Man City are the only unbeaten team remaining this season but face a tough test against Liverpool.
United host Newcastle; Chelsea face Wolves; Spurs play Baggies
Manchester City are the only unbeaten team remaining in the Premier League this season but face a tough test against Liverpool this weekend.
Newcastle surrendered their run against City last time out and the Magpies are in Manchester once again - United their opponents on Saturday.
Chelsea will be looking to bounce back from their recent defeats against Wolves while Arsenal's fine form continued in midweek - they take on Fulham.
Elsewhere, in front of the Sky cameras Stoke face struggling Blackburn while Swansea host Aston Villa.
Liverpool piled the pressure on Andre Villas-Boas last time out with a victory at Stamford Bridge and will have the opportunity to move into the top four on Sunday. However,
Manchester City lie in wait and Roberto Mancini's side have been in imperious form this term. A defeat by Napoli in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, though, shows they are not infallible. Liverpool, at home, will fancy their chances after a week's rest. You can watch the action live on
Sky Sports 1 and
HD1 from 4pm.
Struggles
Five points off the leaders,
Manchester United also struggled in Europe in midweek, drawing at home to Benfica leaving them needing a draw in their final game to ensure qualification. While their two rivals lock horns at Anfield on Sunday, Sir Alex Ferguson's men host
Newcastle at Old Trafford on Saturday. The Magpies have enjoyed an excellent start to the campaign and while they lost at City last weekend, Alan Pardew's side are still fourth - three points above Chelsea. They are in the middle of a tough run of fixtures and anything from this game will further help their cause.
Arsenal have not lost since 2nd October and have only drawn one game in all competitions since then. There is no stopping Robin van Persie right now and he added to his season's tally with a brace against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday. The Gunners are at the Emirates once more as they host
Fulham this weekend. Martin Jol's side face a short journey across the capital but are underdogs for this clash. Fulham earned a 0-0 draw at Sunderland last weekend but are only two points above the relegation zone and looking over their shoulder.
Andre Villas-Boas called his players in for extra training on Thursday after their defeat by Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, and anything less than a
Chelsea victory over
Wolves on Saturday will further turn the heat up on the Portuguese coach. The Blues have lost four of their last seven games in all competitions but Villas-Boas insists there is no need to panic, as he continues his attempted tactical changes at the Bridge. Wolves and Mick McCarthy can smell blood, but have not kept a Premier League clean sheet since August.
It seems there is something in the North London water at the moment as, like Arsenal,
Tottenham appear untouchable. Harry Redknapp returned to the touchline for Spurs' home success against Aston Villa on Monday night following his heart surgery, and he will have been mightily pleased with the performance. Tottenham won at a canter, and after a slow start to the campaign, are now flying. They have not lost in the league since August and face
West Brom at the Hawthorns this weekend, who are looking for consistency after their victory over Bolton.
Alex McLeish was criticised in the wake of that Tottenham defeat for being too negative at White Hart Lane, but the
Aston Villa manager faces another difficult away trip when his side go to
Swansea on Sunday, live on
Sky Sports 1 and
HD1. It remains to be seen if the Scot adopts a more positive approach at the Liberty Stadium, but he will have to be wary of the Swans' pace in attack - Nathan Dyer and Scott Sinclair looking bright for Brendan Rodgers' men during last Saturday's 1-0 reverse at the hands of Manchester United.
Everton had to dig deep to earn a comeback win against Wolves and David Moyes will be hoping for similar heart and fight at
Bolton. It was this fixture last season, at the Reebok Stadium, which resulted in a 2-0 victory for Wanderers and who could forget Moyes' face of thunder at a woeful display from his side? "That performance was as bad as I can remember since I've been in charge," said Moyes at the time. This season has seen little, if any, progression from the Toffees and both these sides have been poor since August.
Steve Kean is still the
Blackburn manager, Paul Robinson's heroics and a dodgy corner earning him another reprieve last weekend. Rovers go to
Stoke who are out of sorts after conceding eight goals in their last two games. Such a statistic would have been unheard of for Tony Pulis' side last season but combining European and domestic action seems to have taken its toll on the Potters. You would expect them to dispatch of Blackburn but with both sides in poor form, you never know, there could be goals galore. This one is live on
Sky Sports 1 and
HD1 from 12.45pm on Saturday.
Positive
Rock-bottom
Wigan can feel hard done by following that controversial draw against Blackburn, but Roberto Martinez continues to remain remarkably positive despite the fact that his team have only managed to accrue six points from 12 games. While his relationship with Dave Whelan means the sack is extremely unlikely, if Wigan keep this disastrous run going then the Spaniard's constant optimism will be tested by the stark reality of the league table. The Latics go to the Stadium of Light to play
Sunderland, where Steve Bruce will face his former club.
Finally,
Norwich and
QPR lock horns at Carrow Road for the first time since they clinched promotion from the Championship. Both Paul Lambert and Neil Warnock can be proud of their respective starts to the top-flight season as they sit comfortably in mid-table. There is still a lot of hard work to be done though, and while this is not the glamour tie of the weekend, it could be an entertaining one.
