London - Champions Manchester United have the chance to go top of the table for the first time on Saturday night as the battle for the English Premier League title begins to hit boiling point.

Victory at Bolton Wanderers would lift United one point clear of Liverpool, who are not in action until Monday night when they host Merseyside rivals Everton.

With one game in hand, United have the chance to add to the pressure on Liverpool, who were held to a goalless draw at Stoke City in their last match.

"You don't mind when you go top, but top is definitely the place to be," United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. "Hopefully that's where we'll be by Saturday night."

United's recent run of form has been built around a rock-solid defence, with nine successive clean sheets. Five of their past seven league matches have been won by 1-0.

Injuries to Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra mean they will have to shuffle their pack at Bolton, and Ferguson revealed after Wednesday's 1-0 over Wiagn Athletic they were not the only doubts for the game.

"Carlos (Tevez) limped through the second half and Jonny (Evans) limped through virtually the whole game," he said. "We will have to assess them and see how they are. We need our best team on Saturday because Bolton are a big side."

Fernando Torres, meanwhile, could start for Liverpool against Everton as they look to maintain their title challenge.

The Spaniard played 30 minutes as a substitute against Stoke after hamstring trouble, but could be thrown into the side from the start for what is a crucial derby.

"If you can score a goal against Everton in the derby it makes the fans really happy," Torres said, having scored three against their city rivals in the past two derbies.

"Before the last one against Everton I had people coming up to me telling me 'you have to win, you have to win' and 'you have to score'.

"I hope to play against Everton again this time and I hope to be able to score again," Torres said.

Torres' Spain colleague Xabi Alonso is also expected to be fit to play after a foot injury.

Chelsea, four points off the pace in third, host Stoke City while Aston Villa, one point further back in fourth, are away to Sunderland.

West Bromwich Albion will be hoping to move off the bottom of the table by beating Middlesbrough at the Hawthorns.

Blackburn, who head West Brom only on goal difference, host Newcastle United, while Tottenham Hotspur, the other side in the bottom three, welcome Portsmouth to White Hart Lane.

That match will see Spurs manager Harry Redknapp and striker Jermain Defoe facing their former side, but for Portsmouth, the match is solely about the result.

"A lot of people will talk about the game being Harry against Portsmouth but we'll just concentrate on getting the points," Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch said.

"There's a few that weren't in the team under Harry who will want to show that they should have been playing, so there might be a bit of that, but first and foremost we just want to win for Portsmouth."

In the weekend's other matches, fifth-placed Arsenal travel to Hull City and big-spending Manchester City - this week linked with a massive bid for AC Milan midfielder Kaka - welcome Wigan.

West Ham take on Fulham on Sunday. (dpa)