Saturday EPL Special LIVE:

Saturday EPL Special LIVE:

Welcome to my Saturday EPL Special LIVE, with 7 matches including Sunderland vs Tottenham and Liverpool vs Aston Villa.

Yesterday:

Newcastle United 2 Swansea City 0

This match was played at The Sports Direct Arena as 6th placed Newcastle hosted 11th placed Swansea. 
Papiss Cisse broke the deadlock for the home side in the 5th minute to make it 1-0.

Perfect start: Cisse breaks the deadlock in the 5th minute for Newcastle against Swansea.

The match was tense after this, and although Swansea pressed well for the equaliser, Cisse scored again in the 70th minute with a delightful chip from 16 yards out over Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm's head but just underneath the crossbar.

Papiss Cisse scores a beautifully placed chip to make it 2-0 against Swansea in the 70th minute.

Newcastle are now 2 points ahead of 6th placed Chelsea, and move into their spot, while Swansea stay in 11th place.


Papiss Cisse has now scored 9 goals in his first 9 matches.



Sunderland 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0: LIVE 
The early kick-off in the Premier League today, sees 9th placed Sunderland host 4th placed Tottenham at The Stadium of Light.
Tottenham only need a draw to leapfrog rivals Arsenal into 3rd place, but it will not be on easy street against a Sunderland side who has beaten Manchester City and Arsenal here.
60 minutes gone, and it is still goalless. 


Team Line-ups:


Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley, Turner, Kilgallon, Colback, Larsson, Gardner, Cattermole, McClean, Sessegnon, Bendtner.  
Subs: Westwood, Bridge, Richardson, Vaughan, Ji, Meyler, Kyrgiakos.


Sebastien Larsson and Nicklas Bendtner both start for Sunderland against their former North London rivals Tottenham (as they both used to play for Arsenal, Bendtner still does)


Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, Gallas, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto, Van der Vaart, Sandro, Parker, Modric, Bale, Adebayor.  
Subs: Cudicini, Lennon, Saha, Defoe, Kranjcar, Livermore, Nelsen.

A strong Tottenham side, with VDV, Modric, Bale and Adebayor in the striking mind.
Two defensive minded players in Sandro and Scott Parker. Formation would probably be: 4-2-2-2. 
A strong bench also with Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe and Louis Saha all ready for action.

63: Sunderland pressing for the first goal here, good play by midfielder Stephane Sessegnon who is giving the Spurs defence problems.

64: Tottenham are looking to make a substitution. The first of the match.

Aaron Lennon ON
Sandro OFF

An attacking option for Spurs then. Van Der Vaart and Lennon on the wings.
Sandro already being recently booked. 


68:
2nd half possession:
Sunderland 31%, Tottenham 69%

69: Cameras on Harry Redknapp. One word: Frustration.

70: Lovely through ball by Lee Catermole to Phil Bardsley who takes a powerful cross the ball into the box for Josh McClean, who cannot keep the ball on the pitch. 
Goal-kick.

71: Midfielder Lee Catermole has gone down injured, now recieving treatment on the sidelines.

72: Quick ball towards Van Der Vaart by Aaron Lennon into space, he takes a shot towards goal.... Deflected by a Sunderland defender (near the hand) before being cleared out.


75: Sunderland subsutition:
David Vaughan ON
Lee Catermole OFF
Catermole's hamstring injury was too much to play the rest of the match. Unlucky, as he was important to Sunderland going forward and has been important to Sunderland going forward and at the back. 


77: Tottenham substitution:
Emmanuel Adebayor OFF
Louis Saha ON

81: Tottenham substitution:
Jermain Defoe ON
Rafael Van Der Vaart OFF

FACT: Defoe has scored 19 goals as a substitute. This is the all-time Premier League record.  
 

Sunderland substitution:
Kieran Richardson ON
Phil Bardsley OFF

I have team line-ups from all the 3oclock kick-offs.
I will give the line-ups after this match.


83: Goal-kick taken by goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

84: Foul by Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker on Sunderland midfielder James McClean. Free-kick taken by Sebastien Larsson into open play.

85: Sunderland corner taken by Sebastien Larsson, but nothing comes of it.

88: Sebastien Larsson has been booked for 'unsporting behaviour'.  


89: Foul by Tottenham full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto on Sunderland midfielder Stephane Sessegnon. Yellow card given to Ekotto.


90: Foul by Sunderland midfielder David Vaughan on Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon. Yellow card given.


90+3: The referee blows the whistle for full-time here at The Stadium of Light.

FACT: This is the first time in 22 meetings that Sunderland and Tottenham have had a goalless draw.


Tottenham move into 3rd place, into at least tomorrow, when rivals Arsenal face Manchester City.

Spurs will feel disappointed that they could not get the win, as they had at least 15 shots and could not score at least one shot on target.
They had a lot of quality, but could not get the job done.


Sunderland will feel happy that they keep Spurs under control and took a point, but will be thinking whether they could have taken all three.

15:00 EPL Line-ups: 

Norwich v Everton:

Norwich: Ruddy, Martin, Ryan Bennett, Ward, Drury, Elliott Bennett, Fox, Howson, Surman, Hoolahan, Holt. 
Subs: Steer, Johnson, Morison, Crofts, Jackson, Wilbraham, Naughton.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Neville, Gibson, Pienaar, Gueye, Jelavic, Cahill. 
Subs: Mucha, Heitinga, Stracqualursi, McFadden, Coleman, Fellaini, Anichebe.


Liverpool v Aston Villa:

Liverpool: Doni, Flanagan, Carragher, Skrtel, Jose Enrique, Henderson, Gerrard, Shelvey, Downing, Suarez, Kuyt.
Subs: Jones, Agger, Carroll, Maxi, Coates, Spearing, Bellamy.

Doni starts his first match for Liverpool as 1st team goalkeeper Pepe Reina is suspended after his headbutt against Newcastle last weekend.
Defender Daniel Agger is on the bench, along with forward Craig Bellamy and under-performer Andy Carroll. 
Maxi Rodriguez and Jay Spearing are also both on the bench to give Kenny Daglish help if needed.


Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Collins, Baker, Warnock, Lichaj, Ireland, Herd, Bannan, Heskey, Agbonlahor. 
Subs: Guzan, Weimann, Stevens, Johnson, Williams, Gardner, Carruthers.

A decent Villa side, with Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey in strike.
Barry Bannan and Steven Ireland are both in the centre of midfield.

Chelsea vs Wigan Athletic:

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Bertrand, Meireles, Essien, Sturridge, Mata, Malouda, Drogba. 
Subs: Turnbull, Romeu, Torres, Mikel, Bosingwa, Ferreira, Kalou.

Only 4 players stay in the starting 11 from the 2-1 win against Benfica on Wednesday night, with Sturridge, Meireles, Cech and David Luiz.
Full-back Ryan Bertrand is given his full EPL debut for Chelsea.


Wigan: Al Habsi, Alcaraz, Caldwell, Figueroa, Boyce, McCarthy, McArthur, Beausejour, Moses, Di Santo, Maloney. 
Subs: Kirkland, Crusat, Ben Watson, Gomez, Sammon, Diame, Stam.

Two words: Victor Moses


Bolton v Fulham:

Bolton: Bogdan, Ricketts, Wheater, Ream, Alonso, Mark Davies, Reo-Coker, Pratley, Miyaichi, Ngog, Petrov. 
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Eagles, Knight, Kevin Davies, Klasnic, Sordell.

Midfielder Marcos Alonso starts after his first EPL goal last weekend. Ryo Miyaichi and Martin Petrov along with David Ngog are in strike.



Fulham: Schwarzer, Kelly, Hangeland, Hughes, John Arne Riise, Duff, 
Dembele, Diarra, Kacaniklic, Ruiz, Dempsey. 
Subs: Stockdale, Baird, Senderos, Etuhu, Frei, Davies, Trotta.

Striker Pavel Pogrebnyak is not playing for Fulham. Bryan Ruiz and Clint Dempsey both start along with Diarra and Dembele.
Alex Kacaniklic starts.

West Brom v Blackburn:

West Brom: Foster, Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Andrews, Odemwingie, Fortune, Brunt. 
Subs: Daniels, Tchoyi, Long, Shorey, Dawson, Cox, Scharner. 

Blackburn: Robinson, Orr, Dann, Grant Hanley, Martin Olsson, Lowe, Nzonzi, Dunn, Pedersen, Hoilett, Yakubu.
Subs: Kean, Givet, Modeste, Formica, Petrovic, Marcus Olsson, Goodwillie.


Steve Kean only makes one change from the 2-0 loss against Manchester United on Monday. 
David Dunn comes in for Marcus Olsson, who is on the subs bench along with David Goodwille.


15:00: The 3oclock kick-offs has started.


15:07:
The Hawthorns,
West Brom vs Blackburn Rovers:
Defender Gareth McAuley breaks the deadlock in the 7th minute for the home side. 1-0 to WBA. 
If results go their way, West Brom can move up to 11th place.

WBA Defender Gareth McAuley heads the ball twoards goal, to score the opening goal against Blackburn in the 7th minute.

15:10:
Anfield,
Liverpool vs Aston Villa:
Oh dear.., Defender Chris Herd has put the away side off the the perfect side against 8th placed Liverpool.

FACT: If Liverpool lose today, then they will have lost their MOST EVER defeats in a League season. (12) 

15:22:
Carrow Road,
Norwich vs Everton:
The deadlock has been broken here!
Striker Nikica Jelavic with the goal for the visitors in the 22nd minute. 1-0.
What a signing he is proving to be for The Toffees.

Super signing: Nikica Jelavic celebrates opening the scoring for Everton, against Norwich in the 22nd minute.

15:22:
The Reebok,
Bolton vs Fulham:
On-loan striker Ryo Miyaichi takes a shot... but it is over the bar!
Unlucky by the youngster.

15:23:
Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea vs Wigan:
Midfielder Michael Essien has been booked. First yellow card of the 3oclock kick-offs, and he has to be careful now... 

15:26:
The Reebok,
Bolton vs Fulham:
In-form midfielder Clint Dempsey thinks he has put the away side in-front with a goal, but it is disallowed for offside. 


15:30:
The Reebok,
Bolton vs Fulham:
Clint Demspey scores again, from a powerful free-kick - but this time it is not offside.
1-0 to Fulham.

,

20th of the season: In-form midfielder Clint Dempsey breaks the deadlock against Bolton in the 30th minute from a free-kick.

15:39:
Carrow Road,
Norwich vs Everton:
Midfielder Jonny Howson equalises for the home side in the 39th minute to make it 1-1.


15:45:
The Reebok,
Bolton vs Fulham:
Midfielder Clint Dempsey scores his second goal of the match in the 45th minute to double the away side's lead. 2-0 now just before half-time.
That will change Martin Jol's team-talk.


15:50:
Anfield,
Liverpool vs Aston Villa:
Striker Dirk Kuyt has just missed a great chance for an equaliser at Anfield!
He was in-front of goal from 2 yards out, but somehow missed a tap-in shot.
No wonder the newspapers are saying Kuyt may leave Liverpool for as low as £1million....

15:51:
HALF-TIMES:

Liverpool 0 Aston Villa 1
Chelsea 0 Wigan 0
Norwich 1 Everton 1
West Brom 1 Blackburn 0
Bolton 0 Fulham 2

16:04:
The second halves have all started in the EPL.


16:18:
Carrow Road,
Norwich vs Everton:
Nikica Jelavic takes a shot and scores in the 61st minute!!
Norwich did not play to the whistle, as they were expecting a drop ball from Pienaar's actions (after getting the ball stuck to his feet).

4 in 4: Striker Nikica Jelavic celebrates scoring for Everton. He has now scored 4 goals in 4 matches.

16:21:
Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea vs Wigan:
The deadlock is broken here! Controversy surrounds it as Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic's goal should have been offside as he was yards off.

Controversy: Chelsea defender Ivanovic's goal against Wigan was offside, and should have been ruled out.

16:24:
At Anfield, Stewart Downing and Jonjo Shelvey both replace Craig Bellamy and Andy Carroll.


16:30:
The Hawthorns,
West Brom vs Blackburn:
Striker Marc Antoine-Fortune scores in the 69th minute for WBA, to make it 2-0 to the hosts!


16:33:
Carrow Road,
Norwich vs Everton:
GOAL!!!! Norwich have equalised here!
Midfielder Aaron Wilbraham takes a shot which is saved, but he eventually goes on to lay-off top striker Grant Holt who puts the ball in the back of the net.


16:36:
At Anfield, Daniel Agger has replaced Jose Enrique with 13 minutes to go. Still 1-0 to Aston Villa.


16:39:
The Reebok Stadium,
Bolton vs Fulham:
GOAL!
Midfielder Mahamadou Diarra ends Bolton's hopes of getting back into the match with a goal from the edge of the box, after a nice run. 3-0 with 10 minutes to go.

FACT: This is Diarra's first goal for his new club Fulham.


16:40:
Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea vs Wigan:
Midfielder Mohammed Diame takes advantage of Chelsea full-back Ryan Bertrand giving him space, to take a shot. It goes past Cech into the net for an equaliser in the 82nd minute....


16:41:
Anfield,
Liverpool vs Aston Villa:
Defender Daniel Agger heads the ball towards goal, but it hits the bar before striker Luis Suarez taps the ball into the net from close range as goalkeeper Shay Given is down on the floor. 1-1! Suarez with the equaliser!

8th goal of the season: Luis Suarez heads from close range to equalise for Liverpool against Aston Villa in the 83rd minute.

MORE TO FOLLOW SOON!


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I will speak to you tomorrow, in my next post where:

Manchester United vs QPR
Arsenal vs Manchester City

Midweek EPL Results and Analysis, The Weekend's EPL Previews:

Midweek EPL Results and Analysis:

Tuesday:

Aston Villa vs Bolton Wanderers: POSTPONED
This match was supposed to take place on Tuesday at Villa Park, but Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba's condition was too serious for Bolton players to focus on the football match.

Blackburn Rovers 2 Sunderland 0
This match was played at Ewood Park as 17th placed Blackburn hosted 9th placed Sunderland. 
Midfielder David Holiett opened the scoring for the home side after 58 minutes to make it 1-0.

Winger Junior Holiett breaks the deadlock against Sunderland at Ewood Park after 58 minutes to give Rovers a 1-0 lead. 

Striker Yakubu scored his 14th goal of the season to double Blackburn's lead in the 86th minute to ensure all three points for Rovers.

Heads I win: Striker Yakubu scores his 14th goal of the season - making him 5th top scorer in the EPL.

Pray 4 Muamba: Yakubu shows his support for Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba who is in intensive care.

Blackburn are now in 16th place with 28 points, while Sunderland are still in 9th place with 37 points.

Wednesday:

Everton 0 Arsenal 1
This match was played at Goodison Park, as 10th placed Everton hosted 4th placed Arsenal.
Defender Thomas Vermaelen scored the only goal of the whole match for the away side after 8 minutes.

Defender Thomas Vermaelen heads Arsenal into the lead at Goodison Park.

Celebration time: Vermaelen celebrates the eventual winner for Arsenal against Everton and his 5th goal of the season.

The home side had some controversial decisions that were not given including a disallowed goal by Royston Drenthe, and luck was not on their side on Wednesday. 


FACT: Thomas Vermaelen has now scored two winners for Arsenal in back-to-back matches.


Arsenal move up to 3rd place, 1 point above Tottenham while Everton stay in 10th place.

Manchester City 2 Chelsea 1
This match came from The Ethiad Stadium, as 5th placed Chelsea and 2nd placed City went head-to-head in an interesting battle. City were looking for revenge after a 2-1 defeat suffered earlier in the season at Stamford Bridge (which was also their first of the season), while Chelsea looked to make ground in the race for 4th place. 


This match was exciting from the start of the second half.... and the away side were surprisingly in-front thanks to defender Gary Cahill with a half-volley which took a deflection and sent goalkeeper Joe Hart the wrong way to break the deadlock after 60 minutes.

Wrong way: Goalkeeper Joe Hart is sent the wrong way from a deflection and Chelsea go 1-0 up against Manchester City from defender Gary Cahill in the 60th minute. 

Left-back Aleksandar Kolarov took a shot inside the 18-yard box which was deflected by the hand of Chelsea midfielder Michael Esssien, and City were awarded a penalty. 
Striker Sergio Aguero cooly slotted the ball past 'keeper Petr Cech to give the visitors hope in the 78th minute.
Carlos Tevez came off the bench in the 68th minute and had a positive effect on City's performance, which paid off in the 85th minute when his clever lay-off to midfielder Samir Nasri who chipped 'keeper Cech and scored a late winner for the home side.

Samir Nasri: Scores a late winner for the home side against Chelsea in the 85th minute with a cheeky chip over Petr Cech.

Jubilation: Celebrates scoring with Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko

This result puts City in 1 point of 1st placed United, while Chelsea lose ground for a top 4 place after Tottenham drew and Arsenal won so they are 5 points off 4th placed Spurs (and 6 off 3rd placed Arsenal)

QPR 3 Liverpool 2
This fiery five-goal thriller surprisingly came from Loftus Road, home of 18th placed QPR who hosted 7th placed Liverpool. 


Defender Sebastian Coates broke the deadlock for the visitors in the 54th minute, from an overhead bicycle kick which flew past goalkeeper Paddy Kenny into the net.

Defemder Sebastien Coates hits his first ever Liverpool goal, which was a spectacular finish against QPR.

Striker Dirk Kuyt doubled the scoreline in the 72nd minute to give The Reds a 2-0 lead. Everyone though that it was all over for QPR, before defender Shaun Derry halved the deficit in the 78th minute to make it 2-1. Former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse equalised late on in the 86th minute for QPR before striker Jamie Mackie scored in the 90th minute to give Rangers the comeback of all comebacks to gift them 3 points against Liverpool.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Stoke City 1
This match was played at White Hart Lane as 3rd placed Spurs hoped to move closer to title rivals City and United, while edging closer away from London rivals Arsenal for a 3rd place finish.

The Weekend's EPL Previews:

This is Round 30 of this season's EPL. Title challengers City face Stoke while rivals United host Fulham on Monday. The race for a Champions League spot is heating up with all three (top 6) London rivals in the fight. Arsenal face Villa, while rivals Chelsea and Tottenham go head-to-head at Stamford Bridge for a place in Europe next season. 
The relegation battle is still alive for 5 different clubs with Wigan, Wolves, QPR, Bolton and Blackburn in the frame.

Saturday (15:00 unless stated):

Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur: LIVE at 12:45pm


The first match of the weekend comes from Stamford Bridge as an early kick-off between two rivals Chelsea and Tottenham fight for a Champions League spot in 5th and 4th place (respectively), (with only 5 points between them)
Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon will miss tomorrow's match against Chelsea with a hamstring injury.
Striker Emmanuel Adebayor (hamstring) is a major doubt for the match.

Defender Ledley King (knee) will have a late fitness test but long-term absentees Michael Dawson (ankle), goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes (knee), and midfielder Tom Huddlestone (ankle) are out.

John Terry is set to return to lead out Chelsea. The Blues captain missed Wednesday night's defeat at Manchester City with a calf strain but trained fully on Thursday.

Fellow defender Branislav Ivanovic is doubtful with a thigh problem suffered at the Etihad Stadium, while Oriol Romeu is fit after a knee injury.

Arsenal vs Aston Villa:


This match will be played at The Emirates Stadium, as in-form Arsenal will look to continue their current run of form by moving 4 points away from rivals Tottenham.

Aston Villa winger Charles N'Zogbia is battling to overcome a tweaked knee ligament in time to face Arsenal tomorrow.

Striker Andreas Weimann is pushing for a start after scoring the winner against Fulham a fortnight ago. If N'Zogbia is ruled out of the match, Weimann could play up front with Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Striker Darren Bent (ankle), defender Richard Dunne (shoulder) and midfielder Fabian Delph (ankle) remain long-term absentees while utility player Ciaran Clark is still recovering from a knee problem.

Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby will not be risked. He has recovered from a hamstring injury, but boss Arsene Wenger will not name him in his squad until next week.

Wenger will use an unchanged squad against Villa from the group which won at Everton, with Per Mertesacker (ankle) and midfielder Jack Wilshere (ankle) still sidelined.

Bolton Wanderers vs Blackburn Rovers:

Bolton return to action against Blackburn at the Reebok Stadium a week after Fabrice Muamba's harrowing collapse at White Hart Lane.

Muamba remains in intensive care after suffering a cardiac arrest, but his family have given the go ahead for the match to start as manager Owen Coyle's men looked to haul themselves out of the relegation zone.

Coyle has told any player who does not feel up to taking part they should step aside, but it does not appear he has had anyone who has dropped out yet.

Defender Gael Givet is Blackburn's only doubt ahead of the match.

Givet aggravated a slight hamstring problem while on Tuesday and is doubtful to make the squad.

Steve Kean is only to make a few slight changes.

Liverpool vs Wigan Athletic:


This match will be played at Anfield as 7th placed Liverpool will be looking to bounce back from their embarrassing 3-2 defeat on Wednesday to QPR after being 2-0 with 13 minutes to go against 19th placed Wigan.


Wigan striker Hugo Rodallega remains an injury doubt for the match after missing last week's match due to a knee problem.
The Latics manager Roberto Martinez says that the trip to Liverpool may come too soon for the forward to make his return to football action.
Midfielder David Jones (knee) and goalkeeper Mike Pollitt (shoulder problem) are not 

Defender Martin Kelly should be fit despite having to come off injured in Liverpool's last two matches.

The club are awaiting a full assessment of Charlie Adam's knee problem, sustained in Wednesday's defeat at QPR, but the midfielder could be doubtful.

Right-back Glen Johnson and forward Craig Bellamy are still missing with niggles while centre-half Daniel Agger (rib) is not yet ready.

Norwich City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers:

Wolves will be without suspended defender Ronald Zubar for the away Barclays Premier League clash with Norwich after his red card against Manchester United last weekend.

It could mean a recall in a reshuffled back four for skipper Roger Johnson who has been axed for the past four matches since caretaker boss Terry Connor took charge.

But Connor's biggest headache is in central midfield where David Davis (broken rib) has joined Karl Henry (hamstring) and Jamie O'Hara (groin) on the injury list.

The only positive team news for Connor is the return to training of midfielder Nenad Milijas after his calf problem.

Norwich midfielder Anthony Pilkington has recovered from the knock he suffered at Newcastle last weekend and is available.

Marc Tierney and Daniel Ayala are back in training, but not yet ready, while James Vaughan is still missing with knee trouble.

Goalkeeper Declan Rudd, meanwhile, has resumed light training.

Sunderland vs QPR:

Sunderland striker Stephane Sessegnon returns to the squad for Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash with QPR after suspension.

The Benin international is available after completing the three-match ban he incurred for his sending-off in the derby draw at Newcastle, but midfielder Lee Cattermole still has one game left to serve.

Central defender John O'Shea will undergo a late fitness check on his hamstring injury, but Kieran Richardson (calf) is still out, as are long-term absentees Wes Brown (knee) and Titus Bramble (Achilles/calf).

Armand Traore will miss QPR's trip to Sunderland on Saturday in the Barclays Premier League.

The Senegal international was brought off at half-time of Wednesday's 3-2 victory against Liverpool and is out for the next couple of weeks with a grade one hamstring injury.

Clint Hill will travel with the squad to the Stadium of Light but will have a back injury assessed, while long-term absentees DJ Campbell and Heidar Helguson are making good progress.

Swansea City vs Everton:

Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers is set to restore Ashley Williams to his starting XI for Saturday's Barclays Premier League meeting with Everton.

The defender missed last weekend's impressive win at Fulham due to illness, but is likely to take his place back from club captain Garry Monk against the Toffees.

Wayne Routledge will continue on the right wing as Nathan Dyer serves the final game of his three-match ban after his red card in the win at Wigan.

Everton could have Darron Gibson back at the Liberty Stadium.

The Republic of Ireland international has been out of action for five games due to a knee problem but Toffees manager David Moyes says Gibson's fitness is improving and has indicated he could feature against the Swans.

Fellow midfielder Jack Rodwell (hamstring) and wideman Seamus Coleman (thigh) remain sidelined.

Stoke City vs Manchester City: LIVE at 17:30pm


This match will come from The Brittania Stadium, as 2nd placed Manchester City can leapfrog rivals United into 1st place, two points ahead (at least until Monday) with a win at Stoke.

Manchester City hope to have captain Vincent Kompany back for Saturday's Barclays Premier League trip to Stoke.

The Belgium defender has an outside chance of returning after missing three games with a calf injury but centre-back partner Joleon Lescott (hip) is ruled out.

Striker Carlos Tevez is again expected to be on the bench after making his first appearance for six months in the midweek win over Chelsea.

Stoke winger Matthew Etherington (ankle) is fit to return after missing the midweek draw against Tottenham.

Midfielder Salif Diao (hamstring) is likely to miss out but defender Jonathan Woodgate, who has not played for a month, could come into contention for a place on the bench.

Striker Ricardo Fuller misses out as he completes a three-match suspension.

Sunday:


West Bromwich Albion vs Newcastle United: LIVE at 16:00pm


This match will be played at The Hawthorns, as 13th placed West Brom host 6th placed Newcastle in a slight mis-match.

West Brom centre-back Jonas Olsson will return after a one-match suspension for the home Barclays Premier League clash with Newcastle on Sunday.

Olsson's probable recall alongside Gareth McAuley means Liam Ridgewell is likely to revert from central defence to left-back in place of Nicky Shorey.

Albion are hopeful striker Peter Odemwingie will be fit after missing the 1-1 draw at Wigan last weekend with a hamstring injury. Midfielder Zoltan Gera (knee) and right-back Steven Reid (foot) remain long-term absentees.

Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote is rated at 50-50 to return from injury.

The Ivory Coast international missed last weekend's 1-0 win over Norwich with a hamstring problem and remains a doubt, although full-back Danny Simpson has a chance of returning from his adductor strain.

Utility man Ryan Taylor (calf) is still out, as are long-term casualties Peter Lovenkrands (thigh), Leon Best and Sammy Ameobi (both knee), Steven Taylor (Achilles) and Sylvain Marveaux (groin).

Monday:


Manchester United vs Fulham: LIVE at 20:00pm


1st placed Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford. A win will ensure that they stay at the top of the EPL table ahead of rivals City in 2nd place who are only 1 point behind The Red Devils.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be picking from strength when Manchester United face Fulham at Old Trafford on Monday.

Nani (ankle), Anders Lindegaard (ankle) and Michael Owen (thigh) are the only absentees, along with long-term casualties Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher.

Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverley, Fabio, Paul Pogba and Phil Jones all came through a reserve outing on Thursday unscathed.

Fulham have no new major concerns heading into Monday's trip north.

The Cottagers came through last week's defeat to Swansea unscathed, although they will be without third-choice goalkeeper Neil Etheridge for at least the next couple of weeks with a wrist problem.

Zdenek Grygera (knee), Steve Sidwell (hernia) and Orlando Sa (hamstring) are expected to be the only notable absentees.