English Premier Leaugue : Match Previews : week 14

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Saturday 22nd November

Chelsea (1st) v Newcastle United (17th)

CET : 15:00
Ground: Stamford Bridge

Last 6 results :
Chelsea
West Brom - Chelsea 0 - 3
Chelsea - Burnley 1 - 1
Blackburn - Chelsea 0 - 2
Roma - Chelsea 3 - 1
Chelsea - Sunderland 5 - 0
Hull - Chelsea 0 - 3

Newcastle United
Newcastle - Wigan 2 - 2
Fulham - Newcastle 2 - 1
Newcastle - Aston Villa 2 - 0
Newcastle - West Brom 2 - 1
Sunderland - Newcastle 2 - 1
Newcastle - Man City 2 - 2

Chelsea take on Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge knowing they will guarantee top spot if they notch a fifth successive Barclays Premier League victory.
Only goal difference is keeping the Magpies out of the relegation zone. They have not won on the road this season and have not beaten Chelsea in London since Andy Thomas got a brace and Peter Beardsley the other in a 1-3 victory on 22nd November 1986.
Chelsea have won their last six consecutive home league matches against Newcastle, conceding just one goal. They have kept clean sheets in nine of the 15 Premier League meetings at the Bridge.

Last season a depleted Chelsea side won this fixture 2-1 thanks to goals from Michael Essien and Salomon Kalou. A Wayne Bridge own-goal had brought Newcastle back into the match before Kalou's late strike.

chelsea team news
Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari could be without a host of star players for the match with Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.

Frank Lampard, who withdrew from the England squad to face Germany because of a rib injury, remains a doubt, while Didier Drogba is definitely out as he starts a three-match ban.

Ashley Cole (foot), Alex (thigh), and Juliano Belletti (ankle) are also doubtful, Ricardo Carvalho is almost certain to miss out with a knee injury and Michael Essien and Franco Di Santo are definitely out.

However, Scolari hopes to have Joe Cole (hamstring) and goalkeeper Petr Cech (calf) back in the squad for the match against the Magpies.

newcastle team news
Newcastle interim manager Joe Kinnear faces a defensive headache.

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. Striker 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.

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

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

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Liverpool (2nd) v Fulham (10th)

CET : 15:00
Ground: Stamford Bridge

Last 6 results :

Liverpool
Bolton - Liverpool 0 - 2
Tottenham - Liverpool 4 - 2
Liverpool - West Brom 3 - 0
Liverpool - Atletico Madrid 1 - 1
Tottenham - Liverpool 2 - 1
Liverpool - Portsmouth 1 - 0

Fulham
Fulham - Tottenham 2 - 1
Fulham - Newcastle 2 - 1
Everton - Fulham 1 - 0
Fulham - Wigan 2 - 0
Portsmouth - Fulham 1 - 1
Fulham - Sunderland 0 - 0

Both Liverpool and Fulham are going for a third successive Barclays Premier League victory but the Cottagers have never won in 27 visits to Anfield in any competition, a record stretching back to 1934.

The Merseysiders are unbeaten in their last 17 home matches while Roy Hodgson's men have taken just one point on their travels.

Liverpool, who will go top if they get a better result than Chelsea, are at their most dangerous in the last 15 minutes of top-flight matches this term, when nine of their 21 goals have been scored; Fulham are also at their most susceptible then, as five of 11 goals have been shipped in the closing quarter-hour.

The Reds have scored 14 goals as they won their last four home Premier League meetings with Fulham who suffered their club record defeat at anfield when they lost 10-0 in a League Cup tie 22 years ago.

Last season Fernando Torres scored a fine individual goal as the Reds ran out 2-0 winners. Steven Gerrard also scored a penalty in the match.

Fulham were still under the stewardship of Lawrie Sanchez when the sides met at Anfield in November of last year. Now Roy Hodgson has made the job his own, with solid home form taking Fulham to 10th place in the Barclays Premier League.

liverpool team news
Steven Gerrard is out of the match 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.

Full-back 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 team news
Fulham have included Dickson Etuhu in their squad.

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.

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

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

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

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Manchester City (12th) v Arsenal (4th)

CET : 15:00
Ground: The City of Manchester Stadium

Last 6 results :

Manchester City
Hull - Man City 2 - 2
Man City - Tottenham 1 - 2
Man City - FC Twente 3 - 2
Bolton - Man City 2 - 0
Middlesbrough - Man City 2 - 0
Man City - Stoke 3 - 0

Arsenal
Arsenal - Aston Villa 0 - 2
Arsenal - Wigan 3 - 0
Arsenal - Man Utd 2 - 1
Arsenal - Fenerbahce 0 - 0
Stoke - Arsenal 2 - 1
Arsenal - Tottenham 4 - 4

Arsenal have the chance to leapfrog third-placed Manchester United who do not play until the evening when Sir Alex Ferguson's men face Aston Villa who won 0-2 at the Emriates last time out

That was the Gunners' biggest defeat of the season so far but they have not suffered back-to-back defeats in 58 Premier League outings, since tumbling to three in a row against Everton (a), Liverpool (a) and West Ham (h), between 18th March and 7th April 2007.

City have never scored more than one goal in any of their 22 Premier League matches against Arsenal and will be chasing only their second Premier League victory over Arsenal.

The Gunners have won eight and lost one of their last nine top-flight matches at City who have lost more matches (18) and dropped more points (60) to Arsenal than to any other club in the Premier League.

City team news
Captain Richard Dunne, midfielder Gelson Fernandes and striker Danny Sturridge could all return to Manchester City's squad.

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.

Arsenal team news
Arsenal forward Robin van Persie returns from suspension for the trip to Manchester City but midfielder Cesc Fabregas serves a one-match ban.

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.

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

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

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Middlesbrough (8th) v Bolton Wanderers (13th)

• CET : 15:00
• Ground : Riverside Stadium

Last 6 results :
Middlesbrough
Everton - Middlesbrough 1 - 1
Aston Villa - Middlesbrough 1 - 2
Middlesbrough - West Ham 1 - 1
Middlesbrough - Man City 2 - 0
Blackburn - Middlesbrough 1 - 1
Middlesbrough - Chelsea 0 - 5

Bolton
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton - Liverpool0 - 2
Hull - Bolton 1 - 0
Bolton - Man City 2 - 0
Bolton - Everton 0 - 1
Tottenham - Bolton 2 - 0
Bolton - Blackburn 0 - 0

Middlesbrough boast the Barclays Premier League's joint longest current unbeaten run of five matches.
Boro have only won four of their eight home Premier League matches against the Trotters who whave won two of those fixtures including their last visit in April when they edged it 0-1.
That was their first victory in nine home and away league meetings with the 'Boro who have not scored in three of their last four matches against the Lancashire side.

Bolton team news
Bolton Wanderers manager 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.

Boro team news
Emanuel Pogatetz and Mido have both been passed fit for Middlesbrough.
Skipper Pogatetz missed Austria's mid-week friendly due to a knee injury while top scorer 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.

squads

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

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

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Portsmouth (9th) v Hull City (6th)

• CET : 15:00
• Ground : Fratton Park

Last 6 results :

Portsmouth
West Ham - Portsmouth 0 - 0
Sunderland - Portsmouth 1 - 2
Portsmouth - Wigan 1 - 2
Liverpool - Portsmouth 1 - 0
Portsmouth - Fulham 1 - 1
Braga - Portsmouth 3 - 0

Hull City
Hull - Man City 2 - 2
Hull - Bolton 0 - 1
Man Utd - Hull 4 - 3
Hull - Chelsea 0 - 3
West Brom - Hull 0 - 3
Hull - West Ham 1 - 0

Portsmouth and Hull City are meeting for the first time in 17 years since New Years Day 1991, the Fratton Park club won 5-1 in the old Second Division.

Hull have not beaten Portsmouth for 20 years, since a 1-3 triumph on the south coast on 17th September 1988 at second league level.

Pompey, chasing their second victory under Tony Adams, have not lost to Hull City in five meetings, and have won the last three. But the Tigers have won four on the road while Portsmouth have won one match fewer at home.

The Tigers could break into the Champions League places should they win, but have not won three points in their last four outings.

HULL TEAM NEWS
Hull manager Phil Brown will decide which four players to leave in the stands for Saturday's Barclays Premier League encounter at Portsmouth.

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

Striker 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 TEAM NEWS
Portsmouth are hopeful Jermain Defoe will have recovered from a calf injury sustained on England duty but skipper 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 United, Campbell now misses his fourth match 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 tie 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.

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

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

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Stoke City (15th) v West Bromwich Albion (20th)

CET : 15:00
Ground : Britannia Stadium

Last 6 results :
Stoke City
Man Utd - Stoke 5 - 0
Stoke - Rotherham 2 - 0
Wigan - Stoke 0 - 0
Stoke - Arsenal 2 - 1
Stoke - Sunderland 1 - 0
Man City - Stoke 3 - 0

West Bromwich Albion
West Brom - Chelsea 0 - 3
Liverpool - West Brom 3 - 0
West Brom - Blackburn 2 - 2
Newcastle - West Brom 2 - 1
West Brom - Hull 0 - 3
Man Utd - West Brom 4 - 0

This meeting of two of last season's promoted clubs sees Stoke aiming to bounce back from a 5-0 thrashing by Manchester United at Old Trafford but chasing a fourth successive win at the Britannia Stadium.

West Brom, aiming to avoid a fourth successive away league defeat, were top league scorers in England last season with 88 Championship goals, but have managed a top-flight low of just 10 so far in this campaign.

Both sides have gone on to win every league match in which they have opening the scoring this season; Stoke four times, West Brom three.

Stoke have not lost in five meetings with the Baggies, winning four of those matches. Albion have not won at Stoke since a 0-3 top-flight victory on 8th September 1982 when Cyrille Regis, Peter Eastoe and Alistair Brown were the scorers.

Stoke team news
Stoke manager Tony Pulis insists he has yet to decide who will replace suspended five-goal top scorer Ricardo Fuller.

Dave Kitson, who has failed to score since a £5.5m 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 matches, 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 team news
West Bromwich Albion are without midfielder James Morrison for Saturday's trip to Stoke City.

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 Athletic on 29th November.

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.

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

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

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Aston Villa (5th) v Manchester United (3rd)

CET : 17:30
Ground : Villa Park

Last 6 results :
Aston Villa
Arsenal - Aston Villa 0 - 2
Aston Villa - Middlesbrough 1 - 2
Slavia Prague - Aston Villa 0 - 1
Newcastle - Aston Villa 2 - 0
Aston Villa - Blackburn 3 - 2
Wigan - Aston Villa 0 - 4

Manchester United
Man Utd - Stoke 5 - 0
Man Utd - QPR 1 - 0
Arsenal - Man Utd 2 - 1
Celtic - Man Utd 1 - 1
Man Utd - Hull 4 - 3
Man Utd - West Ham 2 - 0

Manchester United are bidding for a 12th consecutive Premier League victory over Villa with clean sheets in five of their last six winning league trips to Villa Park. Gabriel Agbonlahor's goal in the 1-4 defeat last season was the first time Villa had put a home goal past the Red Devils in six years.

Villa, who have lost more matches (23), dropped more points (83) and conceded more goals (54) to Manchester United than to any other club in the Barclays Premier League, have failed to beat the Red Devils in 22 league and cup matches, since a 3-0 triumph in the third round of the Worthington League Cup on 13th October 1999.

United have gained 11 successive victories at Villa Park (six Premier League trips, FA Cup ties in 2002, 2004 and last season, and FA Cup semi-finals against Arsenal in 2004, and Watford in 2007).

United have not dropped a point at Villa Park since a 1-1 draw on 26 October 2002, and have not lost a league match there since Villa opened the season with a 3-1 victory on 19th August 1995 in which Ian Taylor, Mark Draper and Dwight Yorke (penalty) scored. United have won nine and drawn three of the subsequent league visits to the venue.

aston villa team news
Aston Villa will be without Carlos Cuellar for the visit of Manchester United as he has a thigh strain.

Luke Young is expected to revert to his favoured right-back role with Nicky Shorey returning on the left.

man utd team news
Rio Ferdinand faces a fitness test on a back injury before Sir Alex Ferguson finalises his Manchester United squad to face Aston Villa on Saturday.

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.

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

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

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Sunday 23rd November

Tottenham Hotspur (19th) v Blackburn Rovers (18th)

# CET : 13:30
# Ground: White Hart Lane

Last 6 results :
Tottenham Hotspur
Fulham - Tottenham 2 - 1
Tottenham - Liverpool 4 - 2
Man City - Tottenham 1 - 2
Tottenham - Dinamo Zagreb 4 - 0
Tottenham - Liverpool 2 - 1
Arsenal - Tottenham 4 - 4
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn - Sunderland 1 - 2
Sunderland - Blackburn 1 - 2
Blackburn - Chelsea 0 - 2
West Brom - Blackburn 2 - 2
Aston Villa - Blackburn 3 - 2
Blackburn - Middlesbrough 1 - 1

Harry Redknapp made the best start to any Tottenham Hotspur managerial reign in 110 years, with five wins, one draw and 18 goals in his first six matches.

But that run was run was halted by a 2-1 defeat by Fulham at Craven Cottage last Saturday.

Blackburn Rovers have gone seven matches without tasting victorym the longest current winless run in the Barclays Premier League.

Rovers have only won one of their last 13 Premier League fixtures in London; that victory being 1-2 against Tottenham at White Hart Lane on 28th October 2007.

Five of the last seven Premier League meetings between these clubs have been drawn, and the most recent three of those were all 1-1.

Tottenham team news
Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric is out of the match 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 match at White Hart Lane.

Blackburn team news
Ryan Nelsen and Martin Olsson are back for Blackburn after recovering from illness.

Strikers 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).

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

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Sunday 23rd November

Sunderland (11th) v West Ham United (14th)

# CET : 16:00
# Ground: Stadium of Light

Last 6 results :
Sunderland
Blackburn - Sunderland 1 - 2
Sunderland - Blackburn 1 - 2
Sunderland - Portsmouth 1 - 2
Chelsea - Sunderland 5 - 0
Stoke - Sunderland 1 - 0
Sunderland - Newcastle 2 - 1
West Ham United
West Ham - Portsmouth 0 - 0
West Ham - Everton 1 - 3
Middlesbrough - West Ham 1 - 1
Man Utd - West Ham 2 - 0
West Ham - Arsenal 0 - 2
Hull - West Ham 1 - 0

After four successive defeats in league and cup, Sunderland bounced back to form with last Saturday's 1-2 win at Blackburn Rovers.

They have not managed back-to-back league victories this season but West Ham were one of their victims when it was last achieved eight months ago.

Gianfranco Zola has overseen a seven-match winless streak which has brought just two points.

Sunderland have scored four of their 12 goals in the last 15 minutes while the Hammers with one at their most vulnerable in the closing quarter-hour (eight of the Hammers' 22 goals have been shipped then).

sunderland team news
Sunderland manager Roy Keane is keeping his fingers crossed that Trinidad and Tobago trio Kenwyne Jones, Dwight Yorke and Carlos Edwards return unscathed from international duty.

The three played in their country's 3-0 World Cup victory over Cuba in midweek and will return to training on Saturday ahead of Sunday's Barclays Premier League match with West Ham.

Edwards is in line for his first Black Cats appearance in two months after being recalled from his loan spell at Wolves this week.

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon (ankle) and defender George McCartney (foot) are again rated at only 50-50, while young striker Martyn Waghorn has joined Charlton on a month's loan.

west ham team news
West Ham's Diego Tristan faces a late fitness test. The striker returned to full training this week following a knock but coach Gianfranco Zola confirmed he will wait until Saturday to decide whether to include the Spaniard, who has yet to make an appearance for the Hammers, 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.

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

West Ham: 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.

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Monday 24th November 2008

Wigan Athletic (16th) v Everton (7th)

CET : 21.00
Ground : JJB Stadium

Last 6 results:
Wigan Athletic
Newcastle - Wigan 2 - 2
Arsenal - Wigan 3 - 0
Wigan - Stoke 0 - 0
Portsmouth - Wigan 1 - 2
Fulham - Wigan 2 - 0
Wigan - Aston Villa 0 - 4

Everton :
Everton - Middlesbrough 1 - 1
West Ham - Everton 1 - 3
Everton - Fulham 1 - 0
Bolton - Everton 0 - 1
Everton - Man Utd 1 - 1
Arsenal - Everton 3 - 1

Wigan have only ever beaten the Toffees once and that was three years ago with Damien Francis scoring in a 1-0 victory.
Everton did the double over the Latics last term and are currently five matches unbeaten.

Wigan team news
Wigan Athletic 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 United last weekend.

Everton team news
Marouane Fellaini and Steven Pienaar are major doubts for Everton.
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.

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

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