Tottenham v Man United Premier League Preview: To Boo Or Not To Boo? As Berbatov Returns To Spurs

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Tottenham Hotspur play, Manchester United in the Premier League at White Hart Lane on Saturday.

Harry Redknapp’s Spurs side will go into the clash with the Premiership Champions full of confidence, having won five of their eight Premier League matches since Redknapp arrived at White Hart Lane from Portsmouth. Despite this good run Tottenham still find, themselves just three points off the drop zone. In what has become a very tight and congested bottom half of the table. The return of Luka Modric last week against West Ham United saw the North London club get back to winning ways after losing to Everton the week before.

Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will have been relieved to, have scraped a 1-0 injury time win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light last week, which kept the Red Devils in touch at the top of the Premier League with Chelsea and Liverpool. The big talking point of the day, will be the return of Bulgarian International Dimitar Berbatov to his former club Spurs and the reaction the striker will get from the fans after leaving White Hart Lane in acrimonious circumstances in the summer.

Tottenham are unable to call on long-term injury Alan Hutton (metatarsal) and Giovanni (ankle) for the visit of United, with Redknapp likely to play either Roman Pavlychenko or Darren Bent in a lone strikers role against the European Champions.

Ferguson will be without Owen Hargreaves (knee) and Wes Brown (ankle) for the trip to White Hart Lane, while former Tottenham players Berbatov and Michael Carrick are to have late fitness tests along with England International Rio Ferdinand, who is also a doubt with a back problem. Cristiano Ronaldo is likely to feature after being rested in midweek, but Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney are both suspended.

"Berbatov and Carrick are the main worries," Ferguson told MUTV.

"I'm sure Ronaldo will be okay. His hip is still a bit tender, but hopefully he'll be back."

Tottenham Hotspur: (from) Gomes, Bale, King, Woodgate, Corluka, Zokora, Huddlestone, Jenas, Lennon, Bentley, Bent, Modric, Pavlyuchenko, Cesar, Assou-Ekotto, Gunter, O’Hara, Stalteri, Campbell, Ghaly, Rocha, Boateng, Gilberto, Taarabt, Alnwick, Dawson

Manchester United: (from) Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Ronaldo, Anderson, Berbatov, Giggs, Park, Vidic, Carrick, Nani, Scholes, Welbeck, Fabio, Rafael, O’Shea, Evans, Fletcher, Manucho, Gibson, Kuszczak, Tevez, Possebon, Gray, Foster

Man City v Man United Premiership Preview: Robinho & Berbatov In Race To Be Fit For Their First Manchester Derby

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Manchester City play, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the Premier League at the Eastlands Stadium on Sunday.

Mark Hughes will be pitting his wits against former boss Ferguson in his first Manchester Derby as a manager, with the City manager keen to put one over on his old mentor. The Blues go into this game on the back of an excellent 3-0 win against Arsenal last weekend and an impressive victory over Bundesliga side Schalke 04 in the UEFA Cup on Thursday. However, while City have been scoring quite freely this season they are also prone to concede goals, with Hughes aware that any defensive frailties will be exposed by the Premier League Champions on Sunday. Man City, are yet to draw a game in the Premiership at the Eastlands and are 11th in the table.

Ferguson takes the Red Devils into this derby on a run of indifferent form, with the European Champions failing to score in their last two outings against Aston Villa in the Premiership last weekend and Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday. However, with the talent at his disposal at Old Trafford, Ferguson will be confident that United can collect all three points at the Eastlands and keep touch with Premier League pacesetters, Chelsea and Liverpool, who are the only teams above United in the table.

Hughes will hope to have British record signing Robinho back for this derby clash, who missed the UEFA Cup tie with Schalke on Thursday with an ankle injury. City are unable to call on Valeri Bojinov (calf), Michael Johnson (groin) and Martin Petrov (knee). The Blues will give late fitness tests to Pablo Zabaleta (thigh) and Gelson Fernandes (hamstring) along with Robinho. Elano should feature for City after missing the European tie due to his wife giving birth on Wednesday.

United are unable to call on Paul Scholes (knee), Owen Hargreaves (knee) and Wes Brown (ankle) for the short trip across Manchester, but could welcome back summer signing from Tottenham Hotspur Dimitar Berbatov and defender Gary Neville if they can shake off injuries in time to take their place against their local rivals at the Eastlands. Edwin van der Sar should be back to replace Tomas Kuszczak in goal after missing the clash with Villarreal.

Manchester City: (from) Hart, Dunne, Richards, Garrido, Kompany, Elano, Ireland, Hamann, Robinho, Wright-Phillips, Jo, Vassell, Onuoha, Ball, Schmeichel, Mills, Zabaleta, Fernandes, Calcedo, Evans, Castillo, Ben Haim, Benjani, Sturridge, Etuhu, Logan, Glauber

Manchester United: van der Sar, Neville, Evra, Ferdinand, Ronaldo, Anderson, Berbatov, Rooney, Giggs, Foster, Park, Vidic, Carrick, Nani, Welbeck, Fabio, Rafael, O’Shea, Evans, Fletcher, Manucho, Kuszczak, Tevez, Possebon, Gray

Sunderland v Portsmouth Premiership Preview: Keane & Adams Resume Old Rivalries From The Dugout

Sunderland Play Tony Adams’, Portsmouth in the Premier League, at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

Roy Keane will be hoping the Black Cats can bounce straight back from last weekends 5-0 drubbing to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which emphasised the gulf in class between Sunderland and the top sides. However, Sunderland boss Keane is slowly building a squad in the North East, which is more than capable of competing in the Premiership and will relish the chance to pit his wits against former adversary on the pitch Adams. A win is vital for the Black Cats as they sit just one point above the bottom three.

New Pompey boss Adams never settled for anything less than 100% as a player for Arsenal and will not have liked being beaten 2-1 at Fratton Park by Wigan Athletic last weekend in his first match in charge. Adams will be looking forward to locking horns again with Keane as they face each other as managers for the first time. Pompey have not won in their last four games in the Premiership and Adams knows the importance of a win if the South coast club are to keep pace at the sharp end of the league.

Sunderland will be without David Connolly (groin) and Darren Ward (back), with record signing goalkeeper Craig Gordon likely to recover from a sprained ankle in time to face Pompey. Striker Kenwyne Jones could start in attack with Djibril Cisse, with Nyron Nosworthy and Anton Ferdinand likely to be Keane’s chosen central- defender pairing. Michael Chopra rejoined Cardiff City on loan this week.

Adams is unable to call on striker David Nugent, who is a week away from fitness with a groin problem, while fringe player Glenn Little could be fit in time for the visit to the Stadium of Light if he can shake off a hamstring injury.

Sunderland: (from) Gordon, Nosworthy, Ferdinand, McCartney, Malbranque, Leadbitter, Whitehead, Bardsley, Cisse, Richardson, Diouf, Miller, Murphy, Collins, Jones, Yorke, Reid, Chimbonda, Healy, M’Voto, Hartley, Fulop, Waghorn, Dowson, Meyler, Prica, Colgan

Portsmouth: (from) James, Johnson, Distin, Campbell, Belhadj, Kranjcar, Utaka, Diarra, Defoe, Crouch, Kaboul, Lauren, Hreidarsson, Diop, Thomas, Pamarot, Mvuemba, Ashdown, Hughes, Duffy, Sahar, Kanu, Davis, A Traore, D Traore, Wilson, Little