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.
Aston Villa have appointed former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo as their new manager, the BBC reported on Thursday.
Steven Gerrard will know by the middle of this week whether he faces another lengthy layoff or will be back in action for Liverpool soon after being diagnosed with an infected ankle.
Cesc Fabregas came off the bench to score a last-minute penalty to earn 10-times winners Arsenal a 1-1 home draw with Championship (second division) side Leeds United in a pulsating FA Cup third-round match on Saturday.
Nemanja Vidic travelled with the Manchester United squad for their Champions League visit to Romania on Monday while fellow central defender Rio Ferdinand remained at home, the club confirmed on their website.
English champions Manchester United opened their title defence with a 2-1 win at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday while Chelsea could manage a draw only in new coach Andre Villas-Boas' first Premier League match.
A lethargic Manchester United lost 1-0 at lowly Wigan Athletic to open the door for Manchester City to cut their Premier League lead to five points with a thumping victory over West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday.
Striker Dimitar Berbatov scored a clinical first goal as Manchester United sauntered to a 3-0 victory against promoted Newcastle United in their Premier League opener at Old Trafford on Monday.
New signing Samir Nasri scored after four minutes to give Arsenal a 1-0 win over promoted West Bromwich Albion when they kicked off the new English Premier League season at the Emirates Stadium in London on Saturday. The 21-year-old French midfielder scored with a first-time right footed-shot after good approach work by Arsenal and a final cut-back pass from Denilson.
Images from the Premier League matches played across England over the weekend.
Villas-Boas was the sixth coach of the club since Abramovic took over the ownership of the club in 2003. Rediff.com brings you list of managers who tried to change fortunes at Stamford Bridge but failed to impress the Blues owner.
Manchester United survived a tense finale to beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at the Hawthorns on Sunday and close to within 11 points of Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Managing Chelsea is one of the toughest tasks in soccer but the under-fire Andre Villas-Boas has no intention of quitting, he said ahead of Saturday's Premier League game at West Bromwich Albion.
A taxi driver may hold vital information about Gurdeep Hayer, a 20-year-old Indian-origin man who has been missing since January 2, according to the Greater Manchester Police. Concern is growing for Gurdeep, who has gone missing from a place in Manchester, which is less than 16 km from where Anuj Bidve was killed on December 26. Based in West Bromwich, Gurdeep was last seen in Manchester in the early hours of January 2. He travelled to Manchester on December 31.
Premier League leaders Manchester City put their recent run of poor form behind them to beat Liverpool 3-0 on Tuesday, while Tottenham Hotspur maintained their title push with a 1-0 win at home to West Bromwich Albion.
The "noisy neighbours" have been generally a bit quieter in recent weeks and should Manchester United beat Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday their title claims will be just about silenced.
If Manchester City really are ready to challenge the Manchester United/Chelsea Premier League hegemony then Wednesday's derby at Eastlands is the time to prove it.
Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea's stuttering start to his career at his new club is just part of getting to grips with life in the Premier League, manager Alex Ferguson said on Sunday.
Fernando Torres scored his first goal in 10 games as Liverpool kick-started their Premier League campaign with a 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at Anfield on Sunday.
Chelsea and Arsenal notched impressive 6-0 victories on Saturday as the champions destroyed Wigan Athletic and Arsene Wenger's team brought 10-man Blackpool crashing back to Premier League reality.
Thierry Henry's strike five minutes from time gave Arsenal a 2-1 victory at West Brom extending their lead to four points.\n\n
Dimitar Berbatov came off the bench to give Manchester United a 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday that put them five points clear in the Premier League while Arsenal rallied to draw at West Bromwich Albion.
Premier League pacesetters Manchester United and Manchester City ground out wins to stay clear at the top while Arsenal remained in dogged pursuit with a 3-0 victory at Birmingham City on Saturday.
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are second and third respectively, a point ahead of Antonio Conte's men.
Manchester United threw away a 2-0 lead after a Patrice Evra own goal and an error by Edwin van der Sar saw them held 2-2 by West Bromwich Albion while Premier League leaders Chelsea drew 0-0 at Aston Villa Saturday.
Tottenham Hotspur beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 to boost their bid for the Champions League berth
Chelsea's goal-rush was staunched by Stoke City but the Premier League champions maintained their perfect start to the season with a 2-0 home victory.
Two goals from Wayne Rooney put Manchester United back on top of the Premier League for the first time in five months when they beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday and Manchester City went down to a 1-0 defeat at Swansea City.
Goals from Didier Drogba and Joe Cole gave EPL leaders Chelsea a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion
Having opened the defence of their English Premier League title with a 6-0 thrashing of West Bromwich Albion last week, Chelsea now face the team they beat 8-0 to secure the crown three months ago.
Spaniard Pedro scored twice as Chelsea tightened their grip on top spot by sweeping past Bournemouth 3-0 on Monday, a club record 12th successive Premier League win taking them seven points clear.
Luiz Felipe Scolari will start life as Chelsea's new manager at home to FA Cup winners Portsmouth after the 2008-09 fixture list was released on Monday. Manchester United, who pipped Chelsea to the title on the final day last season, begin their title defence at home to Newcastle United.
Mohamed Salah was inevitably on the scoresheet as Liverpool took full advantage of the inactivity of their top-four rivals to thrash West Ham United 4-1 at Anfield and provisionally move into second in the Premier League.
England striker Daniel Sturridge celebrated his return after a five-month injury layoff when he came off the bench to score as Liverpool beat West Ham United 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
Chelsea narrowed Manchester United's lead in the Premier League to four points on Tuesday with a 1-0 victory at Portsmouth while Liverpool also kept their slender title hopes alive with a 2-0 defeat of Sunderland. United have two games in hand on both, starting with their trip to struggling Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham will be favourites to reach the FA Cup fifth round via home replays on Saturday.
Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse has been charged with violent conduct, the FA said in a statement on Monday referring to an incident in the Premier League match against Everton.
Chelsea and Liverpool continued setting a hot pace at the top of the English Premier League with emphatic away victories on Saturday. Liverpool briefly went top courtesy of a 2-0 victory at Bolton Wanderers with goals from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard before Chelsea responded by thrashing bottom club West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at the Hawthorns.
