Chelsea and Arsenal meet live on Sky Sports among what promises to be another engrossing weekend in England's top flight.
Watch the Tottenham against QPR live on Sky Sports HD1/1
The Premier League rarely lacks entertainment at the conclusion of a week which has not included European commitments and this Saturday and Sunday look set to be the latest engrossing instalments.
Chelsea and
Arsenal meet on Saturday lunchtime in a London derby at Stamford Bridge live on
Sky Sports HD2/2. The home side are engulfed by off-field controversy following the Football Association's charges in the wake of last Sunday's foul-tempered defeat by QPR, while captain John Terry has also been accused of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand. Arsenal, in comparison, are in a relative state of stability after what had been a turbulent start to the season. Arsene Wenger will hope to extend a record as the most successful visiting team at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, but his team have won none of their last eight away matches in the top flight.
By the time Chelsea and Arsenal kick-off,
Manchester United will be approaching half-time in their match at Everton. The reigning Premier League champions will be licking their wounds after the staggering 6-1 derby humiliation against Manchester City. But Sir Alex Ferguson's squad did salvage a molecule of pride as they matched Chelsea and Arsenal in midweek by successfully reaching the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup. Wayne Rooney's participation, or not, as the case may be, is likely to be a significant talking point at Goodison Park. The England international has in the past been taken out of the line of fire against his former club and has struggled to deal with the anticipation and hostile reception on other occasions. United will want a match-winning performance from their star man against David Moyes' Everton, who have remarkably lost on 28 occasions against United in the Premier League.
Exciting
After hammering
Wolves in the Carling Cup, league leaders
Manchester City will be in confident mood when they welcome Mick McCarthy's struggling side to Etihad Stadium for a 3pm kick-off. Roberto Mancini's millionaires continued their blistering goalscoring form with a 5-2 win at Molineux on Wednesday and they will now aim to follow the thrashing of United with another convincing league win. If United were to lose at Everton, City could start the game against Wolves with the opportunity to open an eight-point lead over their neighbours, which would obviously underline their new-found status as title favourites. Wolves ended a run of five successive defeats by fighting back for a draw against Swansea, but McCarthy, who has been at his deadpan best during the week, remains under pressure.
Liverpool also booked a place in an unusually exciting looking last eight of the Carling Cup with a rare win at Stoke and now Kenny Dalglish will hope to carry the winning feeling into a reunion with Roy Hodgson. There was a sense of inevitability about the
West Brom manager's victory over his former club at The Hawthorns in April. Hodgson had been sacked by Liverpool three months previously and he therefore earned a piece of karma against his former club. But the Reds will take on West Brom on Saturday evening having been frustrated by Norwich last weekend. As a result, winning a 10th Premier League match out of 11 against the Baggies is essential in their quest to return to the UEFA Champions League.
Paul Lambert's
