Premier League team news: Weekend squad, stats and betting tips

Looking ahead to another busy weekend of Premier League action.

By John Ley
Last Updated: 3:55PM GMT 29 Jan 2009
Football: Premier League previews

Saturday, Jan 31

Arsenal v West Ham United

Arsenal (Probable, 4-4-2): Almunia; Sagna, Gallas, Djourou, Clichy; Eboue, Denilson, Song, Diaby, Nasri; Van Persie, Adebayor.

Missing: Walcott (shoulder), Silvestre (thigh), Fabregas (knee), Rosicky (hamstring)
Top scorers: Van Persie 10
Discipline: R: 2. Y: 38.

West Ham United (Probable, 4-4-2): Green; Neill, Collins, Upson, Ilunga; Parker, Behrami, Collison; Noble; Di Michele, Cole.

Missing: Ashton (knee), Gabbidon (groin)
Top scores: Cole 8
Discipline: R: 2. Y: 36

Referee: S Bennett. Games: 16. R: 0. Y: 58. Ave: 3.93.

Stat Attack: Arsenal have scored in their last nine Premier League games, the best run in the division.

Last Five League Meetings

2007-2008 (PL): Arsenal 2 West Ham 0
2006-2007 (PL): Arsenal 0 West Ham 1
2005-2006 (PL): Arsenal 2 West Ham 3
2002-2003 (PL): Arsenal 3 West Ham 1
2001-2002 (PL): Arsenal 2 West Ham 0

Bet on... A draw.

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Aston Villa v Wigan Athletic

Aston Villa (Probable, 4-4-2): Friedel; Cuellar, Knight, Davies, L Young; Gardner, Petrov, Barry, Milner; Heskey, Agbonlahor
Missing: Carew (back), Bouma (ankle), Laursen (knee). A Young (suspended)
Top scorer: Agbonlahor 9
Discipline: R: 0. Y: 33.

Wigan Athletic (Probable, 4-4-2): Pollitt; Melchiot, Boyce, Scharner, Figueroa; De Ridder, Brown, Cattermole, Taylor, Zaki, Mido.

Missing: Watson (calf), Valencia (hamstring)
Top Scorer: Zaki 10
Discipline: R: 3. Y: 41

Referee: R Styles. Games: 15. R: 5. Y: 54. Ave: 3.93.

Stat Attack: Wigan are the only team to have converted four penalties this season.

Last three League Meetings

2007-2008 (PL): Villa 0 Wigan 2
2006-2007 (PL): Villa 1 Wigan 1
2005-2006 (PL): Villa 0 Wigan 2

Bet on...Villa putting further pressure on the big boys.

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Bolton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur

Bolton Wanderers (Probable, 4-5-1): Jaaskelainen; Steinsson, Cahill, Puygrenier, Samuel; Basham, Nolan, Muamba, Taylor, Davies; Makukula.

Missing: Vaz Te (knee), McCann (ankle/foot)
Tests: Elmander (hamstring)
Top scorers: Davies 7
Discipline: R: 1. Y: 44.

Tottenham Hotspur (Probable, 4-3-1-2): Cudicini; Corluka, Woodgate, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto; Zokora, Modric, Palacios, Lennon; Pavyluchenko, Defoe.

Missing: Hutton (foot), O'Hara (groin), King (hamstring)
Tests: Lennon (calf)
Top scorer: Bent 7
Discipline: R: 4. Y: 37.

Referee: P Dowd. Games: 15. R: 2. Y: 46. Ave: 3.20.

Stat Attack: Spurs have not won at Bolton since 1996.

Last Five League Meetings

2007-2008 (PL): Bolton 1Tottenham 1
2006-2007 (PL): Bolton 2 Tottenham 0
2005-2006 (PL): Bolton 1 Tottenham 0
2004-2005 (PL): Bolton 3 Tottenham 1
2003-2004 (PL): Bolton2 Tottenham 0

Bet on... A draw.

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Fulham v Portsmouth

Fulham (Probable, 4-4-2): Schwarzer; Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky; Davies, Murphy, Etuhu, Dempsey; Johnson, Zamora.

Missing: Kamara (knee)
Top scorers: Dempsey, Johnson 4
Discipline: R: 1. Y: 21.

Portsmouth (4-4-2): James; Johnson, Distin, Campbell, Hreidarsson; Pennant, Davis, Mullins, Kranjcar; Crouch, Kanu.

Missing: Thomas (back), Hughes (groin), Diop (knee), Belhadj (suspended)
Top scorers: Crouch 8
Discipline: R: 3. Y: 33

Referee: A Wiley. Games: 16. R: 1. Y: 41. Ave: 2.63.

Stat Attack: Pompey are unbeaten in their last three visits to Craven Cottage.

Last Five League Meetings

2007-2008 (PL): Fulham 0 Portsmouth 2
2006-2007 (PL): Fulham 1 Portsmouth 1
2005-2006 (PL): Fulham 1 Portsmouth 3
2004-2005 (PL): Fulham 3 Portsmouth 1
2003-2004 (PL): Fulham 2 Portsmouth 0

Bet on... Fulham back to winning ways and Pompey in trouble.

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Hull City v West Bromwich Albion

Hull City (Probable, 4-3-1-2): Duke; Ricketts, Zayatte, Turner, Dawson; Kilbane, Marney, Ashbee; Geovanni; Cousin, Manucho.

Missing: Boateng (knee)
Top scorer: Geovanni 6
Discipline: R: 1. Y: 41.

West Bromwich Avenue (Probable, 4-4-2): Carson; Hoefkens, Pele, Donk, Zuiverloon; Dorrans, Borja Valero, Koren, Brunt; Simpson, Fortune.

Missing: Greening (knee), Donk (hamstring), Meite (hamstring), Miller (knee), Moore (hamstring), Barnett (hamstring), Olsen (knee), Robinson (suspended)
Top scorer: Bednar 6
Discipline: R: 1. Y: 41

Referee: P Walton. Games: 14. R: 2. Y: 38. Ave: 2.86.

Stat Attack: Albion have one point less than when they were relegated, in 2006.

Last Five League Meetings

2007-2008 (Championship): Hull 1 WBA 3
2006-2007 (Championship): Hull 0 WBA 1
1992-1993 (Div 1): Hull 1 WBA 2
1991-1992 (Div 3): Hull 1 WBA 0
1990-1991 (Div 2): Hull 1 WBA 1

Bet on... A draw.

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Manchester United v Everton

Manchester United (Probable, 4-4-2): Van der Sar; Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, O'Shea; Park, Carrick, Giggs, Ronaldo; Berbatov, Tevez.

Missing: Wellbeck (ankle/foot), Fabio (calf), Rafael (hamstring), Anderson (ankle/foot), Evans (ankle/foot), Hargreaves (knee)
Tests: Park (hamstring), Nani (groin), Rooney (hamstring), Evra (ankle/foot)
Top scorer: Ronaldo 10
Discipline: R: 2. Y: 42.

Everton (Probable, 4-4-1-1): Howard; Hibbert, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines; Osman, Arteta, Neville, Pienaar; Fellaini; Cahill.

Missing: Arteta (ribs), Yakubu (calf), Vaughan (knee)
Tests: Saha (hamstring)
Top scorers: Cahill 6
Discipline: R: 1. Y: 34.

Referee: M Halsey. Games: 14. R: 2. Y: 17. Ave: 1.36.

Stat Attack: United lost their first ever home Premier League game to Everton, in August 1992 Â the last time Everton won at Old Trafford.

Last Five League Meetings

2007-2008 (PL): United 2 Everton 1
2006-2007 (PL): United 3 Everton 0
2005-2006 (PL): United 1 Everton 1
2004-2005 (PL): United 0 Everton 0
2003-2004 (PL): United 3 Everton 2

Bet on... United cementing their lead further.

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Middlesbrough v Blackburn Rovers

Middlesbrough (Probable, 4-4-2): Turnbull; McMahon, Wheater, Riggott, Pogatetz; Johnson, O'Neil, Bates, Downing; Alves, King.

Missing: Taylor (ankle), Walker (ankle), Aliadiere (ankle), Digard (suspended)
Top scorers: Afonso, Tuncay 4
Discipline: R: 2. Y: 36.

Blackburn Rovers (Probable, 4-4-2): Robinson, Ooijer, Olsson, Nelsen, Warnock; Emerton, Grella, Andrews, Pedersen; Roberts, McCarthy.

Missing: Samba (eye), Dunn (hamstring), Reid (knee)
Top scorer: McCarthy 7
Discipline: R: 2. Y: 44.

Referee: C Foy. Games: 15. R: 1. Y: 56. Ave: 3.80.

Stat Attack: Blackburn have won on four of their last five visits to the Riverside.

Last Five League Meetings

2007-2008 (PL): Middlesbrough 1 Blackburn 2
2006-2007 (PL): Middlesbrough 0 Blackburn 1
2005-2006 (PL): Middlesbrough 0 Blackburn 2
2004-2005 (PL): Middlesbrough 1 Blackburn 0
2003-2004 (PL): Middlesbrough 0 Blackburn 1

Bet on... A dour tussle with no winners.

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Stoke City v Manchester City

Stoke City (probable, 4-4-2): Sorensen; Wilkinson, Shawcross, Ab Faye, Higginbotham; Delap, Am Faye, Whelan, Etherington; Cresswell, Beattie.

Missing: Higginbotham (calf)
Top scorers: Fuller 6
Discipline: R: 3. Y: 52.

Manchester City (Probable, 4-2-3-1): Hart; Richards, Kompany, Onuoha, Bridge; Zabaleta, de Jong; Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Robinho; Bellamy.

Missing: Hamman (toe), Petrov (knee), Bojinov (calf), Johnson (groin), Dunne (suspended)
Top scorer: Robinho 11
Discipline: R: 4. Y: 26.

Referee: M Atkinson. Games: 15. R: 0. Y: 48. Ave: 3.20.

Stat Attack: Robinho scored his first hat-trick in English football when Manchester City beat Stoke 3-0 in October.

Last Five League Meetings

1998-1999 (Div 1): Stoke 0 Man City 1
1997-1998 (PL): Stoke 2 Man City 5
1996-1997 (Div 1): Stoke 2 Man City 1
1988-1989 (Div 2): Stoke 3 Man City 1
1987-1988 (Div 2): Stoke 1 Man City 3

Bet on... City to steal an away win.

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Sunday Feb 1

Liverpool v Chelsea

Liverpool (Probable, 4-4-1-1): Reina; Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio; Benayoun, Lucas, Mascherano, Babel; Gerrard; Torres.

Tests: Agger (calf), Degen (foot)
Top scorer: Gerrard 9
Discipline: R: 0. Y: 33.

Chelsea (Probable, 4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Mikel; Ballack, Lampard, Maloud, Kalou; Anelka.

Missing: J Cole (knee), Essien (knee), Carvalho (hamstring)
Top scorer: Anelka 14
Discipline: R: 2. Y: 34.

Referee: M Riley. Games: 15. R: 3. Y: 66. Ave: 4.60.

Stat Attack: Liverpool have gone 22 games and 13 months since their last home defeat.

Last Five League Meetings

2007-2008 (PL): Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1
2006-2007 (PL): Liverpool 2 Chelsea 0
2005-2006 (PL): Liverpool 0 Chelsea 0
2004-2005 (PL): Liverpool 1 Chelsea 0
2003-2004 (PL): Liverpool 1 Chelsea 2

Bet on... A draw.

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Newcastle United v Sunderland

Newcastle United (Probable, 4-1-3-2): Harper; Edgar, Taylor, Bassong, Jose Enrique; Coloccini; Geremi, Butt, Duff; Carroll, Gutierrez.

Missing: Kadar (broken leg), Guthrie (hamstring), Viduka (groin), Beye (knee), Martins (groin), Barton (foot), Gonzalez (Achilles), Smith (Achilles), Owen (ankle)
Tests: Cacapa (knee), Ameobi (ankle)
Top scorers: Owen 8
Discipline: R: 4. Y: 35

Sunderland (Probable, 4-4-2): Fulop; Bardsley, Ferdinand, Collins, McCartney; Malbranque, Tainio, Whitehead, Reid; Jones, Cisse.

Missing: Gordon (ankle), Ward (back), Nosworthy (hamstring)
Top scorer: Cisse 8
Discipline: R: 0. Y: 43.

Referee: H Webb. Games: 20. R: 5. Y: 73. Ave: 3.90.

Stat Attack: Sunderland, 2-1 winners in October, are looking for their first derby double over Newcastle since the 1966-67 campaign.

Last Five League Meetings

2007-2008 (PL): Newcastle 2 Sunderland 0
2005-2006 (PL): Newcastle 3 Sunderland 2
2002-2003 (PL): Newcastle 2 Sunderland 0
2001-2002 (PL): Newcastle 1 Sunderland 1
2000-2001 (PL): Newcastle 1 Sunderland 2

Bet on... An away win.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/4386983/Premier-League-team-news-Weekend-squad-stats-and-betting-tips.html