Portsmouth can claim record of clean sheets

After five rounds of matches in this season's Premier League, it's Portsmouth who are leading the way. The southcoast club are currently ahead of title challengers Manchester United and Chelsea.

Yet, what has really surprised the football punter is how Portsmouth have managed to chalk up five clean sheets in a row from the start of the campaign to match the feat achieved by league champions Chelsea last season.

On Monday, Harry Redknapp's men will set a new Premier League record if they don't concede a goal when hosting Bolton Wanderers at Fratton Park.

In the post-war period, Portsmouth had twice established a record in the top flight of five consecutive league matches without conceding a goal.

Reading-Man. United. The Red Devils have lost their 100 per cent record after their 0-1 defeat at home by Arsenal.

Sir Alex Ferguson has once again insisted that he has no immediate plans to retire, while defender Rio Ferdinand admitted that he was 'a fool' to miss a drugs test.

This will be United's second visit to London after their 3-0 win at Charlton.

Six-placed Reading, whose manager Steve Coppell was a top player at Old Trafford, is glad that his side have made a sparkling start in their first appearance in the top echelon.

Fulham-Chelsea. Last season the Cottagers won this fixture 1-0 (BoaMorte).

The Blues have almost caught up with the front runners, being a mere point behind leaders Portsmouth.

As usual, Chelsea beat Liverpool in the Premiership for the fifth consecutive match (home and away).

Michael Ballack apologised to Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko after the Germany captain was dismissed for stamping on the Mali midfielder last Sunday. Ballack will now miss the next three matches through suspension.

Luis BoaMorte will probably miss the game through injury. In midweek, Fulham were shocked by Wycombe Wanderers at home in the League Cup.

Newcastle-Everton. The Blues are still undefeated even if they dropped two points at home to Wigan.

On the other hand, Newcastle surprised West Ham when beating them 2-0. Nigerian forward Obafemi Martins scored his first goal for the club.

Michael Owen has been assured that the knee operation he did recently will not end his career.

Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given is expected to be sidelined for six weeks after his injury at Upton Park.

In midweek, Newcastle went down 0-2 to Liverpool at Anfield.

Aston Villa-Charlton. Aston Villa's revival continued last week when they stretched their unbeaten start with a goalless draw at Watford.

Iain Dowie, who took over from Alan Curbishley at Charlton, could become the first managerial casualty of the season after his side lost four of their opening five matches.

Villa lost only once at home to Charlton in their seven meetings in the Premiership - a 3-4 defeat in 1998-99.

Arsenal-Sheffield United. After a rather disappointing start to their Premier League campaign, Arsenal showed their potential last Sunday after beating Manchester United at Old Trafford.

After that victory, Arsene Wenger remarked that his club may still win the title and he felt it had been too long since Arsenal were the undisputed kings of English football.

Thierry Henry, who can return after injury, claimed that his younger team-mates cannot expect him to do all the hard stuff.

Former Gunners' boss George Graham has branded Ashley Cole 'juvenile' for criticising his ex-team.

Sheffield United will do their utmost to prevent their opponents from recording their first league win at their new Emirates Stadium.

Liverpool-Tottenham. These two clubs have so far failed to sparkle after the opening five league matches.

In midweek, the Reds looked to have found their touch with a convincing 2-0 win over Newcastle during which Xabi Alonso hit a wonder goal, scoring with a shot from just outside his penalty area.

The Londoners have won only once in five Premiership encounters, at home to Sheffield United.

Manchester City-West Ham. Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano are still to find their feet since their publicised move to West Ham. What will happen next is still a big question mark.

What has annoyed the fans is that the rest of the squad are not performing to the standards they reached last season.

After the latest defeat (at home to Newcastle) West Ham boss Alan Pardew said he had no idea what his best formation was.

The Citizens are also not performing and they must pull their socks up not to start the winter period in relegation trouble.

The League Cup shock at Chesterfield increased the frustration of City boss Stuart Pearce.

City suffered a double injury blow after goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson and defender Hatem Trabelsi were ruled out for up to a month.

Middlesbrough-Blackburn. New Boro boss Gareth Southgate has already spoken to Real Madrid about the possibility of signing Jonathan Woodgate on a permanent basis.

Southgate also feels that Woodgate should be recalled to the England squad.

The Rovers claimed their first win of the season, 4-2 against Manchester City at Ewood Park, but this was followed by their League Cup exit to Notts County at home.

Mark Hughes hopes that the defeat of Manchester City will get the Rovers' season up and running. Hughes's team have completed a double of wins over Boro last season, 3-2 at home and 2-0 away.

Wigan-Watford. Watford fans are hoping that the tide will turn in their favour after their goalless draw against Aston Villa last weekend.

For their part, the Latics have shown that they are improving in their approach and are finally starting to rediscover last season's form with a solid performance in their 2-2 draw against Everton at Goodison Park.

Yet, in midweek, the League Cup finalists suffered another setback when they were bundled out of the competition, 0-2 at Crewe.