Chelsea look to preserve record

Premier League leaders Chelsea and nearest rivals Manchester United will enjoy home comfort this afternoon when they meet Everton and Aston Villa respectively.

Last week, Chelsea's five-point lead at the top was trimmed to two after the Blues lost 2-1 at Manchester City and United hit four past West Ham at Upton Park.

The Londoners had the chance to claim a priceless point at Eastlands but Frank Lampard fluffed his penalty. He was not the only Premier League player to miss from the spot as Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, Portsmouth's Aruna Dindane and Tottenham's Jermain Defoe also failed to convert penalties last weekend.

So far, Chelsea are the only Premier League team with a perfect home record. The upset to City was the Blues' third on the road (the others at Wigan and Aston Villa) and also brought a five-match winning run to an end.

For the first time since taking over Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti, manager of the month in November, criticised the referee after the 2-1 defeat at City. In midweek, Chelsea failed to get back to winning ways as they were surprisingly held to a 2-2 home draw by Apoel Nicosia in the Champions League.

Everton, through to the knock-out stages of the Europa League, played their hearts out in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. On their travels, the Toffees have dropped 15 points from a total of 21.

Everton have won only once at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, in November 1994 (1-0: Rideout), but managed to share the spoils in their last three calls: 0-0,1-1, 1-1.

Despite having several players missing through injury, United handed a 4-0 defeat to West Ham last week. Alex Ferguson was pleased with the performance of his players, especially those who were asked to play in unfamiliar positions.

Young Darron Gibson backed up his fine showing in the League Cup by bagging his third strike in two matches at Upton Park.

United then continued to impress in Europe as they beat Wolfsburg 3-1 on Tuesday night courtesy of a Michael Owen hat-trick.

Villa seldom show their best at Old Trafford, having lost in all of their last six league visits, including a 4-0 trimming (Van Nistelrooy 2, Forlan 2) in December 2003.

Third-placed Arsenal returned to winning form at home to Stoke to stay ahead of London rivals Tottenham. On Wednesday, Arsenal, who had already sealed their place in the Champions League knock-out phase, lost 0-1 at Olympiakos.

Tomorrow, the Gunners travel to Anfield to play beleaguered Liverpool who could not go beyond a goalless draw at Blackburn in their previous outing.

There was further disappointment for Liverpool in midweek as they lost 2-1 to Fiorentina at Anfield in their final Champions League assignment for the season.

Tottenham are still licking their wounds after squandering a two-goal lead and missed a last-minute penalty at Everton.

Today, the Spurs will square up to Wolves who are coming from a much-needed win at home to Bolton, their third of the season.

Have Manchester City turned the corner after making it two wins in four days with their defeat of Chelsea? This afternoon, the Citizens face lowly Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.

In the last four Premier clashes between the two teams, the Trotters did not concede a goal at the Reebok stadium as they won twice and featured in two goalless draws.

Fulham have climbed to eighth, five points outside the top-four zone, following their home win over Sunderland.

Today, the Cottagers will play at Burnley who lost at bottom-placed Portsmouth for their seventh away league defeat.