Manchester United should be able to rely upon its first-choice defense for Tuesday's Premier League match against Aston Villa.
After missing Saturday's FA Cup win over Southampton, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Rafael da Silva, Patrice Evra and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar are on course to return as the leaders aim to stretch their unbeaten start to the Premier League season to 24 matches.
"We should have our back four back," United manager Alex Ferguson said.
The players' return is a welcome boost for Ferguson, whose team needed to score twice in the last nine minutes to draw 2-2 at Villa in November.
"They really got about us and made it a high tempo game," United midfielder Ryan Giggs said. "Sometimes, if you slow things down you can come unstuck, but they kept going and it worked for a lot of the game.
"We didn't play well, but the lads never gave up and managed to grind out a result."
That was one of nine draws in the Premier League's only unbeaten record. Second-place Arsenal, which hosts Everton in another of Tuesday's four matches, and third-place Manchester City have each lost five times.
Rafael has recovered from a concussion he sustained against Blackpool last week, while Ferdinand and Vidic have each recovered from minor ailments. Van der Sar was rested for the FA Cup, while Evra was granted compassionate leave following a family bereavement.
Arsenal is seeking to close a five-point gap on United but will be without central defender Sebastien Squillaci because of suspension and midfielder Samir Nasri with a hamstring injury.
Fullback Bacary Sagna should return following a head injury, while Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Johan Djourou, Gael Clichy and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny are all in the squad after sitting out Sunday's 2-1 FA Cup win over Huddersfield.
Also Tuesday, Chelsea is at Sunderland and relegation-threatened Wigan goes to West Bromwich Albion.
Liverpool hosts Stoke in one of Wednesday's six games.
Also, it's: Birmingham vs. Manchester City; Blackburn vs. Tottenham; Blackpool vs. West Ham; Bolton vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers; and Fulham vs. Newcastle.
