EPL Week 36: Preview of Saturday's Games

Joe LazarApr 23, 2010

Aaron Lennon will return to the Tottenham squad after a four month injury, although it is likely he will be sitting on the bench for most of the match and most probably he will get a run out at some point in the game. Jenas and King could also be available to play against United.

United will see the return of defenders Ferdinand and Brown, although Hargreaves is still sidelined with a calf strain.

United have been pretty tight defensively in recent weeks, keeping six clean sheets from their last eight matches. Tottenham are on pretty good form, but historically they don’t do very well when they visit the big four

West Ham vs Wigan

West Ham could be boosted by the return of their captain Scott Parker, who is coming back from his suspension. Cole most probably will start, although he was substituted at Liverpool due to his knee problem.

Wigan defender Caldwell is returning to the side after completing his ban although Thomas is out due to his thigh injury.

Both of these sides have been struggling to find victories recently but neither side seems to have any major injury, so expect a tight match.

Wolverhampton vs Blackburn

Wolves midfielder Jarvis is trying to be ready for the match although it's looking increasingly unlikely that he will start.

Blackburn are set to make a last minute decision on Diouf’s fitness ahead of the match, he missed out last week due to tonsillitis. Samba and Emerton are certainly going to be out with groin strains.

Both sides have been struggling to win recently although Wolves have looked slightly worse. Wolves have not scored in their last four matches and a draw seems possible, but if anybody is going to win it seems more likely to be Blackburn.

Arsenal vs Manchester City

Injury ridden Arsenal are set to see the return of Song and Eduardo from knee and toe injuries. Almunia is sidelined with a wrist injury and Fabianski will continue his stint in goal for Arsenal.

Man City should see the return of Richards and it looks likely that Adebayor, Vieira, Toure and Sylvinho could all face their former club.

Arsenal’s home form has been fantastic recently and they have won their last five games at the emirates, although City’s away form has been pretty good as well. The two teams seem pretty evenly matched and it seems the match could go either way.

Bolton V Portsmouth

O’brien, Gardner and Basham could all be returning to the Bolton fold after recovering from their injuries and it seems that on-loan winger Weiss could get his first start.
Portsmouth suffers greatly from the absence of the injured O’Hara who is fighting with a lingering back injury.

Portsmouth are still struggling in the league and have not won any of their last five matches. Bolton have hardly been setting the league on fire they still look far more likely to come away from this match with a favourable result than Pompey.

Hull vs Sunderland

Hull are going to miss Vennegor of Hessenlink due to the concussion the striker picked up against Aston Villa, although on a more fortunate note for the home side they will see the return of Folan, Gardner and Mendy.

Sunderland captain Cana could return to the side pending his recovery from a groin strain, but Cattermole will definitely be ruled out of the match. Mensah is pending a last minute fitness test and could be replaced by Ferdinand.

Hull are on abysmal form and have only taken four points from a potential 30 while Sunderland have been pretty good recently. Considering the way both teams have been playing in the last period, Sunderland should be the firm favourites for this match.