BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER
Liverpool v Manchester United 12:45pm
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is pushing for his first start since March when defending champions Manchester United visit Anfield in the early kick-off tomorrow.
The England midfielder has made three substitute appearances since being sidelined by a groin operation in March.
Glen Johnson has been declared fit after a hamstring problem forced him to miss the last three matches while centre-back Daniel Agger has recovered from a broken rib sustained last month.
Liverpool provisional: Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Skrtel, Enrique, Adam, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Downing, Suarez, Doni, Agger, Johnson, Coates, Robinson, Spearing, Henderson, Rodriguez, Carroll, Bellamy.
Alex Ferguson faces a major selection dilemma over whether to recall skipper Nemanja Vidic.
Vidic made his first appearance since injuring his calf in the opening day win at West Brom in Serbia's shock Euro 2012 exit in Slovakia on Tuesday and Ferguson needs to decide if it is enough to warrant being thrown into the Anfield cauldron.
Tom Cleverley (foot) and Rafael (shoulder) are still out but otherwise Ferguson reports a fully fit squad, with Wayne Rooney expected to play despite the shock of suffering his own European Championship woe at the hands of UEFA's disciplinary panel.
United provisional: De Gea, Lindegaard, Amos, Smalling, Jones, Evans, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Fabio, Valencia, Nani, Anderson, Carrick, Fletcher, Park, Giggs, Young, Rooney, Hernandez, Welbeck, Berbatov, Owen.
Manchester City v Aston Villa 3pm
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero will not be risked. The Argentina forward is close to fitness after a groin injury but is likely to be left out with Tuesday's Champions League game against Villarreal in mind.
Fellow forward Mario Balotelli has overcome a back problem while Owen Hargreaves could come into contention to make his league debut. Carlos Tevez, the subject of internal disciplinary proceedings, is highly unlikely to feature following his recent club suspension.
City provisional: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, Milner, Richards, Savic, Clichy, K Toure, Y Toure, Johnson, Silva, Barry, Nasri, De Jong, Hargreaves, Balotelli, Dzeko, Pantilimon.
Aston Villa's leading scorer Gabriel Agbonlahor is expected to be fit.
Agbonlahor has been suffering with a back problem and was substituted during the 2-0 win over Wigan a fortnight ago, but has trained with no ill-effects this week.
Midfielders Stephen Ireland (foot) and Barry Bannan (Achilles) plus defender James Collins (foot) are also expected to be available, but striker Nathan Delfouneso (hamstring) and the on-loan Jermaine Jenas (Achilles) are ruled out.
Villa provisional: Given, Guzan, Hutton, Collins, Dunne, Clark, Warnock, Beye, Herd, Delph, Petrov, Ireland, Bannan, Albrighton, Gardner, Bent, Heskey, Agbonlahor, N'Zogbia.
Norwich City v Swansea 3pm
Swansea are boosted by the return to full fitness of midfielder Leon Britton for their trip to Norwich.
Britton missed the home win over Stoke with a back problem, but has been passed fit for the visit to Carrow Road, although he may have to settle for a place on the bench after Joe Allen, Mark Gower and Wayne Routledge impressed against the Potters.
Ashley Williams and captain Garry Monk are again the only available centre-halves as manager Brendan Rodgers continues to await clearance to bring in Greece defender Vangelis Moras on a short-term contract.
Alan Tate (broken leg) is a long-term absentee while Steven Caulker will return from knee surgery in the next four to six weeks. Midfielder Kemy Agustien should be back after a hamstring injury in two weeks.
Swansea provisional: Vorm, Williams, Taylor, Britton, Graham, Sinclair, Dyer, Dobbie, Routledge, Monk, Lita, Moore, Bessone, Moreira, Rangel, Allen, Tremmel, Gower, Richards, Lucas.
Norwich manager Paul Lambert has no fresh injury worries.
Andrew Crofts will be included in the squad despite picking up an ankle knock on international duty with Wales.
Zak Whitbread is doing well after a hamstring injury but is unlikely to feature, while Elliott Ward, Daniel Ayala and James Vaughan (all knee) are out.
Norwich provisional: Ruddy, Tierney, Barnett, R Martin, Naughton, Fox, Johnson, Hoolahan, Crofts, Pilkington, Holt, Bennett, Morison, C Martin, de Laet, Surman, Rudd.
QPR v Blackburn Rovers 3pm
QPR defender Danny Gabbidon will miss out. The 32-year-old has been sidelined since the 3-0 victory at Wolves with a knee injury and is out again for the Loftus Road clash.
Armand Traore is likely to return to the starting line-up after a one-match ban, while Kieron Dyer (foot) remains out.
QPR provisional: Kenny, Derry, Hall, Taarabt, Traore, Campbell, Bothroyd, Faurlin, Buzsaky, Orr, Connolly, Barton, Young, Smith, Helguson, Murphy, Wright-Phillips, Ferdinand, Puncheon.
Blackburn manager Steve Kean has a number of injury worries.
Midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen returned from international duty with Norway complaining of a tight hamstring while David Goodwillie reported back with food poisoning after Scotland's Euro 2012 qualifier against Spain in midweek.
Defender Ryan Nelsen is still unavailable with a long-term knee injury, David Dunn has had an injection in an attempt to alleviate a calf muscle problem while Vince Grella is unavailable because of a hip injury.
Blackburn provisional: Robinson, Samba, Dann, Salgado, Givet, Hoilett, Lowe, Nzonzi, Formica, Yakubu, Bunn, Hanley, Grella, Pedersen, Petrovic, Rochina, Goodwillie, Roberts, Vukcevic, Slew.
Stoke City v Fulham 3pm
Stoke boss Tony Pulis is waiting to see whether a sugar injection in Matthew Etherington's back has cured the winger's injury problems in time for him to play.
Kenwyne Jones, Jermaine Pennant and Marc Wilson are also doubtful for the match at the Britannia Stadium as they bid to recover from their own injury problems.
Wilson Palacios, Ricardo Fuller and Danny Higginbotham are definitely out, while Pulis will decide whether to rest Glenn Whelan after the midfielder helped the Republic of Ireland reach the play-offs for Euro 2012 over the past week.
Stoke provisional: Begovic, Wilson, Huth, Shawcross, Upson, Wilkinson, Woodgate, Whelan, Whitehead, Etherington, Walters, Sorensen, Shotton, Arismendi, Pennant, Delap, Crouch, Jones, Jerome, Nash.
Fulham can welcome back Aaron Hughes but will be missing several other first-team regulars.
The defender has recovered from a groin injury and is available for selection, although manager Martin Jol will not be able to call upon Philippe Senderos and Bryan Ruiz.
The former is out for at least a week with a thigh injury, while Ruiz faces the same amount of time on the sidelines with a knee complaint. Kerim Frei (ankle) is also out.
Fulham provisional: Schwarzer, Hughes, Hangeland, Baird, J Riise, Kelly, Briggs, Sidwell, Duff, Kasami, Murphy, Dempsey, Dembele, Zamora, Etheridge, Briggs, Grygera, Gecov, Sa, Johnson.
Wigan Athletic v Bolton Wanderers 3pm
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez welcomes back winger Albert Crusat and defender Steve Gohouri.
Crusat sustained a knock in last month's Carling Cup defeat at Crystal Palace, whilst Gohouri was sent off on his first appearance of the season against Tottenham.
The Latics - who have lost their last four games - will also check on midfielder James McCarthy, who missed the Republic of Ireland's win over Armenia on Tuesday due to a bout of tonsillitis, whilst striker Hugo Rodellega is unlikely to be risked despite making good progress in his recovery from a knee injury.
Wigan provisional: Al Habsi, Caldwell, Figueroa, Gohouri, Boyce, Lopez, Watson, Diame, Moses, Gomez, Di Santo, Jones, Stam, Van Aanholt, McArthur, McCarthy, Thomas, Sammon, Maloney, Crusat, McManaman.
Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen is expected to be fit. Jaaskelainen missed the 5-1 defeat to Chelsea due to a thigh problem but should return in place of Adam Bogdan, who was at fault for two of the Blues' goals in that game.
Gael Kakuta was ineligible against his parent club and is now available again, along with Ivan Klasnic and David Wheater, both of whom have completed suspensions.
Bolton provisional: Jaaskelainen, Wheater, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Eagles, Robinson, Muamba, Reo-Coker, Petrov, K Davies, Klasnic, Tuncay, Bogdan, Gardner, M Davies, Pratley, Ngog, Blake, Kakuta, Boyata.
Chelsea v Everton 5.30pm
David Luiz could be rested. The Brazil defender only returned to the club yesterday after playing a full 90 minutes twice for his country in the past week.
Fernando Torres serves the second instalment of his three-match ban, goalkeeping understudy Hilario is still recovering from a hip and back complaint, while Michael Essien (knee) is a long-term absentee.
Chelsea provisional: Cech, Ivanovic, Bosingwa, Alex, Ferreira, Terry, Luiz, Cole, McEachran, Mikel, Romeu, Ramires, Lampard, Meireles, Mata, Malouda, Drogba, Anelka, Sturridge, Lukaku, Kalou, Turnbull.
Everton manager David Moyes will run the rule over a number of players.
Jack Rodwell should be available after his red card against Liverpool was rescinded, although the midfielder then sat out England Under-21s' match in Norway as a precaution and will have his condition assessed.
Moyes will also check on the fitness of Tim Cahill, who withdrew from the Australia squad during the international break, John Heitinga and Leon Osman, who all have unspecified injury problems.
Everton provisional: Howard, Heitinga, Hibbert, Neville, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Barkley, Fellaini, Osman, Rodwell, Drenthe, Cahill, Stracqualursi, Mucha, Bilyaletdinov, Vellios, Gueye, Saha, Coleman, Hahnemann.
SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER
West Bromwich Albion v Wolves 12pm
West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie is battling to overcome a foot problem.
Simon Cox and Somen Tchoyi are in contention to replace Odemwingie, last season's top scorer with 15 goals, if he is ruled out.
Summer signing Billy Jones is in line to make his first Barclays Premier League start at right-back should Steven Reid fail to recover from his fractured hand.
West Brom provisional: Foster, Fulop, Jones, Jara, Olsson, McAuley, Dawson, Tamas, Mattock, Shorey, Brunt, Morrison, Mulumbu, Scharner, Dorrans, Thomas, Tchoyi, Odemwingie, Long, Cox, Fortune.
Scottish forward Steven Fletcher suffered a calf injury during training earlier this week and has been ruled out of the match by Wolves boss Mick McCarthy.
With Wolves' other experienced striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake not match-fit after his knee problem, McCarthy could be forced to alter his formation from 4-4-2.
But deputy left-back George Elokobi's ankle injury means Stephen Ward is unlikely to be pushed forward into the attacking role he has been employed in on several occasions in a 4-4-1-1 system.
Wolves provisional: Hennessey, Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Hunt, Henry, O'Hara, Jarvis, Doyle, Hammill, Guedioura, Milijas, De Vries, Vokes, Edwards, Doherty, Craddock, Zubar, Ebanks-Blake.
Arsenal v Sunderland 1.30pm
Sunderland will be without striker Nicklas Bendtner for their visit to his parent club Arsenal on Sunday.
The Denmark international is ineligible under the terms of his loan agreement with the Gunners, and that could present an opportunity to summer signings Connor Wickham, who has recovered from a groin problem, and Ji Dong-won.
Full-back Phil Bardsley completes his four-match ban and Titus Bramble is suspended pending police and club investigations, while Craig Gordon and Fraizer Campbell (both knee) continue to work their way back to fitness.
Sunderland provisional: Mignolet, Westwood, O'Shea, Brown, Richardson, Turner, Laing, Cattermole, Gardner, Vaughan, Larsson, Colback, Elmohamady, Meyler, Sessegnon, Wickham, Ji, McClean, Cook.
Carl Jenkinson is likely to replace right-back Bacary Sagna against Sunderland. Sagna fractured a fibula in the derby defeat at Tottenham and is due to be out for a minimum of three months.
Tomas Rosicky should be available after suffering a groin problem on international duty with the Czech Republic. Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou are also fit.
Abou Diaby is back in training and should be back for the Carling Cup tie against Bolton while Thomas Vermaelen is two weeks away from a return. Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has also recovered from a slight groin injury.
Arsenal provisional: Szczesny, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Song, Frimpong, Jenkinson, Ramsey, Arteta, Gervinho, Van Persie, Walcott, Fabianski, Park, Santos, Benayoun, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Djourou, Rosicky, Arshavin, Chamakh, Miquel, Squillaci.
Newcastle United v Tottenham 4pm
Tottenham will give a fitness test to Emmanuel Adebayor to see if he is fit to play in Sunday's game at Newcastle, after the striker suffered a hamstring injury in the club's win over Arsenal two weeks ago.
Rafael van der Vaart should be fit despite a hamstring niggle, but Sandro (calf) and Aaron Lennon (groin) are doubts and Niko Kranjcar is likely to be out for some time after tearing a thigh muscle while on international duty with Croatia.
Vedran Corluka also suffered a foot injury with Croatia and will miss this weekend's game, while long-term absentees William Gallas (calf), Michael Dawson (Achilles) and Tom Huddlestone (ankle) remain sidelined.
Tottenham provisional: Gomes, Friedel, Cudicini, Bale, Kaboul, Bassong, Walker, King, Assou-Ekotto, Rose, Parker, Modric, Livermore, Townsend, Carroll, Lennon, Falque, Sandro, Pienaar, Pavlyuchenko, Defoe, Dos Santos, Adebayor, Van der Vaart.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was a relieved man after seeing all his international stars return to Tyneside unscathed.
There were fears that France midfielder Yohan Cabaye (ankle) and Senegal striker Demba Ba (knee) might be struggling, but both are fit and available.
Danny Guthrie (groin) and Sammy Ameobi (hamstring), however, are doubts after picking up injuries on reserve team duty, while Mike Williamson (broken arm) remains on the sidelines.
Newcastle provisional: Krul, Harper, Simpson, R Taylor, Santon, Ferguson, Coloccini, S Taylor, Tiote, Cabaye, Gutierrez, Marveaux, Obertan, Gosling, Guthrie, Ben Arfa, Abeid, Vuckic, Ba, Lovenkrands, Best, Sammy Ameobi.
