Tottenham Hotspur will face London opposition again this weekend when they play guests to West Ham at White Hart Lane tomorrow afternoon.
Andre Villas Boas’s Spurs have already been engaged in three other derbies this season.
On the opening day they went to Crystal Palace and won 1-0 before the 0-1 upset to fierce rivals Arsenal and the one-all draw against Chelsea at home.
Tottenham are currently sharing second spot with Liverpool, two points adrift of the Gunners but midfielder Lewis Holtby has played down suggestions that Spurs can be regarded as serious title contenders, insisting that they must keep their feet firmly rooted to the ground.
West Ham, at the bottom half of the table, are misfiring badly at the moment, picking just one point from their last four matches. Last week, they were beaten 1-0 by Hull.
The Hammers have a very poor record at White Hart Lane. In fact, in the last decade, they have only managed two draws.
Tomorrow, Arsenal face a tricky trip to West Bromwich.
Arsene Wenger’s men are in great form at the moment. Last week, they gained sole leadership in the standings with a 2-0 win over Swansea and in midweek they chalked up their second successive win in the Champions League by beating Napoli 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Wenger has no doubt that his team can finally challenge for the league. However, the Frenchman is wary of the threat posed by West Brom who last week stunned champions Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford.
The return of Luis Suarez was a huge fillip for Liverpool as he scored twice in his team’s 3-1 defeat of Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
This afternoon the Reds start clear favourites to maintain their winning trend when they host Crystal Palace at Anfield.
Palace are in desperate need of points. Last week they stumbled to a 2-0 defeat at Southampton that left them second bottom with only three points from six matches.
Chelsea will be on their travels tomorrow when they visit Carrow Road to play Norwich.
After Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, the Blues boosted their Champions League hopes with a 4-0 victory over Steaua Bucharest in Romania in midweek.
Manager Jose Mourinho be-lieves John Terry is showing the kind of form that will earn him a new contract at Chelsea.
Last week’s 1-0 win at Stoke has eased the pressure on Norwich manager Chris Hughton who came under criticism for his team’s performances despite spending £21 million in new signings in the off-season.
The weekend programme of matches gets underway this afternoon with the Lancashire derby between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad Stadium.
The Citizens had a troubled build-up to the match.
Last week, they conceded a shock 3-2 defeat at Aston Villa and in midweek they were outclassed by Bayern Munich 3-1 at home.
Everton are in sparkling form.
Monday’s 3-2 win over Newcastle at Goodison Park has lifted the team to fourth place on 12 points... and they’re still unbeaten!
Meanwhile, Manchester United will be in out for all points when they face managerless Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
The champions have been playing below par lately and manager David Moyes will be looking to get some consistency from his players to kickstart their season.
Striker Wayne Rooney should return to the Manchester United starting line-up after missing the midweek 1-1 draw at Shakthar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League.
Fixtures and forecast
Premier League
Cardiff-Newcastle X
Fulham-Stoke City X
Hull-Aston Villa X
Liverpool-Crystal Palace 1
Man. City-Everton (13:45) 1
Sunderland-Man. Utd (18:30) 2
Tomorrow:
Norwich-Chelsea (14:30) 2
S’ampton-Swansea (14:30)X
Tottenham-West Ham (17:00)1
West Brom-Arsenal (17:00)2
Standings: Arsenal 15; Liverpool, Tottenham 13; Everton 12; Chelsea, Southampton 11; Man. City; Hull 10; Aston Villa 9; West Brom, Cardiff 8; Man. United, Swansea; Norwich, Stoke, Newcastle 7; West Ham 5; Fulham 4; C. Palace 3; Sunderland 1.
The Championship
Birmingham-Bolton (13:15) X
Bournemouth-Millwall 1
Brighton-N. Forest (18:30) X
Burnley-Reading X
Charlton-Blackpool X
Derby County-Leeds 1
Doncaster-Leicester 2
Huddersfield-Watford X
Middlesbrough-Yeovil 1
QPR-Barnsley 1
Sheffield Wed.-Ipswich X
Tomorrow:
Wigan-Blackburn (16:00) X
League One
Brentford-Rotherham 1
Colchester-Wolves 2
Gillingham-MK Dons 2
Notts County-Crewe 1
Oldham-Leyton Orient X
Peterborough-Preston 1
Port Vale-Bristol City X
Shrewsbury-Carlisle 1
Stevenage-Coventry 2
Swindon –Tranmere 1
Walsall-Bradford City X
League Two
Wimbledon-Northampton 1
Bristol Rovers-Fleetwood 2
Bury-Newport 1
Exeter-Plymouth (14:00) 1
Mansfield-Hartlepool 1
Morecambe-Chesterfield X
Oxford-Southend 1
Portsmouth-Rochdale 1
Scunthorpe-Cheltenham 1
Torquay-York X
Wycombe-Burton 1
Hot Four
Bounemouth, Middlesbrough, Brentford, Swindon.