Chelsea out to stop United’s march

Champions Manchester United have been in free-scoring form this season, hitting 18 goals in four games, the tally includes back-to-back Wayne Rooney hat-tricks against Arsenal and Bolton.

Tomorrow, the Red Devils, with four wins out of four, face title hopefuls Chelsea at Old Trafford.

The Londoners are currently third, two points adrift of the leaders, but have conceded in three of their opening four matches.

In midweek, Chelsea were the only English club to win in the Champions League, defeating Bayer Leverkusen 2-0. Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United all figured in 1-1 draws.

It appears that Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas’s decision to start with Daniel Sturridge in attack did not go down well with record signing Fernando Torres. The Spaniard is still looking to score his first league goal while Sturridge was on target against Sunderland.

Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley is sidelined for three weeks after suffering an ankle injury following a poor challenge by Bolton’s Kevin Davies.

Javier Hernandez said United are brimming with excitement after their best-ever start to a Premier League season.

The overall league record bet-ween United and Chelsea at Old Trafford is 28 wins to the hosts to the Londoners’ 18 and 23 draws. Chel-sea last won at United in April 2010.

This week striker Emmanuel Adebayor declared that his days at Eastlands are over and that he’s only concentrating on doing well for Tottenham Hotspur.

Tomorrow, Man. City travel to Fulham who have two points from four games. On their Champions League debut, the Citizens were held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli.

After slumping to their first defeat of the season at Stoke, Liverpool play Tottenham away tomorrow.

Reds manager Dalglish has hit out at referees, claming that his team are suffering from poor decisions by the match officials.

Liverpool had a penalty against them at Stoke but, just minutes earlier, they were denied one after a clear handball.

Yet, that is water under the bridge now and the Reds, who could have captain Steven Gerrard back, must pick themselves up to gain a positive outcome at Tottenham.

The Spurs obtained their first win of the season, 2-0 at Wolves. Rafael van der Vaart has made a rapid recovery from a hamstring injury and could be in the squad for tomorrow’s game.

Potters fly high

Stoke are in fifth place after their win over Liverpool. The Potters cross swords with beleaguered Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

On Monday, Newcastle and Queens Park Rangers were involved in a goalless draw. This afternoon, the Magpies stay on their travels as they visit Aston Villa.

Leon Best remarked that he is the man to lead the forward line for Newcastle this season following the departure of Andy Carroll.

Undefeated with three draws and one win, Aston Villa will be looking to stretch their record at Villa Park.

Bottom side Blackburn claimed their first point of the season after a 1-1 draw at Fulham. The Rovers welcome Londoners Arsenal to Ewood Park today.

The Gunners will be confident of making it two wins on the trot following their home victory over newcomers Swansea.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has tipped new signing Per Mertesacker to bolster his team’s defence.

Wolves will be looking to return to winning ways when they host QPR at Molineux. Mick McCarthy was pleased with his team’s disciplined performance despite their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham.

Rangers boss Neil Warnock handed the captain’s armband to Joey Barton in their home draw against Newcastle.

Wigan, who lead Everton by a point, may find themselves behind the Merseysiders as the two teams clash at Goodison Park.

Peter Ridsdale, the former chairman of Leeds, is assisting Everton’s search for a buyer.

The Everton fans are worried after hearing reports that United boss Alex Ferguson is chasing another Blues’ bright prospect, Ross Barkley, who the Scot has dubbed as the new Bryan Robson.

After gaining their first win of the season at Norwich, West Brom face Swansea at the latter’s Liberty Stadium.

Albion manager Roy Hodgson was pleased with the Norwich win and the understanding between strikers Peter Odemwingie and Shane Long.

Bolton and Norwich both finished empty-handed last weekend.

So far, the Wanderers have the worst defensive record after conceding 11 goals in their opening four games.

The Bolton supporters will look at today’s match at the Reebok Stadium as the club’s best chance to chalk up their first win of the Premier League.

The Canaries, just above the relegation zone, are also without a victory so far.

Fixtures and forecast

Premier League

Aston Villa-Newcastle - 1
Blackburn-Arsenal (13:45) - 2
Bolton-Norwich City - 1
Everton-Wigan - 1
Swansea-West Bromwich - X
Wolves-QPR - 1

Tomorrow:
Fulham-Man. City (16:00) - 2
Sunderland-Stoke (16:00) - 2
Man. Utd-Chelsea (17:00) - 1
Tottenham-Liverpool (14:30)-  X

Standings: Man. Utd, Man. City 12; Chelsea 10; Newcastle, Stoke 8; Liver-pool, Wolves 7; A. Villa 6; Wigan 5; Everton, QPR, Arsenal 4; WBA, Bolton, Tottenham 3; Sunderland, Norwich, Fulham, Swansea 2; Blackburn 1.

The Championship

Barnsley-Watford - 1
Blackpool-Cardiff - 1
Crystal Palace-Middlesbrough - 2
Hull-Portsmouth - 1
Leeds-Bristol City - 1
Leicester-Brighton - X
Millwall-West Ham (13:30) - X
Nott’m Forest-Derby (14:00) - 1
Peterborough-Burnley - X
Reading-Doncaster - 1

Tomorrow:
Southampton-B’ingham (16:00) - 1

Monday:
Ipswich-Coventry (20:45) - 1

League One

Brentford-Preston - X
Chesterfield-Carlisle - 1
Exeter-Bournemouth - 1
Hartlepool-Bury - 1
Leyton Orient-Oldham - 1
MK Dons-Huddersfield - X
Rochdale-Charlton - 2
Sheffield United-Colchester - 1
Stevenage-Notts County - 1
Tranmere-Wycombe - 1
Walsall-Scunthorpe - X
Yeovil-Sheffield Wednesday - 2

League Two

Acc. Stanley-Crewe - X
AFC Wimbledon-Cheltenham - 1
Barnet-Oxford Utd - X
Bristol Rovers-Aldershot - 1
Burton Albion-Swindon - X
Crawley Town-Bradford - 1
Dagenham-Morecambe - X
Hereford-Gillingham - X
Macclesfield-Northampton - X
Port Vale-Shrewsbury (14:00) - 1
Southend-Plymouth - 1
Torquay-Rotherham - X

Hot Four
Bolton, Everton, Leeds, Reading.