With just a couple of Premier League matches today, it’s a strange old Saturday. Not to worry, life goes on as normal which means that I’ve once again dipped into the morning papers to digest the predicted team news from our journalist friends, whilst handing you the tastiest statistical morsels to help your boggle your brain in time for this morning’s deadline…

The Sun
Let’s start with this morning’s Currant Bun (that’s The Sun newspaper to those not familiar with the charming Cockney ways). Starting with the FA Cup ties and we have both Richard Dunne and James Milner in the predicted Villa lineup. Carew is out of the eleven though with Heskey leading the attack. There are no real surprises in the Chelesa lineup, with Ancelotti already confirming that he will select the same midfield and attack and that Drogba will start up front. In the Spurs vs Portsmouth tie we find Dawson in the predicted Tottenham defence, along with Corluka at right-back. That might well be wishful thinking.

Moving onto our league matches this weekend and The Sun have Andy Dawson back in the Hull eleven against Burnley and Zayatte alongside him for McShane, while Ilan starts for West Ham at the expense of Mido. Michael Turner is fit to start to Sunderland according to the Sun, despite a hamstring scare. Blackburn will recall Kalinic for Roberts to lead their attack against United who, apparently, will drop Nani to the bench and start with Giggs out wide and Scholes in midfield alongside Carrick and Fletcher. John O’Shea starts at right-back.

The Sun feel that Rafa will keep Agger at left-back, with Insua failing to shake off a knock to his knee. Kyrgiakos starts alongside Carragher then. There’s no place for Maxi Rodriguez or Ryan Babel in their lineup – something tells me that they’ve forgotton that the pair were suspended and ineligible for Thursday’s Europa Cup win, rather than dropped. The Fulham lineup is of interest with Nevland leading the attack in place of Zamora. They also see Hodgson making numerous changes with Dikgacoi, Greening and Riise all starting. Smalling also comes into the defence for Aaron Hughes.

The Sun have City starting with De Jong at left-back which is another strange one. Edwards comes in for Wolves in place of the suspended Karl Henry. Stoke go with Kitson and Tuncay up front as Fuller is rested.

The Telegraph
This broadsheet agree with the Sun and have both Dunne and Milner in their Villa lineup. It’s Agbonlahor and Carew up front for them though, which seems more likely. For some reason the Telegraph don’t believe Ancelotti and drop Ballack into their Chelsea midfield – Deco makes way here. Here’s another slip up – The Telegraph are predicting that Kyle Walker will start the semi for Spurs at right-back. He can’t – he’s cup-tied. Elsewhere in the Spurs lineup Dawson is predicted to be fit to start this one and they go with Pavlyuchenko up front with Defoe.

Andy Dawson also makes a return in the Telegraph’s Hull lineup with Sonko restored for Mendy and McShane shifting to right-back. Cairney comes in from the cold to start in midfield with Marney and Hunt missing out. Ilan is also a starter for West Ham in this paper while Turner is fit to start for visitors Sunderland. It’s Kalinic up front for Blackburn again with United opting to start Nani up in support of Berbatov with no place for Carrick as Scholes and Giggs are recalled. Rafael is the Telegraph choice for the United right-back spot.

This paper’s Liverpool lineup has Insua at left-back and Babel recalled to the midfield – there’s no place for Benayoun here then. The Fulham lineup remains strong with Zamora starting up front; in fact it’s a full strength Fulham side – something which seems rather unlikely. As for the City left-back conundrum, the Telegraph go with the sensible option – Garrido is recalled, while De Jong replaces Vieira in midfield.

The Times
This paper agrees with the Telegraph and the Sun and puts both Milner and Dunne in the Villa eleven. It’s Carew and Agbonlahor up front while the Chelsea side is as expected, with Drogba leading the attack and no change elsewhere. Both Dawson and Corluka are in the Times Tottenham lineup with Defoe and Crouch leading the attack.

Shifting to our league matches and Dawson is once again on is predicted Hull teamsheet and they’ve also gone for Sonko in for Mendy with McShane at right-back. The Times feel that Mido will get another opportunity for West Ham so there’s no place for Ilan here. Turner once again is fit to start for the Black Cats. Rovers go with Kalinic and are up against a United side who start with Nani, Carrick and Scholes with no place for Fletcher in midfield. Gary Neville gets the right-back spot.

The Times also feel that Rafa will be without Insua and so we have Agger at left-back here. Maxi Rodriguez comes into the eleven but there’s no start for Babel or indeed Lucas. The Fulham lineup remains fairly strong, although there is no start for Zamora with Okaka in attack. Greening comes in for Duff. The City side shows no changes aside from Garrido in for the injured Sylvinho.

The Guardian
Once again both Dunne and Milner are fit to start for Villa and the Chelsea lineup is as expected – Drogba starts up front. Similarly both Dawson and Corluka start for Spurs, while it’s Defoe and Crouch up front against their former club Portsmouth.

Over at the KC Stadium both Dawson and Sonko are in the Hull predicted lineup with Mendy making way. Geovanni is a surprise starter on the right of midfield for Garcia. Ilan is again a starter for West Ham and Turner is passed fit for visitors Sunderland. The Guardian are the only paper who predict that Jason Roberts will keep his start for Blackburn they are also alone in thinking that Ryan Nelsen will return to the defence for Phil Jones. As for United, they go with Park, Scholes and Giggs with no place for Nani in the eleven. It’s Neville at right-back.

Insua is tentatively fit enough to start for Liverpool according to the Guardian who also recall both Rodriguez and Babel to the lineup, which is bad news for Gerrard owners as their man drops alongside Mascherano in central midfield. Okaka and Elm are paired up front for Fulham but both Duff and Gera start in a strong predicted Fulham side.

Match Facts
A light breakfast of Match Facts this morning, courtesy of the Guardian and the BBC…

• Will Darren Bent get another opportunity for penalty practice? Sunderland and West Ham have both been awarded nine penalties this season, the joint most along with Chelsea.
• Will Carlton see red this time? Carlton Cole has been booked in five of his six Premier League appearances against Sunderland.
• Cheap Hull clean sheets on offer – Burnley have failed to score a goal in their last four visits to Hull.
• United won’t have it easy at Ewood – Blackburn have lost only one of their last 15 home Premier League matches.
• The stats show almost certain defensive returns for Liverpool – Fulham have failed to score in six of their eight Premier League matches at Anfield.
• Get on that Stoke clean sheet – Wolves have failed to score in six of their last seven Premier League home games.
• Are we to see Tevez notch from the spot? There have been five penalties in the last six league meetings between Man City and Birmingham.

Before I go, just in case you’ve somehow escaped the office sweepstake, just a reminder that it’s National day today so if you’re aged 18 or over and thinking of having a flutter then it would be nice if you showed support for the site by doing so with Paddy Power via this link. Paddy are offering a unique deal for the day; you can sign up from this site today and if you make five bets then Paddy will match your average stake up to a maximum of £10. Bet another five times and they will match it again – potentially handing you two free tenners.

For those who would rather back their football knowledge, there are of course a couple of Scout Markets available. The clean sheet accumulator offers odds of 4/1 on Liverpool, City and Chelsea all keeping a clean sheet. The Scout Picks bet meanwhile gives you 9/1 on Bullard, Malouda and Torres all scoring in the gameweek.

Finally good luck to all those involved in the last 32 of the Fantasy Football Scout Cup this week. We’ve come up with an additional prize (if you call it that) for the two finalists – I’ll bring you more on that at another time. I do love to tease.

Enjoy your gameweek.