West Bromwich Albion, who pulled off a famous escape from relegation in 2005, could be on their way to surviving in the Premier League again after beating Wigan Athletic 3-1 at The Hawthorns on Saturday.
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.
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.
Manchester United thrashed bottom club West Bromwich Albion 5-0 at the Hawthorns to move three points clear at the top of the English Premier League on Tuesday. Cristiano Ronaldo struck two late goals for the rampant Reds after Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez and Nemanja Vidic had put the champions in control against 10-man West Brom.
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.
Liverpool took full advantage of an early kickoff at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, winning 2-0 to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Chelsea returned to the top of the Premier League on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers at a rain-drenched Ewood Park. Aston Villa could have gone above Manchester United into the top four but lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough for whom Tuncay Sanli scored an 88th-minute winner.
Arsene Wenger has denied he has been offered a two-year deal to become coach at Paris Saint-Germain.
Chelsea romped to a 5-0 victory at Middlesbrough and Manchester United beat West Bromwich Albion 4-0 while Liverpool and Arsenal produced stirring fightbacks to claim home wins over Wigan Athletic and Everton. Liverpool snatched a 3-2 triumph over Wigan, while Arsenal netted three second-half goals to record a 3-1 victory against Everton.
Newcastle United were left deep in relegation trouble after being held to a goalless draw at home to Portsmouth in a tense Premier League match on Monday. With four matches left to play, Newcastle remain in the drop zone with 31 points, although the draw was enough to move them ahead of Middlesbrough on goal difference and up to 18th place.
Brazil striker Robinho's life at Manchester City suddenly appears rosy again after he ended his long wait for a goal in the 4-2 Premier League defeat of West Bromwich Albion last weekend.
Barnsley's reward for knocking holders Chelsea and Liverpool out of the FA Cup is a semi-final against fellow Championship (second division) side Cardiff City.
Salomon Rondon dented 10-man Manchester United's top-four challenge with a sharp second-half strike to maintain West Bromwich Albion's Premier League revival on Sunday. The 26-year-old Venezuela striker controlled Sebastien Pocognoli's cross from the left before burying the ball into the left corner on 67 minutes against an increasingly toothless United, who had lost Juan Mata to a second yellow card on 26 minutes. The Spain international was booked for not retreating and blocking a quickly-taken free kick before receiving his marching orders two minutes later for kicking Darren Fletcher's shin in a clumsy tackle. United's first league defeat at The Hawthorns since 1984 kept them sixth in the table, three points behind Manchester City in fourth, while West Brom climbed to 11th with a third win in four league games.
Favourites Chelsea will play Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup quarter-final tie at Stamford Bridge next month.
The Egyptian reached the 40-goal mark across all competitions this season in Liverpool's 3-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth on Saturday and is leading the race for the European Golden Shoe after an impressive campaign.
Aston Villa moved back to fifth in the English Premier League with an astonishing 3-2 win over Everton on Sunday after a goal in the first minute and one from each side in stoppage time. In the day's other match, West Bromwich Albion failed to win for the ninth successive match and stayed bottom after being held to a 1-1 draw by Portsmouth at The Hawthorns.
Liverpool took full advantage of an early kickoff at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, winning 2-0 to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Manchester United wasted the chance to close on the Premier League leaders when a sloppy second half cost them in a 1-1 draw at Everton on Saturday.
Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona crushed Getafe 5-2 on Thursday to stay in the hunt for the La Liga title.
A rare header by Cesc Fabregas three minutes into injury time earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw on Saturday after hosts Sunderland seemed on course for an upset victory in the Premier League. Manchester United edged closer to the leading pack with a 2-0 win at a rain-sodden Blackburn Rovers after goals from Wes Brown and Wayne Rooney.
Arsenal launched their bid for a first Premier League crown in five years with a comfortable 1-0 win over promoted West Bromwich Albion on the opening day of the season on Saturday. Liverpool, who have their eyes on a first title since 1990, also got off to a winning start by beating Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light with a late goal from Fernando Torres.
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.
Roy Keane has agreed terms to take over as manager of second division Sunderland
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 69 years after beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in the semi-final.
Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 69 years on Saturday when a 54th minute goal from Nwankwo Kanu gave them a 1-0 semi-final win over West Bromwich Albion at Wembley Stadium. Portsmouth will now play either Cardiff City or Barnsley, who meet in an all-Championship semi-final on Sunday, in the final at Wembley on May 17.
Liverpool will seek a 10th successive EPL win when they conclude a memorable year at home to West Bromwich Albion
Romelu Lukaku extended his impressive FA Cup scoring record by netting twice in Manchester United's 2-0 win at Huddersfield Town to earn Jose Mourinho's side a quarter-final tie at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Injured striker Robin van Persie is expected to miss Manchester United's Capital One Cup tie against Liverpool on Wednesday but could be fit for Saturday's Premier League clash with West Bromwich Albion.
The 20-year-old midfielder scored twice in England's flattering 2-1 win over the United States.
Arsenal moved on to 77 points, 11 behind newly crowned champions Chelsea but four clear of Manchester United.
The holders and runners-up made their exit from the League Cup in the fourth round after being beaten by Bolton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion respectively.
Tottenham Hotspur beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 to boost their bid for the Champions League berth
Goals from Didier Drogba and Joe Cole gave EPL leaders Chelsea a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion
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