Manchester United crushed Derby County 4-1 away while Everton beat Aston Villa 3-1 at Goodison Park on Sunday to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. United were pushed all the way by the Championship (second division) strugglers in the League Cup semi-finals last month but cruised home this time with goals by Nani, Darron Gibson, Cristiano Ronaldo and Danny Welbeck.
Everton moved up to fifth in the Premier League on Sunday with a 2-0 home defeat of Middlesbrough.
New Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink said Thursday he was excited at the prospect of managing a club challenging for three major trophies.
Holders Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a 2-0 home win over Stoke City while Aston Villa joined them after coming from 2-0 down to win 4-2 at Reading with a John Carew hat-trick on Sunday.
A Kamil Zayatte own goal two minutes from time gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win at Hull City on Tuesday and lifted them to fourth place in the Premier League.
Liverpool stayed top of the Premier League on Sunday after an emphatic 5-1 win at Newcastle United gave them maximum points from their two Christmas fixtures.
Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United celebrated the festive season with victories on Friday while Arsenal, the other member of the 'big four', squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Aston Villa. Liverpool beat Bolton Wanderers 3-0 at Anfield with Robbie Keane scoring twice to give the leaders 42 points, one ahead of Chelsea as the Premier League season reached the halfway point.
Chelsea missed the chance to top the table at Christmas when, after having captain John Terry sent off in the 34th minute, their 11-game away English Premier League winning streak ended with a 0-0 draw at Everton on Monday. Terry was shown a straight red for a wild lunge at Leon Osman, taking the steam out of the Londoners, who had dominated until the dismissal but were then forced to hang on in the second half.
Aston Villa took full advantage of the absence of the other Premier League high-fliers on Saturday, winning 1-0 at West Ham United to climb to third. A deflected James Milner shot 12 minutes from time gave Villa 34 points from 18 games and pushed them above Manchester United (32).
Manchester United won 2-1 at Crystal Palace to consolidate fourth spot.
Premier League leaders Liverpool stumbled again at home on Saturday, needing two Steven Gerrard goals to salvage a point in a 2-2 draw with Hull City.
Chelsea's lead at the top of the Premier League was cut to one point on Wednesday when they lost 2-1 at Everton with Louis Saha continuing his scoring jinx over them. Second-placed Manchester United drew 1-1 at Aston Villa while Arsenal stayed in the hunt after beating Liverpool 1-0.
Christian Benteke's superb hat-trick rescued a potentially priceless Premier League point for Aston Villa.
Bolton Wanderers illuminated a dull day in the Premier League on Saturday with a 4-1 victory at Sunderland that lifted them to seventh in the standings.
Images from Sunday's Premier League action.
The top four failed to muster a goal on Saturday as Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United drew 0-0 while Arsenal went down 3-0 at Manchester City. Premier League leaders Chelsea could find no way through Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool had the same problem at home to Fulham and third-placed Manchester United were held 0-0 in a lively game at Aston Villa.
Chelsea also begin the new English season at home, against promoted Birmingham City.
Obafemi Martins scored twice as Newcastle United produced a stirring second-half performance to beat Aston Villa 2-0 on Monday to move off the bottom of the Premier League.
Everton went ahead of Liverpool into fourth place in the Premier League on Monday with an impressive 2-0 victory at Manchester City.
England coach Fabio Capello has bemoaned a lack of goalkeeping talent at his disposal, saying on Monday it forced him to bring back goalkeeper David James.
Morata to stay on loan at Juventus for another season
The Chelsea striker is to have a hernia operation on Tuesday.
Chelsea stayed top of the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday while Liverpool kept pace after an astonishing comeback earned them a 3-2 win at Manchester City.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Wednesday.
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard will miss the next few weeks after tearing a muscle in his right thigh.
Manchester United beat Sunderland 4-0 while Chelsea were held to a 4-4 draw by Astin Villa in the EPL.
Unbeaten Arsenal stretched their lead in the Premier league to five points after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa on Saturday while Chelsea beat West Ham United 1-0 to overhaul Manchester United and go second.
England internationals were the target of boos up and down the country on Saturday in a backlash to the national team's failure to qualify for Euro 2008.
Manchester United went top of the Premier League with a 2-1 home win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday as Chelsea went down 2-1 at Aston Villa and Liverpool lost at Sunderland to a goal that went in off a beach ball.
England head into Euro 2020 with a new factor for manager Gareth Southgate to deal with -- high expectations.
Liverpool's FA Cup match on Saturday is one of four all-Premier League tussles, with leaders Manchester United also hosting Aston Villa, Everton taking on Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth facing Wigan Athletic.
Tottenham Hotspur rallied to hold Aston Villa 4-4 in a Premier League match after two dreadful errors from England goalkeeper Paul Robinson looked to have sunk them.
Liverpool's stay might only last for 24 hours until overnight leaders Chelsea visit Aston Villa on Sunday.
Aston Villa returned to winning ways in stunning fashion as Ollie Watkins scored twice in a 3-0 away thumping of an abject Arsenal in drizzly north London on Sunday.
Everton missed the chance to confirm a place in next season's UEFA Cup when they were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday. Liverpool, knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea on Wednesday, won their final home Premier League game, Fernando Torres notching his 32nd goal of the season in all competitions to earn a 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
Everton missed the chance to secure a place in next season's UEFA Cup when they were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.
Aston Villa thrashed local rivals Birmingham City 5-1 to take their goal tally to 15 in their last three EPL games.
As the Premier League resumes following the international break all eyes will be on Cristiano Ronaldo's homecoming party at Old Trafford on Saturday, with the Portuguese international set to resume his Manchester United career after 12 years away.
Manchester United routed Aston Villa 4-0 while Arsenal fought back from two goals down for a 3-2 win over Bolton Wanderers.
Arsenal scored a late goal to force a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa but saw their lead at the top of the Premier League cut to one point after Manchester United won 3-0 at Fulham.
