After their controversial 1-0 home win over Liverpool in the FA Cup, leaders Manchester United resume their title bid with a tough match against Tottenham at White Hart Lane tomorrow.
United are two points clear of neighbours Manchester City with two games in hand. Manager Alex Ferguson is hoping that Wayne Rooney will return from injury.
Unbeaten in the league, Manchester United are wary of Tottenham’s threat but the Londoners usually struggle to show their best against the Red Devils.
Spurs are also through to the fourth round of the FA Cup. Harry Redknapp is still doing his utmost to sign David Beckham on a short-term loan deal from LA Galaxy.
Both Liverpool and Everton have failed to live up to their fans’ expectations as the two rivals are in the bottom half of the table but their battles in the Merseyside derby always engender great interest.
Kenny Dalglish is back as Liverpool manager and the fans are happy about his return. They know that in Dalglish, Liverpool have a man willing to go through brick walls to boost his team.
In midweek, Liverpool suffered another humiliating loss, going down 2-1 to Blackpool.
Everton thrashed Scunthorpe 5-1 in the FA Cup. David Moyes’s team will be looking to do the double on their bitter rivals after winning the first-round derby 0-2 (Cahill, Arteta) at Goodison Park.
Chelsea, who led the Premier League for the first three months, have tumbled down the standings after a series of negative results. Last weekend, Chelsea hit seven past Championship side Ipswich to progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
The Blues host Blackburn at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
Carlo Ancelotti was not ecstatic after his side hammered Ipswich. The win was only Chelsea’s second in their last nine matches.
Chelsea’s poor form in the league could have cost Ancelotti his job and the Italian admitted he was lucky to earn a reprieve from boss Roman Abramovich.
Under Steve Kean, Blackburn have won three out of seven matches − two of them were back-to-back victories, against Liverpool and the FA Cup win over QPR.
Chelsea are in search of their first double of the season after beating the Rovers 2-1 (Anelka, Ivanovic − Benjani) in October.
Manchester City are determined to keep up the pressure on rivals Manchester United as they tackle Wolves at Eastlands.
City’s new Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko, a £27.5m signing from Wolfsburg, is expected to make his debut this afternoon.
Wolves have been blowing hot and cold. Their recent league win against Chelsea at Molineux gave the team a much-needed boost.
A London derby is on the cards as bottom side West Ham meet title hopefuls Arsenal.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has returned for a short training stint with the team.
The Hammers lost their last three meetings with the Gunners in the league.
The north-east derby between Sunderland and Newcastle should bring the best out of the two sets of players.
Both sides lost in the FA Cup − Sunderland went down 2-1 at home to Notts County and Newcastle suffered the shock of the round after a 3-1 loss to Stevenage.
Sixth in the table, Sunderland have lost only once at the Stadium of Light. Newcastle are five points adrift but have a game in hand.
Two clubs keen to improve on their latest showings are Stoke and Bolton. Bolton were below-par in their 2-0 Cup win over York while Stoke drew 1-1 at home to Cardiff.
Birmingham and Aston Villa meet in the Midlands derby at St Andrews. In the first round, the encounter ended 0-0. The two rivals also met in a League Cup quarter-final which was overshadowed by crowd trouble − the Blues won 2-1 (Larsson, Zigic − Agbonlahor).
West Brom have suffered five straight defeats in league and cup. They will be going all out to return to winning ways when hosting Blackpool today.
Fulham’s 6-2 rout of Peterborough in the FA Cup will have lifted their morale for their duel with fellow relegation strugglers Wigan. The Latics enjoyed a rare away win, 3-2 at Hull, in the FA Cup.
Fixtures and forecast
Premier League
Chelsea-Blackburn - 1
Man. City-Wolves - 1
Stoke-Bolton - X
West Brom-Blackpool - 1
Wigan-Fulham - X
West Ham-Arsenal (18:30) - 2
Tomorrow:
Birmingham-Aston Villa (13:00) - 2
Liverpool-Everton (15:05) - 1
Sunderland-Newcastle (13:00) - X
Tottenham-Man. United (17:10) - 2
Standings: Man. United 44; Man. City 42; Arsenal 40; Tottenham 36; Chelsea 35; Sunderland 33; Bolton 30; Newcastle, Blackpool, Blackburn 28; Stoke 27; Everton, Liverpool 25; Fulham, Birmingham, West Brom 22; Wolves, Aston Villa, Wigan 21; West Ham 20.
The Championship
Bristol City-Middlesbrough - X
Burnley-QPR - 1
Coventry-Sheff. Utd - 1
Doncaster-Reading - X
Hull-Barnsley - 1
Leeds-Scunthorpe - 1
Millwall-Ipswich - 1
Norwich-Cardiff - 1
Nottm Forest-Portsmouth - 1
Preston-Leicester - 2
Swansea-Crystal Palace (13:45) - 1
Watford-Derby - 1
League One
Brighton-Peterborough - 1
Carlisle-Bristol Rovers - 1
Hartlepool-Dagenham - 1
MK Dons-Tranmere - 1
Plymouth-Oldham - X
Rochdale-Leyton Orient - 1
Sheffield Wed.-Charlton - 1
Southampton-Notts County - 1
Swindon-Yeovil - 1
Walsall-Huddersfield - 2
League Two
Barnet-Shrewsbury - X
Burton Albion-Macclesfield - 1
Bury-Aldershot - 1
Cheltenham-Acc. Stanley - 1
Chesterfield-Stevenage - 1
Crewe-Port Vale - 1
Gillingham-Northampton - 1
Hereford-Stockport - 1
Lincoln City-Wycombe - X
Morecambe-Torquay - X
Oxford Utd-Bradford - 1
Rotherham-Southend - 1
Hot Four
Chelsea, Leeds, Southampton, Rotherham.