Manchester United posted a second straight four-goal Premier League away win with a 4-0 success at West Ham United on Saturday but it was tempered by more injuries that have left the club shorn of almost all their defenders. United, who won 4-1 at Portsmouth last week, move to 34 points, once again within two of leaders Chelsea who visit Manchester City later on Saturday.
The 29-year-old missed the last three ManchesterCity games and both of Argentina's World Cup qualifiers earlier this month following his road traffic accident in the Netherlands.
An injury-time goal by Jan Venegoor of Hesselink gave Hull City a 2-1 home win over Stoke City on Sunday and eased the pressure on manager Phil Brown.
Chelsea reclaimed top spot in the Premier League with a crushing 5-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday but Tottenham Hotspur were brought down to earth when Stoke City snatched a late 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham Hotspur's bid to break up the Premier League's big-four cartel suffered a hefty setback on Saturday when they lost 1-0 at home to Stoke City courtesy of an 86th-minute goal by Glenn Whelan.
Manchester City passed their first major test of the season on Saturday with flying colours by beating Arsenal 4-2 to make it four wins out of four. Champions Manchester United recovered from conceding an early goal at Tottenham Hotspur to win 3-1 even though Paul Scholes was sent off after an hour.
Rediff.com brings a preview of the main matches coming up this weekend in the English Premier League.
Italian goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini joined Tottenham Hotspur's relegation fight on Monday, leaving Chelsea on a free transfer after 10 years at Stamford Bridge. The 35-year-old, once voted the best goalkeeper in England but second choice to Petr Cech for the last five years, could make his debut for Tottenham on Tuesday at home to Stoke City.
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.
Premier League leaders Liverpool could only grind out a 0-0 draw at struggling Stoke City on Saturday, missing the chance to open a six-point gap at the top.
Harry Kane's 101st Premier League goal was the difference as Tottenham Hotspur earned a 1-0 win over Arsenal, to continue their fine recent form in north London derbies in front of a Premier League record crowd at Wembley on Saturday.
Nottingham Forest, struggling at the wrong end of the Championship (second division), scored the upset of the day when they crushed Premier League Manchester City 3-0 in the FA Cup third round on Saturday. City were one of four Premier League teams to be knocked out of the Cup with Stoke City humbled 2-0 at League One (third division) Hartlepool United and Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic losing all-Premier League ties.
Manchester United's players had already switched their body clocks back to GMT before beating Ecuador's LDU to capture the Club World Cup in Japan. The Premier League champions became the tournament's first British winners when a Wayne Rooney goal gave them a 1-0 victory over LDU in Sunday's final in Yokohama.
Sam Allardyce got off to a flying start as manager of Blackburn Rovers when the Premier League strugglers beat Stoke City 3-0 on Saturday to claim only their second home victory of the season.
Hull City, who visit Anfield on Saturday, have displayed superb away form in their first season in the top flight, and offer no guarantee of three points to Rafael Benitez's side.
With Liverpool still to visit Chelsea, who trail them by nine points with two games in hand, Juergen Klopp's side may have to beat Brighton & Hove Albion on May 13 and rely on their superior goal difference to qualify for the Champions League, assuming they do not secure it by winning this year's trophy.
Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink has urged doctors at the Football Association (FA) and Premier League clubs to stand up against English football's gruelling fixture list.
Arsenal are going through a sticky patch, goals and points are drying up and injuries are mounting, so it is not the best time to entertain Manchester United on Saturday. Chelsea, who returned to the top last week on goal difference with a 5-0 thrashing of Sunderland, are at Blackburn Rovers on Sunday while Liverpool, stunned 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur, are at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Everton manager David Moyes admitted an FA charge of improper conduct on Monday after his reaction to a decision by the referee in a Premier League match against Stoke City two weeks ago.
Chelsea and Liverpool maintained their unbeaten starts to the season and kept the pressure on early pace-setters Arsenal when they both chalked up 2-0 away wins in the Premier League on Saturday.
West Ham United avoided the fate of Premier League rivals Stoke City when they knocked League One (division three) giantkillers Hartlepool United out of the FA Cup 2-0 on Saturday.
It is too early to say who has got the best of the most frenetic transfer market.
Cesc Fabregas kept alive Chelsea's hopes of finishing in the top four with a quickfire goal in a 1-0 win at Swansea City which leaves the Welsh side facing a major fight to retain their Premier League status.
Salah joined Chelsea under Mourinho in 2014 but failed to establish himself at Stamford Bride and was loaned out to Fiorentina and Roma before a permanent move to the Stadio Olimpico outfit in 2016.
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.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has lashed out at football's "Einsteins" for criticising him during the English Premier League club's run of three successive defeats. Despite winning the first four games of his tenure, Mourinho has come under scrutiny from the media after United's slump in form with the club currently six points behind leaders Manchester City in the league. United returned to winning ways after beating third-tier side Northampton Town 3-1 in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday.
Burnley's winning run against teams from London continued on Tuesday with a 2-0 defeat of Arsenal to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup. Kevin McDonald scored twice for the Championship (second division) side to see off an Arsenal team made up almost entirely of young reserves and end a 25-year wait to reach the semi-finals of a major competition.
Crystal Palace will not consider selling Wilfried Zaha for less that 50 million pounds ($66.39 million), manager Alan Pardew has said after the winger helped the club to their first Premier League win of the season.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann is not in danger of being sacked.
Uttam Singh is turning out to be Air-India's trump card in the ongoing I-League a la Stoke City's midfielder Rory Delap.
Arsenal also suffered a shock defeat when they went down 2-1 at Stoke City and Hull City came from 1-4 down to push Manchester United all the way before losing 4-3 at Old Trafford, in the English Premier League.
'He has real technical quality and crucially, pace. But we can't be overly concerned with one player though because they have match winners all over the pitch. We need to nullify them on Wednesday.'
Hull City gatecrashed the Premier League's top four again on Sunday with a 1-0 home defeat of West Ham United.
Liverpool will feel the weight of increased expectation to deliver silverware this season after making encouraging forays into the transfer market, manager Juergen Klopp said.
Arsenal turned on the style to beat Bolton Wanderers 3-1 on Saturday and get an early-season taste of the top of the Premier League. They top the standings on 12 points, one ahead of Liverpool, who were held to a goalless Anfield draw by Stoke City.
Tim Cahill marked his return from a long injury lay-off to earn Everton a 3-2 victory at Stoke City in the Premier League on Sunday.
Rediff.com brings a preview of the main matches coming up this weekend in the English Premier League.
Liverpool are determined to end the trend of selling their best players during the close season in order to build a squad capable of consistently challenging for major honours, manager Juergen Klopp said.
Football's winter transfer window closed on February 1, and, surprisingly, none of Europe's biggies made even a slight move, let alone sign a player.
Manchester City survived a stirring Leicester City fightback to claim a 2-1 win that lifted them above Liverpool into third in the Premier League on Saturday.
