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Team news ahead of the final matches of the 2008-09 Premier League, with relegation-battling Newcastle short of several first-team regulars for the must-win match at Aston Villa.

All games kick off on Sunday May 24 at 16:00 UK time.

The relegation clashes:

Aston Villa v Newcastle

Poor Newcastle need at least a draw to survive and will be down if they lose. Even if they win they could still be relegated if Hull beat an under-strength Manchester United.

The biggest game for the Magpies since their promotion in 1993 will be played without suspended duo Joey Barton and Sebastien Bassong and the injured Andy Carroll, Habib Beye, Xisco and Ignacio Gonzalez. Scant consolation is the return of Jose Enrique and Michael Owen to training, with neither likely to be considered match-fit enough to start.

Villa, meanwhile, have few problems other than the sad, injury-enforced retirement of star defender Martin Laursen.

Wilfred Bouma is still out as he recovers from a long-term ankle injury, while Ashley Young and Luke Young are touch-and-go and unlikely to be risked with nothing at stake other than the pride of pipping Everton to fifth.

Hull City v Manchester United

The Tigers have their fingers crossed that key defenders Kamil Zayatte and Bernard Mendy will recover from injuries that ruled them out of the draw with Bolton last week.

Craig Fagan should continue after his goal gave Hull a fighting chance of beating the drop and he should be partnered by Daniel Cousin as Manucho is ineligible under the terms of his loan from United.

Left-back Andy Dawson is also expected to start the match at the KC Stadium despite struggling this week with illness.

The fact that Sir Alex Ferguson's men have already won the league and have the small matter of a Champions League final against Barcelona next week should play into Phil Brown's hands.

Ben Foster's injury means third-choice Pole Tomasz Kuszczak should start, giving the former West Brom keeper a vital say in determining who drops.

Rafael Da Silva and twin brother Fabio should play right and left-back with Jonny Evans and Gary Neville tipped to complete the defence. Evans could even be rested for a youth-team player, with Rio Ferdinand struggling to be fit for the Barca clash.

Nani, Anderson and Darron Gibson are expected to play alongside Darren Fletcher, whose suspension from the Champions League final may be offset with the captain's armband.

Wes Brown is in contention for a first-team return as he continues his recovery from a foot-injury that has kept him out since January.

Owen Hargreaves is a long-term casualties.

West Ham v Middlesbrough

With the Hammers out of contention for a European place they will not be too worried about missing a host of first-teamers.

Valon Behrami, James Collins, Danny Gabbidon, Keiron Dyer and Dean Ashton are all long-term injured while youngster James Tomkins is suspended. Versatile USA defender Jonathan Spector fills in at centre-back.

It's a different story altogether for Boro, who must win and hope both Newcastle and Hull lose if they are to avoid relegation. They could even go down if they win and Hull are beaten by United, as they need to overhaul a five-goal deficit to catch the Tigers.

Stewart Downing's broken foot is a major blow to add to existing injuries to Didier Digard, Afonso Alves, Emanuel Pogatetz and Chris Riggott.

Things are not looking good for Boro boss Gareth Southgate.

Sunderland v Chelsea

The Black Cats are not quite safe and could go down if they lose and both Newcastle and Hull win.

Craig Gordon is still out after an op so Marton Fulop keeps goal.

Nyron Nosworthy and George McCartney are injured so Calum Davenport and Danny Collins continue at centre-half and left-back respectively.

Chelsea are assured third place but are missing Joe Cole, Deco, Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho through injury.

Michael Ballack could return in place of John Obi-Mikel, but otherwise no changes are expected in Guus Hiddink's final league game as temporary Chelsea boss.

The battle for the Europa League slot:

Fulham v Everton

Fulham are without Simon Davies for a match they realistically only need to draw to qualify for Europe.

Striker Andrew Johnson is doubtful after aggravating a knee injury in training while Giles Barnes is still sidelined by an Achilles injury.

The Whites are two points and five goals ahead of eighth-placed Spurs and Hungary international Zoltan Gera will step in for the Wales winger,

Everton are fifth and a draw should see them good to beat Aston Villa in the league standings. Despite their success, they have an unenviable injury list that includes star men Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka and Yakubu.

Full-backs Nuno Valente and Tony Hibbert are still out injured, so Leighton Baines and Lars Jacobsen continue wide of Joleon Lescott and Joseph Yobo, who was recently rewarded for his patience playing second-fiddle to Jagielka with a five-year contract.

Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs can sneak into Europe if they win and Fulham lose but they could be without inspirational defender Jonathan Woodgate, who limped out of the win over Manchester City last weekend with a groin strain and has admitted to being touch-and-go for the match at Anfield.

Darren Bent, David Bentley, Jamie O'Hara are all sidelined, but the absence of wide-man Aaron Lennon will be the most deeply felt. Robbie Keane successfully filled in on the right last time and is expected to do so again, with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe continuing their partnership up front.

Liverpool are guaranteed second and are only missing Philip Degen, who would not have started anyway. Albert Riera could return to the starting line-up although Fabio Aurelio - who missed out through injury last weekend - may have to be content with a place on the bench.

The 'dead rubbers':

Arsenal v Stoke City

Young Italian Vito Mannone could start in goal for the Gunners with Lukas Fabianski rated 50-50 for the clash at the Emirates and Manuel Almunia still out.

Kieran Gibbs will continue at left-back in Gael Clichy's absence, while Emmanuel Adebayor is not expected to feature as his time at the Emirates winds down.

Stoke are without defender Danny Higginbotham, midfielder Amdy Faye and striker Mamady Sidibe, while winger Matthew Etherington is a doubt.

Boss Tony Pulis does not care one jot though, as safety was assured with mid-table comfort and the keys to the city await.

Blackburn Rovers v West Brom

Thankfully for Rovers, their worst injury crisis in recent years came after they secured their top-flight status.

With Brett Emerton and Steven Reid long-term crocks, and David Dunn, Jason Roberts and Roque Santa Cruz more recent absences, the addition of centre-back duo Ryan Nelsen and Gael Givet to the treatment table would have been most unwelcome had Sam Allardyce needed the points.

West Brom also have nothing to play for, having already been condemned to the drop after defeat against Liverpool last week.

James Morrison and Ishmael Miller are still injured, while striker Roman Bednar was suspended by the club last week after allegedly being caught buying drugs.

Manchester City v Bolton

City cannot qualify for Europe after they lost to Spurs last weekend, but they are still likely to field a full-strength line-up against Bolton.

Craig Bellamy and Michael Johnson are still out, with veteran midfielder Dietmar Hamann also injured.

Robinho should return after missing the Spurs game, while Pablo Zabaleta may regain a starting slot at the expense of Martin Petrov.

The Trotters also have nothing to play for and are without ongoing injury concerns Ricardo Gardner, Ricardo Vaz Te and Joey O'Brien.

Danny Shittu is expected to continue at the back in place of Andy O'Brien.

Wigan v Portsmouth

The wheels came off Wigan's season after Amr Zaki appeared to lose interest in being a professional footballer. He is carrying an injury but, after Steve Bruce decided not to take up the option to buy the formerly-prolific striker, is unlikely to feature with Hugo Rodallega and Mido first choice.

Chris Kirkland's injury troubles continue, so Richard Kingson and Mike Pollitt compete for the goalkeeper's jersey.

David James is out for Pompey, so giant Canadian keeper Asmir Begovic keeps goal.

Djimi Traore, Niko Kranjcar, Arnold Mvuemba and Papa Bouba-Diop are all out long-term, but Armand Traore returned from injury to score last week so could be handed a start.

Follow all of the final games of the Premier League season LIVE on Eurisport-Yahoo! with comments, scoring, reports and reaction from 16:00 UK time this Sunday!

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