by to step into the starting XI.

Fabio Daprela and Frank Nouble will also be added to the squad. Radoslav Kovac is available again after serving a one-match ban but Luis Boa Morte (knee), Dean Ashton (ankle) and Calum Davenport (leg) remain long-term absentees with no date set for their return.

Everton winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov is suspended.

Having been sent off last weekend against Aston Villa, he was able to play in the Europa League home defeat by Benfica, with the domestic ban starting at West Ham.

Former West Ham captain Lucas Neill and Dutchman John Heitinga, both ineligible for the Benfica game, come back into the squad but Louis Saha (calf) could miss out.

Tony Hibbert returned for the European match after flu but Everton will still be without long-term injured players Phil Neville, Phil Jagielka, Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar, Victor Anichebe, James Vaughan and Leon Osman.

Teams:

West Ham(from): Green, Jimenez, Stanislas, Nouble, Daprela, Kovac, Spector, Hines, Upson, Collison, Franco, Cole, Ilunga, Parker, Diamanti, Kurucz, Tomkins, Behrami, Faubert, Da Costa.

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

Liverpool v Birmingham

Liverpool will be without Jamie Carragher and Philipp Degen for the clash against Birmingham at Anfield on Monday.

The pair are starting their suspensions after they were sent off against Fulham last weekend.

There is better news on the injury front at last for Liverpool. Martin Skrtel (virus) and Fabio Aurelio (calf) are back in the squad.

Albert Riera (hamstring) is also close to a comeback, but there are still doubts over Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly, while Liverpool are still assessing the groin problems affecting Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.

Birmingham midfielder Barry Ferguson is suspended.

The former Scotland international was sent off for two bookable offences during Sunday's goalless draw with Manchester City and could be replaced by Lee Carsley.

On-loan goalkeeper Joe Hart is available after being ineligible to face his parent club although deputy Maik Taylor impressed against Mark Hughes' side.

Winger Keith Fahey is battling to overcome a knock to his knee in training but striker Garry O'Connor is still troubled by a groin problem and is a doubt.

Teams:

Liverpool(from): Reina, Aurelio, Darby, Agger, Skrtel, Kyrgiakos, Insua, Lucas, Mascherano, Aquilani, Kuyt, Babel, Benayoun, Voronin, Ngog, Cavalieri, Spearing, Riera, Torres, Gerrard, Ayala, Plessis.

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