Blackpool suffered a shock defeat at MK Dons in the League Cup second round on Tuesday while West Ham United and Wigan Athletic recorded morale-boosting victories against lower league opposition.
Tottenham Hotspur have loaned Ireland striker Robbie Keane to the Premier League's bottom club West Ham United until the end of the season with an option for a permanent cross-London move, the clubs said on Sunday.
Craig Gardner struck the winner as Birmingham City set up a League Cup final against Arsenal after coming from behind to beat West Ham United 4-3 on aggregate on Wednesday.
A sparkling two-goal display by Carlos Tevez overshadowed a promising debut by Edin Dzeko as Manchester City claimed a nervy 4-3 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers to go top of the Premier League on Saturday. Dzeko, a 27 million pounds ($42.77 million) buy from VfL Wolfsburg, made a good first impression as City led 4-1 but they were hanging on at the end against the doughty visitors.
West Ham United face sanctions after the FA said the Premier League club had been found guilty on two charges of crowd trouble at a League Cup match against Millwall at Upton Park last August.
Midfielder Joe Cole was given the chance to rekindle his career on Monday when he joined Liverpool after being released by Chelsea in May.
West Brom, relegated from the Premier League last season, made 11 changes from the side that won at the weekend in the Championship and had five players -- including goalkeeper Alex Palmer -- making their debuts.
West Ham United will know later on Friday whether Andy Carroll will have to complete a three-match suspension after the English FA agreed to an arbitration hearing following a failed appeal against his red card in a Premier League match last week.
Newcastle United named Alan Pardew as their 12th manager in the last 13 years on Thursday in place of Chris Hughton who was controversially sacked this week.
Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion stayed in touch with the Premier League leaders with solid home wins over West Ham United and Newcastle United on Sunday.
Arsenal laboured to their second win of the season with a highly-charged 1-0 victory against 10-man Newcastle United at St James' Park on Saturday.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Arsenal became the highest-profile casualties of the FA Cup third round as the 14-time winners lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, but Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur avoided early exits after scares against lower-league sides on Sunday.
Manchester United maintained their stranglehold on Tottenham Hotspur with a controversial 2-0 Old Trafford victory to move back within five points of Premier League leaders Chelsea on Saturday.
Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner made goalscoring returns from injury on Wednesday as Arsenal thrashed Newcastle United 4-0 away to reach the last eight of the League Cup.
Volcanic ash cloud has paralysed air travel and has affected sporting events around Europe. Take a look:
Liverpool enjoyed a leisurely 3-0 stroll past a lifeless West Ham United at Anfield on Monday, ideal preparation before their marathon journey to Spain for this week's Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea made it four wins out of four and left West Ham United rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with four defeats as the champions strolled to a 3-1 victory at their London rivals on Saturday.
Holders Manchester City were eliminated from the League Cup by West Ham United after a penalty shootout at London Stadium on Wednesday, ending Pep Guardiola's team's four-year domination of the competition.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Wednesday
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola denied reports that his contract contains a 'break clause' that could allow him to leave at the end of the season. The Spaniard signed an extension last year until 2021 but with City's hopes of a third successive Premier League title now looking remote, questions have been raised about his future.
South Africa striker Benni McCarthy must lose weight or face a fine, said West Ham United owner David Sullivan on Friday.
An underwhelming Chelsea boosted their chances of a spot in next season's Champions League, overcoming a slow start to beat relegated Norwich City 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. Olivier Giroud scored with virtually the last touch of the first half as Chelsea consolidated third place in the Premier League and moved four points above Leicester City and Manchester United in the battle for a top-four finish.
Chelsea ended their slump with a win over Arsenal while seemingly invincible Manchester City lost their 100 per cent record to West Ham United on a day of contrasting fortunes for the Premier League title favourites on Saturday.
West Ham United have been fined 115,000 pounds by the Football Association following a pitch invasion by their fans in a League Cup tie against Millwall. The FA said on Friday that the Premier League club had been found guilty by an Independent Regulatory Commission of breaking rules on controlling fans.
Former England defender Sol Campbell took a step towards a remarkable return to Arsenal's first team when he played for their reserves against West Ham United Tuesday. 'Talks are ongoing with Sol with a view to a permanent move back to Arsenal Football Club,' the Premier League club said on their website (www.arsenal.com).
Klopp fined by FA for referee comments after West Ham draw
Chelsea have signed Liverpool's versatile midfielder Yossi Benayoun on a three-year deal, the Premier League champions said on Friday.
Gianfranco Zola was the darling of Stamford Bridge in his Chelsea days but the Italian has yet to win the hearts of West Ham United's faithful. Zola's transformation from midfield magician to coach has been a tough one, and on Sunday his relegation-threatened West Ham host Premier League leaders Chelsea in front of an Upton Park crowd rapidly losing confidence in his managerial ability.
Tottenham Hotspur are favourites to win the Premier League this season according to table-topping Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri, because their title charge has virtually gone under the radar.
West Ham United eased into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 5-1 romp at second-tier Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
England football team manager Sam Allardyce has been caught up in a newspaper sting in which he is alleged to have met a bogus consortium of Far East businessmen seeking advice on the Premier League's billion pound transfer market.
Liverpool's dream run was demolished in the most unlikely fashion by strugglers Watford on Saturday in what must be considered the most extraordinary reverse of the entire Premier League season. On the evening when the European champions were expected to complete the best sequence in the history of English football's top-flight with a 19th straight league victory, they were instead hammered 3-0 by the team lying one from bottom. Images from the EPL matches played on Saturday.
West Ham United capitalised on two mistakes from Arsenal's new goalkeeper Petr Cech to claim a surprise 2-0 victory at the Emirates and bring the Gunners' early Premier League optimism down to earth with a bump on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur's exhilarating Premier League title surge came to a shuddering halt as they lost 1-0 at West Ham United on Friday to leave Chelsea needing six points from four games to be crowned champions.
Manchester City got back to winning ways in the Premier League after their derby setback when two goals by Carlos Tevez inspired a 3-1 home victory over the Argentine's former club West Ham United on Monday.
Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor was handed a three-match ban for violent conduct by the English Football Association on Thursday.
Wolverhampton Wanderers moved seven points clear of the Premier League drop zone with a 3-1 win at relegation rivals West Ham United on Tuesday.
Arsenal went top of the Premier League when they beat West Ham United 2-0 with goals from Denilson and Cesc Fabregas on Saturday despite playing for more than half the match at the Emirates with 10 men.
Didier Drogba scored twice to lift Chelsea to a 4-1 victory over West Ham United on Saturday and back to the top of the Premier League while Arsenal shadowed them with a last-gasp victory at Hull City.
