Chelsea returned to the top of the Premier League on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers at a rain-drenched Ewood Park. Aston Villa could have gone above Manchester United into the top four but lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough for whom Tuncay Sanli scored an 88th-minute winner.
'If the chairman is happy then I'm happy'
Tottenham Hotspur gained a slender advantage in their League Cup semi-final against London rivals Chelsea as Harry Kane's penalty earned them a gritty 1-0 first-leg win.
Luiz Felipe Scolari will start life as Chelsea's new manager at home to FA Cup winners Portsmouth after the 2008-09 fixture list was released on Monday. Manchester United, who pipped Chelsea to the title on the final day last season, begin their title defence at home to Newcastle United.
Chelsea romped to a 5-0 victory at Middlesbrough and Manchester United beat West Bromwich Albion 4-0 while Liverpool and Arsenal produced stirring fightbacks to claim home wins over Wigan Athletic and Everton. Liverpool snatched a 3-2 triumph over Wigan, while Arsenal netted three second-half goals to record a 3-1 victory against Everton.
Manchester City were bundled out of the English League Cup by League One Brighton & Hove Albion on penalties on Wednesday.
Match-by-match facts and statistics ahead of the Premier League fixtures on April 28-30
Champions Manchester City will expect to get back to winning ways at home to Newcastle United in a match which pits Pep Guardiola against his fellow Spaniard Rafa Benitez.
West Bromwich Albion broke their club-record transfer fee to sign Venezuelan striker Salomon Rondon from Russian club Zenit St Petersburg, the Premier League club said on Monday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Aston Villa moved back to fifth in the English Premier League with an astonishing 3-2 win over Everton on Sunday after a goal in the first minute and one from each side in stoppage time. In the day's other match, West Bromwich Albion failed to win for the ninth successive match and stayed bottom after being held to a 1-1 draw by Portsmouth at The Hawthorns.
Manchester United are expecting a host of injured players to make their returns this month but will not rush them back into the first-team, manager Louis van Gaal said ahead of Thursday's last-16 Europa League tie against bitter rivals Liverpool. Despite having nine players currently out, including captain Wayne Rooney and defender Phil Jones, United won four games in a row prior to their shock Premier League defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. "(Antonio) Valencia is coming back, Basti (Bastian Schweinsteiger) is coming back, a lot of players shall come back in March," Van Gaal told reporters on Wednesday. "... it is hard to see whether they can cope with the rhythm of the match... Basti, for example, has only one training session under his belt. "Valencia is much more closer to being on the bench, but not to play a match."
Liverpool took full advantage of an early kickoff at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, winning 2-0 to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Kevin De Bruyne, Kelechi Iheanacho, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan gave Man City a 4-0 win over Bournemouth before Nolito was sent off.
Such is the impact Sadio Mane has made on Liverpool that the 24-year-old is an automatic pick to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday while experienced international teammates scrap it out to play alongside him.
Manchester United wasted the chance to close on the Premier League leaders when a sloppy second half cost them in a 1-1 draw at Everton on Saturday.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was an immensely proud but competitive dad at Anfield on Sunday as his Premier League side overcame the FA Cup challenge of his son's third tier Oldham Athletic.
A rare header by Cesc Fabregas three minutes into injury time earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw on Saturday after hosts Sunderland seemed on course for an upset victory in the Premier League. Manchester United edged closer to the leading pack with a 2-0 win at a rain-sodden Blackburn Rovers after goals from Wes Brown and Wayne Rooney.
Manchester United won away for the first time this season when they beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday to climb to fourth in the Premier League table.
Mikel Arteta scored Premier League leaders Arsenal's first goal in a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday but was later sent off in the early kickoff in south London.
Burnley reached the Europa League third qualifying round with a 3-1 win over Aberdeen after extra time at Turf Moor on Thursday but now face another tough battle to increase their squad size.
Everton have agreed to sign Barcelona's Colombia centre back Yerry Mina for an initial 30.25 million euros ($34.97 million) and have also taken the club's midfielder Andre Gomes on loan, the Spanish champions said on Thursday.
Striker Costa ends second spell at Atletico Madrid.
Arsenal launched their bid for a first Premier League crown in five years with a comfortable 1-0 win over promoted West Bromwich Albion on the opening day of the season on Saturday. Liverpool, who have their eyes on a first title since 1990, also got off to a winning start by beating Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light with a late goal from Fernando Torres.
New signing Samir Nasri scored after four minutes to give Arsenal a 1-0 win over promoted West Bromwich Albion when they kicked off the new English Premier League season at the Emirates Stadium in London on Saturday. The 21-year-old French midfielder scored with a first-time right footed-shot after good approach work by Arsenal and a final cut-back pass from Denilson.
Daley Blind's injury-time equaliser rescued a 1-1 draw for Manchester United against West Ham United on Sunday but a point was not enough to regain third spot in the Premier League.
Barnsley's reward for knocking holders Chelsea and Liverpool out of the FA Cup is a semi-final against fellow Championship (second division) side Cardiff City.
John Terry headed a second-half equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw for Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday as the managerial battle between Jose Mourinho and his former apprentice Andre Villas-Boas ended in stalemate.
Former Premier League striker Delroy Facey has been charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, officers investigating match-fixing said on Monday.
Chelsea scored a second successive win over a newly-promoted side when they beat Leicester City 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday thanks to second-half goals from Diego Costa and Eden Hazard.
Chelsea moved within two points of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League after a 1-0 victory over Liverpool thanks to an Olivier Giroud header at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Last season's FA Cup runners-up Chelsea struck four times before the break to crush second-tier Hull City 4-0 and stroll into the quarter-finals at Stamford Bridge on Friday.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
It took a great escape in injury time to get there after being two goals down to Japan, but Belgium can now view their quarter-final against Brazil free of the weight of expectation.
Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 69 years after beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in the semi-final.
Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 69 years on Saturday when a 54th minute goal from Nwankwo Kanu gave them a 1-0 semi-final win over West Bromwich Albion at Wembley Stadium. Portsmouth will now play either Cardiff City or Barnsley, who meet in an all-Championship semi-final on Sunday, in the final at Wembley on May 17.
Champions Leicester City will begin their Premier League title defence with a trip to newly promoted Hull City on August 13, according to the 2016-17 fixtures released on Wednesday.
Jamie Vardy's record scoring streak ended but LeicesterCity's improbable Premier League title challenge continued with Riyad Mahrez's hat-trick sealing a 3-0 win at SwanseaCity that put them top on Saturday.
'Jose's been a bit unlucky because they've been absolutely brilliant in most of their home games and drawn (seven of) them. If they had got the wins they would be challenging for the league, no doubt about that'
Chelsea go into Sunday's game holding a 10-point lead over second-placed Arsenal and manager Jose Mourinho may have to thrust one of his young strikers into the fray.
