Leaders Chelsea could be without central defender David Luiz and midfielder Juan Mata for Saturday's trip to Swansea City after they picked up ankle and hamstring injuries respectively in the League Cup victory over Manchester United in midweek.
John Terry is still serving a four-match ban for racist language, leaving Chelsea stretched at the back, although left-back Ashley Cole has recovered from a swollen ankle.
Swansea are sweating on the fitness of defender Chico Flores after he limped out of Wednesday's League Cup victory at Liverpool while German Gerhard Tremmel will continue in goal in the absence of first-choice Michel Vorm who was injured in the defeat by Manchester City last week.
"Ando was the best player on the pitch [on Wednesday] until he tired," manager Sir Alex Ferguson said on Friday. "He needs games now and hopefully we can give him them."
"They have proved defensively this year that they're a stronger, more physical team. I watched them last week against QPR and it'll be a hard game," he said.
Argentina full-back Pablo Zabaleta's return to fitness is a boost for Manchester City as they travel for Saturday's late kick-off at West Ham United.
"I feel good, I've been training with the team and I think I should be fine to play on Saturday," Zabaleta told City's website. "We have some problems in defence at the moment. We've had three full-backs injured over the past few months, so it is great to be back with the team."
Manager Roberto Mancini said Richards' knee injury was not as bad as had been reported and he would be out for "one month" rather than the 16 weeks initially feared.
"Moussa will have further information on his injury today, so he will be out of the game," manager Andre Villas-Boas told Tottenham's website.
"Ade has made a good return - he trained today - so he will be available for selection."
