Aviva Premiership: Northampton host Exeter and Harlequins travel to Gloucester on Friday

The Aviva Premiership returns following a month of cup fixtures with leaders Northampton hosting Exeter in one of two Friday fixtures.

The match at Franklin's Gardens will take place alongside an encounter at Kingsholm, where Gloucester host Harlequins in what promises to be an exciting double-bill ahead of further domestic fixtures and the autumn internationals over the weekend.

Top-of-the-table clash

Northampton have made a superb start to the season and currently top the table with 25 points from six matches, three points above second-placed Saracens.

In their last Premiership match, they ran in six tries in an emphatic 43-10 win over Sale.

They followed that win up with defeat at Racing in the European Rugby Champions Cup, but bounced back a week later by beating Ospreys 34-6 in the same competition before beating both Newcastle and Scarlets in the LV=Cup.

However, they face a real test on Friday night with the visit of third-place Exeter, who are five points behind them.

The Chiefs also come into the game off the back of three straight wins, after beating Connacht 33-13 in the European Rugby Champions Cup and recording wins over Gloucester and Bath in the LV=Cup.

They also won their last Premiership match, beating London Irish 44-24 at Sandy Park.

The Saints are without a number of their star men due to their involvement in the autumn internationals, including Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes, Mike Brown and Tom Wood.

However, they do have Luther Burrell available after he recovered from a hand injury that kept him out of England's opening fixture against New Zealand, as well as Ben Foden, Lee Dickson and Calum Clark, who were not required by Stuart Lancaster for Saturday's match against South Africa.

Overall, they have made 10 changes to the line-up which began last weekend’s win over the Scarlets.

The other changes see Jamie Elliott and Stephen Myler come into the back line, with Alex Waller, Mike Haywood, Salesi Ma’afu and Samu Manoa starting up front.

The Chiefs have virtually a full-strength side to chose from with England squad members Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Thomas Waldrom starting at wing, outside centre and No.8 respectively.

Phil Dollman replaces Byron McGuigan at full-back while Carl Rimmer and Ben White come into the pack for Ben Moon and Dave Ewers.

Harlequins travel to Gloucester

It is a mid-table clash at Kingsholm, with just a point seperating sixth-place Gloucester and seventh-placed Harlequins, both of whom have won three and lost three this season.

Gloucester were beaten in their last Premiership match, going down 28-21 at Saracens, but have won three out of four since in their cup fixtures, courtesy of European wins over Brive and Oyonnaxn and an 18-9 win at London Welsh in the LV=Cup.

They only narrowly missed out on making it a quartet of cup wins, with Exeter edging them out 28-27 in the Anglo-Welsh competition just under two weeks ago.

Harlequins have the same recent record coming into this fixture, following up a 22-16 loss at Leicester in their last domestic fixture with a brace of victories in Europe (against Castres and Wasps), and one win (31-21 over the Dragons) out of two in the LV=Cup.

Gloucester are without a number of their players due to international commitments.

Jonny May and Ben Morgan are with England, Greig Laidlaw is required by Scotland, James Hook is in the Welsh squad to face Fiji, while Sione Kalamafoni, Aleki Lutui, and Sila Puafisi are all with Tonga.

However, Richard Hibbard has been released by Wales and starts on the bench for the Cherry and Whites.

Harlequins have made six changes to the team that beat the Dragons in the LV=Cup, including Dave Ward coming in at hooker, George Robson at lock and Luke Wallace and Nick Easter starting in the back row.

Easter will captain the side in Joe Marler's absence.