Sunday, September 2

Arsenal (6) v Portsmouth (8)

Arsenal winger Alexander Hleb (illness) is a doubtful starter and Jens Lehmann is still out with Achilles and elbow problems so Manuel Almunia will continue in goal. William Gallas (groin), Emmanuel Eboue (ankle) and Bacary Sagna (back) remain in the treatment room.

Glen Johnson is set to play right back after signing for Portsmouth in a £4 million move from Chelsea. It will mean Lauren switching to the right of midfield against his former club in place of Gary O'Neil who is joining Middlesbrough in a £5 million move. Redknapp has Pedro Mendes and Nico Kranjcar fit again - although there is a slight doubt over skipper Sol Campbell, another ex-Arsenal star who dropped out of training today to work with the club's physio.

Last season: Portsmouth 0 Arsenal 0, Arsenal 2 Portsmouth 2

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

Top scorers: Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal) 3; Noe Pamarot, Benjani Mwaruwari & John Utaka (Portsmouth) 2

Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).

Aston Villa (11) v Chelsea (1)

Curtis Davies, signed on loan from West Bromwich Albion with a view to a £8.5million deal rising to £10million, is likely to have to put his Villa debut on hold because of a hamstring problem but fellow newcomer Zat Knight will go straight in to the squad. Shaun Maloney is pushing hard for a place in the starting line up after netting the winner against Fulham and scoring twice against Wrexham in the Carling Cup but keeper Thomas Sorensen and midfielder Patrik Berger are still not fit enough to return.

Frank Lampard has picked up a thigh injury in training and is facing a scan to assess the extent of the damage. Florent Malouda missed part of training this week but Chelsea are hopeful he will be fit. Michael Ballack (ankle), Ricardo Carvalho (leg) and Wayne Bridge (hip) are out, although Bridge has returned to light training. Andriy Shevchenko is fit to make his first appearance of the season.

Last season: Aston Villa 0 Chelsea 0, Chelsea 1 Aston Villa 1

Last five league matches: Aston Villa W D L D W; Chelsea D W W D W

Top scorers: Shaun Maloney (Aston Villa) 3; Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 3

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).

Blackburn (9) v Man City (2)

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes will bring strike pair Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz back into his side after the pair were rested for the midweek UEFA Cup win over MyPa. Midfield pair Robbie Savage and David Dunn also return and Hughes is hopeful central defender Chris Samba will shake off the illness which ruled him out in midweek, while he is without Paul Gallagher who has joined Preston on loan.

Manchester City's Brazilian midfielder Geovanni is expected to shake off a calf injury. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel could replace Joe Hart between the posts despite the latter's impressive performance in the midweek Carling Cup win over Bristol City.

Last season: Man City 0 Blackburn 3, Blackburn 4 Man City 2

Last five league matches: Blackburn D D W D D; Man City L W W W L

Top scorers: Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn) 3; Rolando Bianchi & Deiberson Geovanni (Man City) 2

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).