Birmingham welcome Middlesbrough to St Andrews tonight as both sides search for their first win in the Premiership this season.
Emile Heskey is set to miss out once again with a thigh injury but Nicky Butt may recover from a slight groin strain. Damien Johnson is still out as he continues to serve a four-match ban. City have yet to lose at home in the Premiership to Middlesbrough as they look to avoid a 50th League defeat under manager Steve Bruce.
Middlesbrough recall Ugo Ehiogu after he served a suspension. New signing Aiyegbeni Yakubu has been ruled out whilst Szilard Nemeth has an ankle injury. Boro are looking for their first goal of the campaign at St Andrews and only their second away win of the year. Boro manager Steve McClaren is hoping to avoid back-to-back defeats for the first time in 10 Premiership games.
Portsmouth take on Aston Villa tonight as both sides look to recover from a disappointing start to the new campaign.
Pompey have suffered back-to-back defeats whilst Villa have collected just one point from their opening two games. Portsmouth could have Lomana LuaLua leading the line despite suffering a knock in Sunday’s defeat against West Brom. New signing Brian Priske may feature if international clearance is given.
Villa welcome back Kevin Philips from injury and recall Nolberto Solano to the line-up but Patrick Berger and J LLoyd Samuel are out. New signing Milan Baros is not expected to feature. Villa have not won in the Premiership in eight games and failed to keep clean sheets in each of their last six games, a sequence stretching back to last season.
Stuart Pearce takes his Manchester City side to newly promoted Sunderland tonight on the back of a ten match unbeaten run. Sunderland will hope home advantage can help them climb from bottom of the Premiership. The Black Cats include Tommy Miller and goalkeeper Kelvin Davis in the squad whilst Andy Welsh could feature after his red card against Liverpool was overturned.
City are set to name an unchanged side as Danny Mills with expected to recover from a minor injury. Sunderland have lost 17 top flight games in a row and failed to win in 23. Victory at the Stadium of Light would equal City’s best start to a new campaign, collecting seven points from three games.
Champions Chelsea host West Brom on Wednesday evening with both sides in buoyant mood following wins at the weekend. Chelsea are looking for a third straight league victory whilst West Brom will aim to avoid a first defeat of the campaign.
Arsenal take on Fulham at Highbury as they look to bounce back from Sunday’s defeat against Chelsea. Fulham need the points as they have collected just one from two games this season.
Blackburn host in-form Tottenham at Ewood Park. League leaders Tottenham face a tough test against Rovers, who impressed in their 2-1 win against Fulham on Saturday.
Finally Bolton are up against Newcastle at the Reebok Stadium as both sides look to collect three points for the first time this season.
