Up-Coming Premiership games
Saturday  22nd January
12.45	Wolves	v	Liverpool
15.00	Arsenal	v	Wigan
15.00	Blackpool	v	Sunderland
15.00	Everton	v	West Ham
15.00	Fulham	v	Stoke
15.00	Man Utd	v	Birmingham
12.00	Newcastle	v	Tottenham
17.30	Aston Villa	v	Man City
Sunday 23rd January
14.05	Blackburn	v	West Brom
Monday 24th January
16.10	Bolton	v	Chelsea
Top 4 Top 5 Top 10 Bottom Half Relegation

Fulham are still in and amongst the bottom clubs, with a win at Stoke possibly putting themup into 12th spot but still leaving them just two points clear of the relegation zone, while defeat could possibly leave them in the bottom three come 5pm on Saturday evening.

Gerard Houllier is looking for Darren Bent to make an immediate impact when Aston Villa tackle Manchester City on a packed Saturday of Premier League action.

New Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish continues his quest for a first victory since his return to the Anfield hotseat when the Reds travel to Wolves, while Avram Grant takes his West Ham team to Everton following his recent stay of execution.

The title race continues apace with leaders Manchester United putting their unbeaten record on the line against Birmingham at Old Trafford as Arsenal play host to Wigan and Tottenham make the trip to Newcastle.

Sunderland begin life without Bent as they travel to Blackpool, Fulham welcome Stoke to Craven Cottage and Blackburn play host to West Brom on Sunday.





Wolves welcome Liverpool to Molineux in front of the Sky Sports cameras aiming for a memorable double over the Anfield outfit, whose anticipated resurgence following the return of the King is yet to emerge.

Premiership table
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Man Utd	21	10	1	0	29	7	2	8	0	14	12	24	45
2	Man City	23	7	3	2	18	10	6	3	2	19	9	18	45
3	Arsenal	22	6	1	3	22	11	7	3	2	23	11	23	43
4	Chelsea	22	8	2	1	24	7	3	3	5	14	12	19	38
5	Tottenham	22	6	5	1	17	9	4	2	4	14	16	6	37
6	Sunderland	23	6	5	1	15	8	2	5	4	11	15	3	34
7	Bolton	23	5	5	1	22	13	2	4	6	12	18	3	30
8	Stoke	22	6	2	4	16	12	3	1	6	12	14	2	30
9	Newcastle	22	4	3	4	25	14	4	2	5	10	18	3	29
10	Blackpool	21	3	2	3	14	14	5	2	6	17	22	-5	28
11	Blackburn	23	5	3	3	15	10	3	1	8	14	27	-8	28
12	Everton	22	3	4	3	12	13	2	7	3	13	14	-2	26
13	Liverpool	22	6	3	2	19	10	1	2	8	8	21	-4	26
14	West Brom	22	5	2	4	16	17	2	2	7	13	24	-12	25
15	Fulham	22	3	5	3	14	14	1	6	4	9	11	-2	23
16	Birmingham	21	3	6	2	10	11	1	5	4	11	15	-5	23
17	Aston Villa	22	4	4	3	15	13	1	3	7	9	26	-15	22
18	Wigan	22	2	6	4	11	21	2	4	4	8	13	-15	22
19	Wolves	22	5	2	4	15	15	1	1	9	9	23	-14	21
20	West Ham	23	3	4	5	14	19	1	4	6	8	22	-19	20

The Reds have, in truth, improved since Dalglish replaced Roy Hodgson, but as the Fulham boss found to his cost, this is a results business.

The 1-0 defeat to Mick McCarthy's troops at Anfield at the end of 2010 helped usher Hodgson out of the door and Dalglish will not want to be associated with any further Wolves woe having already played his part in Blackpool's six-point haul against the 18-time English champions.

Last season:
Wolves 0 Liverpool 0, Liverpool 2 Wolves 0

Last five league matches:
Wolves L W L W L; Liverpool L W L L D

Top scorers (all competitions):
Steven Fletcher (Wolves) 6; Steven Gerrard & David Ngog (Liverpool) 8

Referee:
Martin Atkinson



Stoke, who have landed Villa striker John Carew from under the noses of West Brom, will be out for revenge when they travel to Craven Cottage to tackle Fulham.

Mark Hughes' men claimed an all-too-rare victory on their travels when they triumphed 2-0 at the Britannia Stadium last month courtesy of Chris Baird's unexpected brace. But the Cottagers are still perched perilously just a point above the bottom three, with a mere six points separating Everton in 12th and West Ham at the foot of the table.

Statistics fans will have already noted that Fulham are the top flight's draw specialists with 11, while Stoke (three) are at the other end of the spectrum.

Last season:
Fulham 0 Stoke 1, Stoke 3 Fulham 2

Last five league matches:
Fulham L W L W D; Stoke W L W L W

Top scorers (all competitions):
Clint Dempsey (Fulham) 7; Kenwyne Jones (Stoke) 7

Referee:
Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)



Arsenal are just two points adrift of United, albeit having played a game more, as they welcome struggling Wigan to Emirates Stadium.

Further squad rotation can be expected from Gunners boss Arsene Wenger with the North London side chasing silverware on four fronts as they aim to end their six-year trophy drought. Two points were dropped from the recent trip to the DW Stadium and Wenger will be wary of further setbacks in front of their own fans with defeats to Newcastle, West Brom and Tottenham still too fresh in the memory.

One note for fans who like to leave early is that five goals have been scored in the 89th minute or later in the last four Premier League meetings between these two.

Last season:
Wigan 3 Arsenal 2, Arsenal 4 Wigan 0

Last five league matches:
Arsenal W D W D W; Wigan W D L D D

Top scorers (all competitions):
Samir Nasri (Arsenal) 14; Hugo Rodallega (Wigan) 6

Referee:
Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)



Following days of debate over David Beckham and breaking news about his blisters, Tottenham completed the signing of a midfielder this week with Steven Pienaar making the switch to White Hart Lane.

While the South Africa international's arrival did not provoke such a media scrum, it is a much more worthwhile swoop from Harry Redknapp and the former Everton man could feature at Newcastle.

The Magpies came within a whisker of a derby double over Sunderland last weekend, but injuries are beginning to bite Alan Pardew's squad with Andy Carroll still out and Alan Smith now set to miss the remainder of the season.

Last season:
No corresponding fixture

Last five league matches:
Blackpool W L L W L; Sunderland L L W W D

Top scorers (all competitions):
DJ Campbell (Blackpool) 8; Asamoah Gyan & Danny Welbeck (Sunderland) 7

Referee:
Lee Mason (Lancashire)



The message from the West Ham boardroom ahead of their trip to Everton is that they are "100 per cent behind" Grant.

Unfortunately, this touching show of support is diluted somewhat by the preceding four days of feverish speculation over the Israeli's future, sparked by an anticipation that Martin O'Neill was about to parachuted in as his replacement.

Whether Grant has been out in the East End in a bid to reclaim the scarf he threw into the Upton Park crowd following the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal is yet to be confirmed, but the stark reality is the club remain bottom of the table under the stewardship of a man who has a less-than-healthy relationship with the club's hierarchy.

Last season:
Everton 2 West Ham 2, West Ham 1 Everton 2

Last five league matches:
Everton W D L W D; West Ham W D W L L

Top scorers (all competitions):
Tim Cahill (Everton) 9; Frederic Piquionne (West Ham) 7

Referee:
Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)



Birmingham are the latest club in Manchester United's firing line as Sir Alex Ferguson's league leaders look to maintain their position at the top of the pile and their impressive unbeaten record.

Talk of emulating Arsenal's 2003/04 'Invincibles' has already started to surface, and while that remains fanciful with only just over half of the season gone, it is hard to see beyond a home win this weekend given the Red Devils have won 10 of 11 in front of their own fans.

Alex McLeish's men can take some heart from their 1-1 draw at St Andrews earlier in the season, but the loss of key centre-back Scott Dann for the season through injury is a major blow.

Last season:
Birmingham 1 Man Utd 1, Man Utd 1 Birmingham 0

Last five league matches:
Man Utd W D W W D; Birmingham L D L W D

Top scorers (all competitions):
Dimitar Berbatov (Man Utd) 15; Craig Gardner & Jordon Mutch (Birmingham) 5

Referee:
Mike Jones (Cheshire)



Following days of debate over David Beckham and breaking news about his blisters, Tottenham completed the signing of a midfielder this week with Steven Pienaar making the switch to White Hart Lane.

While the South Africa international's arrival did not provoke such a media scrum, it is a much more worthwhile swoop from Harry Redknapp and the former Everton man could feature at Newcastle.

The Magpies came within a whisker of a derby double over Sunderland last weekend, but injuries are beginning to bite Alan Pardew's squad with Andy Carroll still out and Alan Smith now set to miss the remainder of the season.

Last season:
No corresponding fixture

Last five league matches:
Newcastle L L W W D; Tottenham W W W L D

Top scorers (all competitions):
Andy Carroll (Newcastle) 11; Gareth Bale & Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham) 11

Referee:
Mark Halsey (Lancashire)



Aston Villa boss Houllier joked at the press conference to introduce the club's new £18million record signing that he was hoping for Bent to open his account against Roberto Mancini's title hopefuls on Saturday evening.

The England international has a decent debut record, netting for both Charlton and Sunderland to prelude prolific periods for both parties.

Manchester City's recent defensive lapses will give Villa cause for optimism and Mancini concern, with the Eastlands outfit having shipped three at home to Wolves and two against Leicester in the FA Cup, although they found the net four times themselves in both games.

Last season:
Man City 3 Aston Villa 1, Aston Villa 1 Man City 1

Last five league matches:
Aston Villa L L D L D; Man City W W W D W

Top scorers (all competitions):
Darren Bent (Aston Villa) 11; Carlos Tevez (Man City) 16

Referee:
Howard Webb







Blackburn continue to chase a marquee signing craved by club owners Venky's, with Juan Roman Riquelme the latest to be linked with Rovers as Steve Kean's side prepare to tackle West Brom on Sunday in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

Roque Santa Cruz has a first chance to impress on his return to Ewood Park and the midweek arrival of Jermaine Jones was a decent piece of business.

Roberto Di Matteo's Baggies snapped their worrying six-game losing run last time out, but suffered a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Rovers in the midst of a sorry spell which has seen them tumble into the bottom half of the table.

Last season:
No corresponding fixture

Last five league matches:
Blackburn L W L W L; West Brom L L L L W

Top scorers (all competitions):
Mame Biram Diouf (Blackburn) 6; Peter Odemwingie (West Brom) 8

Referee:
Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)







By their own admition, confidence is low at Chelsea; what better way to restore belief than at a ground where they are unbeaten in over 13 years?

I think it's important that we as a club and Bolton as a town celebrate Nat Lofthouse's life on Monday night. I hope there will be a great atmosphere, and it would be nice if we could put in a big performance and get a result against Chelsea, recognising they are one of the strongest teams in the Premier League

The champions' shocking loss of form since October has been well documented: five league defeats, 13 points from a possible 36, just two wins from their last 10. Last weekend's 2-0 defeat of Blackburn was long overdue, but one league victory can hardly be said to constitute a revival.

The good news for Blues fans is that they head to Bolton with a record of 12 wins from their last 15 encounters with the Lancashire club, and no defeats. Fourteen goals have been plundered without reply on their last seven trips to the Reebok, including a 4-0 victory on their most recent visit in 2009.

Bolton, meanwhile, appear to be suffering their own crisis of confidence. Owen Coyle's men are still without a Premier League win in 2011, a loss of form that started with a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in December's reverse fixture.

Monday marks the first Wanderers game since the passing of club legend Nat Lofthouse, who died last Sunday. Captains Kevin Davies and John Terry will lay a floral tribute before the match in honour of the club's legendary striker, who played more than 500 games and scored 285 times for the Trotters between 1946 and 1960.

Last season:
Chelsea 1 Bolton 0, Bolton 0 Chelsea 4

Last five league matches:
Bolton W L L D L; Chelsea L W D L W

Top scorers (all competitions):
Johan Elmander (Bolton) 10; Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea) 12

Referee:
Chris Foy (Merseyside)

arsenal malik tillman jimenez fulham premier league premiership wolverhampton wanderers raul jimenez tom cairney thomas kirk football rumours fulham fc newcastle united shahid khan gray tillman championship silva newcastle wolves wolverhampton wanderewrs wilson cairney craven cottage harry wilson kirk cottage transfer rumours marco silva fa cup