Spurs in auspicious start to the league

Although these are indeed early days, with most of the clubs having only played three matches, Tottenham are currently on top of the heap with nine maximum points. Chelsea are the only other side to gain the full points.

Arsenal and Manchester City are also on maximum points but both teams played a game less.

The last time Tottenham opened their campaign with three straight wins was in 1960-61 with Bill Nicholson as manager. Their first three league matches had finished thus: Home vs Everton 2-0; Away vs Blackpool 3-1; and Away vs Blackburn 4-1.

That season Tottenham finished as champions and went on to clinch the double by lifting the FA Cup. Those three wins were stretched to a record 11 consecutive league victories.

Back to the present, Harry Redknapp is showing that he could indeed rub shoulders with the elite managers now that he is with a big club. His signings were simply great.

Today, Tottenham, who beat Doncaster 5-1 away in the League Cup on Wednesday, can stretch their impressive record even further when they play at home to Birmingham even though no team should be discarded in the Premier League.

Birmingham have also played three games and they had a mixed bag of results, with a win, a draw and a defeat.

Champions Manchester United trounced Wigan 5-0 at the DW Stadium last week but today Alex Ferguson's team will be testing their wits against one of the top four in the Premier League - Arsenal - at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils are unbeaten in their last ten league and cup matches in front of their own fans.

On the other hand, Arsenal have scored ten goals in their first two outings of the league besides ousting Celtic from the Champions League.

Can Burnley continue in their winning vein after victories over Manchester United and Everton at Turf Moor?

In these games two penalties were missed against Burnley - Michael Carrick for Manchester United and Louis Saha for Everton - and they did not concede a goal. But away Burnley could find the going tough, especially when facing Chelsea.

The Blues are playing some great stuff and in their win at Fulham twin strikers Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka got the perfect understanding.

The last occasion these two teams met at Stamford Bridge in a league encounter was in 1982-83 with the Blues edging the Clarets 2-1 in the 'old' Division Two.

Following their miserable 1-3 upset to Aston Villa at Anfield on Monday, Liverpool will be on the road to play guests to Bolton at the Reebok Stadium this afternoon.

The Midlanders dented Liverpool's 31-match unbeaten home league record, stretching back to December 2007. The loss of Xabi Alonso was a big blow for the Reds and his void in midfield will be difficult to fill.

Manchester City visit the South Coast to tackle lowly Portsmouth at Fratton Park tomorrow.

The Citizens, who had Carlos Tevez scoring his first goal for the club in a 2-0 League Cup win against Crystal Palace on Thursday, have not dropped a point and Mark Hughes is now happy to have finally signed Everton's centre-back Joleon Lescott to bolster his defensive lines.

Portsmouth seem to have resolved their boardroom problems but they must find a way to start chalking up points fast if they do not want to struggle throughout the campaign. In three outings, Pompey have scored only one goal and conceded six.

Hammers' luck

Blackburn are also pointless after three matches and Sam Allardyce has high hopes to start hitting the right notes at home to West Ham today.

Rovers have failed to win this fixture in the last three years - 1-1, 0-1, 1-2. The Hammers' mistakes against Tottenham cost them at least a point when they were leading 1-0.

West Ham had to endure two tragedies in the same number of days lately.

After defender Calum Davenport had a second emergency operation following a stabbing incident, midfielder Jack Collison was shattered with the news that his father had died in a motorcycle incident.

Then, West Ham were involved in a bad-tempered cup tie this week against Millwall with crowd trouble in and outside Upton Park.

Aston Villa, buoyed by their victory over Liverpool, cross swords with Fulham at Villa Park.

Martin O'Neill's side were eliminated from the Europa League on Thursday by Rapid Vienna.

Fulham lost at home to Chelsea in their first London derby of the campaign.

The clash of ambers is the duel between Wolves and Hull at Molineux this afternoon.

In their first meeting in the top flight, home side Wolves will be keen to claim their first win in front of their own fans.

In past league commitments, from a total of 52 clashes, Hull won 24 to Wolves' 20.