Derby County entertain Manchester United at Pride Park in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final. The Rams have knocked out Stoke and Derby on their run to the semis this season, while United have disposed of Middlesbrough, QPR and Blackburn.

Martin O'Neill's high-flying Aston Villa welcome Tony Mowbray's West Bromwich Albion to Villa Park. Villa have proved they are now geniune top four contenders having ended the year inside that elusive group of teams, whereas the Baggies are back in contention in the relegation scrap after some good recent results.

Roy Hodgson's Fulham get their 2009 Premier League campaign up and running with a clash against Blackburn Rovers at Craven Cottage. They ended the last calendar year with a fantastic battling 2-2 draw with title-challengers Chelsea and will be looking to push on from that. Rovers go into the new year full of hope after landing Sam Allardyce as their new boss. Big Sam has got off to a very promising start since taking over and will be eyeing a mid-table finish this season.

Gareth Southgate's Middlesbrough welcome Sunderland for their first game of the new year. Boro have had an up-and-down season so far and, after a good start, find themselves out of the relegation zone on goal difference alone. But if their fans think they've had a rollercoaster ride, spare a thought for the Black Cats fans. Things looked great under Roy Keane, then suddenly they lost all their confidence and plummeted deep into the drop zone. Out goes Keane and in comes Ricky Sbragia and things looked like taking a turn for the better. However, a 3-0 defeat to Everton and it's suddenly not so rosy in the Sunderland camp.

Newcastle will be hoping their 2009 starts better than 2008 ended. The Magpies were comprehensively trounced 5-1 at home to Liverpool - who didn't have either Fernando Torres or Robbie Keane playing. Joe Kinnear will be looking for a lot more from his men after that disappointing display. The Hammers are enjoying a mini revival of late having come from behind to beat Stoke and Portsmouth in their last two Premier League games.