First London derby of season

Arsenal gained all three points from their opening match against newcomers West Brom at the Emirates Stadium last week but Fulham lost their way against other Premier League debutants Hull at the KC Stadium, where they went down 1-2.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has spent over £20 million to strengthen his side this summer after the Cottagers escaped relegation in the very last match of the 2007-08 season.

Arsenal, who are almost through to the Champions League group phase thanks to their 2-0 away win at FC Twente, hope to stay on the winning ways and beat Fulham this evening in the first London derby of the season.

In the 14 encounters between Fulham and Arsenal in the Premier League, the Gunners have lost only once, 1-2 (McBride, Radzinski − Van Persie) at Craven Cottage in 2006-07.

Last season, Arsenal made their fifth double on Fulham, having won at home and away in the same season in 2007-08, 2005-06, 2004-05, 2002-03 and 2001-02.

In addition to that defeat at Fulham, the only other campaign that Arsenal did not double up against their modest London neighbours was in 2003-04, when Fulham earned a 0-0 draw at Highbury but lost at home.

Samir Nasri had a fine debut for Arsenal, scoring the goal that gave them all the points against West Brom.

Jimmy Bullard, of Fulham, played a great role in the Londoners' Houdini escape last season. He is now keen to extend his contract at Craven Cottage, even if he still has two more years left on his current deal.

Fratton Park. The two teams involved in the Community Shield match earlier this month, Portsmouth and Manchester United, cross swords once more on Monday night.

The United fans need not worry that their favourites dropped two points in their first fixture of the campaign... last season they were crowned champions and lost seven points from the nine at their disposal in their first three outings.

On Monday, United will be without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs. Portsmouth started with a thumping after their 4-0 defeat at Chelsea.

JJB Stadium. Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was over the moon, watching his new club Chelsea score an emphatic win over Portsmouth last week.

Frank Lampard remarked that it was after a talk with his uncle, Harry Redknapp (Portsmouth's boss), that he decided to stay put instead of joining Inter.

Tomorrow, Chelsea tackle Wigan, who went down at West Ham. Wigan proved a stumbling block for Chelsea in the run in for the championship last season after holding the Blues to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Anfield. Liverpool, having escaped from jail in the 0-0 draw at Belgian side Standard Liege in the Champions League, increased their efforts to beat Sunderland away 1-0. Since his arrival at Liverpool, Rafa Benitez has never started a season at home.

Today, the Reds duel with Middlesbrough. Last week, Fernando Torres had to come to Liverpool's rescue once more with the only goal of the match against Sunderland.

Boro, on their part, beat Tottenham 2-1 at home. They have replaced defender Luke Young (now at Villa) with Arsenal's Justin Hoyte.

Britannia Stadium. After their 3-1 defeat at Bolton, Stoke City will be all out to improve their performance in their first home match of the season.

Yet, Aston Villa might prove a hard nut to crack. In the 4-2 win over Manchester City, Villa showed that they could be a more reliable side than last season.

Their striker, Gabriel Agbonlahor, scored the first hat-trick of the season against City. Villa's Martin O'Neill is hoping that winger Ashley Young will sign a new contract.

St James' Park. Kevin Keegan was glad to emerge from Old Trafford with a point, as Newcastle avoided defeat at United for the first time in five years.

Newcastle will entertain Bolton in search of a win and Michael Owen could return from injury.

Bolton's club record signing, attacker John Elmander, from Toulouse, left a good impression so far for his new club.

The Hawthorns. Both West Brom and Everton started with a loss, yet the latter's setback came at home, where last season they only lost four times.

Everton boss David Moyes has started the campaign without a single capture and saw striker Andy Johnson leave for Fulham.

In the last Premier League meeting in the Midlands, Albion emerged victorious 4-0 (Ellington 2, Clement, Earnshaw) in 2005-06.

White Hart Lane. Tottenham started the campaign with a loss at Middlesbrough amidst the transfer speculation on the future of Dimitar Berbatov. Today, the Spurs meet Boro's north-east neighbours Sunderland.

Roy Keane was satisfied with the way his side played against Liverpool in their opening encounter, even if they forfeited all the points.

City of Manchester Stadium. New boss Mark Hughes is without three injured strikers and club record signing Jo (Joao Alves de Assis Silva) is at the Olympics on duty for Brazil. Valeri Bojinov will be on the sidelines for six months.

Manchester City lost their first match against Aston Villa and will strive to chalk up the points at home to West Ham.

The Hammers, whose boss Alan Curbishley tops the list for earliest sacked managers by the punters, started to prove critics wrong as the Londoners won against Wigan.

Ewood Park. Both Blackburn and Hull registered victories on day one. The Tigers' three-pointer came in their baptism in the top echelon of the English game.

Blackburn, under rookie manager Paul Ince, were not expected to emerge with all the points from Everton.

Hull manager Phil Brown insisted that his players would not have a problem keeping their feet on the ground.

Ince, meanwhile, made it clear that no other player would leave Ewood Park this summer.