The only Premier League club without defeat so far, Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City, will be involved in a difficult match this weekend as they face troubled Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
An all-Italian duel between Mancini and Roberto di Matteo was on the cards tomorrow, yet Roman Abramovich fancied other ideas.
In fact, on Wednesday the Russian mogul axed Di Matteo after the Blues were comprehensively beaten by Juventus in the Champions League, a 0-3 upset that left the European Cup holders on the verge of elimination.
Instead, Abramovich appointed former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez as interim manager until the end of season.
City took over at the top of the standings for the first time this season last week thanks to their home nap-hand win over Aston Villa as Manchester United crashed to a 1-0 defeat at Norwich City.
Man. City were overjoyed to find their scoring form at last but in midweek it was a different story as the English champions could not go beyond a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid, a result that confirmed their elimination from the Cham-pions League.
Chelsea appear to have hit a wall lately, failing to register a Premier League win in their last four matches. Since that home upset to United, the Blues forfeited ten points from 12 so Benitez will have a difficult job to try and lift his players’ morale this weekend.
In Premier League fixtures, Chelsea have only lost twice at home to Manchester City − 2-4 in February 2010 and by the same scoreline in January 1993.
Manchester United play managerless Queens Park Rangers at Old Trafford this afternoon, looking to get back in business as the Norwich upset was followed by another 0-1 defeat to Galatasaray in Europe on Wednesday.
The beleaguered Mark Hughes was fired from his QPR job yesterday and the club said the team today will be in the hands of assistant manager Mark Bowen and first team coach Eddie Niedzwiecki.
Meanwhile, the defeat of Chelsea at West Brom sent the Midlands team to fourth position as Baggies’ manager Steve Clarke earned another feather in his cap.
Clarke, who had a good pedigree as head coach at a number of clubs before accepting the West Brom offer in summer, has now shown that he can really do the job.
West Brom travel to the north-east in today’s early kick-off to play guests to Sunderland who were back to winning form last week after a 3-1 win at Fulham, their first on their travels.
After conceding their second defeat of the season, Everton return to home comfort at Goodison Park to tackle Norwich, the latter buoyed by their victory over United.
Everton manager David Moyes got a welcome boost after midfielder Darron Gibson returned from a thigh injury as chairman Bill Kenwright seems determined to convince Moyes to sign a new deal.
Arsenal are through to the Champions League KO stages for yet another season thanks to their victory over Ligue 1 champions Montpellier on Wednesday.
The Gunners, boosted by their 5-2 annihilation of Tottenham, return to Premier League commitments today to play at Aston Villa.
This week, manager Arsene Wenger said he is ready to risk losing Theo Walcott for nothing next summer after the Gunners boss declared that the England star would not be sold in the next transfer window.
Liverpool travel to Wales tomorrow as manager Brendan Rodgers will make acquaintance with his ex-mates at Swansea.
The Welsh side, unbeaten in their last four games, had defeated the Reds at home in the last round of the League Cup.
Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas must have spent all week trying to lift his players’ morale following the derby debacle.
Tottenham have now lost three straight league matches, conceding a total of eight goals. Tomorrow, they will be involved in an another derby as they host West Ham.
Spurs will be without the suspended Emmanuel Adebayor but they must stop this latest slide to avoid extra pressure on the team and, in particular, Villas-Boas.
Fixtures and forecast
Premier League
Aston Villa-Arsenal (18:30) - 2
Everton-Norwich City - 1
Man. United-QPR - 1
Stoke City-Fulham - 1
Sunderland-WBA (13:45) - X
Wigan-Reading - X
Tomorrow:
Chelsea-Man. City (17:00) - X
S’hampton-Newcastle (16:00) - 2
Swansea-Liverpool (14:30) - X
Tottenham-West Ham (17:00) - 1
Standings: Man. City 28; Man. Utd 27; Chelsea 24; WBA 23; Everton 20; Arsenal, W. Ham 19; Tottenham 17; Fulham, Swansea 16; Liverpool 15; Newcastle, Norwich 14; Stoke 13; Sunderland 12; Wigan 11; Reading, A. Villa 9; Southampton 8; QPR 4.
The Championship
Barnsley-Cardiff - 2
Blackburn-Millwall - 1
Blackpool-Watford - 1
Brighton-Bolton - 1
Charlton-Huddersfield - X
Derby-Birmingham (18:20) - X
Hull-Burnley - 1
Ipswich-Peterborough - 1
Leeds-Crystal Palace - X
M’boro-Bristol City - 1
Sheffield Wed.-Leicester - 2
Wolves-Nottm Forest - 1
League One
Brentford-Sheffield Utd - X
Bury-Bournemouth - 2
Coventry-Portsmouth - 1
Crewe-Crawley - X
Doncaster-Scunthorpe - 1
Leyton Orient-Preston - X
MK Dons-Colchester - 1
Notts County-Swindon - X
Oldham-Shrewsbury - 1
Stevenage-Tranmere - 1
Walsall-Hartlepool - 1
Yeovil Town-Carlisle - 1
League Two
Accrington-Gillingham - 2
Aldershot-Port Vale - 2
Bristol Rovers-Bradford City - X
Cheltenham-Barnet - 1
Dagenham-Fleetwood - X
Exeter-Rotherham - X
Morecambe-Wimbledon - 1
Oxford-Northampton - 1
Plymouth-Chesterfield - X
Southend-Rochdale - 1
Wycombe-Burton - X
York City-Torquay - 1
Scottish Premier League
Celtic-Inverness CT - 1
Hibernian-Aberdeen - X
Kilmarnock-St Johnstone - 1
Motherwell-Hearts (13:45) - 1
Ross-Dundee United - 2
St Mirren-Dundee - 1
Division One
Airdrie-Raith - 2
Dunfermline-Dumbarton - 1
Falkirk-Hamilton - 1
Morton-Cowdenbeath - 1
Partick Thistle-Livingston - 1
Division Two
Brechin-Forfar - X
East Fife-Arbroath - X
Queen of the South-Ayr - 1
Stenhousemuir-Alloa - X
Stranraer-Albion - X
Division Three
Annan-Clyde - 1
Montrose-Peterhead - 2
Tomorrow:
E. Stirling-Berwick - X
Elgin-Rangers - 2
Hot four
Everton, Manchester United, Hull City, Ipswich Town.