The Malaysian Insider

SATURDAY

CHELSEA v NEWCASTLE (11pm)

CHELSEA have a doubt over Frank Lampard, who withdrew from England's squad for the friendly with Germany on Wednesday because of a rib injury, for the clash with Newcastle.

Didier Drogba starts a three-match ban but Chelsea hope to have Joe Cole (hamstring) and goalkeeper Petr Cech (calf) back in the squad for the match at Stamford Bridge.

Ashley Cole (foot), Alex (thigh), and Juliano Belletti (ankle) are also doubtful while Michael Essien and Franco Di Santo are definitely out. Centre-half Ricardo Carvalho is also likely to miss out with a knee problem.

Michael Owen could be in line for his first start since October at Stamford Bridge with Joe Kinnear insisting the match is not just a case of "damage limitation".

Owen, who came off the bench to score his sixth goal of the season in the 2-2 draw against Wigan, appears to have finally recovered from a groin problem. "I would say he's close to 100 per cent now," Kinnear said. "Michael is frustrated because he feels he is almost there, but he's getting better and better, and sharper and sharper.

Steven Taylor (abdominal muscle) is still out, leaving Kinnear to chose two central defenders from Fabricio Coloccini, Sebastien Bassong and Claudio Cacapa. Danny Guthrie is likely to deputise for Joey Barton (knee) in central midfield. Mark Viduka (Achilles) is back in training but is not yet ready to return, while Xisco (hamstring), Gonzalez (Achilles) and Alan Smith (foot) are still out. Newcastle have not won at Stamford Bridge for 22 years.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Cudicini, Bosingwa, Terry, Ivanovic, Bridge, Ballack, Lampard, A Cole, Alex, Belletti, Obi, Deco, Ferreira, Kalou, Malouda, Anelka, J Cole, Stoch, Mineiro.

Newcastle (from): Given, Harper, Beye, Enrique, N'Zogbia, Bassong, Coloccini, Cacapa, Edgar, Butt, Guthrie, Duff, Gutierrez, Geremi, Ameobi, Owen, Martins, Carroll.

LIVERPOOL v FULHAM (11pm)

STEVEN Gerrard is out of the home game with Fulham after the muscle tear which ruled him out of England's win in Germany on Wednesday. Gerrard has been in light training but Liverpool assess his chances of being fit for next week's Champions League game with Marseille as only 50-50.

Alvaro Arbeloa returns after a one-match ban and Robbie Keane has recovered from the shoulder injury which kept him out for the Republic of Ireland.

Fulham have included Dickson Etuhu in their squad for the trip to Liverpool. It is the first time the midfielder has been available for first-team duty since his August transfer from Sunderland after recovering from a knee injury.

Roy Hodgson has no other injury concerns other than long-term absentee Diomansy Kamara (knee).

Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio, Mascherano, Alonso, Lucas, Babel, Benayoun, Kuyt, Torres, Keane, Riera, Cavalieri, Hyypia, Plessis, Dossena.

Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Davies, Bullard, Murphy, Gera, Zamora, Johnson, Zuberbuhler, Nevland, Gray, Dempsey, Andreasen, Etuhu, Kallio, Baird, Seol, Stoor.

MAN CITY v ARSENAL (11pm)

RICHARD Dunne, Gelson Fernandes and Daniel Sturridge could all return to Manchester City's squad for the clash against Arsenal.

Dunne and Fernandes have both completed one-match bans for their red cards against Tottenham a fortnight ago, while Sturridge has returned to training following three weeks out with an ankle injury.

However, Fernandes faces a late fitness check after coming off during Switzerland's midweek friendly win over Finland, while manager Mark Hughes could also add another goalkeeper to his squad as cover for the injured Joe Hart if he can make a suitable loan signing.

Robin van Persie returns from suspension for the trip to Manchester City but Cesc Fabregas must serve a one-match ban. Captain William Gallas has been fined and dropped for deriding the team in an interview and appears headed for the exit.

Kolo Toure (calf) is doubtful, while Theo Walcott (shoulder) and Emmanuel Eboue (knee) are on the sidelines along with long-term absentees Tomas Rosicky (knee) and Eduardo (ankle).

Emmanuel Adebayor only returned from his ankle complaint last week so will require assessment before a decision is made.

Man City (from): Schmeichel, Zabaleta, Richards, Dunne, Garrido, Wright-Phillips, Kompany, Ireland, Mwaruwari, Robinho, Vassell, Fernandes, Ben-Haim, Jo, Onuoha, Ball, Hamann, Elano, Sturridge, Evans.

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Diaby, Sagna, Nasri, Denilson, Silvestre, Clichy, Bendtner, Vela, Ramsey, Song, Djourou, Fabianski, Adebayor, van Persie, Wilshere, Simpson.

MIDDLESBROUGH v BOLTON (11pm)

EMANUEL Pogatetz and Mido have both been passed fit for Middlesbrough's clash with Bolton at the Riverside.

Pogatetz missed Austria's mid-week friendly due to a knee injury while Mido has been sidelined for two matches due to a groin condition. The Egyptian could replace the out-of-sorts Afonso Alves in Gareth Southgate's starting XI.

Jeremie Aliadiere has recovered from the illness which forced him out of last Sunday's draw at Everton and is likely to replace Julio Arca. Centre-back Chris Riggott (hamstring) is out and David Wheater is expected to replace the in-form defender.

Gary Megson will check on the fitness of Ricardo Gardner and Danny Shittu ahead of the trip to Middlesbrough. The pair were away on international duty with Jamaica and Nigeria respectively this week.

Joey O'Brien definitely misses out with a thigh injury but Megson hopes Ebi Smolarek and Gretar Steinsson will be available after illness and injury.

Middlesbrough (from): Turnbull, Hoyte, Taylor, Wheater, Pogatetz, O'Neil, Digard, Aliadiere, Downing, Mido, Tuncay, Jones, Grounds, Arca, Walker, Emnes, Johnson A, Alves.

Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, A O'Brien, Samuel, Nolan, Riga, McCann, Muamba, Gardner, Taylor, Davies, Elmander, Al Habsi, Shittu, Smolarek, Basham, Cohen, Fojut.

PORTSMOUTH v HULL CITY (11pm)

PORTSMOUTH are hopeful Jermain Defoe will have recovered from a calf injury sustained on England duty to face Hull at Fratton Park but Sol Campbell (toe) and midfielders Lassana Diarra and Niko Kranjcar (both ankle) are out.

Diarra missed France's midweek friendly after being injured at West Ham, Campbell now misses his fourth game in six and while Kranjcar has been given the all-clear to resume training after seeing a specialist, manager Tony Adams says all three have only an "outside chance" for next Thursday's Uefa Cup glamour clash with AC Milan.

John Utaka, who has shaken off a stomach bug, Papa Bouba Diop and Younes Kaboul are all ready to step in again, with Richard Hughes and David Nugent likely to be among the substitutes.

Phil Brown must decide which four players to leave in the stands for the game at Portsmouth.

A 22-man party will convene in London today, after which Brown will assess the condition of the 10 Tigers players on international duty in midweek and select his matchday squad.

Daniel Cousin has a knee problem and may give way to Caleb Folan or veteran Dean Windass, who impressed for the reserves in midweek alongside Stelios Giannakopoulos and Ryan France.

Portsmouth (from): James, Johnson, Kaboul, Distin, Pamarot, Utaka, Diop, Davis, Belhadj, Crouch, Defoe, A Traore, Nugent, Kanu, Hreidarsson, Hughes, Mvuemba, Thomas, Little, Ashdown (gk).

Hull (from): Myhill, McShane, Turner, Zayatte, Dawson, Marney, Hughes, Boateng, Geovanni, King, Cousin, Barmby, Garcia, Windass, Mendy, Halmosi, Folan, Ricketts, Giannakopoulos, Duke, Ashbee, France, Atkinson.

STOKE CITY v WEST BROM (11pm)

TONY Pulis insists he has yet to decide who will replace suspended top-scorer Ricardo Fuller against West Brom.

Dave Kitson, who has failed to score since a £5.5million summer move from Reading, is the firm favourite, but Richard Cresswell is also in the frame. Tom Soares, who has not featured in Stoke's last three games, could also be in line for a recall on the right of midfield with Amdy Faye's place under threat.

Seyi Olofinjana has recovered from the cramp which forced his early withdrawal at Manchester United last Saturday, but long-term absentees Liam Lawrence (ankle) and Andrew Davies (knee) are still out.

West Brom are without midfielder James Morrison for tomorrow's trip to Stoke. The Scotland international suffered a slight tear to the medial ligament in his knee against Chelsea last weekend and is aiming to return against Wigan on November 29.

Portuguese midfielder Filipe Teixeira could make his first start of the season as a replacement for Morrison. However South Korea international Kim Do-Heon is also in contention to replace the midfielder.

Stoke (from): Sorensen, Griffin, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Amdy Faye, Diao, Olofinjana, Delap, Sidibe, Kitson, Soares, Simonsen, Whelan, Cresswell, Wilkinson, Sonko, Tonge, Cort, Pericard.

West Brom (from): Carson, Kiely, Zuiverloon, Hoefkens, Donk, Olsson, Robinson, Cech, Kim, Greening, Koren, Teixeira, Valero, Brunt, Miller, Bednar, Moore, Slusarski, MacDonald, Pele.

SUNDAY

ASTON VILLA v MAN UNITED (1.30am)

CARLOS Cuellar, the Aston Villa defender, has been ruled out of the game against Manchester United at Villa Park.

The former Rangers defender suffered a thigh injury during the 2-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last weekend. Luke Young is expected to revert to right back with Nicky Shorey returning to the side at left back.

Martin O'Neill, the Villa manager, has no other fresh injury worries as his side look to win a league match against United for the first time in 13 years.

Rio Ferdinand faces a fitness test on a back injury before Sir Alex Ferguson finalises his squad. Dimitar Berbatov (hamstring) and Wes Brown (ankle) join long-term knee injury victims Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves on the sidelines, with Wayne Rooney expected to recover from a calf strain which kept him out of England's midweek win in Germany.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson will be assessed following their trip to Brazil on international duty, while teenage forward Danny Welbeck is also in the squad.

Aston Villa (from): Friedel, Guzan, L Young, Shorey, Davies, Laursen, Knight, Milner, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Barry, A Young, Osbourne, Salifou, Carew, Agbonlahor, Harewood, Delfouneso, Gardner.

Man United (from): Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, Rafael, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Ronaldo, Park, Anderson, Fletcher, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Rooney, Tevez, Welbeck.

SUNDERLAND v WEST HAM (11.55pm)

ROY Keane, the Sunderland manager, hopes Kenwyne Jones, Dwight Yorke and Carlos Edwards return injury-free from international duty with Trinidad and Tobago. The three played in the 3-0 World Cup victory over Cuba in midweek and will return to training on Saturday.

Edwards is in line for his first Sunderland appearance in two months after being recalled from his loan spell at Wolves this week. Craig Gordon (ankle) and George McCartney (foot) are again rated at only 50-50, while Martyn Waghorn has joined Charlton Athletic on a month's loan.

West Ham's Diego Tristan will take a late fitness test before the game. The striker returned to full training this week following a knock but Gianfranco Zola, his manager, will wait until Saturday to decide whether to include the Spaniard, who has yet to make an appearance for the club, in the squad.

Herita Ilunga has recovered from an ankle injury, but Mark Noble (calf) and Keiron Dyer are still out - although the latter has resumed training. Jonathan Spector is in contention for a place in the squad following hip surgery in August, but Dean Ashton and Danny Gabbidon remain in the treatment room.

Sunderland (from): Fulop, Colgan, Bardsley, Chimbonda, Ferdinand, Nosworthy, Collins, Malbranque, Whitehead, Tainio, Leadbitter, Miller, Yorke, Richardson, Reid, Diouf, Cisse, Jones, Murphy, Healy, Edwards.

West Ham (from): Green, Neill, Collins, Upson, Ilunga, Faubert, Parker, Collison, Mullins, Boa Morte, Bowyer, Bellamy, Sears, Etherington, Walker, Lastuvka, Lopez, Tomkins, Di Michele, Davenport, Behrami, Cole, Reid, Tristan, Spector.

TOTTENHAM v BLACKBURN (9.30pm)

LUKA Modric is out of the Barclays Premier League clash against Blackburn following a groin injury.

Jermaine Jenas (toe) should be fit, as should Ledley King (knee) and Jonathan Woodgate (virus).

The news is not so good for Giovani dos Santos (ankle) who will miss the clash at White Hart Lane.

Ryan Nelsen and Martin Olsson are back for Blackburn's trip to Tottenham after recovering from illness.

Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz should also be available but Brett Emerton (hamstring) and Vince Grella (calf) are still out along with long-term absentees David Dunn (Achilles) and Steven Reid (knee).

Tottenham (from): Gomes, Cesar, Hutton, Bale, Gunter, Dawson, Woodgate, Corluka, O'Hara, Zokora, Bentley, Huddlestone, Jenas, Gilberto, Bostock, Dervite, Lennon, Bent, Campbell, Pavlyuchenko, Rocha, Taarabt, Boateng, Ghaly, Assou-Ekotto.

Blackburn (from): Robinson, Brown, Simpson, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Khizanishvili, Olsson, Warnock, Mokoena, Andrews, Tugay, Treacy, Pedersen, Roberts, Derbyshire, Villanueva, Santa Cruz, Fowler, McCarthy.

TUESDAY

WIGAN v EVERTON (4am)

WIGAN manager Steve Bruce will monitor the fitness of four key players ahead of the Barclays Premier League match against Everton on Monday. Emile Heskey (hamstring), Amr Zaki (rib and calf), Mario Melchiot (knee) and Jason Koumas (groin) are all doubtful through injury. Emmerson Boyce is sidelined through suspension after being sent off in the draw against Newcastle last weekend.

Marouane Fellaini and Steven Pienaar are major doubts for Everton's trip to Wigan on Monday.

Fellaini has a groin strain and Pienaar is also struggling with the knee complaint which ruled him out of South Africa's friendly against Cameroon in midweek.

Both players will be assessed by Everton's medical staff over the weekend when a final decision on their fitness will be made.

Wigan (from): Kirkland, Pollitt, Melchiot, Bramble, Scharner, Figueroa, Taylor, Kilbane, De Ridder, Valencia, Palacios, Brown, Cattermole, Koumas, Kapo, Heskey, Zaki, Camara, Cywka, Kupisz, Routledge.

Everton (from): Howard, Neville, Yobo, Jagielka, Lescott, Arteta, Cahill, Rodwell, Vaughan, Pienaar, Fellaini, Osman, Yakubu, Saha, Hibbert, Anichebe, Baines, Nash, Castillo, Jutkiewicz, Gosling.