Champions Liverpool were ripped apart 7-2 at Aston Villa and Manchester United were humiliated 6-1 at home by Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday in one of the most astonishing days of Premier League results.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has promised to show plenty of restraint and respect if he inflicts a first Premier League defeat of the season on his former side Chelsea on Saturday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah ended his Premier League goal drought in style by scoring twice as the champions raided the capital again to crush West Ham United 3-1 on Sunday.
Manchester City displayed champions' swagger as they roared clear at the top with a 5-0 trouncing of Burnley but it was drama which engulfed their neighbours Manchester United and Jose Mourinho that dominated the Premier League agenda on Saturday.
Seventh-placed Liverpool, who have 14 points from nine matches, travel to a Newcastle side buoyed by their League Cup victory over Manchester City.
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.
Having set one record as football's most expensive teenager, recent signing Anthony Martial has another one in sight when Manchester United play at home to struggling Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Manchester City soared above the fog swirling round the Etihad Stadium to demolish Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 and leave the rest of the Premier League peering into the distance in search of Pep Guardiola's record-breaking team on Saturday.
Andy Carroll scored a eight-minute hat-trick as West Ham United's last London derby at Upton Park ended in a barnstorming 3-3 draw with Arsenal on Saturday -- a result that dented both club's respective ambitions.
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.
Arsenal's victory was scrappy and nervy but Laurent Koscielny's 72nd-minute winner was enough to move them two points clear at the summit after LeicesterCity's surprise push faltered with a goalless draw at home to 10-man Bournemouth.
Everton's Romelu Lukaku ended his longest goal drought in English football with an 11-minute hat-trick to power the visitors to an emphatic 3-0 win over Sunderland on Monday and third place in the Premier League table.
IMAGES from Saturday's English Premier League matches.
Liverpool substitute Adam Lallana struck deep into stoppage time to snatch a 5-4 win over shell-shocked Norwich City in an extraordinary Premier League game at Carrow Road on Saturday.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino likes to erase bad memories and cherish good ones and it is a trait he hopes his players have acquired ahead of Saturday's clash at Premier League champions Manchester City.
A suspicious package destroyed by a bomb disposal team after prompting the evacuation of Manchester United's stadium on Sunday was a fake device accidentally left behind after a training exercise, police said.
Arsenal can cut down the deficit to Premier League leaders Manchester City and challenge for the title this campaign, midfielder Granit Xhaka said.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
When Jose Mourinho jumped to beleaguered Louis van Gaal's defence in February, sympathising that he should be given time.
Images from the EPL matches played on Saturday
A round-up of Saturday's matches in the English Premier League.
United down Newcastle after Saints stun Chelsea on a dramatic night in the English Premier League.
Mario Balotelli will be available for Liverpool's home Premier League match against Aston Villa on Saturday after recovering from illness, manager Brendan Rodgers said.
Manchester City stumbled to the most unexpected defeat of the Premier League season on Saturday before neighbours Manchester United began their brave new world under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a glorious reminder of long-forgotten attacking swagger.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
Mourinho's side failed to turn their domination into more goals and things got edgy late on when Saville's shot evaded Gazzaniga who seemed slow to get down.
Images from the Enlish Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Frank Lampard could make an emotional appearance against former club Chelsea this weekend as his new employers Manchester City host Jose Mourinho's side in an early showdown between the Premier League's heavyweights. Catch all the action.
Chelsea came from behind to secure a 3-1 win at Manchester City and forge further clear at the top of the Premier League as a dramatic top-of-the-table clash ended in a mass brawl and two City players being sent off on Saturday.
Salah was seen training with a protective cast on his forearm this week but Klopp dismissed any fresh injury concern relating to the Egyptian.
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are not yet ready to compete with Europe's elite but his side will be confident of opening their Champions League campaign with victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Tuesday.
Balotelli made his debut for his hometown club after completing a four-match suspension that he was handed at Olympique de Marseille last season, while the visitors were without Cristiano Ronaldo as he recovers from injury.
Manchester United are likely to welcome back captain Wayne Rooney from suspension for their visit to Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday, hoping the striker can add to his record scoring tally in the derby.
How quickly affections can switch in soccer. Where once they would serenade coach Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge with an operatic flourish, now Chelsea fans have fallen headlong for another man driving them inexorably to the Premier League title.
Everton and Tottenham Hotspur both missed the chance to move up to second place in the Premier League after they shared a battling 0-0 draw at Goodison Park on Sunday. The day's other game ended in a 1-0 win for Cardiff City over arch-rivals Swansea City in the first ever Welsh derby played in the English top flight.
Mario Balotelli enjoyed a rare moment of ecstasy in a Liverpool shirt by inspiring a 2-1 win over Swansea City in the League Cup on Tuesday while Chelsea had to call for reinforcements to see off Shrewsbury Town.
Chelsea's unbeaten start to the season ended with a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United; Champions Manchester City took full advantage of Chelsea's surprise reverse to cut the gap at the top.
Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger remains on the hunt for striking options for his injury-hit squad despite being boosted by the return of forward Olivier Giroud for Monday's English Premier League clash at Aston Villa.
Seasonal cheer has been scarce for Louis van Gaal after a six-match winless sequence for his Manchester United side intensified rumours that he will be sacked and Stoke City are unlikely to be offering any solace on Saturday.
