Two sides that stuttered at the early phase of this campaign but now appear to have found their feet – Chelsea and Manchester City – will be involved in the most attractive fixture of the weekend.
Chelsea and Man. City clash at Stamford Bridge tomorrow with both sides registering vital away wins in the Champions League in midweek − the Londoners at Schalke and the Citizens in Moscow against CSKA.
Both teams are now in the top four in the English Premiership with second-placed Chelsea edging City by a mere point.
Chelsea coach Steve Holland heaped praise on Samuel Eto’o following his goal against Cardiff last weekend. It had become almost surreal that Chelsea reached mid-October and the Cameroon striker was still to get his name among the scorers.
City boss Manuel Pellegrini says there is more than enough quality in his squad to deal with a hectic run of fixtures.
Pellegrini has always preached attacking football, even when his side is playing away from home. His theory has been underlined once more by deploying Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo up-front at West Ham.
City have only won twice at Chelsea in the Premier League – by the same scoreline of 4-2.
Their first win at Stamford Bridge came in the very first fixture of January 1993 and the last time in February 2010. In 14 other clashes between Chelsea and City, the Londoners were held to a draw on four occasions. Chelsea won the remaining ten, including emphatic victories of 6-0 and 5-0.
Arsenal, two points ahead of the pack, plays guests to managerless Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park seeking to forget about Tuesday’s upset in Europe to Borussia Dortmund.
In other London derbies this season, the Gunners beat Fulham away 3-1 and Tottenham at home 1-0.
Last week, the full house at the Emirates were delighted to watch Mesut Ozil scoring his first goals (two) in the Premier League in the match against Norwich City.
On Wednesday, lowly Palace parted with manager Ian Holloway by mutual consent following a bad run of only three points from eight matches.
Last week’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle meant two points lost for Liverpool who played the entire second half against ten men following the dismissal of Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa.
The Reds return to home comfort today against West Brom with manager Brendan Rodgers again contending he has a growing belief that Liverpool’s ascent to the top four will last all season.
Manchester United manager David Moyes said his side were unlucky to concede a goal at the death and forfeit two points at home to Southampton in their last league outing.
United beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in the Champions League in midweek and today stay at Old Trafford to entertain Stoke.
At the Britannia Stadium, manager Mark Hughes told reporters that Asmir Begovic ranks among the world’s top goalkeepers and he’s looking to offer him a new contract.
Seventh-placed Everton play Aston Villa away today as Tottenham Hotspur, who bounced back from the upset to West Ham United with wins at Aston Villa and FC Sheriff in the Europa League, start favourites to beat Hull City at White Hart Lane, tomorrow.
Surprise package Southampton will be at St Mary’s Stadium this evening to face Fulham.
The Saints are on a five-match unbeaten run in the league but they find Fulham in high spirits, particularly after their 4-1 win at Crystal Palace on Monday.
New Sunderland manager Gus Poyet, having seen his side lose heavily at Swansea, will be aware that another negative display in the crack fixture against north-east rivals Newcastle at home tomorrow will let the fans down.
Poyet feels time is still on his side but acknowledges the need to start picking up points.
Fixtures and forecast
Premier League
Aston Villa-Everton 2
Crystal Palace-Arsenal (13:45) 2
Liverpool-West Brom 1
Man. United-Stoke City1
Norwich-Cardiff CityX
Southampton-Fulham (18:30) 1
Tomorrow:
Chelsea-Man. City (17:00) X
Sunderland-Newcastle (14:30) 1
Swansea-West Ham (17:00) 1
Tottenham-Hull (17:00) 1
Standings: Arsenal 19; Chelsea, Liverpool 17; Man. City, Tottenham 16; Southampton, Everton 15; Man. Utd, Hull, Newcastle 11; Swansea, West Brom, Aston Villa, Fulham 10; West Ham, Stoke, Cardiff 8; Norwich 7; C. Palace 3; Sunderland 1.
Championship
Barnsley-Sheffield Wed. (13:15) 1
Blackpool-Blackburn 1
Bolton-Ipswich 1
Burnley-QPR X
Derby-Birmingham 1
Huddersfield-Leeds (13:30) X
Leicester-Bournemouth 1
Reading-Millwall 1
Yeovil-Nottm Forest 2
Tomorrow:
Charlton-Wigan (16:00) X
Monday:
Brighton-Watford (20:45) 2
League One
Bradford City-Wolves 2
Brentford-Shrewsbury 1
Carlisle-Bristol City X
Colchester-Peterborough 2
L. Orient-Rotherham 1
Notts County-Preston X
Oldham-Swindon X
Port Vale-Gillingham 1
Sheffield Utd-Crewe 1
Stevenage-Crawley X
Tranmere-MK Dons 2
Walsall-Coventry X
League Two
Wimbledon-Oxford X
Bristol Rovers-Chesterfield X
Dagenham-Rochdale X
Exeter-Burton 1
Mansfield-Plymouth 1
Morecambe-Accrington 1
Newport-Southend X
N’ampton-Cheltenham (15:00) 1
Scunthorpe-Hartlepool 1
Torquay-Portsmouth 2
Wycombe-Bury 1
York City-Fleetwood X
Hot Four
Manchester United, Southampton, Derby County, Leicester.