Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud gave food for thought to Arsenal fans craving a new striker by scoring in a 3-1 Premier League win at Fulham on Saturday while Liverpool made it two victories from two games at Aston Villa.
Manchester City defender John Stones headed a controversial stoppage-time winner in a 2-1 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday that took them top of the Premier League and set a club record of 31 league games unbeaten.
Jose Mourinho said Father Christmas must be a Chelsea fan after his side grabbed a last-gasp 3-2 win at Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
Leaders Manchester United registered a resounding 3-0 victory at Aston Villa, while Chelsea scored a last-gasp 3-2 win at Wigan Athletic.
Alex Ferguson says his current Manchester United model is a match for any of the previous editions that have rolled off the Old Trafford production line and should they win their last four games it would be hard to mount a case against him.
Chelsea take on Hull City in the opening match of the English Premier League on Saturday, August 15, at 1715 IST.
Millwall and Blackburn Rovers fought out a goalless stalemate in a scrappy FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday with both the Championship (second tier) sides going into the semi-final draw.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
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.
Leaders Manchester United moved closer to a 20th title and pushed Queens Park Rangers nearer to relegation when goals from Rafael and Ryan Giggs gave them a 2-0 win at the bottom side in the Premier League on Saturday.
Arsenal beat Brighton and Hove Albion 3-2 to reach the FA Cup fifth round.
Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has been banned for two games following his sending-off during the 4-1 home defeat by Liverpool on Saturday.
Lampard was handed a three-year contract having left second tier Derby County.
Roberto Firmino scored twice as Liverpool boosted their hopes of Champions League football next season
Premier League champions Manchester City and in-form Everton were both sent packing from the League Cup on Tuesday, their respective managers paying the price for making wholesale changes to their starting line-ups for the third round ties.
England manager Fabio Capello has given a surprise call-up to Chelsea defender Michael Mancienne for Wednesday's friendly in Germany and left out former captain David Beckham. Mancienne, who has performed well for England's under-21s but has never started a Premier League game, acknowledged the call-up had been unexpected.
Late goals from Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott spared Arsenal's blushes and kept them top of the Premier League in a 2-0 victory over Cardiff City as title rivals Manchester City and Chelsea also won on Wednesday.
A young Arsenal side delighted a near capacity crowd at the Emirates Stadium with a scintillating 2-1 victory over Liverpool to secure a place in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Reading reached the FA Cup quarter-finals at Premier League at Everton's expense after a first-half goal from defender Matt Mills earned a 1-0 fifth round victory at Goodison Park on Tuesday.
Images from football matches played across Europe over the weekend.
Images from English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Arsenal closed the gap on leaders Liverpool with a 2-1 Premier League victory at Nottingham Forest
The schedule of matches in the 2010-11 English Premier LEague season.
Manchester City went top of the Premier League when they beat Aston Villa 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday after Manchester United dropped two points in a 1-1 draw at Liverpool.
Man City to face Spurs in League Cup
Arsenal rediscovered their Premier League form on Saturday with a convincing 3-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium. Portsmouth ended a run of six successive league defeats when they won 3-0 at Everton while Hull City's flying start ended emphatically when they were thrashed 5-0 at home by Wigan Athletic.
Chelsea's terrible start to the season plumbed new depths on Saturday when the Premier League champions lost 2-1 at West Ham United.
Champions Chelsea begin title defence at home to Swansea City, while runners-up Manchester City kick-off at West Bromwich Albion
Arsenal inflicted Liverpool's sixth Premier League defeat of the season with a 2-1 victory on Sunday, their first league win at Anfield since 2003.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is unsure if the Premier League champions are over the worst following their poor start to the season, but he said on Friday that a win and two clean sheets in the last week had lifted everyone at the club.
The English Premier League resumed on Wednesday, after the forced break due to COVID-19. Here are IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Wednesday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Manchester United, who could have been 10 points clear of Liverpool if they had beaten them last weekend, could find themselves in second place in the table when the Premier League resumes in two weeks' time.
Chelsea also begin the new English season at home, against promoted Birmingham City.
Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson scored as Liverpool registered their first Premier League win since August with a 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion at Anfield on Saturday.
Bolton Wanderers moved off the bottom of the Premier League and out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 home defeat of Manchester City on Sunday. A poor game was settled by two late goals, the first a close-range effort from Ricardo Gardner and the second an own goal from City defender Richard Dunne.
Daniel Sturridge's return from injury to the starting line-up is a massive bonus and will bring the 'fear factor' back to Liverpool, captain Jordan Henderson has said.
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.
