Birmingham (14) v Wigan (15)Johan Djourou will have a fitness test on the hamstring injury suffered on international duty for Switzerland 10 days ago.  Winger Sebastian Larsson has shaken off the illness which forced him to miss Birmingham's defeat to Manchester City. Steve Bruce believes it is too soon for hernia victim Mikael
Forssell to be considered despite scoring for the reserves on Monday.

Wigan are hopeful Mario Melchiot will be fit to face Birmingham at St Andrews tomorrow after receiving intensive treatment on a thigh muscle injury. Melchiot missed last week's 2-0 home defeat against Portsmouth but is expected to return. Antoine Sibierski (back) and Antonio Valencia (knee) are included in the squad and the only absentee is England striker Emile Heskey (fractured metatarsal).

Chelsea (7) v Man City (3)

Avram Grant has no fresh injury worries. John Terry and left-back Ashley Cole are sidelined with knee and ankle injuries respectively, Wayne Bridge is suspended and Michael Ballack is still missing with ankle problems.

Sven-Goran Eriksson is set to name an unchanged line-up for the fourth game running, even though £8.8million striker Rolando Bianchi is likely to be available.

Man Utd (2) v Middlesbrough (17)

Owen Hargreaves is ready to start after an injection to cure swelling caused by tendinitis was a success. Paul Scholes is still sidelined and faces a second scan to determine the extent of a knee injury. Louis Saha is again unlikely to figure but Patrice Evra should be involved despite pulling out of the Kiev win with a calf strain sustained in the warm-up.

Jeremie Aliadiere is in contention to start for Middlesbrough following a hamstring injury, meaning manager Gareth Southgate has a fully fit strikeforce to pick from for the first time since the 3-0 defeat at West Ham five weeks ago. Defenders Robert Huth and Emanuel Pogatetz have returned to training following respective ankle and knee operations, but the game comes too soon for both of them. Julio Arca (knee), Brad Jones (thigh) and Matthew Bates (cruciate) remain on the injury list.

Portsmouth (5) v West Ham (10)

Pedro Mendes returns in midfield for Portsmouth who have Sean Davis and Richard Hughes serving one and three-match bans respectively. Benjani Mwaruwari is set to be a lone striker after David Nugent (groin) joined Kanu (knee) in the treatment room after Tuesday's reserve match.

West Ham are once again without Scott Parker who is still feeling the knee ligament injury which has limited him to just two starts since joining the Hammers. Freddie Ljungberg is struggling with a calf injury and Dean Ashton, Bobby Zamora (both knee), Kieron Dyer (broken leg), Julien Faubert (Achilles), James Collins (calf) and Calum Davenport (groin) are all out.

Reading (12) v Newcastle (8)

Reading expect captain Graeme Murty to retain his place after the defender suffered a bout of sickness yesterday. Winger Bobby Convey is available again following a calf injury and a successful run out for the reserves in midweek but winger John Oster (ankle) and utility man Kalifa Cisse (knee) remain unavailable.

Newcastle striker Mark Viduka is still not ready to return after a calf injury but Alan Smith returns from suspension. Midfielder Charles N'Zogbia, who was forced off at the interval against Tottenham on Monday because he was feeling unwell, has recovered and is named in the squad.

Sunderland (16) v Fulham (13)

Dwight Yorke is rated as "50-50" by Sunderland boss Roy Keane after picking up a calf injury in last week's loss to West Ham. Anthony Stokes is also expected to be ruled out with a hamstring strain and Paul McShane serves the second game of his three-match suspension.

Fulham defender Paul Konchesky is suspended and Hameur Bouazza (shoulder) has been added to an injury list which also contains Kasey Keller (bicep), Brian McBride (knee), Jimmy Bullard (knee)  Philippe Christanval (knee), Moritz Volz (shoulder/groin), Simon Elliott (Achilles), Ian Pearce (ankle) and Lee Cook (knee).

Sunday

Bolton (20) v Aston Villa (9)

New Bolton manager Gary Megson will turn to the club's coaching staff for help in picking the team to face Aston Villa. Megson, though, indicated that one or two players may be rested following the 1-1 draw against Braga in the UEFA Cup. Christian Wilhelmsson, Jlloyd Samuel and Ricardo Vaz Te remain sidelined with long-term injuries.

Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker and goalkeeper Scott Carson are suspended following their sending-off in the 4-1 home mauling by Manchester United last weekend. Stuart Taylor, who saved a Wayne Rooney penalty after replacing Carson, and last season's number one Thomas Sorensen are vying for a recall against the Trotters. Stiliyan Petrov and Isaiah Osbourne are in contention to partner skipper Gareth Barry in central midfield in the absence of Reo-Coker.

Derby (19) v Everton (11)

Derby manager Billy Davies is facing a defensive crisis. Central defenders Dean Leacock and Claude Davis are both doubtful with groin injuries for the visit of the Toffees, while back and hamstring problems seem set to rule Andy Todd out. Full-back Jay McEveley (neck) could be passed fit.

Everton manager David Moyes could hand Tim Cahill his first Barclays Premier League start since March after he completed his comeback from a metatarsal injury in Thursday's UEFA Cup match against Panathinaikos. Thomas Gravesen also returned against the Greeks after a knee injury but Phil Neville and Tony Hibbert are suspended and Andrew Johnson (ankle) remains sidelined.

Liverpool (4) v Arsenal (1)

Liverpool are hoping to have midfielder Xabi Alonso back while striker Fernando Torres is also expected to be available. Central defender Daniel Agger is still a minimum of 10 days away from being available following a broken metatarsal, while full-back Alvaro Arbeloa is fighting to recover from a thigh injury. Harry Kewell scored in the reserves' 2-1 win over Newcastle on Thursday in his comeback from groin problems. He was replaced at half-time.

Arsenal will be without Philippe Senderos and Robin van Persie. Senderos has been out with a back injury and Van Persie will be out for at least a month with his knee complaint. Manager Arsene Wenger is set to keep Manuel Almunia in goal at the expense of Jens Lehmann.

Tottenham (18) v Blackburn (6)

Anthony Gardner is a doubtful starter for Spurs after picking up an ankle injury during the UEFA Cup defeat to Getafe —  the final game under Martin Jol. Jermaine Jenas faces a fitness test after picking up a knock in training and missed the midweek clash. Gareth Bale (foot), Ledley King (knee), Paul Robinson (calf) and Ricardo Rocha (ankle) are out, and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) has been struggling.

Blackburn captain Ryan Nelsen (hamstring) is a doubt. Midfielder Steven Reid will continue building up his match fitness in the reserves after recovering from a 14-month lay off with back and knee problems, while Jason Roberts is still struggling with a thigh injury.