While snow continues to play havoc with football fixtures in Britain, the top two sides in the Premier League, Chelsea and Manchester United, appear to have caught the jitters lately, dropping priceless points along the way.
While leaders Chelsea gave away nine points in their last six outings, champions United forfeited eight.
There were more woes for Man. United in the FA Cup when they suffered a surprise elimination by Leeds United at Old Trafford earlier this month. This was the first time in 16 years that the Red Devils were ousted from the cup competition in the third round.
Bournemouth were the last team to achieve that 'feat' when they beat United 2-0 in January 1984.
Both Chelsea and United will play at home this weekend, weather permitting. The Blues, who are one point clear and with a game in hand, will host Sunderland at Stamford Bridge while United host Burnley at Old Trafford.
Midfielder Frank Lampard said Chelsea were determined to do well in the Champions League but the main priority this season should be the Premier League crown.
Alex Ferguson was furious to see Darren Fletcher dismissed for two yellow cards at Birmingham.
Good news for the United manager is that midfielder Owen Hargreaves has played for United in a re-arranged match at Carrington training ground and emerged unscathed after 90 minutes. He had been out for 16 months.
Arsenal have been far more consistent than Chelsea and United in the last few weeks, gathering 17 points from their last seven matches. Tomorrow, the Gunners will be on their travels when they face Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.
The Trotters are now under the guidance of Owen Coyle who left Burnley last week to take charge of his former team.
After Monday's 4-1 win over Blackburn − with Carlos Tevez netting a hat-trick − Roberto Mancini's Manchester City leapfrogged Tottenham to fill fourth place with both Champions League hopefuls having played 20 games.
This afternoon, City travel to Goodison Park to play Everton. Last season, the Citizens took all points in a 2-1 win.
Birmingham's impressive run continued with their 1-1 home draw against Manchester United. The Blues have established a new club record of 12 successive league matches without defeat.
They have high hopes of stretching that run when they travel to Fratton Park to play bottom-placed Portsmouth today.
Tottenham entertain Hull at White Hart Lane. Spurs have won their last three home matches in league and cup competition without conceding a goal while Hull have leaked in nine goals from the same number of games.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp said his team's fixture congestion - which will see them play five matches in 14 days - could work in their favour.
At the Britannia Stadium, Stoke play hosts to beleaguered Liverpool, who will be chasing their first double of the season after they beat the Potters 4-0 at Anfield.
The Reds have dispatched Andriy Voronin to Dinamo Moscow and Andrea Dossena to Napoli. Their struggles continued in midweek when they suffered a shock elimination from the FA Cup after losing their replay to Reading 2-1 at Anfield.
In the Midlands, where a good number of matches were played over the weekend, Aston Villa host West Ham at Villa Park tomorrow.
The Villains, having lost their last home league game to Liverpool, will be all out to make up for that upset.
Manager Martin O'Neill said that he will not sign new players this month since he has a good crop of youngsters coming up.