Here are talking points from the weekend's Premier League action:
Premier League leaders Manchester City won their derby with United 3-1, while Liverpool kept pace with a home win over Fulham.
There may be little glamour in being a mid-table Premier League team but this season suggests that those clubs who become bored with such an existence can find the alternative is far worse.
Ranieri had recognised his future at the West London side was uncertain after Wednesday's stinging 2-0 defeat at Southampton.
Fulham forgot their Premier League struggles to sweep into the FA Cup fourth round with a 3-0 victory over fellow top-flight strugglers NorwichCity in a third-round replay on Tuesday.
Leicester City will be wary of a reality check when the Premier League front-runners visit Arsenal on Sunday before Tottenham Hotspur's burgeoning title ambitions come under scrutiny at Manchester City.
Klopp fined by FA for referee comments after West Ham draw
Everton moved up to third place in the Premier League despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace as Belgium strikers Christian Benteke and Romelu Lukaku both got on the scoresheet in a battling encounter on Friday.
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has made a surprise return to Chelsea's training ground ahead of Sunday's big London derby after Adidas sent a consignment of gloves to his former club by mistake. Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink, whose misfiring champions travel to Cech's Premier League leaders on Sunday, made light of the situation at a news conference on Friday. "I was here when Petr showed up. It was nice to see him," the Dutchman told reporters at the Cobham facility to the south-west of London. "We had a chat here. Almost everyone was gone already, it was late afternoon....we tried to hide them, which he did not accept. Also we tried to make them a little bit slippery but he discovered that also. "They were wrongly sent here and we gave them back. It was nice. That's the story."
Saturday's clash between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford is already shaping up as an early-season eliminator to challenge runaway leaders Manchester City for the Premier League title.
Adnan Januzaj reminded Manchester United fans of his class as his 29th-minute goal earned a 1-0 win at Aston Villa and propelled them, after two humdrum triumphs, to the top of the table on Friday.
Arsene Wenger acknowledged Southampton were the sharper team as they crushed Arsenal 4-0 on Saturday but he also blamed the defeat on bad luck.
Under-pressure Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal knows losing too many more matches 'could be the end of the world' but said he still has the full backing of the club's board.
The Sun mocked its critics who celebrated the apparent disappearance of topless women.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has dismissed suggestions that midfielder Paul Pogba faces a lengthy lay-off because of a hamstring injury sustained in the Champions League defeat of Basel on Tuesday.
Portugal became the first team to qualify for the Nations League semi-finals when they held Italy 0-0 on Saturday, the second time in a year that the hosts have been knocked out of a competition following a goalless draw at the San Siro.
With less than a month of the Premier League season left it remains Chelsea's title to lose but Tottenham Hotspur defiantly stayed in contention by grinding out a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Marouane Fellaini scored late in extra time to spare Everton's blushes as they came from a goal down to beat League One (third division) Stevenage 2-1 and reach the League Cup third round on Wednesday.
The fixture list suggests that Chelsea should still be able to finish above challengers Tottenham Hotspur. But strange things can happen when the pressure reaches it's greatest intensity and here was certainly something strange about Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.
A British woman, left shaken after a man publicly masturbated while staring at her at a Mumbai bus stop during her trip to India, has been inundated with apologies and support from Indians.
Hull City edged towards Premier League safety while Wigan Athletic, will play in the third tier of English football.
Manchester City beat Swansea 3-1 to make it a perfect 10 victories under Pep Guardiola, including six in the Premier League, as they recorded their best start to a top-flight campaign. City's victory was the perfect riposte to the Spaniard's old rival Jose Mourinho, who earlier saw his remodelled Manchester United sparkle without the dropped Wayne Rooney, thumping Premier League champions Leicester City 4-1. On a day of goals, both Manchester sides were outscored by Liverpool, who crushed Hull City 5-1 to take their tally to 24 in the past eight games.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
West Ham United maintained their impressive start to the season when they beat champions Manchester City 2-1 at Upton Park on Saturday to consolidate their place in the top four of the Premier League.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga remains the club's first choice but manager Maurizio Sarri is still uncertain if the Spaniard will be recalled to the starting team for Sunday's Premier League trip to Fulham.
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.
Chelsea moved 12 points clear of Arsenal, who suffered their fourth defeat in nine league matches, while fourth-placed Liverpool fell 13 point adrift after their wretched 2017 continued with a shock 2-0 defeat at resurgent Hull City.
Bookmakers were busy slashing the odds on Louis van Gaal to be replaced in the Manchester United hotseat by Jose Mourinho on Saturday after a 2-1 home defeat to struggling Norwich City in the Premier League.
Premier League clubs Watford and Hull City, and Championship side Leeds United paid the penalty for fielding weakened teams when they were all knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round on Sunday -- but holders Manchester United won comfortably.
Lecister City's dynamic duo Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez are not for sale at any price, manager Claudio Ranieri asserted after the pair combined again to fire their team back to the top of the Premier League.
Louis van Gaal praised his side's attacking display against West Ham United but said they 'forgot to score goals' after a fourth 0-0 draw in their last six home matches on Saturday.
Watford climbed into the top four of the Premier League after Tom Cleverley's 92nd-minute goal gave them a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as holders Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 on Wednesday to overturn a deficit from the first leg and advance to the quarter-finals of the King's Cup.
A weekend of surprise results across Europe's big leagues saw Bayern Munich's unbeaten run come to an end, Napoli knocked off top spot in Serie A and Manchester City toppled in the Premier League where Leicester City are the new leaders.
Jermain Defoe's record of scoring on his first appearance for every club he has played for came to an end as Sunderland lost 2-1 at his former club Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday.
Newcastle United put their faith in Rafa Benitez on Friday, hoping the Spaniard will keep them in the Premier League after they won only six of 28 league games under the sacked Steve McClaren.
Fans are openly speculating that owner Roman Abramovich, a man who places notoriously high demands on his managers, could call time on Jose Mourinho's second spell at Stamford Bridge if Liverpool can inflict another defeat on the champions.
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