Saturday 21 March
Barclays Premier League
Manchester City v WBA (kick off 12:45)
An Achilles injury will prevent Yaya Toure from playing for Manchester City this weekend. James Milner is also going to miss out (knee) while Aleksander Kolarov will face a late fitness test on a muscle problem. Gael Clichy returns from a European ban, and Pablo Zabaleta and Eliaquim Mangala both return from injuries.
Chris Brunt and Claudio Yacob are both suspended for West Brom this weekend for the difficult trip to Manchester City. Ben Foster’s knee injury will keep him in the company of the club physio for another month and will remain back at base alongside Brown Ideye and Saido Berahino. Victor Anichebe is carrying a groin strain but may be passed fit enough to be involved.
Aston Villa v Swansea (kick off 15:00)
Alan Hutton is back in the Aston Villa squad after completing a ban but skipper Ron Vlaar remains on the sidelines with a calf strain. He’ll be watching from the stands alongside the crocked Philippe Senderos and Kieran Richardson (both calf), Nathan Baker (knee) and Aly Cissokho (groin). Jack Grealish returns from a suspension, but Libor Kozak is not yet ready for first team action after his broken leg.
Swansea can recall Federico Fernandez after he was omitted from the matchday sqaud last week due to personal reasons. Otherwise, Garry Monk has a near full strength squad to choose from.
Newcastle v Arsenal (kick off 15:00)
Fabricio Coloccini will sit out the visit of Arsenal after failing in his red card appeal. He’ll be sitting out for three games. Also resting due to a ban is Papiss Cisse, who’s serving the second of his seven match suspension. John Carver has plenty of injuries to deal with too with Steven Taylor (Achilles), Paul Dummett and Massadio Haidara (both knee), Cheick Tiote (also knee), Mehdi Abeid (thigh), Siem de Jong (collapsed lung) and Rolando Aarons (thigh) all sidelined.
Arsenal travel with Tomas Rosicky on the team bus after the midfielder recovered from an illness. There are no fresh injury worries to contend with for Arsene Wenger but he will be taking fatigue into account after their European travels midweek. Mikel Arteta (ankle), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring), Jack Wilshere (ankle) and Mathieu Debuchy (ankle) all continue to work their way back to full fitness.
Southampton v Burnley (kick off 15:00)
Southampton are able to welcome back Eljero Elia after the Dutch winger shrugged off an ankle injury. Jay Rodriguez and Emmanuel Mayuka both remain on the casualty list while striker Graziano Pelle is pushing for a recall after a substitute appearance last weekend.
Stephen Ward is carrying a minor knock but should be passed fit to feature for Burnley on Saturday. Matt Taylor continues his rehabilitation after a recent Achilles operation but Dean Marney and Kevin Long remain long-term absentees.
Stoke v Crystal Palace (kick off 15:00)
Stoke may be able to recall Jonathan Walters, if they can field him with a fractured cheekbone, while Victor Moses will face a fitness test on his groin. Definitely missing from the Stoke match day squad are Muniesa (hamstring), Peter Odemwingie (knee), Bojan Krkic (knee).
Crystal Palace have two first teamers definitely absent this weekend – banned Mile Jedinal and hamstrung Marouane Chamakh – while both Jason Puncheon and Wilfried Zaha will be forced to undergo late fitness tests.
Tottenham v Leicester City (kick off 15:00)
Roberto Soldado is Spurs’ only absentee as they welcome Premier League basement club Leicester to White Hart Lane. Expect Emmanuel Adebayor to appear amongst the substitutes.
Leicester only have two definite absentees as they prepare to fight for their Premier Leagues once again. Dean Hammond (calf) and Anthony Knockaert (personal reasons) are the absent duo. Expect Mark Schwarzer to keep his place in the starting XI.
West Ham v Sunderland (kick off 17:30)
West Ham continue to have problems in defence and in attack. Carlton Cole can ease some of those striker issues as he returns from a hamstring injury but Andy Carroll and Enner Valencia remain sidelined. In defence, James Tomkins is out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury and it’s not thought Winston Reid will be risked (hamstring). However, Carl Jenkinson returns after being ineligible last weekend.
Sunday 22 March
Barclays Premier League
Liverpool v Manchester United (kick off 13:30)
Liverpool must give midfielder Lucas Leiva a fitness test on a long-standing groin problem before he can be named in the match day squad for the visit of Manchester United.Mario Balotelli has recovered from illness and will be included in the squad.
Hull City v Chelsea (kick off 16:00)
Record Hull signing Abel Hernandez is back in the fray for Sunday’s clash with Chelsea but Nikica Jelavic is out for six weeks after undergoing knee surgery. Already residing on the Hull long-term casualty list are Mohamed Diame, Liam Rosenior, James Chester and Robbie Brady while Tom Huddlestone is banned.
Chelsea travel with a virtually fully fit squad available. A small number of Blues are carrying unspecified minor knocks but the only definite absentee is John Obi Mikel (knee).
Queens Park Rangers v Everton (kick off 16:00)
Joey Barton has been suspended for QPR’s last three games and was hoping to return this weekend but he took a minor knock midweek in training. He’ll face a fitness test on Sunday morning. Also scheduled to spend time with the physio on Sunday morning are Darnell Furlong (calf) and Mauricio Isla (knee). Definitely missing out are Richard Dunne, Leroy Fer and Alejandro Faurlin (all knee).
