WEDNESDAY'S FIXTURES
Blackburn v Bolton (2000 GMT)
Chelsea 0-0 Middlesbrough (1945 GMT)
Everton v Arsenal (2000 GMT)
Man City 0-0 Newcastle (1945 GMT)
West Ham v Hull City (2000 GMT)
Wigan 0-0 Liverpool (1945 GMT)
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606: DEBATE
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By Jonathan Stevenson
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1952: Amr Zaki gets a kick in an accidental collision with Javier Mascherano, but the Egyptian striker will be OK to continue.
1951: "I hear the atmosphere at Wigan is like a feztival these days. Not too bazaar given their position in the table."
godofwine on 606
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1949: Blackburn welcome back striker Jason Roberts for the visit of Bolton, while Roque Santa Cruz drops to the bench. Brett Emerton and Andre Ooijer are also back in the starting line-up. Bolton make two changes to the side that suffered a last-gasp defeat to Man Utd. Captain Kevin Nolan is back in the starting XI after serving a two-match suspension while new signing Sebastien Puygrenier starts in defence. New winger Mark Davies is on the bench.
1947: And they've kicked off at Wigan and Chelsea now too.
1945: Manchester City v Newcastle United gets under way very promptly.
1944: Teams are on their way out at the JJB Stadium, Stamford Bridge and the City of Manchester Stadium, with three of tonight's games set to kick-off.
1943: "Oh to be in charge of music at Wigan tonight. Who could resist playing the Bangles track, "Walk like an Egyptian"!"
Everton Steve, High Wycombe, via text on 81111
Pharaoh enough. What do you mean I've done that gag before? Maybe I'm in denial...
1942: Everton make two changes from the side that drew 1-1 in the FA Cup at Liverpool. Marouane Fellaini returns after suspension and Mikel Arteta has recovered from the rib injury that kept him out at Anfield. Victor Anichebe and Segundo Castillo drop out. Arsenal make six changes from the side which drew in the Cup at Cardiff, with Manuel Almunia returning in goal and defenders William Gallas and Gael Clichy back after injury and suspension respectively.
1940: Blackburn team news on the way, but reports just coming in say Rovers are closing in on the signing of Zenit St Petersburg's Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak. Which suggests, you'd have to say, that Roque Santa Cruz is on his way out of Ewood Park.
1938: Remarkably, Man City have only played once in the last 25 days - in that time, their nearest and dearest neighbours have played an extraordinary eight times. So they should be fresh, then. Even Robinho, despite his unanticipated jaunt to Brazil.
Man City poised to fine Robinho
1935: "Liverpool will win nothing playing Torres up front and Gerrard breaking forward. We need two up top players, ditch one of the two holding midfield players and slide Gerrard into a middle four."
Strongbow546 on 606
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1932: BLACKBURN v BOLTON LINE-UPS
Blackburn: Robinson, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock, Emerton, Andrews, Grella, Pedersen, Roberts, McCarthy.
Subs: Bunn, Kerimoglu, Roque Santa Cruz, Mokoena, Villanueva, Givet, Simpson.
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Puygrenier, Samuel, Kevin Davies, Muamba, Nolan, Basham, Taylor, Makukula.
Subs: Al Habsi, Smolarek, Gardner, Mark Davies, Riga, Shittu, Andrew O'Brien.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
1929: West Ham new boy striker Savio Nsereko gets a place on the bench just a few hours after getting international clearance. Hull's new signing Jimmy Bullard is a sub, while his boss Phil Brown has thrown in Matt Duke between the sticks.
1927: As if it wasn't already going to be spiky enough at Eastlands, by the way, former Manchester City bad boy (as opposed to current) Joey Barton starts for Newcastle today. Marvellous, he says, rubbing his hands together with glee.
1925: John Terry returns to the Chelsea side in place of Ricardo Carvalho, who is out with a hamstring injury. Jon Obi Mikel is in for Juliano Belletti. Didier Drogba again has to make do with a place on the bench. Marlon King makes his Middlesbrough debut in place of Afonso Alves, who drops to the bench. They make three other changes from the FA Cup match against Wolves with Brad Jones replacing Ross Turnbull in goal, Emmanuel Pogatetz in for Andrew Taylor and Tony McMahon replacing Tuncay Sanli in a defence-minded swap.
1923: "City's charge for Europe starts tonight. We've got the left-back, midfield animal and new striker we needed. Heads back, hold tight."
Trinder, Eastlands, via text on 81111
Woah there, tiger. Relegation battle first, then Europe. It's all about priorities.
1921: MANCHESTER CITY v NEWCASTLE UNITED LINE-UPS
Man City: Hart, Richards, Onuoha, Kompany, Bridge, Zabaleta, Ireland, De Jong, Wright-Phillips, Robinho, Bellamy.
Subs: Schmeichel, Elano, Vassell, Jo, Garrido, Fernandes, Caicedo.
Newcastle: Harper, Edgar, Taylor, Bassong, Jose Enrique, Geremi, Barton, Coloccini, Duff, Owen, Carroll.
Subs: Forster, Gutierrez, Xisco, Lovenkrands, LuaLua, Donaldson, Inman.
Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)
1920: WEST HAM v HULL CITY LINE-UPS
West Ham: Green, Neill, Collins, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Parker, Collison, Noble, Di Michele, Cole.
Subs: Lastuvka, Boa Morte, Nsereko, Faubert, Tristan, Tomkins, Sears.
Hull: Duke, Ricketts, Turner, Zayatte, Dawson, Marney, Ashbee, Kilbane, Geovanni, Cousin, Manucho.
Subs: Myhill, Fagan, Garcia, Mendy, Halmosi, Folan, Bullard.
Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire)
1920: Wigan boss Steve Bruce makes five changes from the team that lost to Manchester City. Having sold Emile Heskey and Wilson Palacios, Bruce starts with new signing Mido alongside fellow Egyptian Amr Zaki, while Mike Pollitt, Emmerson Boyce, Michael Brown and Daniel de Ridder also come in. Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez makes three changes from the team that drew with Everton, with Yossi Benayoun, Fabio Aurelio and Lucas Leiva replacing Dirk Kuyt, Andrea Dossena and Xabi Alonso - so Robbie Keane has to settle for a place on the bench.
1918: WIGAN v LIVERPOOL LINE-UPS
Wigan: Pollitt, Melchiot, Boyce, Scharner, Figueroa, De Ridder, Brown, Cattermole, Taylor, Zaki, Mido.
Subs: Kingson, Edman, Watson, Koumas, Rodallega, Kapo, Camara.
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio, Benayoun, Leiva Lucas, Mascherano, Babel, Gerrard, Torres.
Subs: Cavalieri, Dossena, Agger, Keane, Riera, Kuyt, Alonso.
Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
1916: So, Robinho does play for Manchester City. The Brazilian had been released by West Yorkshire Police investigating an alleged sex assault in a Leeds nightclub. City boss Mark Hughes gives Holland international midfielder Nigel de Jong his debut, while Craig Bellamy makes his first start up front since signing from West Ham for £14m.
One player who could be joining City in the very new future is Shay Given, who is not in Newcastle's starting line-up. Instead, Steve Harper, who recently signed a new contract with the Magpies, starts in goal. BBC Radio 5 Live believe Newcastle will let Given go if City make a realistic offer of about £8m for the Republic of Ireland international.
1915: EVERTON v ARSENAL LINE-UPS
Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Osman, Arteta, Neville, Pienaar, Fellaini, Cahill.
Subs: Nash, Yobo, Castillo, Rodwell, Jutkiewicz, Anichebe, Gosling.
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Djourou, Gallas, Clichy, Nasri, Denilson, Song Billong, Diaby, Adebayor, Van Persie.
Subs: Fabianski, Toure, Vela, Ramsey, Bendtner, Eboue, Gibbs.
Referee: Andre Marriner (W Midlands)
1914: "Why put Keane on the bench? If we score goals and play well, he won't get on, if we don't score and need goals, he's not exactly the ideal person to bring on. Rafa should have started him, especially if he plans to sell him."
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1910: Oh to be a fly on the wall in either dressing-room at Eastlands, right now, as Manchester City meet Newcastle United. Both clubs have had their well-documented problems in recent times, and they respectively lie four and two points above the drop zone. I wonder if Shay Given will pop along for a viewing?
Given 'ready for Man City talks'
1907: CHELSEA v MIDDLESBROUGH LINE-UPS
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Kalou, Ballack, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka.
Subs: Hilario, Ivanovic, Drogba, Ferreira, Deco, Mancienne, Stoch.
Middlesbrough: Turnbull, McMahon, Wheater, Riggott, Pogatetz, Adam Johnson, O'Neil, Shawky, Bates, Downing, King.
Subs: Jones, Taylor, Emnes, Alves, Huth, Sanli, Arca.
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)
1906: Robbie Keane is on the Liverpool bench tonight, while Dirk Kuyt does not start a league game for the first time this season.
1905: See 1852: Apparently, they are 'Smoggies'. I think that's quite cool, but then I was a Junior Red once upon a time (not Liverpool, no).
1903: "Rafa I'm begging you to pick a strong side. It's time to get serious. We're no longer top, and we need to play our best players week in week out to have any chance of keeping pace with united. That means no David N'Gog."
Steve, a worried but still optimistic Liverpool fan in Bracknell, via text on 81111
1900: Stevo's Predos:
Blackburn 2-1 Bolton
Chelsea 3-0 Middlesbrough
Everton 1-1 Arsenal
Man City 3-2 Newcastle
West Ham 2-0 Hull City
Wigan 1-2 Liverpool
Lawro's predictions
1858: This is not confirmed team news, but we are hearing that Robinho does start for Manchester City tonight. Full teams on the way.
1855: "Anyone else finding it strange to be in a relegation fight and a European qualification campaign at the same time?!"
MichaelDawson20 on 606
Middlesbrough. Er, what are you, Boro fans?
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1852: If you happen to be a Rover, a Wanderer, a Blue, a Toffee, a Gunner, a Citizen, a Magpie, a Hammer, a Tiger, a Latic or a Red, then please get in touch via the usual means, with texts to 81111 and by joining the debate on 606. And yes, I've missed one of you out - Middlesbrough. Er, what are you, Boro fans?
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1848: It's another massive night of Premier League action, with six games in total. As well as Wigan-Liverpool, there is Blackburn v Bolton, Chelsea v Middlesbrough, Everton v Arsenal, Man City v Newcastle and West Ham v Hull City. With so much at stake at the top and 13 teams separated by eight points at the bottom, there's everything to play for once again.
1845: There are perhaps two main protagonists who are threatening to derail Liverpool's bid to win a first league championship in 19 years. The first is a familiar foe - Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager who is eyeing up his 11th Premier League crown.
The second, as many Liverpool fans have been suggesting in recent weeks, is Reds boss Rafael Benitez. Since 'Papergate', when he vented his Spanish spleen in a tirade aimed at Ferguson, Liverpool have stuttered to three consecutive unconvincing draws. In the same time, United have won six in a row, smashing in 16 goals and conceding only three.
But all is not lost, not by a long way. Tonight, Liverpool travel to Wigan knowing that their first league win in exactly a month will put them level on points with United at the top of the division. Benitez can still win this very personal duel, but he can little afford another slip-up.
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