FA Premier League injury news August 14th-16th

Saturday August 14th

Tottenham  v  Man City (Kick off 12.45)

Manchester City have no injury worries. Roberto Mancini just has to decide which of his plethora of footballing stars to start in this Premier League curtain raiser. New signings Jerome Boateng, Aleksander Loarov, Yaya Toure and David Silva are all in contention to start.
Spurs’ Jonathan Woodgate and Roman Pavlychenko are Harry Redknapp’s only injuries. Brazil striker Sandro is in contention to get his Spurs debut.

Aston Villa  v  West Ham (Kick off 15.00)

Aston Villa appear to be in big trouble even before the season has begun. Caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald is taking charge of his first game at Villa Park and the absence of Martin O’Neill will have demoralised the Birmingham outfit. To add injury to insult, Carlos Cuellar (two goals in 2009/10) will miss the game due to a hamstrong problem and fellow defender James Collins picked up a calf injury playing for Wales midweek. It’s likely that Curtis Davies will partner Richard Dunne in the middle of the Villa defence. Gabriel Agbonlahor (13 goals, three assists in 2009/10) is also struggling with a hamstring injury. Fabian Delph is a long-term absentee.
New West Ham signing Thomas Hitzlsperger is a doubt after he picked up a thigh injury representing Germany midweek. But in line for his debut is Frederic Piquionne.

Blackburn  v  Everton (Kick off 15.00)

Martin Olsson (one goal in 2009/10) and Vince Grella are Blackburn’s only absentees. Loan signing Mame Biram Diouf could make his debut after scoring for Senegal midweek.
Jermaine Beckford (25 goals, five assists in 2009/10) could be thrown into the Premier League for his Everton debut. Tim Cahill and Victor Anchibe are doubts with calf and knee injuries respectively.

Bolton  v  Fulham (Kick off 15.00)

Gavin McCann is a doubt with an ankle knock and Joey O’Brien remains on Bolton’s long-term injury list. New signings Marcos Alonso, Robbie Blake, Tom Eaves, Ivan Klasnic and Martin Petrov are all in line to make their debuts.
New Fulham signing Philip Senderos will be out until February with an Achilles problem. Damien Duff picked up a minor knock in Ireland’s defeat against Argentina on Wednesday and is a doubt. Andy Johnson may not return to first team action until late September.
 
Chelsea  v  West Brom (Kick off 17.30)

Alex and Petr Cech will face late Chelsea fitness tests for their Premier League opener with West Brom. Defender Alex has a thigh problem while Cech is suffering with a calf strain. Jose Bosingwa will be out until next month at least.
West Brom midfielder Graham Dorrans should make the starting XI while boss Roberto Di Matteo will give Nicky Shorey and Pablo Ibanez their debuts in defence. Desperate Dan look-a-like Scott Carson will start in goal for West Brom as captain for the season and Ishmael Miller is expected to be the sole striker for the game at Stamford Bridge.

Sunderland  v  Birmingham (Kick off 15.00)

Darren Bent (24 goals, one assist in 2009/10) should recover from the back injury which forced him to withdraw from the England squad midweek. New Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet could make his first competitive start for Sunderland while a first start could be on the cards for new loan defender Nedum Onuoha. Doubts also surround the participation of Anton Ferdinand, Lee Cattermole, and George McCartney.
Birmingham keeper Ben Foster should have recovered from a back injury in time to feature in this game, and Alex McLeigh is also expected to hand star striker Nikola Zigic his debut. Stuart Parnaby is fit following a hamstring strain but striker Kevin Phillips (four goals in 2009/10) will miss out the first month of the season with a torn thigh muscle. Stephen Carr should have recovered from a toe injury.

Wigan Athletic  v  Blackpool (Kick off 15.00)

Wigan must manage without influential defender Gary Caldwell for the visit of Premier League newboys Blackpool. Following two hip opaerations during the summer, he is at least six weeks away from first tema action. He is also suspended for the first two games of the season.
Blackpool boss Ian Holloway should give a debut to new centre forward Marlon Harewood. Keith Southern (four goals, three assists in 2009/10) will miss the first few games of the season while he recovers from a knee injury. Billy Clarke will be out for most of the season with knee ligament trouble.

 
Wolves  v  Stoke City (Kick off 15.00)

Kevin Doyle (nine goals, one assist in 2009/10) is a major doubt for Wolves’ with bleeding in his calf while Ronald Zubar is also out with an ankle injury. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake should partner Steven Fletcher in attack while Jelle Van Damme should make his debut at left-back.
Stoke’s Glenn Whelan is struggling to make the game with a calf strain and Abdoulaye Faye will almost certainly miss out with a hamstring injury. Liam Lawrence is also sidelined. Kenwyne Jones could make his debut after signing from Sunderland on Wednesday.

SUNDAY

Liverpool  v  Arsenal (Kick off 15.00)

Roy Hodgson will be hoping Fernando Torres (18 goals, three assists in 2009/10) will declare himself fit enough to fave title rivals Arsenal in the game of the weekend. Hodgson may have to play David Ngog (five goals) up front with Steven Gerrard, Milan Jovanovic and Joe Cole playing off him. Martin Skrtel is an absentee with an ankle knock.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wnger will be hoping that Abou Diaby (six goals, three assists in 2009/10), Denilson (three goals, one assist) and Andrei Arshavin (10 goals, one assist) will be fit to face Liverpool. Definite absentees are Alex Song, Johann Djourou, Nicklas Bendtner and Aaron Ramsey.

MONDAY

Manchester United  v  Newcastle 20.00

New United signings Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez could make their Premier League bows. Definite outs are Owen Hargreaves, Rio Ferdinand and Anderson.
Alan Smith may have recovered enough to face his old club at Old Trafford following an ankle knock, but Dan Gosling, Leon Best, Danny Simpson (one goal, two assists), and Steven Taylor (one goal) will defintely miss out. Sol Campbell could make his debut for the Toon.