Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey are back for Arsenal. Leighton Baines is expected to return for Everton’s home clash with City, though Sylvain Distin is ruled out for the Merseysiders. Villa skipper Ron Vlaar is out for up to six weeks with a knee injury. Tim Krul is expected to return for Newcastle’s weekend trip to Stamford Bridge, Brendan Rodgers hopes to have Daniel Sturridge back at some point this month, whilst Marouane Chamakh could be set to return for Palace.
Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini are all available for Arsenal’s clash with Stoke after returning to training, though Danny Welbeck has been ruled out by Arsene Wenger.
Robert Martinez has ruled Sylvain Distin out of the visit of Man City this weekend, with the defender picking up a groin problem against the Hammers in midweek. Elsewhere, the Blues boss has confirmed that Leighton Baines missed the midweek tie with a knock, though is expected to be fully fit for the weekend.
Aston Villa have been rocked by the news that captain Ron Vlaar will miss the next four to six weeks of action with a knee injury. Meanwhile, Nathan Baker, Kieran Richardson and Gabby Agbonlahor are all expected to return in time for the trip to Leicester.
Tim Krul made his return from injury for Newcastle’s behind-closed-doors friendly against Celtic on Thursday evening. The Dutch stopper played 45 minutes, and went on to reveal that he feels good and hopes to be in contention for the meeting with Chelsea on Sunday.
Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that Daniel Sturridge is in the final stages of his recovery, and hopes the striker will be available again “at some point in January.”
Leicester midfielder Esteban Cambiasso has been ruled out of the weekend visit of Villa through injury, after the Argentine was withdrawn early on in the Foxes’ cup victory over Newcastle last week. In more positive news, fellow midfielder Danny Drinkwater may be in contention to train on Friday having come off injured against Liverpool, whilst Dean Hammond and Andy King have both made a return to training ahead of the weekend visit of Aston Villa.
Burnley skipper Jason Shackell will hope to prove his fitness in time for the weekend, after missing the midweek tie against Spurs with a calf injury. Clarets boss Sean Dyche is optimistic that the defender will train with the squad today, and is expected to make a judgement call on the skipper’s availability for the weekend. Fellow centre-back Michael Duff has also returned to training following injury, and will also be looking to prove his fitness ahead of the visit of QPR.
Alan Pardew could be handed a boost for his first home match in charge of Palace, with reports indicating that Marouane Chamakh could be set to make the squad for the visit of Tottenham.
All this and more has now been updated in the Team News section ahead of tomorrow’s deadline. Keep an eye on our official Twitter Stream as breaking news unfolds.
