Wayne Rooney will face a fitness test on an ankle knock ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie between Manchester United and bitter rivals Liverpool (see FA Cup betting on totesport.com).
Rooney missed the midweek victory over Stoke and is one of two concerns for Sir Alex Ferguson (United 8/13 – match betting).
Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has been suffering from flu, so United may opt to give new signing Anders Lindegaard at least a place on the bench.
Lindegaard has just arrived at Old Trafford after transferring from Danish side Aalesund on a three-and-a-half year contract.
Paul Scholes, with a groin strain, and John O’Shea, with a calf injury, are both ruled out of the encounter.
Liverpool – who on Saturday dismissed manager Roy Hodgson – are set to recall Dirk Kuyt and are likely to axe either Joe Cole or Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool 9/2 – match betting), while Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Daniel Agger could also be dropped.
United go into the game 11 places ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League, having already seen off the Reds in the league at home when they won 3-2 in September.
Liverpool have won only one of their last seven visits to Old Trafford, losing all the rest.
Tottenham v Charlton
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp must ponder whether to give new signing Bongani Khumalo his debut against Charlton (Spurs 1/5 – match betting).
Khumalo starred at the World Cup and has been brought in to bolster Tottenham’s defence. With the pressure off somewhat away from the Premier League, this might be the perfect opportunity for Redknapp to see what Khumalo has to offer at this level.
Spurs will rest several first-team regulars, including Gareth Bale who picked up a minor back injury in midweek against Everton.
Among the players likely to start the game for Tottenham are Vedran Corluka, Sebastien Bassong, Niko Kranjcar, Sandro and Wilson Palacios.
Jermain Defoe is set to return after completing a three-game suspension, but Younes Kaboul is banned for the tie.
Charlton’s Paul Benson begins his three match suspension in a game where Keith Peacock starts his caretaker reign (Charlton 11/1 – match betting).
Young defender Matt Fry is available after he extended his loan from West Ham for another month.
Peacock has the job of lifting the players after Phil Parkinson was axed following the 4-2 defeat to Swindon.
Chelsea v Ipswich
Chelsea’s Didier Drogba may be forced to miss the third-round tie after picking up a knock in training (Chelsea 1/5 – match betting).
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti will give late fitness tests to the Ivorian international, as well as Ashely Cole and Michael Essien.
Cole and Essien were injured in the shock defeat at Wolves in midweek, and have been unable to train since.
Ipswich go into the game on the back of a poor run of form which saw the end of Roy Keane’s time in charge at Portman Road (Ipswich 11/1 – match betting).
Caretaker boss Ian McParland is without three key men at Stamford Bridge. Sunderland midfielder Jack Colback has been recalled from his loan spell, striker Rory Fallon is cup-tied and Grant Leadbitter is suspended.
Ipswich go into the tie 34 places lower than Chelsea on the league ladder, having not won in their last nine meetings with the Blues.
The most recent meeting between the sides was in the fourth round in January 2009 at Stamford Bridge, with Michael Ballack scoring twice in a 3-1 win for Chelsea. Ipswich have lost all three FA Cup meetings with Chelsea.
Leicester City v Manchester City
Leicester have been working hard to register Kyle Naughton in time to face Manchester City at the Walkers Stadium (Leicester 5/1 – match betting).
The Spurs player has been locked in talks with manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who hopes to have him available.
Leicester have had a double blow with news that Roman Bednar and Curtis Davies have returned to West Brom and Aston Villa respectively following loan deals.
Manchester City have not registered Edin Dzeko in time to face the Foxes, the Wolfsburg striker being restricted to watching this tie from the stands (Manchester City 4/6 – match betting).
Pablo Zabaleta is available after the FA overturned a three-match ban for the red card he was given at Arsenal on Wednesday.
Mancini’s men go into the tie 30 places higher than Leicester in league standings, and with the weight of history against them.
It is the 10th time the two clubs have been paired together in the FA Cup, and Manchester City have won seven of the ties. They have not been beaten in this competition since 1968, when Leicester won a fourth round replay 4-3.
Leicester have not lost in seven league and cup games at the Walkers Stadium, but they have a poor FA Cup record in recent times and last year was the first time in four seasons they got past the third round.
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