Chelsea can embarrass the rest of the Premiership

Chelsea, who have just established a Premiership record of seven straight wins from the start of the season, can leave the other clubs in chase gasping for breath as they have emerged with the slogan of 'catch us if you can'.

Last season, Jose Mourinho's boys finished with a 12-point cushion on second-placed Arsenal. If results continue in this trend, the Blues can indeed set a record of points between them and the rest.

The Londoners also had luck on their side on a number of occasions in the way they won their league matches. However, nobody can deny that they have the best squad in England and perhaps even in Europe.

It is no use for other clubs to grumble on how much money Mourinho has to spend and that Chelsea rode their luck to claim all maximum points. The other contenders must get their houses in order first and stop dropping priceless points, especially in front of their own fans.

After conceding their first goal against Aston Villa in the 2-1 home victory, the other pretenders to the crown are hoping that tomorrow Chelsea will forfeit their first points in the clash against Liverpool at Anfield.

Chelsea skipper John Terry has hit back at criticism of his side's style of play and insisted that 'the boring tag' could never be carried by the Blues.

Liverpool are also undefeated in the league, but they have won only once from their five outings. Chelsea have triumphed in their last two trips to Liverpool 1-0, 2-1.

In midweek the two clubs met in the Champions League and cancelled each other in midfield, taking a point each after a 0-0 draw.

Cheers Charlton

Charlton vs Tottenham. One of the modest clubs in the Premiership, Alan Curbishley's Charlton, have shown the way as to how others should respond, even if their only defeat came against Chelsea at The Valley.

Yet, the way they have gone on with their task reflects the spirit and togetherness the team possess. This will be Charlton's second derby of the season as they attempt to hold on to their high position.

Sequel to their opening two victories, Spurs have failed to win in the five games that followed, having netted only once in the process.

Yet, on Monday night they returned to winning form against Fulham.

In only six Premiership duels at the Addicks' patch, the contestants won three matches each.

Wigan vs Bolton. Like Charlton, Bolton also made a flying start to the campaign. But while Charlton set an attacking trend, the Trotters came in for criticism for their negative play.

Moreover, some critics had also uttered that many clubs in the Premiership have copied Bolton's style of play.

In Thursday's UEFA Cup at Lokomotiv Plovdiv, Bolton won 2-1 for a 4-2 aggregate win.

Newcomers Wigan are truly showing that they have earned promotion not to just make up the numbers, having now won four of their last five League and Cup matches.

The last occasion they met in the 'old' Division I in 1991-93 the Wanderers made the double over the Latics.

Fulham vs Man. United. Following their 2-1 victory over Benfica at Old Trafford in the Champions League, Man. United travel to the capital to face Fulham.

Alex Ferguson came in for a lot of criticism in the loss against Blackburn for not using Wayne Rooney from the start when the England attacker was suspended in Europe.

Ferguson has rightly warned the other managers that English football could not stand a further descent into an Italian-style 'safety first' in the Premiership.

After their defeat at Tottenham, Fulham are fourth from bottom. They have failed to topple United in their four Premiership encounters on their own backyard.

Arsenal vs Birmingham. This week Arsene Wenger called upon the FA to start awarding points for goals in a bid to encourage more attacking play.

Vice-chairman David Dein said that he was 'quietly confident' that Thierry Henry will see out his career at the club. The 28-year-old forward has two years remaining on his contract.

In the Champions League battle in Amsterdam against Ajax, the Gunners claimed a priceless 2-1 win to record successive victories.

Birmingham, having triumphed once in the league, still have a long list of injuries that have hampered their fortunes in the early phase of the campaign.

Portsmouth vs Newcastle. Andy O'Brien and Laurent Robert will strive to impress against their ex-club Newcastle after their move to Portsmouth.

Since Michael Owen joined Newcastle they have cashed in seven points from nine. The England attacker stressed that he wanted to justify the club's £17m investment in him.

Boss Graeme Souness was full of praise for the way Scott Parker (ex-Chelsea) has boosted his midfield department.

In the only four Premiership matches the duo had been involved in (home and away) Newcastle have not lost after a win and three draws.

Sunderland vs West Ham. These two promoted sides were satisfied with their latest performances as the Black Cats claimed their first victory of the season (against Middlesbrough away) and West Ham held Arsenal to a draw (at home).

The Londoners' pedigree of adventurous play has left its mark even in the Premiership.

Sunderland's 2-0 win is their first top-flight victory in 22 games since December 2002. Last term, when the two sides were in Division One, Sunderland won 2-1 at Upton Park while West Ham triumphed 2-0 at the Stadium of Light.

Manchester City vs Everton. The Citizens have suddenly hit a sticky patch and have not won in four outings, including back-to-back losses in the League.

Everton, now also out of the UEFA Cup, have been thrown into a state of disorganisation and do not know what has hit them as they slipped to rock bottom sequel to the fourth straight defeat in bread-and-butter commitments.

Everton boss David Moyes is now under pressure to steer the side into safe waters.

Aston Villa vs Middlesbrough. Both sides finished on the losing end at the weekend, but Villa played their hearts out against Chelsea and deserved a point for their never-say-die commitment.

Boro, who eliminated Xanthi in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, were stunned by bottom side Sunderland in the north-east derby at the Riverside.

Ugo Ehiogu, if fit, will partner Gareth Southgate in defence against their ex-mates at Villa.

In ten Premiership meetings at Villa Park, the Villans lost only once.

In their first clash in January 1993 the Midlanders sunk the Teessiders 5-1 (Parker, McGrath, Yorke, Saunders, Teale - Hignett).

Blackburn vs West Brom. Blackburn, fresh from their impressive win at Old Trafford (first since 1963-64), will have the edge against a dejected West Brom side that have won once in seven league games.

This is also a clash between two former Manchester United stalwarts - Mark Hughes and Bryan Robson, now at the helm of their respective teams.