Premiership preview

Arsene Wenger looks set to recall Sol Campbell to the Arsenal defence at Liverpool tomorrow and rest Martin Keown, even though he acknowledges the veteran is currently on top of his game.

The Gunners manager says that, ideally, 37-year-old Keown needs a breather and that Campbell is "mentally ready" to step back after missing three games on compassionate leave following the death of his father. Keown is likely to be on the bench, though.

But Arsenal are definitely still without the injured Patrick Vieira (thigh), Fredrik Ljungberg (knee) and Dennis Bergkamp (calf).

Provisional squad: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Parlour, Gilberto, Edu, Pires, Henry, Wiltord, Keown, Aliadiere, Cygan, Kanu, Tavliaridis, Hoyte, Bentley, Stack.

Defenders Olof Mellberg and Ronny Johnsen are pushing for a recall to the Aston Villa starting line-up for Sunday's home tie with Bolton.

The duo have been ruled out of Villa's last two matches with Wycombe and Chelsea through injury but are now back in training.

Manager David O'Leary has to decide whether to persevere with Dion Dublin and Alpay, who performed creditably at Stamford Bridge, or instantly recall what had previously been his first-choice pairing.

Darius Vassell could be recalled up front alongside Juan Pablo Angel although another option would be to slot him in on the left-flank if O'Leary feels it is time to rest youngster Peter Whittingham.

Provisional squad: Sorensen, Delaney, Dublin, Alpay, Samuel, Mellberg, Johnsen, De la Cruz, Hendrie, McCann, Barry, Whittingham, Angel, Allback, Postma, Hitzlsperger, Vassell, Ridgewell.

Robbie Savage is Birmingham's major injury worry ahead of the clash with his former club Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Savage, who played in the same United youth team as David Beckham and Ryan Giggs, is struggling to overcome an Achilles strain.He has been unable to train all week and if he is ruled out then Aliou Cisse is a strong contender to replace him.

Long-term casualties Nico Vaesen and Martin Grainger are back in training although still not ready to be considered for selection.

Provisional squad: Taylor, Johnson, Cunningham, Upson, Clapham, Dunn, Savage, Clemence, Lazaridis, Dugarry, Forssell, Bennett, Tebily, Cisse, Morrison, Figueroa, Kenna.

Lorenzo Amoruso shrugged off a training ground knee problem to be fit for Blackburn's trip to Leeds tomorrow.

But boss Graeme Souness has a defensive headache with Markus Babbel ruled out for up to six weeks after tearing a calf muscle in the loss to Fulham last week.

Lucas Neill is still suspended and with Craig Short and James McEveley still out, Souness has been forced to recall Andy Todd from his loan spell at Burnley this week - though not in time for tomorrow's game.

Souness' midfield options have been bolstered by the return from suspension of Steven Reid.

Provisional squad: Friedel, Kelly, Taylor, Johansson, Gresko, Amoruso, Reid, Tugay, Ferguson, Thompson, Flitcroft, Emerton, Cole, Grabbi, Yorke, Baggio, Jansen.

Youri Djorkaeff is expected to shake off a thigh strain in time for Bolton's Barclaycard Premiership trip to Aston Villa on Sunday.

Mario Jardel is set to start on the bench again despite hitting six goals in the last seven days.

Greek international Stelios Giannakopoulos is expected to figure after his wife gave birth to their baby son this week while Florent Laville and Ibrahim Ba remain on the long-term injury list.

Provisional squad: Jaaskelainen, Barness, N'Gotty, Thome, Gardner, Giannakopoulos, Campo, Frandsen, Nolan, Okocha, Djorkaeff, Davies, Pedersen, Poole, Jardel, Charlton.

Jason Euell is available again for Charlton at Portsmouth after missing last week's home tie through suspension.

Striker Euell earnt the ban - and a subsequent fall-out with manager Alan Curbishley - after his dismissal against Manchester United earlier this month.

The Addicks are short of defensive cover with Richard Rufus, Gary Rowett and Hermann Hreidarsson all sidelined with knee injuries while loan striker Carlton Cole has been back at Chelsea this week for another scan on his hip problem.

Provisional squad: Kiely, Young, Powell, Fish, Fortune, Perry, Holland, Parker, Jensen, Stuart, Kishishev, Lisbie, Johansson, Bartlett, di Canio, Euell, Royce.

William Gallas is waiting to discover the extent of the ankle injury he suffered in Chelsea's Champions League defeat against Besiktas.

Gallas was forced to play on as boss Claudio Ranieri had used all three substitutes and is almost certainly out of Sunday's trip to Middlesbrough.

Celestine Babayaro and Emmanuel Petit are also being assessed as they are suffering from groin and knee injuries respectively.

Provisional squad: Cudicini, Johnson, Desailly, Terry, Bridge, Gronkjaer, Veron, Lampard, Duff, Mutu, Crespo, Babayaro, Makelele, Cole, Geremi, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen, Melchiot, Ambrosio.

Scottish international Gary Naysmith returns to Everton's squad for the Barclaycard Premiership trip to Tottenham after a one-match suspension.

But the Toffees have lost Italian full-back Alessandro Pistone again with what could be a recurrence of the hernia problem that troubled him last season and needed an operation. He will see a specialist next week.

Manager David Moyes also has strikers Kevin Campbell and Francis Jeffers - plus midfielder Li Tie - fit after injuries for the trip to north London, but he is highly unlikely to change the side which thrashed Leeds 4-0 last weekend.

Provisional squad: Martyn, Hibbert, Yobo, Stubbs, Unsworth, Naysmith, Watson, Gravesen, Carsley, Linderoth, Rooney, Ferguson, Radzinski, McFadden, Kilbane, Weir, Turner, Jeffers, Campbell.

Jamaican striker Barry Hayles is available for Fulham's clash with Leicester after recovering from the ankle injury he sustained on international duty against Australia early last month.

Cottagers boss Chris Coleman admits he might pick Hayles for the Barclaycard Premiership encounter at Loftus Road but it is unlikely he will replace in-form French marksman Louis Saha.

Despite resuming light work on the practice field, midfielder Sean Davis is still unavailable after recovering from his knee problem, although he is due to join first team training next week.

Provisional squad: van der Sar, Volz, Knight, Goma, Melville, Djetou, Bonnissel, Malbranque, Inamoto, Clark, Boa Morte, Pembridge, Saha, Sava, Hayles, Crossley, Leacock, Buari.

Leeds boss Peter Reid is forced to make defensive changes for tomorrow's Elland Road clash with Blackburn.

Roque Junior is suspended and Ian Harte starts a three-match ban, while Didier Domi is an injury doubt. Either Lucas Radebe or Michael Duberry, who has been out since pre-season with a fractured cheekbone, will partner Zoumana Camara at the centre, while Dominic Matteo should switch to left-back.

With Reid vowing to make other changes, there could be starts for Michael Bridges, Aaron Lennon and possibly James Milner, back at Leeds after a recent month-long loan spell at Swindon.

Provisional squad: Robinson, Kelly, Matteo, Radebe, Duberry, Morris, Camara, Viduka, Olembe, Sakho, Pennant, Wilcox, Smith, Johnson, Batty, Lennon, Domi, Chapuis, Bridges, Milner, Carson.

Leicester defenders John Curtis and Ben Thatcher are doubtful for their clash at Fulham on Saturday.

Curtis is battling to overcome a calf injury while Thatcher is still suffering from a severe bout of flu that saw him substituted against Manchester United last weekend.

Goalkeeper Ian Walker has shaken off a back injury - he also came off against Utd - and leading scorer Paul Dickov has recovered from a cold. Striker Les Ferdinand is also available after a cartilage operation but is expected to start on the bench.

Provisional squad: Walker, Curtis, Thatcher, Sinclair, Taggart, Izzet, Nalis, Scimeca, Scowcroft, Bent, Dickov, Coyne, Rogers, Stewart, Howey, Impey, Ferdinand.

Danny Murphy is the latest senior star to join Liverpool's lengthening injury list after injuring an ankle in a midweek reserve match - he is expected to be out for a month.

He joins a list that includes Chris Kirkland, Dietmar Hamann, Jamie Carragher, Milan Baros and Bruno Cheyrou.

It means boss Gerard Houllier has few options to change his side for the home game with Arsenal, although Swiss defender Stephane Henchoz could return to the defence at the expense of Igor Biscan after an ankle problem.

Provisional squad: Dudek, Finnan, Henchoz, Biscan, Hyypia, Riise, Diouf, Gerrard, Smicer, Kewell, Heskey, Owen, Le Tallec, Luzi, Diao, Traore, Welsh, Sinama-Pongolle.

Steve McManaman's hamstring injury will keep him out of Manchester City's trip to the Premiership's bottom club Wolves.

The midfielder is one of four absentees from the City squad along with Danny Tiatto, Jon Macken and Richard Dunne.

Provisional squad: Seaman, Weaver, Sun Jihai, Distin, Sommeil, Wiekens, Tarnat, Jordan, Bosvelt, Sibierski, Reyna, Wright-Phillips, Barton, Berkovic, Sinclair, Anelka, Fowler, Wanchope.

Rio Ferdinand is doubtful for Birmingham's visit to Old Trafford tomorrow with a foot injury.

Ferdinand was hurt during Manchester United's defeat in Stuttgart in midweek and will have a fitness test before Sir Alex Ferguson makes a decision.

Wes Brown (knee), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (knee) and Kleberson (shoulder) continue to be missing from the squad.

Provisional squad: Howard, Carroll, Barthez, P Neville, G Neville, Silvestre, Ferdinand, O'Shea, Fortune, Butt, Ronaldo, Keane, Djemba-Djemba, Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Forlan, Fletcher, Richardson, Scholes.

Middlesbrough skipper Gareth Southgate remains a doubt for Sunday's Premiership clash with Chelsea.

The England defender missed last weekend's 1-0 victory at Southampton with a groin injury while Dutch midfielder Bolo Zenden cannot play because of a clause in the agreement which covers his loan move from Stamford Bridge.

Gaizka Mendieta is fit after a calf problem, but Joseph Desire Job is out for four months with knee ligament damage and the game comes too early for Italian striker Massimo Maccarone, who returned from an ankle injury for the reserves in midweek.

Provisional squad: Schwarzer, Jones, Mills, Queudrue, Southgate, Riggott, Cooper, Davies, Boateng, Mendieta, Greening, Juninho, Doriva, Downing, Christie, Nemeth, Ricketts.

Patrick Berger returns to Portsmouth's midfield against Charlton after three games out with a groin injury but Nigel Quashie (knee) and Linvoy Primus (calf) miss out.

Manager Harry Redknapp also has slight fitness doubts about strikers Jason Roberts (calf) and Vincent Pericard (thigh), so Teddy Sheringham and Aiyegbeni Yakubu look set to continue their partnership up front.

Mark Burchill is back from a loan spell at Wigan but is unlikely to be considered.

Provisional squad: Hislop; Schemmel, de Zeeuw, Stefanovic, Zivkovic, Stone, Faye, Smertin, Berger, Sheringham, Yakubu, Sherwood, Roberts, Pericard, Foxe, Taylor, Wapenaar.

Graeme Le Saux and midfielder Matthew Oakley will both miss Southampton's game at Newcastle tomorrow through injury.

Le Saux has been ruled out by a hamstring strain while Oakley is expected to be sidelined for the next six weeks with knee ligament damage.

Danny Higginbotham will make his first start of the season at left-back in place of Le Saux while Rory Delap or Anders Svensson are in contention to replace Oakley.

Defender Darren Kenton and strikers Marian Pahars and Agustin Delgado are still out with long-term injuries.

Provisional squad: Jones, Dodd, Lundekvam, M Svensson, Higginbotham, Fernandes, Telfer, Delap, Marsden, Beattie, Phillips, A Svensson, Hall, Tessem, Ormerod, McCann, Prutton, Niemi.

Simon Davies has been ruled out of Tottenham's hoem tie with Everton tomorrow and will miss Wales's vital Euro 2004 qualifier next week.

Davies has missed the last four matches with a hip injury and although caretaker manager David Pleat is happy to let Davies travel to Wales to be assessed on Sunday, he knows he is not yet ready to return to action.

Steve Carr will retain the Spurs captaincy while Jamie Redknapp is ruled out by a knee injury, also still missing are Ledley King and Christian Ziege, although both are making progress.

Provisional squad: Keller, Carr, Richards, Gardner, Taricco, Blondel, Ricketts, Anderton, Keane, Postiga, Zamora, Kanoute, Dalmat, Konchesky, Bunjevcevic, Poyet, Mabizela Burch.

Wolves boss Dave Jones is likely to have options up front for tomorrow's Molineux clash with Manchester City.

Following Kenny Miller's return to action last week, Dean Sturridge, Nathan Blake and Henri Camara are all now in the frame.

Sturridge played 90 minutes in the reserves in midweek after five weeks out with a hamstring injury, while Blake has recovered from a virus and Camara is fit again after an injury knock.

Winger Mark Kennedy is Jones' major doubt after being sent for a scan on a hamstring injury.

Provisional squad: Oakes, Irwin, Butler, Craddock, Naylor, Silas, Ince, Cameron, Newton, Gudjonsson, Iversen, Camara, Kachloul, Kennedy, Miller, Blake, Sturridge, Luzhny, Rae, Okoronkwo, Clyde, Murray.