Sunderland vs Chelsea

Chelsea travel to the Stadium of Light for their first away match of the season against Steve Bruce's Sunderland. The Mackems have been buoyed by the club's 1-0 victory over Bolton at the weekend, and by the seamless integration of Darren Bent into the team's formation.

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Carlo Ancelotti will be looking for another 3 points for his Chelsea team, although will no doubt be looking for his players to achieve a victory in as comfortable fashion as possible. The Chelsea manager was kept waiting until injury time of Chelsea's match against Hull to see his team clinch 3 vital points from the opening match of the season.

Both sides go into tonight's match facing injuries to key players. Sunderland midfielder Steed Malbranque has a 50-50 chance of playing after picking up an ankle injury against Bolton at the weekend. Meanwhile, Kieran Richardson is also struggling with a knock, but midfielder Andy Reid is expected to recover from a thigh problem.

The Blues on the other hand are still waiting to see if Juliano Belletti and Alex will have recovered in time from the injuries that kept them out of Saturday's win over Hull City. However, new signing Yuri Zhirkov, Joe Cole and Paolo Ferreira will all be absent from the Chelsea squad travelling north.

Probable Line-Ups:

Sunderland (probable, 4-4-2). Fulop; Bardsley, Collins, Ferdinand, McCartney; Cana, Malbranque, Cattermole, Richardson; Bent, Jones.

Chelsea (probable, 4-4-2): Cech; Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Ballack, Essien, Malouda, Lampard; Anelka, Drogba.

Referee: Steve Bennett.


Wigan vs Wolverhampton

Wolves travel to the JJB Stadium to take on a Wigan side, fresh from a solid 2-0 victory over Aston Villa. The Wanderers will go into tonight's match hoping that they fare better on their travels than they did in their Premier League debut at home to West Ham on Saturday.

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Both sides have injury concerns in the run-up to kick-off, with Wigan sweating over the fitness of Charles N'Zogbia, while Wolves will have to make do without their talisman and top scorer from last season, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, as well as record signing Kevin Doyle.

Probable Line-Ups:

Wigan (Probable, 4-2-3-1): Kirkland; Melchiot, Bramble, Scharner, Figueroa; Brown, Thomas; N’Zogbia, Gomez, Koumas; Rodallega.

Wolves (Probable, 4-4-2): Hennessey; Foley, Mancienne, Craddock, ward; Halford, Henry, Milijas, Jarvis; Keogh, Ebanks-Blake.

Referee: Mike Jones.