Manchester United will be looking to maintain their leadership at the top of the English Premier League when they host Fulham at Old Trafford on Monday night.
The Red Devils are in good form, winning their last five league matches and scoring 14 goals in the process. They could find themselves two points behind Manchester City in the standings if the Blues beat Stoke City away this evening.
Fulham, 11th in the standings, have only two away victories in the league this season – 1-0 at QPR and a 2-0 win over Wigan.
The Cottagers have won three of their last five matches as manager Martin Jol keeps saying that a top-10 finish remains his team’s primary target.
After their elimination from Europe, United are putting all their energies to retain the league title ahead of neighbours City.
Alex Ferguson’s United were in rampant form last weekend as they hit five past lowly Wolves with Javier Hernandez (2), Danny Wellbeck, Jonny Evans and Antonio Valencia netting the goals for the winners.
Buoyed by their 2-1 win over Chelsea, Manchester City will be on their travels this weekend when they play Stoke City at the Brittania Stadium.
Stoke bounced back from their FA Cup upset to Liverpool in midweek when they took a point from Tottenham.
Carlos Tevez had a positive return at Manchester City as he set up Samir Nasri’s winning goal against Chelsea on Wednesday.
Today’s early kick-off will be a tight derby at White Hart Lane as Tottenham host Chelsea.
Harry Redknapp’s men are struggling to win matches lately and must beat the Blues to maintain their top-four hopes now that Arsenal have leapfrogged them into third place.
Today, the Gunners will be looking to chalk up their second double of the season when they host Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium.
On Wednesday, Arsenal ex-tended their winning sequence in the league after beating Everton 1-0 away. Villa have won once in their last six league matches.
Liverpool, who host Wigan today, will be keen to regroup after the debacle at QPR.
The Reds were cruising when leading 2-0 but three goals in the last 13 minutes earned the Lon-doners a shock 3-2 win.
Fixtures and forecast
Premier League
Arsenal-Aston Villa 1
Bolton-Blackburn 1
Chelsea-Tottenham (13:45) 1
Liverpool-Wigan 1
Norwich City-Wolves 1
Stoke City-Man. City (18:30) 2
Sunderland-QPR 1
Swansea City-Everton X
Tomorrow:
West Brom-Newcastle (17:00) X
Monday:
Man. United-Fulham (21:00) 1
Standings: Man. United 70; Man. City 69; Arsenal 55; Tottenham 54; Chelsea 49; Newcastle 47; Liverpool 42; Swansea 39; Sunderland, Ever-ton, Stoke City 37; Fulham, West Bromwich, Norwich 36; Aston Villa 33; Blackburn Rovers 28; QPR 25; Bolton 23; Wigan, Wolves 22.
The Championship
Barnsley-Peterborough 1
Burnley-West Ham 2
Coventry City-Portsmouth 1
Derby-Crystal Palace 1
Leicester City-Hull City 1
Middlesbrough-Bristol City 1
Millwall-Leeds United X
Nott Forest-Brighton X
Reading-Blackpool X
Southampton-Doncaster 1
Watford-Ipswich Town X
Tomorrow:
Birmingham-Cardiff (13:00) 1
League One
Brentford-Rochdale 1
Colchester-Carlisle X
Huddersfield-Charlton X
Leyton Orient-Sheffield Wed. 2
Oldham-Bournemouth 1
Preston-Bury 1
Scunthorpe-Notts County X
Tranmere-Exeter City 1
Walsall-Stevenage 1
Wycombe-MK Dons 2
Yeovil-Hartlepool 1
League Two
AFC Wimbledon-Burton 1
Bradford-Gillingham X
Bristol Rovers-Southend 2
Cheltenham-Oxford 1
Crawley-Rotherham 1
Dagenham-Accrington X
Hereford-Crewe X
Morecambe-Shrewsbury 2
Northampton-Plymouth 1
Torquay-Port Vale 1
Hot Four
Arsenal, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Reading.