test2wa

Andrew Leci

Guus Hiddink will bid a fond farewell to Chelsea football club after Saturday's FA Cup Final against Everton.

There can be little doubt that the imposing Dutchman has made a significant contribution to the club in his role as ‘interim' manager, and that almost everyone associated with Chelsea would dearly love to hang on to him.

He's been a breath of fresh air since taking over from Luiz Felipe Scolari - a man who, frankly, looked constantly confused and even out of his depth in the Barclays Premier League - which is a curious thing to say about a man who has guided his country to World Cup success.

With a no nonsense approach and a level of communication with the players that Scolari was clearly incapable of achieving, Hiddink got the team back on track and playing attractive football, guiding them through to the FA Cup Final and a better than even chance of securing some silverware this season.

Somehow, Hiddink has managed to get the Chelsea players to enjoy playing their football again, and has engendered a spirit that seemed to be lacking under Scolari. According to reports, senior players were questioning the Brazilian's tactical decisions, and were far from overwhelmed with his man management abilities. The relationship between Scolari and Chelsea was not a happy one, while Hiddink - ‘on the rebound', so to speak - managed to endear himself, almost instantly, to players and fans alike.

‘We'd love to leave him with a trophy as a thank you,' said Frank Lampard, going on to say that all the Chelsea players feel the same way. It's a testament to the way Hiddink has managed to forge the disparate elements in the Chelsea camp into a tight-knit group of individuals with a single purpose - getting their hands on the oldest and greatest piece of silverware in domestic club competition.

Chelsea will not find it easy though on Saturday against an Everton side that has had an excellent season, deserving its Barclays Premier League finish just outside the top four.

David Moyes has further cemented his reputation as an excellent manager, and proved that he is able to get the best from his charges, even under trying circumstances.

Rarely this season has Moyes been able to deploy a first choice attacking line-up, and midfielder Tim Cahill has been used as a lone striker on more occasions than he would probably care to remember. Injuries to Louis Saha, James Vaughan, Victor Anichebe and Jo have plagued Everton this season, and yet they've still gone on to exceed expectations, pipping Aston Villa for fifth place in the last few weeks of the season, to claim the unwritten title of ‘Best of the Rest'.

Considering the resources at Moyes' disposal, particularly with regard to transfer budgets, the achievement has been remarkable, and a place in the showcase FA Cup Final on Saturday is a richly deserved reward.

Incidentally, Moyes has just been named as the League Managers Association Manager of the Year, for the third time, something that even the great Sir Alex Ferguson hasn't achieved. Not only has Everton Football Club expanded its fan base this season with its success and determined style of play, but it appears as though Moyes has plenty of fans of his own among his peers.

While lifting the trophy on Saturday will be the perfect scenario for Hiddink to bow out, there'll be no place for sentiment when David Moyes and his boys pound the hallowed Wembley turf. Chelsea go into the match as favourites, but you write off Everton at your peril.

With no disrespect to either of those clubs, who've had fine seasons in the third tier of English football, it must be difficult to prepare for a trip to Old Trafford with its 75,000 fans one season, and look forward to a fixture at London Road, Peterborough (capacity 15,460) the next.

That, however, is the fate that will befall two of four clubs, when final whistles blow up and down England in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday.

With a few words of warning: 'this article could confuse, and may have to be read twice', I'm going to attempt to fill you in on the scenario that is being referred to by most pundits as ‘Survival Sunday'.

MIDDLESBROUGH - 19^th. Boro must win to have any hope of survival. A draw, or defeat, and they are down. Not only must they win, but Newcastle and Hull have to lose, and somehow, Boro have to claw back a four goal margin in terms of goal difference on Hull.

So, if Middlesbrough win 3-0, and Hull lose 2-0, Boro will be safe (as long as Newcastle lose as well). If Boro win 1-0, and Hull lose 1-0 (and Newcastle lose) Boro will be relegated. Get the picture?

NEWCASTLE UNITED - 18^th. Whatever Middlesbrough achieve, if Newcastle get a point against Aston Villa at Villa Park, and Hull lose, Newcastle will survive, and Hull will go down. If Newcastle win, Hull need to win; otherwise the Tigers face the drop. If Newcastle lose, they're down, no matter what happens elsewhere.

I hope it's all becoming clearer.

HULL CITY - 17^th. Unfortunately for Phil Brown's men, they have an inferior goal difference to Newcastle. If they lose, and Newcastle get a point or more, Hull are down. If Hull draw, they have to hope that Newcastle lose, and then they will survive. If Hull win, they stay up, irrespective of other results.

It's in their hands, and feet. The problem is that their final game is against Champions Manchester United.

Still confused? Take a Panadol.

SUNDERLAND - 16^th. A win, and they're safe. A draw and they're safe as long as Newcastle and Hull don't both win. Defeat; a Newcastle win and a Hull loss; and they're safe. Defeat; a Hull win and a Newcastle loss, and they're also safe. Defeat, and draws for Newcastle and Hull, and they're still safe.

But, a defeat, and wins for Newcastle and Hull, and Sunderland will be a second tier team in the next campaign.

There you go, simple really. The fascinating part comes when we start talking about Sunday's opponents for the four teams facing the ignominy of relegation.

Middlesbrough travel to East London on Sunday, to face a West Ham United side that has little to play for. Their hopes of a place in Europe have been dashed, but there's no doubting the fact that Gianfranco Zola is beginning to put together a decent team with an exciting blend of experience and youthful exuberance.

Boro have been stunning on the road of late - stunningly bad. They've managed to amass a 133-year club record haul of 11 straight defeats away from home, so whoever is expecting them to put a hatful past the Hammers at the weekend must be either an eternal optimist, deranged, or know something that we don't.

Middlesbrough, I'm afraid, can start planning for the Peterborough match.

For Newcastle United, the script was written. Alan Shearer took the reins in the club's darkest hour, and was expected to revitalise the team and guide them to safety.

Having identified the three remaining home games as ‘must win' matches, the Toon has gone on to take just four points out of a possible nine points from encounters at St James' Park, and they're now dependent on other teams slipping up.

They face an Aston Villa side on Sunday that has severely fallen off the pace of late, but will be determined to end the season in front of their home fans on a high note, and possibly secure a fifth place finish.

Without key central defender Sebastien Bassong, Newcastle will be vulnerable and nervous. It's arguably the biggest game in the club's history, and while no right-minded person will be predicting the outcome, it's difficult to see Newcastle getting a positive result.

At the beginning of the season, Hull City may have looked at their final day fixture and wondered if it would be a game that they needed to get something out of - fervently hoping ‘not'.

A home tie against Manchester United is always an occasion to be savoured, but not perhaps when you're fighting for your very Premiership lives.

All Hull need, in reality, is to match Newcastle's result. Should they both lose, Hull also have to hope that Middlesbrough don't manage to put 6 past West Ham. That'll be enough to ensure that the Tigers spend another season, at least, rubbing shoulders with the big guns.

Working in their favour is the fact that three days later, Manchester United meet Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League Final in Rome. Will Sir Alex Ferguson select a strong side, or will key players be rested? Will the youngsters come in and perform above expectations, possibly looking for a place in the Rome squad, or will they lack motivation having been deemed peripheral? Can the current Hull side match even Manchester United's second string? Answer, on Sunday.

Sunderland's last day fate? A home tie against a Chelsea side that will be looking to bid a fond farewell to interim coach Guus Hiddink, and who knows, maybe even put a bit of pressure on Liverpool for second spot.

Sunderland's form of late has been slightly better than shockingly bad, with just one win in their last 12 league games, and eight defeats. Ricky Sbragia and his boys must be hoping that all the teams below them lose, as it's unlikely that they'll get much from a bunch of Chelsea players who will be jostling for their places in the FA Cup Final starting 11.

So, who do I think will be joining West Brom in the Championship next season?

That would be telling.

One point.

That's all that stands in the way of Manchester United claiming their 3^rd Barclays Premier League crown in succession.

The title is so close for Sir Alex Ferguson's men that they can almost touch it, and if the scenes of celebration on Wednesday night after their 2-1 win over Wigan are anything to go by, they have a fair idea of what it will taste like.

In 90 odd minutes at the JJB, Manchester United demonstrated exactly why they will soon be worthy champions.

After a bright start, they went a goal down, and remained behind at the break. While one can only speculate on what was said in the dressing room at half-time, I‘m willing to bet that Sir Alex was doing most of the talking, and there may have been a hair dryer involved.

But here's the thing; this United squad is so mentally tough, that losing simply wasn't an option. As the match resumed, everyone (with the possible exception of the odd fatally optimistic Liverpool fan) knew that the Red Devils would go on to bag the points.

The introduction of Carlos Tevez was yet another tactical masterstroke from Ferguson, and the fact that the diminutive Argentinean manufactured an equaliser barely three minutes after coming on, came as no surprise.

I'll state the case plainly. United went on to win the game because they knew they would.

Manchester United host Arsenal on Saturday in the early kick-off, so the title could be theirs just after lunch. It means that we can all then focus on the other important issue of who will retain their Premiership status and who will be playing next season against Peterborough, Leicester, and maybe even Scunthorpe United.

Hull's freefall has already been well documented, and having failed to pick up any points against Stoke City last weekend, the Tigers face a tricky tie at Bolton.

Simply put, Hull have to find something special from somewhere, and after recent performances it's difficult to identify a location. Their decline has been spectacular, and they won't be looking forward to, or expecting anything from, their final match at home against ‘champions' Manchester United.

If Sir Alex Ferguson's tactics against Wigan proved astute, what can we say of Alan Shearer's substitutions on Monday night at St James' Park against Middlesbrough?

Shearer sent on Peter Lovenkrands and Obafemi Martins in the second half, and Newcastle turned a 1-1 standoff into a 3-1 win. If the Toon can fashion another win on Saturday against Fulham, the ‘messiah' will all but have done his job.

Middlesbrough may fancy their chances against an Aston Villa side that's tiring fast, having played some delightful football this season. But, they've used fewer players than any other club in the division, and the repetitive stress has taken its toll.

A Boro win could make things very interesting indeed, especially for the likes of Sunderland who will let the weekend's events unfold before visiting Fratton Park on Monday night. Should Newcastle and Hull pick up wins on Saturday, Ricky Sbragia and his men will find themselves in the dreaded ‘zone' when they kick off against Portsmouth.

There are plenty of permutations ahead of what will undoubtedly prove to be another fascinating round of Barclays Premier League fixtures. Life at the top, though, is always sweeter. Just ask Sir Alex Ferguson.

Manchester United lost only 5 games in their title-winning campaign last season.

The fact that two of those defeats came at the hands of their close city rivals Manchester City, was possibly the only negative aspect of what was otherwise a near flawless season.

The second Manchester derby of the season takes place this weekend in the Barclays Premier League, by which time Liverpool could, once again, have supplanted Sir Alex Ferguson's men at the top of the table.

The defending champions will still have two games in hand, and the title within their grasp, but games are coming thick and fast for the Red Devils, and the encounters ahead will provide a stern test of the strength in depth of their squad, as well as its mental toughness.

If Tuesday night's UEFA Champions League triumph against Arsenal at The Emirates Stadium is anything to go by, it's not in doubt, and probably never has been. Sir Alex Ferguson provided further evidence of his outstanding tactical acumen, surprising many by giving Park Ji-Sung a start, and deploying Cristiano Ronaldo, ostensibly, as a loan striker.

It confused some of the pundits and commentators, but they were clearly better able to deal with the ramifications than the Arsenal defence, whose collective heart seemed to miss a beat every time the Portuguese ‘winger' touched the ball.

On his day, Ronaldo is a talisman and a match winner, and few players in the world can get near him when he's in the mood. Manchester City will be only too aware of the threat he poses when they visit Old Trafford on Sunday for an important game in their season.

Mark Hughes has spent plenty of the owners' money this season, and a place in the Europa League, one would expect, is a minimum amount of bang for their bucks. City currently sit a point off West Ham United in 7^th place, with 3 games of their season remaining.

Qualification for Europe is, therefore, in West Ham's hands, but they'll need to get something from their game at Upton Park against Liverpool on Saturday. Rafa Benitez remains insistent that Liverpool's title hopes are still alive, but with each passing game, the protestations become more hollow, and the bravado slightly less convincing.

Liverpool know that Manchester United will have to slip up, twice, if they are to have a chance of claiming their first league crown since 1990, and that is looking increasingly unlikely. 

Sunday is derby day in the Premier League with the Manchester clubs going at each other in the early kick-off, and Arsenal hosting Chelsea later in the day. After Tuesday night, and having already secured their involvement in next season's Champions League competition, the Gunners have little to play for except pride and possibly prize money, if they can reel in Chelsea who enter the weekend 6 points clear of them in 3^rd.

Arsenal have failed to put silverware in the club's trophy cabinet for the fourth consecutive season, and Arsene Wenger has openly admitted that the semi-final Champions League defeat against Manchester United was ‘ the most disappointing night of (his) career.'

Chelsea, for their part, will have to recover quickly from the heartache of their last gasp defeat at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday night, and what The Blues' frame of mind will be come Sunday is anyone's guess.

If Sunday's action is going to be fast and furious with plenty of subtext, Monday night's North East derby at St James' Park will definitely not be for the squeamish.

Wins for Sunderland and Hull City on Saturday - unexpected though they would be - will mean that Newcastle take to the field against Middlesbrough with both sides 6 points from safety with 3 games to play. The loser of the match will be as good as relegated.

Even if results go their way, whoever loses can probably start planning for life in the Championship next season, while a draw probably won't do either side much good.

Saturday and Sunday will no doubt witness some of the action, thrills and spills that characterise the best domestic league on earth, but the major drama looks set to unfold on Monday night, in what may well prove to be a battle to the death for two proud clubs.

The end of the season is nigh. It is upon us.

For some teams in the Barclays Premier League, the next few weeks will be potentially apocalyptic, and for one or two others - just to mix my quasi religious metaphors and confuse the heck out of everyone - nirvana will be achieved.

Saturday's match at the Riverside Stadium could go a long way towards establishing who will be this season's champions, and who will be plying their trade in the Coca Cola Championship in the next campaign.

Middlesbrough host a Manchester United side that will go 6 points clear at the top of the table, if Sir Alex Ferguson's men can stride to their 10^th away win of the season.

And speaking of the number 10, Gareth Southgate's outfit will be delighted to be back on home soil, after slumping to their club record equalling 10^th consecutive away defeat at the hands of Arsenal last weekend.

Facing Arsenal and then Manchester United in the space of 7 days is not an ideal scenario for any club. When you're Middlesbrough, and you've taken root in the relegation zone with the tenacity of an herbaceous plant, it's an even more unfortunate happenstance.

It's difficult to see where Middlesbrough are going to pick up points as this season draws to a close. As if facing two of the ‘Big Four' in the space of a week isn't bad enough, next up for Boro will be the short trip to St James' Park to face a Newcastle United side with relegation issues of their own.

After that it's a home game against Aston Villa, and West Ham United (away) on the final day of the season. Middlesbrough are 3 points shy of safety, and one doesn't anticipate them picking up much this weekend against a Manchester United side that could heap the pressure on Liverpool with the right result on Teesside.

Speaking of expectations, what will Newcastle United be feeling ahead of Sunday's clash at Anfield?

The Shearer Era (you have to love the poetry, although it's been all too prosaic so far) has failed to produce the expected galvanisation of the Toon troops, and his side has procured a measly 2 points out of a possible 12 in his 4 matches in charge to date.

Liverpool remain as the only club in the league not to have lost on home soil this season, and bearing in mind Newcastle's defensive frailties (in addition to their inability to identify, never mind locate, the back of the net) Shearer's men could be looking at the negative side of a severe drubbing.

Both Aston Villa and Blackburn have better back lines than Newcastle, and Liverpool put 5 and 4 goals past them (respectively, and disrespectfully) in recent weeks.

If expectations are met this weekend, and Hull get even a point out of their trip to Aston Villa on Monday night, one would have to say that it's looking reaper-grim for two of the three North East clubs.

An intriguing battle is developing for 7^th place come season's end, and a place in next year's Europa League. It's different to the UEFA Cup in only name, and remains as Europe's second tier competition, but involvement in European football can be significant lure for potential signings once chairmen and owners start brandishing their cheque books in the summer.

Only 3 points currently separate Fulham in 7^th, and Tottenham in 10^th, with West Ham United and Manchester City also firmly in contention.

On paper, Tottenham have the easiest of the ties this weekend, with a home game against bottom side West Bromwich Albion, but the Baggies won last weekend, convincingly, against Sunderland, and will feel that another 3 points could put them back in the survival mix. They'll have to score though, at White Hart Lane, against a Spurs side that has conceded the fewest goals at home in the entire league this season.

Blackburn all but secured their safety with a 2-0 win over Wigan last time out, but a win at Eastlands against Manchester City would guarantee it. Mark Hughes' men can expect a physical battle, especially if Sam Allardyce continues to deploy the colossus that is Christopher Samba as a striker.

Fulham will not be relishing the very short journey across West London to face Chelsea, while West Ham United won't be too upbeat about a trip to the Britannia Stadium where hosts Stoke City boast the 7^th best home record in the league.

It's shake-up time in the Barclays Premier League season. And it won't simply come down to matters of faith.

Phil Brown's mission, and he has no alternative other than to accept it, is to try to get something out of Hull City's home game on Saturday against title-chasing Liverpool.

Following that seemingly unlikely scenario, his side will have to pick up points away at Aston Villa, at home to Stoke, away again at Bolton, before hosting, on the final day of the season.....Manchester United.

It's not impossible, but as the season has progressed, it's become harder and harder to see Phil's men getting good results anywhere.

After a bright start to the campaign that saw the club confound, and then go on to exceed everyone's expectations, Hull's decline in the Barclays Premier League standings has been spectacular.

After a number of weeks that have seen the bottom clubs jockeying for position and in which a couple of good results were enough to propel the successful up the table, the situation has become somewhat clearer of late.

While West Bromwich Albion look almost dead and buried, it's now Middlesbrough and Newcastle who are getting detached, while Hull and Blackburn find themselves a mere three points clear of the dreaded drop zone.

One point from three games is not exactly the stuff of messianic legend, and indeed only the hopelessly optimistic (or Newcastle United fans - which may amount to the same thing) would have expected Alan Shearer's re-emergence on Tyneside to reap instant rewards.

The Toon have the easier tie in this round of fixtures, with a home game against Portsmouth on Monday night, but then they face the prospect of a trip to Anfield five days later.

Shearer has targeted three home wins in order to get out of trouble, and that expectation must be turned into reality. Otherwise Newcastle United could be looking at a season, or more, in the Championship.

Interestingly, one of Newcastle's remaining home games is against Middlesbrough, the side that sit a point and a place above them heading in to the weekend.

It could, conceivably, be too late for both teams by then. While Newcastle will be reasonably confident of garnering points against Portsmouth, Middlesbrough will look at Sunday's clash away at Arsenal and not expect anything other than a fairly good pasting.

Blackburn for their part, will not relish a home tie on Sunday against a Wigan side that's pushing hard for a Europa League spot.

There will be some desperate battles this weekend for the teams embroiled in the relegation battle, while at the top, the title is, once again, very much Manchester United's to lose.

Liverpool played their part in, arguably, the game of the season against Arsenal on Tuesday night, but I can't help feeling that the title-winning mentality is simply not theirs. Rafa Benitez admits that his side made ‘massive mistakes' in the game. He does not overstate.

Not surprisingly, with almost surgical precision, Sir Alex Ferguson stuck the knife in, with a comfortable win at Old Trafford on Wednesday against a Portsmouth side that lacked belief.

United's home game on Saturday against Tottenham will be no walk in the park, but Sir Alex's men can afford to slip up, maybe once or even twice more this season.

I'm not sure the same can be said for the likes of Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, and, of course, Hull City.

There will be no change at the top of the table after this weekend.

The Big Four take a break from Barclays Premier League action so that three of them can bask in the potential glory of the oldest and greatest domestic cup competition on the planet.

Arsenal face Chelsea on Saturday in the first FA Cup semi-final, fresh from their demolition of Villarreal in the Champions League, and beginning to display a confidence and swagger that we haven't seen for some time.

We have always maintained that Arsene Wenger's side would show their mettle once key personnel had been transferred from the treatment room to the pitch, and so it has proved.

Cesc Fabregas is back to pull all the midfield strings; Emmanuel Adebayor has returned to take the chances he creates, while Theo Walcott's mere presence is often enough to create space for the two gentlemen mentioned earlier to do their thing.

While Arsenal are a joy to watch right now, Chelsea under Guus Hiddink are beginning to confound the critics. They showed enormous character on Tuesday night in the 4-4 Champions League draw with Liverpool.

Chelsea could have capitulated - Liverpool certainly put them under enough pressure. But somehow they contrived to hold their nerve, and take their place in the last four of the competition.

On Sunday, Manchester United face Everton in the other Cup semi-final. David Moyes' men are comfortable in the table, and it's been a good campaign for the Toffees - another side blighted with injuries to important players.

The quintuple is very much still alive for Sir Alex Ferguson and the Red Devils, so do not expect them to take their foot off the pedals too much this weekend. Some peripheral players may see a little game time, but expect most of the hotshots to be in attendance.

While the big guys slug it out this weekend for a date at Wembley, the battle that's emerged at the wrong end of the Premiership table will take centre stage in terms of league action.

For Newcastle United, the ‘Shearer Factor' hasn't quite kicked in yet, and they travel south to face a rejuvenated Tottenham side pushing for Europe.

The Toon need their experienced players to come to the fore and take responsibility. They're now two points shy of Sunderland (in the final position of safety) and will look at their northeast rivals' home fixture against Hull City on Saturday, thinking that they may well get points.

Alan Shearer's men could find themselves five points adrift if they fail to bring something back from White Hart Lane on Sunday.

And speaking of Hull, defeat this weekend for them at the hands of Sunderland, and wins for Blackburn and Newcastle would mean that Phil Brown's men are just a point clear of the drop zone with five games to play. It's a far cry from their opening nine games of the season, of which they won six, and the Tigers will be a bag of nerves for this round of fixtures.

There are fascinating battles left, right and centre this weekend in English football. Sometimes it's nicer to be a presenter than a pundit. At least my neck will be in tact when the chopping blocks are put away on Sunday night.

For instant coffee, you merely have to add boiling water.

For instant stardom, score a late winner at Old Trafford in a game that your team could easily have lost, and that may have helped seal the league title.

It's difficult to underplay the significance of Federico Macheda's first senior goal for Manchester United, but it turned out to be the winner last Sunday against Aston Villa, and it made the difference between the Red Devils being a point behind Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League standings (with a game in hand), and a point ahead.

Such has been the impact of the 17-year-old's first half an hour of top flight football that he has already achieved legendary status at the club.

It's likely therefore, that we'll be seeing plenty more of the precocious but already well developed talents of a young man few people in the football world had heard of prior to last weekend.

His winning goal had shades of Cantona and Berbatov about it, but the question that will be foremost in Sir Alex Ferguson's mind is whether he is ready for the demands of the Barclays Premier League, particularly against the likes of Sunderland, who United face this weekend.

The match at the Stadium of Light will not be for the faint of heart. Sunderland are just one place and three points above the drop zone, and will know that they will have to compete in all areas of the field. Realistically, the only way they can hope to match their more august counterparts will be in the physical side of the game.

While Macheda is a strapping lad even at 17, it may not be the best stage for him to display his talents, and Ferguson will know that winning this weekend will be more important than the nature of the victory.

Liverpool kick the weekend's fixtures off on Saturday with a home game against Blackburn, another side fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the table. Sam Allardyce's men though gave themselves a real boost last time out with a home win against Tottenham that lifted them a full five points clear of danger.

Liverpool's reaction to their 3-1 Champions League defeat at the hands of Chelsea will be fascinating to behold. Mindful of the fact that they have to go to Stamford Bridge next week and score at least three goals against Guus Hiddink's side simply to stay in the tournament, Rafa Benitez would like to be able to rest one or two key players.

He can't. Liverpool must beat Blackburn to keep the pressure on Ferguson's increasingly weary charges.

Chelsea will look to take advantage of any slip-ups when they entertain Bolton Wanderers - Gary Megson's men are now eight points off the drop zone and appear to have secured their Premiership survival.

Arsenal sit comfortably in fourth, and will have more than half an eye on the second leg of their Champions League tie against Villarreal next week, when they travel to face a Wigan side still very much in contention for Europe.

Arsene Wenger's men could well decide to conserve their energies in what will not be their most important game of the season.

While Stoke City hope to continue their excellent home form against Newcastle United, Alan Shearer knows that his side desperately need something from the Britannia Stadium.

The Magpies are now three points from safety, and have a devilishly difficult run-in. The ‘Shearer Factor' has to come in to play; and it cannot come soon enough.

Once again, even at this late stage in the season, there is not a meaningless fixture in sight. Every team is battling for or against something, setting the scene for yet another intriguing, excitement-packed, tension-filled weekend in the greatest domestic league on earth.

Alan Shearer has no managerial experience.

Despite this, Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has entrusted the Geordie legend with the onerous task of keeping the club in the Barclays Premier League, and he has eight games of the season left in which to do it.

The appointment of Shearer until the end of the season could be construed as madness, footballing suicide, desperation, a stroke of genius and all of the above.

Mike Ashley is certainly desperate. From a purely financial point of view, relegation to the Championship doesn't bear thinking about, but even this would be secondary to the damage it would do to an already flawed reputation.

The Newcastle fans adored Ashley when he appointed Kevin Keegan as manager, and promptly fell out of love with him when Keegan departed. They then scratched their heads in collective wonderment as Joe Kinnear was handed the role of interim manager. While Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood have done their level best to steady the ship, it's clear that in football terms, the club is rudderless, lacking genuine leadership, and almost ready to fall off the map.

Alan Shearer will return to Tyneside, amid messianic expectations, and his mere presence could be enough to give the side the fillip it needs. While he has never made any secret of his desire to manage Newcastle at some point in his career, one could forgive him for biding his time and waiting for a cosier moment and a better set of circumstances.

As if the job itself wasn't difficult enough, Shearer's first task is to plot the downfall of Chelsea at St James' Park this weekend.

Guus Hiddink's men will have had a couple of weeks to think about their league defeat at the hands of Tottenham, and a missed opportunity to move just a point behind Manchester United.

With Sir Alex Ferguson's men losing back to back league games for the first time in the equivalent of just under four seasons, Chelsea and Liverpool know that the title race still is still on.

The Blues will be in determined mood to garner the 3 points against Newcastle on Saturday. Shearer probably couldn't have chosen a harder game in which to make his managerial debut.

Shearer's appointment is the gamble of the season, but then, just to continue the analogy, when you've got nothing to lose, perhaps the long shot is your best bet.

Sunday's big game at Old Trafford promises to be an intriguing one. Manchester United have had a fortnight to think about their mauling at the hands of Liverpool followed by their defeat at Craven Cottage. We shouldn't talk about a crisis at the club - United are still a point clear of Liverpool, and they have a game in hand.

But there must be doubts, and the match against Villa will be a test of Ferguson's legendary tactical acumen and motivational skills. Manchester United could taste the title just a few short weeks ago. The flavour is now somewhat diluted. Nothing less than a convincing victory this weekend against a Villa side whose form has been wretched of late, will dispel the nerves in the northwest.

What was Fabio Capello thinking when he named Ledley King in his squad to face Slovakia and Ukraine?

The question could be posed in a variety of tones, ranging from mild inquisition to outraged incredulity, but whichever way you look at it, the decision was a strange one.

King hasn't represented England since June 2007, and has been suffering from chronic knee problems that render him barely able to train, and incapable, most of the time, of playing consecutive matches for his club side Tottenham Hotspur.

Despite this, Capello obviously thought he was worth taking a ‘close look at' ahead of next Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine, with a view, presumably, to including him in the World Cup Finals squad for South Africa in 2010. This is assuming England makes it of course, but with four wins out of four so far in their qualifying group, they're in a commanding position.

King's effectiveness at such a tournament must be called into question, bearing in mind the recovery time he requires between games - the poor man has very little cartilage remaining in his right knee. The call-up has infuriated King's club manager Harry Redknapp, who would be resigned to losing the payer for the Barclays Premier League clash against Blackburn at the weekend following the Ukraine game, were he to feature.

King has played a huge part in Tottenham's resurgence of late, and you can understand why Redknapp would be so loathed to lose him.

The story has an ending that is both happy, and sad. King has left the England camp and returned to his club - Spurs are happy. King may have to face the prospect of retiring from international football in order to prolong his club career - Ledley always wore the England shirt with pride; he'll be sad.

Not content with that little belter, Capello also named Ben Foster in his squad. To be fair, Foster has been a regular international at Under-21 level, and has recently been tipped to succeed Edwin van der Sar as Manchester United custodian, despite starting the season as third choice keeper at Old Trafford.

Some have suggested that Capello picks his squads purely on form - once the regulars (Gerrard, Lampard, Terrry, Ferdinand, Rooney et al) have been inked in. This would account for Foster's inclusion, as well as that of Leighton Baines, who will act as Ashley Cole's understudy, and may see a little game time against Slovakia on Saturday.

England will know that despite being in pole position in their qualifying group, they will be judged as being as good as their last performance, when they were outclassed in Seville by European Champions Spain.

Slovakia have faced England only twice previously, but this will be their first visit to Wembley. The two nations met in qualification for Euro 2004, and England prevailed on both occasions, coming from behind in each match.

Slovakia have a number of familiar names in their squad, including Liverpool's Martin Skrtel, West Brom's Marek Cech, and the hugely experienced Miroslav Karhan who now plies his trade in the German second division with Mainz.

It's up front where Slovakia can pose a threat with the enigmatic, and let's face it, mercurial, Robert Vittek hoping to add to his 17 international goals.

The 26-year-old, now playing for Lille in France, was hailed as, potentially, one of Europe's strikers, but to quote a well know ESPN STAR Sports pundit's famous phrase, he now ‘has a great future behind him.'

He will be keen to impress at Wembley on Saturday, in a high profile match that will be watched by a number of potential suitors. Coming out on top against some of Europe's best defenders (whoever Capello starts at the back) could get Vittek the kind of contract he's looking for at this important juncture in his career.

Both England and Slovakia will be looking ahead to their crucial World Cup qualifiers, even as they take to Wembley's ‘hallowed turf'. While England are cruising in Group 6 with a perfect record so far, Slovakia have their work cut out for them in Group 3.

They're at the summit right now, but are only two points clear of Northern Ireland, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia (who've already beaten them in this campaign). It's one of the tightest of the European groups, and Slovakia's next opponents are the Czech Republic, who they face in Prague on Wednesday.

Slovakia is an ideal side for Capello's men to encounter at this stage, playing a similar style to Ukraine, and containing several players who earn their living from Eastern European football. We can expect a degree of experimentation on Saturday, and a number of substitutions as both Vladimir Weiss and Capello work out their tactics and establish their starting line-ups for the qualifiers.

If, as has been suggested, Capello picks a substantial part of his squad based purely on form, the friendly against Slovakia may not tell him anything he doesn't already know. But then, I have a feeling that Don Fabio already knows exactly who will be wearing the three lions into battle on Wednesday. And it won't be Ledley King.

Usually, with nine games remaining (10 in the cases of Manchester United and Portsmouth) there are a slew of largely meaningless mid-table clashes that are played out as such, and generally don't provide too much entertainment.

Not this time around though; every match taking place this weekend is important to the clubs taking part, and for a variety of different reasons.

Liverpool's stunning victory at Old Trafford last Saturday could work in one of two ways. Either the result has genuinely thrown the title race wide open - Chelsea and Liverpool are now just four points behind leaders Manchester United, although the defending champions do have a game in hand.

Alternatively, the 4-1 home defeat could have served as a wake up call, and normal service will resume this weekend as Sir Alex Ferguson's men face Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Fulham have suffered indifferent form of late - losing back-to-back home games against Hull and Blackburn before claiming their first away win of the season last weekend at Bolton. Fulham will be mindful that even though they sit 9th in the table, they are only 8 points clear of the drop zone.

We'll get a measure of Manchester United's ability to bounce back, on Saturday, in west London.

In any event, with a gap now of only four points, Liverpool and Chelsea's tails will be up. Liverpool face Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday knowing that their opponents are starting to look tired - Villa have used only 19 players in their league campaign, the lowest number of any team in the league - and it's beginning to show.

Despite threatening to break the dominance of the Big Four for much of the season, they've lost three of their last four league games, and been knocked out of the FA Cup and UEFA Cup within days of each other.

These are difficult times for Martin O'Neill, and the Villa Park fans are starting to make life even more difficult for the team. Villa have relinquished 4th spot (and that last UEFA Champions League place) to an Arsenal side that is seeing stars returning from injury and beginning to find the back of the net with regularity.

The Gunners will be confident of bagging the points at St James' Park this Saturday, when they face a Newcastle side low on confidence, and high in vulnerability.

Stoke City versus Middlesbrough provides the ultimate relegation six pointer, the two sides sit in 18th and 19th places, and are separated by only two points.

Tony Pulis has always maintained that his side's home form will keep the club in the top flight, while Middlesbrough must know that they will have to add to their one win in the last 17 league games if they are to preserve their Premier League status.

Perhaps the most intriguing match-up this weekend will take place at White Hart Lane, as Tottenham entertain Chelsea.

The Blues are rejuvenated, seemingly, under the enigmatic Guus Hiddink, while Spurs have put together a decent run of form, taking 10 points out of a last possible 12 that included three away games. The team threatened with relegation for most of this season, is now looking upwards - seventh place, and a European spot, is now not totally out of the question, although it remains an optimistic dream.

Chelsea will feel that they have Manchester United in their sights, and will be desperate to continue their excellent run of results on Spurs' soil. Chelsea will take the league's best away record to north London, knowing that they have lost just once to Tottenham in the history of the Barclays Premier League, a record that stretches back some 33 games.

There is not one team this weekend that is not involved either in the title race, the push for a European place, or the battle against relegation. This is turning into one of the most fascinating seasons in years.

How can Liverpool be so tactically astute, so full of passion and conviction, so irresistible in European competition, and then so inept when it comes to certain matches in the Barclays Premier League?

On Tuesday night at Anfield, Liverpool put Real Madrid to the sword in the UEFA Champions League. It was one of the great nights of European football for the club, and the list it joins is an impressive one.

From the word ‘go', the Reds looked collectively like men possessed, playing without a care in the world, confident in their ability to beat whatever was in front of them - nine-time European champions in this case.

Compare this to certain games at Anfield this season when the side has looked clueless, lacking in ideas, and simply, not up for it.

Liverpool have performed well this season against the other ‘Big Four' sides. They've already beaten Chelsea home and away in the league, got a creditable draw at The Emirates against Arsenal, and accounted for Manchester United at Anfield.

In the same campaign, they have played out three 0-0 draws with the Stoke City, West Ham and Fulham (all at Anfield) and been held by Hull, also at home.

Rafa Benitez cannot look at those results as anything other than eight points dropped, and those eight points, were they in the bag, would see Liverpool on top of the table, a point clear of Manchester United.

It's inexplicable. Or is it?

Teams such as Stoke and Fulham could be forgiven for coming to Anfield and ‘parking the bus' - defending as resolutely as possible, hoping for a chance or two on the break, but essentially trying to prevent the more talented side from playing their natural game. It can work.

When Liverpool come up against teams such as Arsenal and Manchester United, there's no suggestion that their opponents will deploy negative tactics, and this seems to suit the Merseyside club better.

Arguably, Rafa Benitez should have the talent and the tactical acumen to break down any side, regardless of their approach, so questions will be asked, even if Liverpool do manage to beat Manchester United this weekend and possibly open up the title race once again.

The facts are simple. Should Liverpool subject Sir Alex Ferguson's men to their first home defeat of the season, the gap will be a mere four points at the top (although United will still have played a game less).

Should Manchester United stride to their 13th home win of the campaign, the gap will be an all but unassailable 10 points (13 if United win their game in hand).

It's do or die for Rafa and The Reds, in the pick of the ties this weekend in the Barclays Premier League. But more than a few eyes will be on the matches between Middlesbrough and Portsmouth, and Hull City and Newcastle.

We've reached the stage in the season when the jostling for positions becomes frenetic, particularly at the bottom end of the table.

No club wants to be embroiled in a relegation battle with a couple of games remaining, and yet while West Brom are now six points from safety and looking almost doomed for the drop, the same fate could befall any two of the 12 teams immediately above them.

Even Manchester City in 8th are not safe, being a mere seven points clear of the bottom three, while the match at The Riverside features Middlesbrough in 19th, against Portsmouth, just one place and two points above them.

Hull managed to arrest their recent slide with an away win at Fulham last week, but the fact remains that it was their first league win since December 6 last year, and they've been dropping in the standings like the proverbial stone.

Newcastle for their part, could find themselves occupying a relegation place come the end of the weekend, so it's certainly time for some of their senior players to stand up and be counted.

The tension is building. It's time for the tough to get going.

Owen Coyle has been tipped for a starring role in the Barclays Premier League.

Who? I hear you ask. And I answer, ‘Owen Coyle...a former Scottish footballer who banged in the goals for the likes of Dumbarton, Clydebank and Falkirk and who played a little over seven minutes of international football for the Republic of Ireland.'

And you're still perplexed, aren't you?

So, I'll simply add that he's the current manager of Burnley FC in the Coca Cola Championship, and that this season he has already masterminded the defeats of West Brom, Fulham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham in cup competitions.

I should also mention that after Burnley's away win at Blackpool on Tuesday night, the club are within a point of a play-off place in English football's second tier, so there's every chance that we'll be seeing him in the Premiership next season in any case.

But his name has been touted in media circles as a potential top-flight manager, and with such a burgeoning resume, it's not difficult to understand why.

Once again this weekend Coyle has the opportunity to pit his wits and his team's skills against football's elite, as Burnley take on Arsenal in the 5^th round of the FA Cup.

The club from Lancashire in the North West of England have already dumped the young Gunners out of the Carling Cup, at the quarter final stage, on a memorable night at Turf Moor, and will be relishing the prospect of taking on what is expected to be a more senior line-up on Sunday.

Coyle has proven himself to be possessed of excellent motivational skills, as well as considerable tactical acumen, and Arsene Wenger will be well aware of the task that faces him at the weekend.

Notwithstanding the Champions League, where Arsenal have a slender 1-0 lead to take into the second leg of their knockout tie with AS Roma, the FA Cup represents the Gunners' only realistic chance of silverware this season, and they'll need to be up for the challenge against a team that plays tidy football, with occasional moments of brilliance, and invariably displays a grit and determination that can unsettle more accomplished sides.

Arguably, Burnley versus Arsenal is the pick of the ties this weekend in the FA Cup, although it's important to note that the match will be played to determine the right to enter the quarter finals of the competition (after Arsenal's 4^th round replay with Cardiff had to be postponed), a stage that Coventry and Chelsea have already reached.

They meet on Saturday for a place in the semi finals, and it will be fascinating to see how Chelsea's ‘interim' manager Guus Hiddink approaches the game.

He enjoys cup competition, having guided PSV Eindhoven to Dutch domestic honours four times, while his success with unlikely teams in World Cups has become the stuff of legends.

As with Arsenal, Chelsea will know that they're in for a battle, and will be fully aware of the fact that Coventry have beaten Championship high-flyers Wolves and Birmingham City at home in recent weeks, and knocked Blackburn Rovers out of the cup in the last round.

The two all Barclays Premier League clashes this weekend see Everton host Middlesbrough, and Fulham taking on Manchester United at Craven Cottage.

While Gareth Southgate could perhaps be forgiven for having his mind on other matters - Premiership survival for one, following their 4-0 mauling at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night - Everton are comfortably in 6^th place in the league standings, and looking good for a European spot next season. David Moyes would dearly love to put a trophy in the Toffees' cabinet, and may find Boro easy pickings on Sunday.

Manchester United's quadruple dream (‘quintuple' if you count the Club World Cup, and some people apparently do) is very much alive, after they bagged the Carling Cup last weekend. Fulham are off a shock 1-0 home defeat against Hull City in midweek, and will want to put on a decent show in a bid to claim a cup that they have never won.

Very soon there will be four left standing, each team knowing that they are one game away from a Wembley final, and the biggest day in domestic cup football. As ever, to the winners go the spoils, but who will be the spoilers?

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur battle it out on Sunday for the first piece of meaningful domestic silverware this season - the Carling Cup.

It should be a mismatch. United are seven points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League, very much alive and kicking in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, in pole position in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League and displaying a confidence and a seemingly insuperable spirit that serves to intimidate all but the most hardy of their opponents.

Tottenham, despite an invaluable away league win at Hull City on Monday night, are still very much embroiled in a relegation dogfight, and appear to have as soft an underbelly as a chinchilla after a heavy grooming session.

While United have forgotten how to lose, Spurs needed to be reminded of how to win, and they must approach Sunday's date at Wembley with the trepidation of a turkey nearing Christmas.

To continue the analogy relating to slaughter, Harry Redknapp's men are very much the lambs in this scenario, while the Red Devils are doing more than a passing impersonation of a pack of wolves hungry for a possible four titles this season - the legendary ‘quadruple' - that no side has ever managed.

Spurs will take heart from the fact that they are the defending champions in the Carling Cup, and hold the title by virtue of an unlikely win last season against Chelsea.

An uncharacteristic mistake from Petr Cech, and a rare goal from Jonathan Woodgate handed them victory in extra time 12 months ago, and a Wembley triumph could provide the perfect confidence boost as the league season nears the final stretch.

If it's all about belief, and it often is, Manchester United should have few problems. They will be odds-on favourites for the game, and will be determined not to slip up in what must be perceived as the easier of the four trophies they're aiming to add to their cabinet come season's end.

I say ‘easy', because Sir Alex Ferguson has yet to field a full strength side in any Carling Cup tie this campaign. He has used the competition as a testing ground for some of his youngsters and peripheral players, and what will be of considerable concern to Spurs is just how well almost all of those players have performed when callled into action.

The big question is, who will get the nod to start at Wembley?

After some stunning performances in the Carling Cup, Darron Gibson has almost been assured of a start by Ferguson. Danny Wellbeck has featured and done well, while the likes of O'Shea, Fletcher, Park and Rafael who don't get quite as much game time as perhaps they would like, could also be in with a shout of making the starting line-up.

Sir Alex could well name a bench that includes Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatov and Giggs, and yet still feel that he has enough fire power to overcome a misfiring Spurs side that has found goals difficult to come by, and that seems to defend set pieces with the naivety of an Under-11 team.

Redknapp does not have Robbie Keane at his disposal this weekend. The man who enjoyed lifting the cup with Spurs last season more than most, before his ill-fated, possibly ill-judged and certainly unsuccessful spell with Liverpool, is cup-tied and will enjoy the game from the stands. There'll be no Jermain Defoe either, and so Harry has only Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent to call on in the striking department.

I don't wish to appear to be negative, but even if Harry deploys them both in a 4-4-2 formation, it's not going to put the fear of anything into the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic - Ferguson may mess around with his line-up at the sharp end of the field, but he rarely compromises at the back.

Spurs are undoubted underdogs for the final on Sunday, but then even underdogs can bite. The problem is that you can't see any of the United players staying still for long enough to get bitten. Let the game commence.

This weekend marks the start of yet another new era for Chelsea football club. Guus Hiddink takes full control of the team for the very first time, and in many ways he couldn't face a more problematic encounter.

The Blues visit a rampant Aston Villa side on Saturday in the game that gets this weekend's fixtures underway. It's third against fourth, with just two points separating the two teams, and Villa continuing to prove their credentials as the team most likely to finally break the stranglehold of the Big Four.

With eight wins and two draws in their last 10 league games, and having last been beaten in the league on 9 November last year, Villa are the ‘form' team right now. They will, however, face a severe test against a Chelsea side that refuses to concede that its title aspirations have disappeared, along with its World Cup-winning former manager.

There was much talk about divisions in the dressing room when Luiz Felipe Scolari was at the helm - certain individuals even suggesting that communications were so poor that players had no idea what they were being asked to do.

Hiddink's English is almost perfect (probably a deal better than many of his multinational charges) and if reports from the training ground are to be believed, the Dutchman has already instilled a sense of unity and heightened purpose in the squad.

They may find the Villa defence slightly easier to break down at the moment than at other points this season. Martin Laursen is still injured and Curtis Davies is carrying a knock, which means that a great deal of the responsibility falls on Zat Knight, who, though improving week by week, has not always been the most reliable of performers.

Hiddink may have isolated Villa's central defensive area as something to exploit, and while Scolari seemed loathe to include both Didier Drogba and Nicholas Anelka in his starting line up, Chelsea's new boss may just decide that it's exactly the kind of strike partnership that could unsettle Martin O'Neill's side.

Villa versus Chelsea is arguably the pick of the ties this weekend, but quite a few eyes will be on Old Trafford for Saturday's late kick off.

Manchester United have been quite superb of late, and show few if any signs of relinquishing their stranglehold on the title.

At the beginning of the season certain pundits questioned the strength in depth of the Red Devils' squad. Questions were asked as to what might happen should Cristiano Ronaldo, or Wayne Rooney, be out for prolonged periods, or whether Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs even had another season in them.

How could any of us have doubted Sir Alex Ferguson?

While some of us looked down the squad list at unfamiliar names such as Rafael Da Silva, Danny Wellbeck, Darron Gibson and even Jonny Evans, Sir Alex obviously knew exactly what he had at his disposal and when they could best be deployed to maximum effect.

Ferguson retains his amazing ability to choose the right team for the right occasion, although I am sure that even he will admit that the form of Ryan Giggs, and the Welsh winger's continued passion for the game, has exceeded this season's expectations.

Manchester United face a Blackburn side this weekend that finds itself in the drop zone, and off their first loss under Sam Allardyce. While United now find themselves five points clear at the top after cantering to victory against Fulham on Wednesday, Liverpool will be only too aware that they cannot afford to slip up again this season, if they are to maintain any hope for their first English league title since 1990.

Rafa's men face Manchester City on Sunday with both managers under almost absurd amounts of pressure, but for different reasons. While Benitez's contract negotiations continue to stall and reports suggest that he is nearing the ‘ultimatum' stage, Mark Hughes needs to start delivering some results in order to convince City's new owners that he can take the club forward next season, and that he is the best man to invest their vast wealth in the summer.

It's a game that neither side can afford to lose.

There's something very satisfying about watching the draw for the FA Cup.

As the names come out of the ‘hat', no one knows who's going to be pitted against whom, and as each successive round reduces the number of clubs - it's a knockout competition after all - the holy grail of a Wembley final comes into clearer and clearer view.

16 clubs head into action this weekend, and yet 17 clubs remain in the competition. ‘Adverse weather conditions' - an understatement if ever there was one - accounted for the replay between Arsenal and Cardiff at the Emirates Stadium last week, and so Burnley wait to see who they will face for a place in the quarter-finals.

Arsenal's match against their Championship counterparts should take place this weekend (just after the weekend, in fact), meteorological conditions permitting, with the Gunners only too aware of how close they came to an FA Cup exit (and a degree of humiliation) at Ninian Park on 25 January.

Cardiff dominated the early exchanges, and wasted a spate of chances. Arsene Wenger will be reasonably confident of seeing them off at the Emirates, but won't relish a 5th round tie against Burnley, the side that dumped them out of the Carling Cup earlier this season.

Cardiff have proved this campaign that they can mix it with the best, and will look forward to taking to the big stage on Monday night. If you're looking for an FA Cup upset, this game could provide it.

Cardiff City have nothing to lose, everything to gain, and can afford to play with a degree of abandon, while Arsenal may look at Wembley glory as their best hope for silverware this season. The pressure will be on the side that is expected to perform.

Watford host Chelsea at Vicarage Road in Saturday's late 5th round kick off, and will take heart from the fact that even with new ‘caretaker' manager Guus Hiddink in attendance, the west London club must be in a certain amount of disarray.

Chelsea have fallen off the pace in the Barclays Premier League, with last weekend's 0-0 home draw against Hull City the straw that broke the camel's back as far as Luiz Felipe Scolari's tenure was concerned.

Chelsea will also need to be aware that although Watford currently find themselves in the drop zone of English football's second tier, only three teams in the entire division (including the top two) have scored more goals at home in league games. They concede their fair share as well, as their league position reflects, but we should be in for an entertaining, and possibly high scoring game on Saturday.

One of the two all-Premiership tie sees Everton entertain Aston Villa at Goodison Park. Cock-a-hoop after their replay triumph over Merseyside rivals Liverpool, David Moyes will have his men charged up and determined to face a Villa side that has threatened all season to break the dominance of the Big Four in the Barclays Premier League, and is proving its credentials on an ongoing basis.

The two clubs have 12 FA Cups to their name, but the most recent of those was when Everton tasted success in 1995. Although Aston Villa appeared in the 2000 final, they haven't lifted the famous trophy since 1957, while it's an honour that eluded manager Martin O'Neill throughout his playing career, and so far as a manager.

Derby County against Manchester United is another fascinating tussle, the two sides separated by 35 places in the league standings. Derby are ‘revitalised' under their new manager Nigel Clough, and showed an amazing spirit in their 4th round tie against Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest when they came back from two goals down.

Manchester United are still pursuing silverware on four fronts, and there's a glint in Sir Alex Ferguson's eye, along with his customary steely determination, that suggests not only that he's ‘going for it', but that he also believes it can be done.

The glamour and the allure of the oldest and greatest domestic cup competition on earth will be very much in evidence this weekend. A place in the quarter finals means that the teams will be only two games away from a date at Wembley.

Let's just hope that the weather plays its part and that postponements, by their nature a thing of the future, are now a thing of the past.

If I hear one more footballer describing his transfer from one club to another as a ‘dream move', I'm going to spit.

Robbie Keane's ‘dream' came true when he secured a move from Tottenham Hotspur to his ‘boyhood favourite' club Liverpool in the summer of 2007. In less than six months, the dream became a nightmare, and Keane was discarded by the Anfield club like a piece of flotsam washed up on the banks of the Mersey.

He has returned to Spurs, with hardly a hint of the tail that must be hanging between his legs, and has promptly been handed the club captaincy.

I wonder if rejoining the club that was more or less forced to sell you half a year ago, and is now desperate enough to welcome you back to its bosom, also rates as a dream move. If it does, perhaps the sleep medication should be looked into.

Andrey Arshavin fervently expressed his desire to leave Zenit St Petersburg for greener pastures, and now it appears as though his dream has come true with a move to Arsenal.

How marvellous then that Andrey and Robbie could be going head to head this weekend in the next round of fixtures in the Barclays Premier League. Spurs versus Arsenal at White Hart Lane is, arguably, the pick of the ties.

Spurs have won just once in their last eight league games, and are hovering just one point above the relegation zone. Arsenal almost need to win every remaining game this season to keep their title hopes alive, as it doesn't look as though Manchester United are in any mood to drop points at present.

The injury list at Arsenal has been well documented, while Arsene Wenger continues to talk about building a team. Apparently deprived of money to invest in new players because of ongoing financial commitments to the Emirates Stadium, Arshavin has been the Gunners' sole purchase this January transfer window - a club record signing into the bargain.

The protracted nature of the transfer has increased the pressure on the 27-year-old Russian, and the danger is that Arsenal fans will see him as something of a saviour as far as the season is concerned. The poor man hasn't played a game in weeks.

Other players to look out for this weekend?

Hull City will be hoping that Jimmy Bullard's infectious enthusiasm can spark a revival at the club. The Tigers have taken just one point out of a last possible 21 and are sinking like a stone in the standings.

They face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with Ricardo Quaresma (on loan from Inter Milan) being given another chance to rejuvenate a career that was supposed to be stellar, but has so far been eminently terrestrial.

Emile Heskey scored on his Aston Villa debut against Portsmouth a couple of weeks ago, and it's clear that he still has the belief and the hunger to perform at the top level.

Villa visit a Blackburn Rovers side this weekend that has yet to taste defeat since Sam Allardyce took the reins, and can now number the much-pilloried and often misunderstood El-Hadji Diouf among its staff.

Manchester City missed out on Kaka, failing to conclude a deal that would have been the biggest in the history of football. It hasn't stopped the world's richest club splashing the cash though, bringing in Nigel de Jong, Wayne Bridge, Craig Bellamy and Shay Given.

Just what kind of impact these new faces will have on the team's season remains to be seen, but they'll have to win, and win well on Saturday against a beleaguered Middlesbrough side for speculation on the safety of Mark Hughes' job to die down.

New faces in new teams. It only adds to the allure of the best football league on earth.

No Wilson Palacios. No Emile Heskey. Antonio Valencia and Chris Kirkland were injured, Titus Bramble suspended.

Despite a severely weakened Wigan Athletic side, Liverpool were still unable to secure all the points at the JJB on Wednesday night that would have kept them level on points with Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Premier League table.

The facts: Liverpool have now drawn seven of their last 10 league games, dropping, effectively, 14 points in the process.

While Manchester United go about their business in often methodical, occasional clinical fashion, Liverpool seem intent on handing the title to their rivals on a plate.

13 points out of a possible 30 at this stage in the season is not championship-winning stuff, and Rafa Benitez knows it. He was circumspect in his comments after the Wigan game, while alluding to the overly physical nature of some of the challenges perpetrated by certain Wigan players, particularly on Steven Gerrard.

Sorry Rafa, this may sound cynical, but if I were the manager of a team playing against Liverpool, knowing full well that my opponents' game plan pretty much revolved around one man, I might do my best to ensure that my players were geared up and instructed to neutralise his effectiveness by whatever means possible. Within the rules of the game, of course.

While Rafa doesn't seem to get it, Liverpool are not getting the results, and with Manchester United now blazing the trail, everyone's playing catch-up.

If success is built around a solid defence, then United are showing everyone the way forward, breaking a Premier League record at the Hawthorns by keeping their 11th consecutive clean sheet.

It's been 1,033 minutes (give or take) since Edwin van der Sar last conceded a league goal, and that's more than 17 hours - a simply astonishing achievement.

When you bear in mind the fact that the United back line has seen several changes in personnel (Van der Sar and Nemanja Vidic have been the only ever-presents) the milestone becomes even more significant.

Manchester United are now two points clear at the top of the table (with a game in hand), and have the proverbial wind behind them, a fact that won't be lost on either Liverpool or Chelsea this weekend when they do battle at Anfield in the tie of the round.

Liverpool's massive investment in Robbie Keane has failed to bear much fruit so far, with the player seemingly depressed and with Rafa Benitez refusing to quash speculation that he might be sold before the January transfer window closes.

Fernando Torres is yet to get back to top form after injury, and most pundits maintain that the team's continued over-reliance on Steven Gerrard isn't healthy. It's difficult to disagree.

Chelsea for their part have been giving away points, with three wins three draws and a defeat in their last seven league games. That amounts to 12 points out of a possible 21, and these are not title-winning statistics. Indeed, they were only two minutes from defeat at Stamford Bridge against Stoke City in their last but one league outing, but managed to claw their way back to bag the points with two late goals.

Luiz Felipe Scolari, and every Chelsea supporter, will be hoping that the resilience they showed on that occasion will act as a springboard for the rest of the season. With Liverpool's indifferent form, Chelsea have emerged as the side most likely to challenge Manchester United for the title. For Sir Alex Ferguson, the fixture between the two couldn't come at a better time.

You can see him now. At home, on the sofa, a glass of good red wine in his hand, watching 90 minutes of a game that has ‘draw' written all over it. Should Manchester United secure the points at Old Trafford on Saturday against Everton, and judging by the way they dismantled West Brom on Tuesday, there's every reason to suggest they will, United will be four points clear of the field, having played one game less.

Saturday's fixtures see Arsenal entertaining a much-improved West Ham United side that seems to have found its feet and a coherent style of play under Gianfranco Zola. The Gunners have been besieged by injuries of late, but with William Gallas back in the fold, and Eduardo nearing a return to action, Arsenal will be able to see how far they have to go, by establishing how far they've come this weekend.

It may seem strange to talk about relegation problems for a club that sits 10th in the table, but Hull City have lost the last six league games and are now just six points clear of the drop zone. Such is the nature of the current standings that a win could take bottom side West Brom out of the relegation positions.

Battling the dreaded drop one week; possibly competing for a place in Europe the next. A couple of wins can make all the difference at this stage, with 12 clubs separated by just eight points at the lower end of the table.

This season is certainly not one for the faint of heart.

Times have changed somewhat, and the circumstances that saw the slackening of interest in football's oldest domestic cup competition were mostly to do with money.

While some of the smaller clubs look forward to drawing a big team in an FA Cup tie and receiving the inherent financial rewards, the bigger clubs realise, and have had to accept, that winning the Barclays Premier League (even remaining IN the Barclays Premier League) and competing in European competitions, are more lucrative and hence more desirable.

I'm pleased to be able to report though that the English FA Cup has made something of a resurgence in recent years, and is now even bigger and better than ever. 762 teams entered this year's competition, only one will remain standing come May in the final at Wembley.

This weekend sees Fourth Round ties as the remaining 32 teams do battle. While some are mouth watering - Manchester United versus Tottenham, and Liverpool versus Everton spring immediately to mind, others capture the imagination as only the FA Cup can.

Hartlepool United, in League One, the third tier of English football accounted for Barclays Premier League side Stoke City in Round Three. And it was no fluke. Although 41 places separated the two teams in the league standings, Hartlepool were the better side on the day and deserving winners - taking their chances and defending resolutely against their more august counterparts.

The reward for Hartlepool's magnificent display? Another home tie, also against Premier League opposition, and I can guarantee you that West Ham United will not relish a trip to the North East of England on Saturday to face a side that has nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

The form book will tell us that the result should be a formality, but that's the beauty of the FA Cup. Frequently we see the minnows taking on the mighty, and as any manager will tell you, ‘it's 11 against 11 at the end of the day', shortly before going on to talk about ‘a game of two halves'.

Clichés are part and parcel of football, and the FA Cup has quite a few of its very own. ‘David and Goliath' battles (and ‘giant-killing, of course), ‘potential banana skins', are but a few, but they sum up the essence of this most egalitarian of sporting competitions. Oh yes; let's not forget ‘the romance of the FA Cup'. How many times does the word ‘romance' get used in sport?

The tie of the round though in terms of banana sins and giant-killing has to be Kettering Town, from the Conference, against Fulham from the Barclays Premier League.

Five divisions separate the two teams, and most of the Fulham players probably earn more in a week than their non-league counterparts do in a year.

Rockingham Road will be full to the rafters on Saturday afternoon - all 1,800 seats will be occupied, and officially there's standing room for a further 4,300 or so - but the atmosphere will be electric and the Premier League superstars will be in for an uncomfortable time, whatever the outcome.

A Kettering win, and an away draw at Manchester United or Liverpool in Round Four, and everyone's dreams will be fulfilled. That's what the FA Cup can do.

This is assuming, of course, that Manchester United and Liverpool make it through to the Fifth Round.

United host Tottenham at the Theatre of Dreams - not a very subtle segue, I know, but bear with me - in what will serve as a dress rehearsal for their Carling Cup Final date at Wembley on March 1..

Both teams appear to be decimated by injuries, and while Sir Alex Ferguson's men currently have the Premiership title in their hands, to win or to lose, Harry Redknapp's focus is concentrated on keeping Spurs in the top flight!

Liverpool and Everton meet for the second time in just seven days in their Sunday clash, and they couldn't be separated in last Monday's league fixture. Rafa Benitez is under considerable pressure after watching his side surrender its lead at the top of the table, and with Real Madrid lying in wait in the first knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League, Liverpool could be looking at the FA Cup as their best bet for silverware this season.

Merseyside derbies are always feisty and entertaining affairs. FA Cup Merseyside derbies are almost certain to provide even more high-octane action.

We are most definitely ‘up for the cup' on ESPN STAR Sports this weekend. And you should be too.

There is, and has been for a while now, a certain inevitability to United's rise after they endured another slow start to a season.

But while Liverpool have been dropping points left, right and centre - 0-0 draws home and away against Stoke City tells you just about everything you need to know - Sir Alex Ferguson's men have been grinding out the results.

December 6 2008: Manchester United 1 Sunderland 0 - a goal in injury time from Nemanja Vidic bagging all the points against a stubborn - some would even say ‘valiant' - Sunderland side.

December 26 2008: Stoke City 0 Manchester United 1 - Carlos Tevez securing the win for United just seven minutes from time against a dogged - some would even say ‘valiant' - Stoke City team.

December 29 2008: Manchester United 1 Middlesbrough 0 - at least Dimitar Berbatov had the decency to score with a little over 20 minutes left on the clock, preventing further damage to United supporters' fingernails.

And yes, Boro had been pretty valiant on the night as well.

January 14 2009: Manchester United 1 Wigan 0 - Wayne Rooney easing everyone's nerves with a goal in the first minute, and despite Wigan gaining a deal of possession, the Red Devils remained devilishly resolute at the back.

Manchester United have not conceded a single goal in the last nine league games.

The point is, that while Liverpool draw with Stoke (twice), Manchester United take all the points against the likes of Stoke, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Wigan.

They may be narrow wins and involve late goals, but Ferguson's men get the job done, and anyone watching the above-mentioned games against Sunderland, Stoke and Middlesbrough in particular, will assert that it was simply a matter of time before United made the breakthrough. One does not get that impression watching Liverpool.

I am not trying to imply that Manchester United are now a shoe-in for the title - far from it. There are plenty more matches to be played, plenty of points to be won and lost, and plenty more twists and turns before this current season in the BPL is put to bed.

But United have now been installed as ‘favourites', and, more importantly, the momentum is with them. If momentum isn't going to be enough, then belief will get them through. Sir Alex Ferguson knows how to instil belief in players, while question marks still hang over Rafa Benitez - his motivational skills, his man management, not to mention his tactical decisions and team selection.

Liverpool players can be forgiven for scratching their heads and doubting the advisability of Rafa's latest outburst against Sir Alex - stating clearly and in sufficiently measured tones for the world's press to be able to take down every word - that he feels his counterpart is above the law when it comes to criticising referees.

The timing could have been better, and had Liverpool dismantled Stoke at the Britannia Stadium last weekend, it probably would have been. Liverpool have a tough game on Monday night against arch city rivals Everton, and the chances are that they'll need a win to climb back to the top of the table. Manchester United will still have a game in hand.

United travel to the Reebok on Saturday, and face a team that has lost five out of the last six league games and been dumped out of the FA Cup by Sunderland. It won't be easy for the FIFA World Player of the Year and his mates, but who would bet against Ferguson's men getting a 1-0 away win?

Hull's clash with Arsenal at the KC Stadium should be a tasty encounter and set the scene for the remainder of the season for both clubs.

Hull have been struggling of late, but know how to fight hard; Arsene Wenger feels that his side is becoming more resilient, but clearly cannot afford to drop many more points if they're to have any chance of being there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

Quite a few eyes will be on White Hart Lane this Sunday as Tottenham take on Portsmouth. Harry Redknapp's old club visit Harry Redknapp's new club; Jermain Defoe will be in almost immediate action against his previous employers and team-mates. Pick a winner in that one, if you can.

No one can doubt that the game of the weekend will take place at Old Trafford on Sunday, when Manchester United take on Chelsea.

Just four points separate the two teams in the current standings, and Manchester United have two games in hand. A win at the Theatre of Dreams for Sir Alex Ferguson's men will see them move to within a point of a Chelsea team that is beginning to resemble an ocean going vessel that has sprung one or two leaks below decks.

Scolari's tactical decisions have reportedly been called into question recently by some of Chelsea's senior players, and the manager himself has been informed that there will be no funds for new recruits made available to him this January.

It's a far cry from the early part of the Roman Abramovich era when blank cheques were the order of the day, and Chelsea could pick and choose from the pool of global talent. Manchester City's new-found wealth has changed all that.

There is always pressure at the top to get results, and it's worth noting ahead of Sunday's game that if Manchester United can win their two games in hand they will be just a single point shy of leaders Liverpool, but the pressure in and around the bottom of the table is also increasing with each passing week.

No one is under the microscopic scrutiny of fans and media alike more than Manchester City's Mark Hughes.

City have won just one league game in the last six, and lost five of the last nine games in all competitions, including the ultimate humiliation last weekend when they were unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup by Nottingham Forest, a team from English football's second tier - and struggling against relegation to boot.

To lose by the odd goal in a thrilling Cup tie in which the underdogs play out of their skin and get a few lucky breaks is almost acceptable. But Manchester City lost 3-0, at home, to a team that sacked their manager on Boxing Day.

‘Indefensible' was the word used by Hughes himself to describe his team's performance, and that may well apply to the state of his tenure should City not get a decent result against Portsmouth on Saturday and the side remain just a couple of points above the drop zone.

Other cracking ties this weekend see Arsenal entertaining Bolton and Stoke City hosting Liverpool.

The Gunners are now 10 points off Liverpool at the top of the table and any more points dropped, particularly at home, will see their title aspirations evaporate.

Indeed, Arsenal find themselves in a scrap at the moment for that final UEFA Champions League spot with Aston Villa, and such is the extent of their injury list that they may have to ask for planning permission to put an extension on their treatment room.

Stoke City emerged from Anfield earlier in the season with a creditable 0-0 draw, and there's little doubt that Rafa Benitez's men will be looking to set the record straight this weekend.

They'll have to deal with the narrow pitch at the Britannia Stadium, and the siege gun long throws of Rory Delap, but will expect nothing less than all three points on Saturday.

A draw on Sunday between Manchester United and Chelsea - not an unlikely result in any encounter involving the Big Four - and Liverpool could open up a significant gap at the top.

Another hugely entertaining weekend in the Barclays Premier League looms, but be careful when it comes to putting your necks on the chopping block in terms of making predictions.

Remember; anything can happen, and frequently does. Game On.

Liverpool's home game against Hull would have been viewed (at the beginning of the season at least) as a nailed on three pointer. Having gone two goals behind at Anfield, Rafa Benitez could be forgiven for being grateful for emerging with a draw.

It wasn't a result that confounded the form books - Hull have already proved this season that they can mix in the best company - but it was still a surprise. For Liverpool to be genuine title contenders, and the current league table shows that they must be, these are games that they simply have to win. They didn't.

Arsenal's draw at Middlesbrough wasn't startling, and Arsene Wenger was probably the most sanguine of the Big Four bosses after the weekend. Boro always give the Gunners a tough time at the Riverside, and this occasion was no exception. A lot of questions are being asked of this current Arsenal squad at this juncture. So far, very few answers have been provided.

As for Chelsea, they must have looked at a home game against beleaguered West Ham United (who came into the game at Stamford Bridge with just one win in the previous 10) as a walk in the park, only to be held to a 1-1 draw, while Manchester United, despite dominating much of the game at White Hart Lane against Tottenham, also had to settle for a solitary point.

Nothing this season, is as it seems. No results are ‘givens'. The Hulls and Stokes of this world have proven themselves to be more than capable of punching above their perceived weight, and delivering the odd bloody nose. It's a set of circumstances that has led to it being tight at the top of the table, and even more congested at the bottom.

For Paul Ince and Blackburn, it's a case of ‘Rover and Out'. For many of us who make a living watching and talking about football, it was an accident waiting to happen, almost from day one.

Managing Macclesfield Town and the Milton Keynes Dons, with every respect to both those clubs, doesn't qualify you to manage a Barclays Premier League club, and many aver that Ince's reputation as a player was a greater part of his CV than his managerial credentials.

In Sam Allardyce, Blackburn have secured the services of someone eminently capable of steadying the ship and getting it out of choppy waters. He's a good tactician, knows how to work with limited resources, and always gets the best out of his players. His mission this weekend, and he has no choice but to accept it, is a home game against Stoke. It would seem to offer a great opportunity to offer a touch of pre-Christmas cheer to the Ewood Park faithful.

The big match this weekend sees Arsenal entertaining Liverpool on Sunday. Should Rafa's boys bag the points, they will be 11 clear of the side from North London. Even at this stage of the season, that's a healthy lead. Should Arsenal get a home win, however, the gap between the two will be just 5 points, and that's easily surmountable with half the season remaining.

Manchester United are embroiled in FIFA Club World Cup action in Japan, and could conceivably find themselves 9 points behind leaders Liverpool by the end of the weekend, albeit with two games in hand. It may seem like an unwanted distraction for the Red Devils, but as Sir Alex Ferguson has said (in as many words), given the opportunity, who wouldn't want to be crowned the best club side in the world?

Chelsea's visit to Goodison Park on Monday night would appear to have ‘away win' written all over it. Everton have won just once at home all season, while Chelsea's away record has been perfection itself. 8 games, 8 wins, 21 goals scored and just 1 conceded; quite remarkable.

But if there's one thing we can be sure of this season, it's that we can't be sure of anything. Nothing can be taken for granted. There are rumblings in the Chelsea camp with, reportedly, several senior Blues players questioning some of Scolari's tactical decisions, while Everton will be buoyed by yet another away win at Manchester City in the last round of fixtures.

Another fascinating weekend looms in the greatest football league on earth. Making predictions is never easy, but this season it's turning out to be spectacularly difficult in terms of getting them right. If the call to arms is to ‘pay your money and take your choice', then I'm zipping up my wallet, putting it in my piggy bank (a bit of a squeeze) and placing it in the safe.

This weekend, we are likely to see just how far Tottenham Hotspur have come under Harry Redknapp's tutelage.

The task at hand, in this round of fixtures in the Barclays Premier League, is a home game against Manchester United, with Sir Alex Ferguson's men in pretty good form, and hell-bent on making sure that Liverpool and Chelsea don't get away from them at the top of the table.

United are coming off a UEFA Champions League draw with Aalborg, and struggled to break down Sunderland at Old Trafford last weekend, despite a bewilderingly high share of possession and the creation of innumerable chances. They had to rely on a late, late goal to bag all the points, and Sir Alex will not want to put himself through the same level of stress two weekends running. He isn't getting any younger, you know.

While one would expect Manchester United to hit the ground running at White Hart Lane, they'll face a Spurs side that has won 9 out of the last 12 matches in all competitions, and is beginning to play some decent football.

The 2-0 win at Upton Park on Monday night wasn't particularly convincing - or stylish, for that matter - but Redknapp's men got the job done, and every Spurs supporter would have taken great heart from Ledley King's ‘triffic' - thanks Harry - performance, and the fact that his first goal in three years broke the deadlock between the two sides.

King had a huge game at Upton Park, but it's been well documented and assiduously reported that he has chronic knee problems and has difficulty playing successive games within a few days of one another. King's involvement on Saturday is vital to Spurs' chances, so it will be interesting to see if his name is on the team sheet.

Chelsea face West Ham United in the London derby on Sunday, having scraped through to the knockout stage of the Champions League after a 2-1 win against CFR Cluj. Once again, Luiz Felipe Scolari's men failed to deliver a stellar performance in front of their home fans, and the tension at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night was palpable. Didier Drogba rescued the situation for Chelsea when he came on as a second half substitute, and Scolari will be faced with tough selection decisions ahead of the weekend.

Should Drogba start in place of Anelka - the league's top scorer this season? Can the two form a credible strike partnership, and if so, who gets left out?

Admittedly, this is the kind of headache top managers are happy to deal with, and indeed thrive on, but Scolari needs to get it right on Sunday, and Chelsea need to re-establish Stamford Bridge as the place where no one comes to get a result.

One of the most intriguing ties this weekend sees Hull City's visit to Anfield. It's a fixture that would have been almost unimaginable a few seasons ago, in anything other than a cup competition.

Following a dream start to their first ever campaign in English football's top flight, reality appeared to have kicked in when Phil Brown's men lost four on the bounce.

But, and speaking of bounces, they have bounced back to remain unbeaten in four, showing great character last weekend to come from behind for the home win against Middlesbrough.

Liverpool's title credentials seem to be analysed and assessed after every single performance, and they'll know that results at Anfield haven't been good enough this season.

Stoke City, Fulham and West Ham have all emerged with 0-0 draws from a ground that is supposed to be the archetypal ‘fortress'. These are all teams that Liverpool would have expected to beat comfortably, and Hull is another.

Just how realistic are Liverpool's Barclays Premier League title chances?

Results this weekend will go a long way towards answering the question.

What's the hardest job in the world?

Coal miner? Great white shark dentist? Brain surgeon? Diamond cutter? (‘hard'...get it?). Carlos Tevez's beautician? Test pilot for a model airplane manufacturer?

Or a pundit on ESPN STAR Sports, particularly one of the ‘chosen' few who get to appear on Football Forecast?

Making predictions is never easy, as last week's announcement that the Annual General Meeting of the Society for Clairvoyants had to be cancelled due to ‘unforeseen circumstances', testifies to.

The current Barclays Premier League season though has thrown up so many surprises and aberrant results that only the foolhardy, the brave, or those who get paid good money for putting their reputations on the line, would dare to stick their necks out.

The last couple of weekends have witnessed some extraordinary score lines. Who, for example, would have imagined that Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool would all have failed to score two weeks ago, or that Aston Villa wouldn't have found some way past Fulham last Saturday? Did anyone really think that Bolton would emerge from the Stadium of Light with a 4-1 win?

So many questions; and quite a few answers - most of them wrong. It's a difficult job being a pundit.

I have a strange feeling that it's not going to get any easier this weekend.

Arsenal's result at Stamford Bridge last Sunday has set the proverbial cat among the pigeons. A win for Chelsea and they would have been top of the table and a full 13 points clear of their London rivals. The question marks surrounding the Gunners' spirit and determination were addressed to some extent in their come-from-behind win, and the gap is now just six points.

Manchester United's win at Eastlands contributed further to the concertina effect, taking them to within six points of the top of the table, with a game in hand.

To quote a favourite saying in football, ‘it could all have been so different'. But it wasn't, and we head into the next round of fixtures with a mere eight points separating the top four. Game on.

Arsenal must be confident of beating Wigan at The Emirates on Saturday, but then they must have expected to receive all the points in their game against Hull City at home, and Stoke City away for that matter.

If Arsenal can raise their game to take on the likes of Chelsea, they need to prove their title credentials by ‘getting themselves up' for teams such as Wigan as well.

The same nature of task faces Chelsea this weekend as they travel to face a Bolton side off a string of good results. It's four wins out of five for Gary Megson's men and they're comfortably up to 9th in the table. They will provide a stern test for Chelsea at The Reebok, while pundits will be looking at The Blues' perfect away record this season. A tough one to call? You bet.

Liverpool were booed off the field at Anfield on Monday night, after they failed to overcome West Ham United. It was a game almost stage managed to ensure that Liverpool surged to a three point lead at the top of the table, but on the night, they fluffed their lines, playing out their fourth 0-0 league draw of the season.

On Saturday they face a Blackburn side that has taken three points out of a last possible 27, have lost the last four on the bounce, and are now just one place off the bottom. Paul Ince's job is under threat, and he will demand full commitment from his players at Ewood Park. It will not be an easy afternoon for Liverpool.

Arguably the most intriguing fixture of the weekend will take place at Old Trafford where Sunderland come calling. Roy Keane said after the defeat against Bolton, "I ask myself every day if I'm the right man for Sunderland. I asked myself this morning and I said I was. Sunday morning, if the answer's no, we'll have to look at it."
 
We must conclude that on Thursday morning, the question Roy posed himself, presumably in the mirror at home, was answered in the negative, and the man who returned to Sunderland with almost messianic expectations has quit the club after 27 months in charge.
 
Keane had been under enormous pressure, with Sunderland losing five out of their last six and dropping into the relegation zone; all this amid accusations in the press that the man had 'lost the plot', and had begun 'to believe his own mythology'. Sunderland will go to the Theatre of Dreams without a manager.

It all presents a fascinating backdrop to the game, but surely only the very imaginative would foresee anything other than a Manchester United win. Right?

What's going to happen this weekend in the Barclays Premier League?

It's hard to say.

Apart from the fact that we get to see some of the top teams in action in the UEFA Champions League - at least those of us with a plentiful supply of coffee who are prepared to tune in for matches at 3.45 in the morning - it means that the subsequent Barclays Premier League weekend schedule is staggered.

This in turn means that we do not have to try to watch three games at the same time on a Saturday night, wearing out batteries in the remote control and almost invariably switching over just before a goal is scored and missing all the important bits. Or is this just me?

The current season is panning out as one of the most fascinating in years. The bottom 10 clubs are separated by a mere seven points, while the gap from seventh place to rock bottom is a paltry eight points - that's less than three wins after taking into account football currency conversion rates.

It means that a win can propel teams up the table in the time it takes to score a winner, while even the clubs in the relegation zone know that relative safety could be just around the corner.

Usually, I might even say ‘traditionally', at this stage of a season, one or two clubs are detached and fighting for their lives. Although West Bromwich Albion have had to look up at every other team for a couple of weeks now from the depths of the Premier League table, a win at Wigan on Saturday would put them back into the survival mix.

However, Tony Mowbray's men continue to try to play attacking, flowing football, and many pundits feel that this may not be the order of the day when it comes to maintaining top flight status.

Stoke City have proved that the direct approach can work at this level, and have used their admittedly limited resources to good effect. Rory Delap's long throw, and the considerable physique of their players have contributed to Stoke winning five games at home already this season. Only Liverpool, Manchester United and Fulham can match that.

While teams continue to play their somewhat manic mid-table game of musical chairs on Saturday, all eyes will be on two cracking Sunday matches, the results of which could have significant ramifications for the rest of the campaign.

Manchester United will be only too aware of the fact that their city rivals beat them twice in the league last season - an almost unprecedented series of events. Manchester City were the only team to emerge from Old Trafford in the 2007-8 campaign with all the spoils, something that must have been particularly galling for Sir Alex Ferguson.

On Sunday, we will see just how far Manchester City have come, and perhaps are capable of going, with their current squad, which could give us some indication as to their transfer window intentions come January.

Manchester United are now eight points adrift of Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the table, and nothing less than a win will be required to maintain their title credentials. City players will be aware that they are all playing for their places in view of the club owner's vast financial resources and their stated desire to bring in the world's best, regardless of cost.

Following the Manchester derby, Sunday also sees a titanic clash at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea entertain Arsenal. London derbies are never for the faint hearted and the context for this encounter is particularly intriguing.

Arsenal still have to answer most of the questions raised about their bravery and commitment to the cause, and while rumours of back-biting and dissension in the ranks continue to rumble, Arsene Wenger may be facing one of the more significant challenges in his distinguished managerial career. There will be no bigger test than at Stamford Bridge.

ESPN STAR Sports pundits had a poor weekend last time out when it came to making predictions, but then, didn't we all? Who, for example, would have imagined that with all the firepower at the disposal of Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal, not one of the teams would have been able to score?

Three 0-0 draws, and a 3-0 home loss for Arsenal, were all the elite teams in English football were capable of mustering, and the shock waves are still reverberating around the Barclays Premier League.

It proves once again, that on any given day, any team in the Premier League is capable of beating any other, and the Big Four don't have a divine right to get results against seemingly inferior opposition.

Nothing is certain these days in the world's best football league, except uncertainty. Will there be more surprises this weekend? I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Here is the weather report, brought to you by Aston Villa FC.

In October there were overcast skies early on, followed by a couple of bright sunny spells.

Villa struggled to a 1-1 draw with lowly Litex Lovech before coming away from Stamford Bridge empty handed, having been dominated and systematically dismantled by Luiz Felipe's Scolari's men.

A spell of high pressure followed in the 0-0 home draw with Portsmouth, but the Villains couldn't find the back of the net despite some second half flurries.

Bright sunshine was then the order of the day, as Villa beat the once mighty Ajax of Amsterdam in the UEFA Cup, and then put four past a hapless Wigan at the JJB. The sunglasses and factor 15 were then brought out in the 3-2 home win against Blackburn.

Just as the bad weather appeared to be blowing over, Aston Villa went up to St James' Park in early November and came away on the wrong side of a 2-0 score line, and while an away win at Slavia Prague seemed to have got Martin O'Neill's men back into the temperate zone, the wind chill was very much in evidence as Villa went down 2-1 at home against a Middlesbrough side that had only won once away from home all season. Aston Villa gifted Middlesbrough both their goals with shocking defensive errors - it was enough to cause a depression in the Midlands.

A cold front appeared to be looming as they faced a tough London Nor'easter at The Emirates Stadium against Arsenal, but the atmospheric conditions proved to be beneficial to the men in claret and blue as they outgunned the Gunners and emerged with all three points - Gabriel Agbonlahor's lightning pace eventually proving too much for the Arsenal back line to handle.

A win this weekend for Aston Villa at home against Manchester United is sure to provide the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but the simple fact of the matter is that Villa have been blowing hot and cold all season. Martin O'Neill's scalp will be even less likely to withstand the dangers of ultraviolet rays should he succeed in tearing any more of his hair out.

Brilliant one day; lacklustre and misfiring the next; Aston Villa have been one of the most entertaining, and easily the most frustrating team to watch so far this season. Failure to put on a good performance against Manchester United at the weekend will further serve to fog the issue of their credentials for breaking into the top four. It will be (and this will be the last of the meteorological analogies, I promise) a severe barometer test.

It's arguably the pick of the ties in this round of Barclays Premier League fixtures, but Arsenal's trip to Manchester City could prove almost equally intriguing.

City are just a point off the relegation zone and have tasted defeat in three of their last four league fixtures, drawing the other. Mark Hughes is under enormous pressure to give the new owners an immediate return on their massive investment, and yet his team seems to be failing to click in any meaningful way.

Arsenal for their part have to bounce back from the home defeat against Villa and prove to us all that they have the steely edge and commitment required to win matches when fast-paced attacking football doesn't appear to be getting the job done. It will be tense at Eastlands.

While Chelsea will settle for nothing less than an emphatic win at home against Newcastle, Liverpool may find Fulham difficult to break down at Anfield. Roy Hodgson's men have been defending well of late, with Brede Hangeland putting in some standout performances - as though he doesn't stand out enough at 6' 5" in height.

Liverpool need to get Fernando Torres back to match fitness as soon as possible.

The pick of Sunday's games sees Tottenham Hotspur, off their first defeat under Harry Redknapp, entertaining Blackburn Rovers at White Hart Lane. It's 19th versus 18th in terms of the league standings, and a relegation 6-pointer if the media hype is to be believed.

After a superb start to his managerial career at Spurs, the confidence seemed to evaporate at Fulham last weekend, and three points against a Blackburn side that knows how hard it will need to battle, will not be a breeze. Sorry - couldn't resist it.

To be perfectly honest, at the end of the day, and bearing in mind that it's almost invariably a game of two halves, we'll trot them out with alacrity whenever there's a need to fill the time it takes to think up something either relevant or interesting to say.

You could look at it as our own form of punctuation. While the written word contains commas and full stops, occasionally even semi colons and the odd hyphen, when you talk for a living, the commas (or short pauses) tend to take the form of something meaningless such as ‘of course' (every commentator's favourite), ‘you know' (every footballer's favourite) or ‘well, to a certain extent' (a pundit's favourite generally used to hide the fact that he either hasn't understood the question or has no idea how to answer it - in some cases, both).

So, I'm not going to talk about ‘bubbles bursting', ‘never say die attitudes', or ‘winning ugly' in this week's piece, and I am not going to refer those hoary old chestnuts to Hull City, Tottenham and Liverpool. Or am I?

Hull were dismantled by Chelsea at the KC Stadium on Wednesday night, a major reality check for Phil Brown's boys. The fairytale isn't over, not by a long chalk, because if you had given the Tigers, at the beginning of the season, 20 points from their opening 10 games, they would have bitten your hand off.

But Chelsea went through the Hull defence at will, like a knife through butter, and it proved to be poor preparation for the newly promoted side's trip to Old Trafford this weekend.

If Hull have been punching above their weight so far this campaign, they went into the ring on Wednesday night with some experienced prize fighters who didn't pull any of their blows and were prepared to stand toe to toe.

Hull knew that they couldn't match the quality of Chelsea's expensively assembled team, and they'll be fearing the worst ahead of their encounter with Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

Saturday at the Theatre of Dreams is going to be a tough outing for Hull, especially bearing in mind the fact that the World Player of the Year Elect (elected by himself admittedly, but he's a fairly safe bet) is beginning to rediscover top form. I'm speaking of Cristiano Ronaldo by the way, just in case anyone was wondering.

Arsenal and Tottenham fought out the game of the season so far at The Emirates on Wednesday night, with Harry Redknapp's Spurs simply refusing to go quietly into the night as another Gunners' scalp, having twice trailed by two goals.

At 4-2 down with a minute left of regulation time, Harry and the lads were heading for defeat in his first game in full charge. It was widely expected, and over the course of the match, very few would have begrudged Arsene Wenger's men the three points, but a great strike from Jermaine Jenas (who'd done precious little for the previous 89 minutes) and a tap in for Aaron Lennon deep into injury time, rescued a draw for Spurs and a precious point in their quest to drag themselves out of the drop zone.

Wenger was hopping mad. The Arsenal faithful - at least those who hadn't left their seats after the home side's ‘game over' fourth goal - were stunned.

The Spurs players and the corner of the ground that housed the visiting supporters were delirious. You would have thought they'd won the league title, or the lottery, or both.

The match highlighted all the problems that Harry has to address - an error prone goalkeeper; incompetent defending at set pieces; the lack of physical presence displayed by certain individuals. But in refusing to give up, he will go into the next training session, and look ahead to the next match at home to Liverpool, knowing that his team has character.

With the way Spurs have been playing in recent weeks, and indeed possibly up to last Sunday and including Wednesday, Rafa Benitez must have thought that all Liverpool had to do this weekend is turn up at White Hart Lane and collect the three points.

It may be a slightly different prospect now, and Liverpool will be well aware that they have not always been winning with the degree of style their supporters expect.

They did enough to beat Portsmouth at Anfield on Wednesday night, and no one would take anything away from their excellent team performance last weekend when they became the first side in more than four-and-a-half years to emerge from Stamford Bridge with all the goodies.

In the current context, Tottenham versus Liverpool is one of the choice ties in this upcoming round of fixtures, while Manchester United versus Hull City also captures the imagination.

Anything can happen in the Barclays Premier League, and frequently does. We'll take lots more of the same please. Thank you.

All eyes this weekend will be on Stamford Bridge.

Sunday sees the clash between the two remaining undefeated clubs in the Barclays Premier League and, as they say, notwithstanding a draw, something has to give.

Liverpool have shown a new-found resilience and self-belief this season - their innumerable come-from-behind wins have testified to that. They conceded first against Manchester United in September and rallied to take the points; they were a goal down against Marseille in the UEFA Champions League and came away with a 2-1 win; and in their last two league games they went into the break at Manchester City 2-0 down and still emerged victorious, and were twice behind against Wigan before sealing the triumph with a late Dirk Kuyt strike. I won't mention the fact that it was a mishit volley - we all know.

In terms of triumph in adversity, any Liverpool side will have to go some to emulate the feat of the Champions League winning outfit of 2005, when they overcame a 3-0 half-time deficit against AC Milan in the final to claim the trophy. That was ‘almost impossible', while the win at Manchester City was merely ‘highly unlikely', but while Liverpool sides have constantly proven their credentials in European competition, Rafa and his Reds had struggled to replicate that kind of spirit on the domestic front.

The situation may have changed, and apart from a certain amount of good fortune - which every team needs in order to make a concerted title challenge - the current crop of Liverpool players has been good value for the wins it has eked out against the odds.

They may, however, not find Chelsea quite as accommodating as, say, the Manchester City side that was content to sit back and defend their 2 goal lead in the second half at Eastlands.

Unlike Jose Mourinho, and indeed his short-lived successor Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari doesn't sit on 1-0 leads, preferring to continue to push forward in search of a second goal that would make a game safe, believing that attack really is the best form of defence.

Few would refute the tactics of a World Cup winning manager, and most pundits have been delighted to observe a Chelsea side this season that has put together an eye-catching combination of both form and substance.

Furthermore, Chelsea have been carrying all before them this season with an injury list as long as Petr Cech's arm - he's 6'5 and ½", so it's reasonable to expect his arms to be lengthy. The rest of the Barclays Premier League (and indeed Chelsea's Champions league counterparts) could be forgiven for shaking in their football boots at the prospect of what the side could achieve once Scolari has a fully fit squad from which to make his team selection.

Liverpool will not want to give Chelsea a head start this weekend, and one would imagine that they would be happy to take a point from the game. A Chelsea win would signal a statement of intent as far as the league title is concerned, and it may be one that becomes more and more difficult to refute.

I make no apologies for devoting much of this week's column to the top of the table clash at The Bridge, but there are several other intriguing encounters over the weekend.

Expect the rumblings at White Hart Lane to reach seismic proportions should Tottenham not secure their first league win of the season against Bolton, while Everton could find themselves in the drop zone if they can't get something out a rampant Manchester United side at Goodison Park.

The North East derby at The Stadium of Light should give us some indication as to whether Newcastle United are beginning to find their collective feet under Joe Kinnear, while Hull City could move to within a point of Liverpool and Chelsea at the top should it end in stalemate at Stamford Bridge and Phil Brown's men continue their winning ways against West Bromwich Albion.

West Ham United have seen the ‘feel good' factor of Gianfranco Zola's appointment as manager diminish recently following successive defeats at the hands of Bolton and Hull, and Arsenal will know that they must continue to win to keep the pressure up on Liverpool, Chelsea and....Hull City!

This weekend signals a period of frantic activity for all the Premier League clubs, most of which will take to the field 3 times in the space of 8 days - less, in some cases. By next weekend, the season will be through its first quarter, and while the usual suspects jostle for certain positions, we've had more than our fair share of surprises. And there'll be more to come.

But of the 10 clashes this weekend one stands out as an almost ‘must win', ‘do or die', encounter and it takes place at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday.

That it features Stoke City will not come as a surprise to many. Most pundits felt that the squad put together by Tony Pulis lacked the necessary quality to perform at the very highest level. That the nascent relegation mire also involves Tottenham Hotspur is unheralded, unanticipated, and widely unexpected.

Spurs remain as the only BPL side yet to win a game this season, with a manager whose tenure is under threat, and with a bunch of profoundly talented but under-performing players who still seem to be displaying first date nervousness when kitting up and taking to the field with each other.

Juande Ramos has been given the dreaded ‘vote of confidence' by the Tottenham board of directors, who insist that he will be given time to get things right. Even at this stage, time may be running out.

If Tottenham are still bottom of the league when all around them are tucking into their turkey at Christmas time (it's worth noting that only one cub in the history of the BPL has been bottom of the table heading into the New Year, and still managed to avoid relegation) Ramos's position will be untenable. Changes will have to be made; horses changed in midstream; and the building process begun again, no doubt with an influx of new players after the January transfer window closes.

Spurs need a result this weekend, and so do their opponents. It was never going to be an easy season for Stoke City, and despite a fantastic spirit at the club and a manager who knows how to best utilise the resources he has, they're ‘workmanlike', at best.

In Rory Delap they have an individual who can produce siege gun throw-ins that have already proved their effectiveness in unsettling even the best defences, and in Ricardo Fuller they have a striker who, on his day, is a major threat. Looking through the rest of the squad, and with every respect to a group of players who work hard and play hard, there doesn't appear to be an awful lot more to concern other teams in the league.

Conversely, Hull City have had a stunning start to their first season in the top flight. They host a financially beleaguered West Ham United side, also on Sunday, in a game that could see Phil Brown's side move even close to the top of the table.

Everyone's favourites to make their stay in the BPL a short one (‘season-long' seemed to conform to most expectations) Hull have confounded in style. Back-to-back wins in North London have taken them to the heady heights of 3rd in the table, and produced a confidence and self-belief that is proving hard to shake.

West Ham have also enjoyed a good season start, but the club is, reportedly, in disarray off the field, with bad financial news counteracting the feel-good factor of having a new, dynamic and charismatic manager. Sunday's clash will give us a good indication of where both teams are ‘at' at this juncture.

From inept, to sublime, and back to merely ordinary; that's been Arsenal's form of late, losing to Hull at home, dismantling FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League, and then failing to get more than a point at Sunderland. Arsenal need a win on Saturday at The Emirates to keep the pressure on title race leaders Chelsea and Liverpool, and they face an Everton side that may well be buoyed by David Moyes' decision to sign a new 5 year contract.

Liverpool face a Wigan Athletic side that has played better than their current points total suggests, knowing that in their last league encounter at Anfield they allowed Stoke City to escape with a point.

Having said that, two weeks ago, Liverpool came away from the City of Manchester Stadium with all the spoils, despite trailing 2-0 at half time. It is precisely that kind of result that serves to firm up Liverpool's title credentials, but they do need to despatch Wigan on Saturday with a minimum of fuss to add further weight to their burgeoning expectations.

Manchester United must be confident of taking the points against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford, despite the fact that the Baggies have secured two wins on the bounce in recent league games. Tony Mowbray's side sits 9th in the table, and continue to try to play attacking, stylish football. They will relish their day at the Theatre of Dreams, and would be delighted to come away with a point. Manchester United need to be ruthless.

Left, right and centre, once again the Barclays Premier League throws up fascinating encounters. If Stoke were entertaining Tottenham in their current positions with only a few games of the season remaining, we would have every right to invoke ‘do or die'. So why not now?

Hull City proved me right, taking on an Arsenal side in fine fettle and playing superb flowing football, and beating them on their own turf.

Phil Brown's boys enjoyed their North London sojourn last weekend, and they get the opportunity to revisit the area in this next round of fixtures. They might be thinking that there won't be a better time to face a Tottenham Hotspur outfit for whom the word ‘beleaguered' is simply insufficient.

Spurs are experiencing their worst start to a league season in 53 years, and Juande Ramos, the man assiduously courted by the Spurs board while Martin Jol was still ‘in charge', and subsequently poached from Spain's Sevilla, is fighting for his very survival.

What's gone wrong?

Where do I start?

Despite spending a substantial amount of money in the summer bringing in the talents of Giovani dos Santos, Luka Modric, Vedran Corluka, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Heurelho Gomes, not to mention David Bentley (although of course now I have) the club also saw the exits of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane.

Those two produced 46 goals between them last season, and constituted one of the best and most successful strike partnerships in the league. Should I mention the departure of Jermain Defoe at this juncture? I may as well, although he was allowed to leave well before Messrs Berbatov and Keane flew the coop.

To understate the obvious, Spurs have not replaced like with like. With a degree of respect to Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko, Keane and Berbatov are a tough act to follow.

But it's not just about scoring goals. I have watched every one of Spurs' games so far this campaign, and quite apart from never seeing the same starting 11, I have also never seen a set of players who look so much like strangers to one another. The only point of unification seems to be that they are all wearing shirts of the same colour. It doesn't appear to go beyond that.

Furthermore, the players don't seem to be able to string three passes together unless it's just outside their own penalty box, while Juande Ramos, the ‘master tactician', who took Sevilla to back-to-back UEFA Cup titles, has come up with some strange line-ups and some even stranger formations.

Of course a manager has to be given time to decide on a first choice 11, but these are matters that need to be worked out on the training pitch, not 6 games into a season that has already seen a club plummet to the bottom and show signs of sinking yet further.

I could go on. I shouldn't. Suffice it to say that poor results against Wisla Krakow in the UEFA Cup on Thursday night and against Hull City in the Barclays Premier League this weekend, would put Ramos in an almost untenable position. It's a sorry plight for a man who arrived in North London so keen to satisfy the hopes and expectations of the Spurs fans.

Tottenham is the only team standing between Newcastle United and the bottom of the table, and Joe Kinnear takes charge of the side for the first time in Sunday's visit to Goodison Park.

If Spurs are in a mess on the field, Newcastle are in chaos off it. Appointing a new manager on more or less a ‘part time' basis doesn't bode well. That the manager happens to have been out of work for four years and had significant heart-related health problems when he was employed, doesn't bode much better.

With every respect to Joe, it's a strange appointment, and one that smacks of desperation. Newcastle must hope that Everton's poor home form this season continues, because being bottom of the table heading into the international break would add insult to the already injured Geordie faithful.

Other ties that capture the imagination this weekend feature Paul Ince's Blackburn Rovers entertaining Manchester United at Ewood Park, and Chelsea playing hosts to Aston Vila.

Ince versus Ferguson makes for a tasty encounter, and as the former Manchester United player attempts to build a team in his own image, the Red Devils will know that they've been in a game.

Chelsea and Aston Villa produced one of the most entertaining matches of last season when they played out a 4-4 draw in the corresponding fixture. Let's hope for more of the same at Stamford Bridge.

There are no less than 9 Barclays Premier League teams who will have been involved in European action prior to this round of fixtures. Experience teaches us to expect a degree of strain. It's game on for everyone this weekend, with Juande Ramos in particular wondering quite how long that will continue to be the case.

Hull were promoted and are now enjoying life in the Barclays Premier League.

Sheffield United remain in the Championship, where they are just three points off a play-off spot at this early stage in the season.

Sheffield United were put to the sword by Arsenal's B team in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup on Tuesday night.

Hull City travel to the Emirates Stadium this weekend to face a rampant Arsenal side that's top of the table and bathing in confidence suffused waters.

Can you see where I'm going with this?

If recent form is anything to go by, the result on Saturday between Arsenal and Hull City should be a foregone conclusion. But the beauty of the Barclays Premier League, and indeed its very essence, is that on any given Saturday, any team is capable of beating any other.

Hull City have to have the same sense of belief that Stoke City displayed last weekend when they went to Anfield and came away with a hard fought, but creditable draw. No one - pundits included - gave them so much as a snowball's chance in hell of emerging from Merseyside with their tails anywhere other than between their legs.

On paper, the task for Hull is even harder, especially after Arsenal rested a slew of players for their Carling Cup tie, and put out a team against Sheffield United with an average age of 19. What an experience it must have been for Sheffield United's Gary Speed, playing with a bunch of whippersnappers literally half his age!

Arsenal's young Gunners were quite simply superb in their 6-0 win, and with Wenger having an almost fully fit squad from which to choose, Phil Brown and his Tigers may be looking ahead to a long Saturday afternoon - made longer possibly by the late kick off and the increasing length of the shadows they may end up chasing.

But while Hull will be hoping for an Arsenal off day - and they do occur - Phil Brown's men will also know that they will have to deploy every ounce of the grit, determination and discipline that got them into the Premier League at the end of last season. They'll take a point. If they do, they will have made one.

This weekend sees the first Merseyside derby of the season, as Liverpool make the short trip across Stanley Park to face Everton. David Moyes' men have secured seven points so far his campaign from their opening five matches, and all of those points have been accrued on the team's travels.

The burden of entertaining the Goodison Park faithful seems to be weighing heavily on Everton's shoulders right now, and this is something the backroom staff is going to have to address.

If Stoke City were ecstatic to come away from Anfield last weekend with a point, I wonder how much they would give for a similar result against Chelsea, visitors to the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

Chelsea have dropped four points this season, off successive home draws - one of which was against Manchester United. Like Everton, they appear to enjoy playing away from home, freed perhaps from the pressure of having to entertain, and being able to concentrate on the important things in football life, such as winning matches.

Chelsea might wish that they were playing Portsmouth again this weekend. They beat them 4-0 on the opening day of the league season, and dismantled them on Wednesday by the same score-line in the Carling Cup.

It's an important weekend as well for Manchester United who haven't won a league game since 25 August, and are already seven points behind Arsenal in their quest to retain the Barclays Premier League title. They face a Bolton side at Old Trafford that has struggled so far, particularly in terms of their away form.

This could turn out to be a long, hard season for Gary Megson's men, especially when you look at the club's personnel. Perhaps I'm being harsh, but looking through the Bolton squad, I'm struggling to find a name that I would associate with the phrase ‘worth the entrance money alone'.

Finally, Tottenham Hotspur have something to build on this weekend, after securing their place in the 4th round of the Carling Cup at the expense of Newcastle United. It wasn't a great performance by Juande Ramos' men at St James' Park - another different line-up, yet another variant on the theme of formation - but the job got done.

Portsmouth play hosts to Spurs on Sunday and have but a few days to recover from the shellshock they must have experienced in their two most recent games. Manchester City and Chelsea have seen to it that Portsmouth's defences have been breached no less than 10 times in three hours of football, and Harry Redknapp will not want his side to concede any more ‘scandalous' goals.

Intriguing fixtures abound once again this weekend in the Barclays Premier League. While teams in form will always be favoured, it's important to remember that there's never such a thing as a foregone conclusion.

Hairdryers, football boots and teacups have become cliché. Sir Alex Ferguson is going to have to look for something else in his armoury if he's to put fear in some of his underperforming and, so far, under-achieving players.

Manchester United have taken 4 points from their opening 3 games in the Barclays Premier League; have been beaten in the European Super Cup by Zenit St Petersburg; and fired blanks in the UEFA Champions League against Villarreal on Wednesday night. The Red Devils are not exactly setting the world alight at this moment in time.

To make matters worse, Sir Alex tasted defeat at the hands of Rafa Benitez in a league match for the very first time last weekend, and now has to travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday to face a rampant Chelsea side brimming with confidence and clearly intent on undermining United's confidence yet further.

Chelsea haven't lost at The Bridge now for 84 league games - a truly astonishing record that dates back to February 2004. The way they dismissed Manchester City last weekend (even with Robinho sporting a City shirt for the first time) and then dismantled Bordeaux in the Champions League in midweek, should give Sir Alex and the boys plenty of cause for concern.

United will be delighted to have Cristiano Ronaldo back in the fold, but it will be a while before he regains match fitness and even approaches his former sharpness. In the meantime, just to mix my sporting metaphors, Sir Alex's other charges are going to have to step up to the plate, and be counted (so, two metaphors for the price of one).

Encounters between the Big Four are always eagerly awaited, but I can't help feeling that perhaps Sir Alex would like to have waited a little bit longer for this one.

Dimitar Berbatov has yet to bed in to the tactical structure of the United set-up - no blame for anyone here; it's only been one game, and that was against as determined and combative a Liverpool side as we've seen in recent years. But there's been plenty of criticism in media circles for two of Manchester United's old guard, namely Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

Giggs' defensive negligence (some would even call it ‘naivety', but then that would be cruel to the 34 year old) directly resulted in Liverpool's winning goal last Saturday, and Scholes ‘should have been brought on at half time'. Well, that was the comment from a cheery pundit who clearly wasn't impressed with his first half performance - or any part of it, come to that.

Chelsea versus Manchester United is the pick of the Barclays Premier League fixtures this weekend, and one has to get the impression that there is a great deal more at stake than just the 3 points.

Liverpool entertain Stoke City on Saturday, off their win against Manchester United, and their defeat of Marseille in the Champions League. They could go 3 points clear at the top should they, as widely expected, get the win. The physicality they displayed against United will need to be in evidence again, and I feel sure that Pepe Reina will be having daymares involving Rory Delap and his siege gun long throws.

Arsenal too will be up against a physical presence in the form of Bolton Wanderers who will give them a tough time at The Reebok. If ever the phrase ‘an irresistible force against an immoveable object' could be called to mind it would relate to this match.

Bolton will do everything to try to prevent Arsenal's talented youngsters from playing their natural game and weaving intricate patterns around the field. Gary Megson's men will try to stamp some authority on the proceedings - let's just hope they don't go in ‘studs up'.

There are two local derbies this weekend, as West Bromwich Albion host Aston Villa in the midlands of England, and Sunderland roll out the red and white striped carpet for North East rivals Middlesbrough, but I'm intrigued by the game at the KC Stadium where Hull face Everton.

Hull City have had a better than expected start to life in the Premiership. OK, let's be honest; better than they ever could have dreamt! But Everton, freed from the trammels of having to entertain/amuse/engage (delete where applicable) fans at Goodison, have performed well so far this season.

Hull for their part, have gone from the ridiculous to the sublime - being stuffed by Wigan at home (Steve Bruce's men had 5 chances in the entire 90 minutes, and converted every one of them) - and then coming away from St James' Park with all the spoils.

And then there's Tottenham Hotspur. Widely tipped once again to break in to the top 4 this season, they have begun the campaign like schoolboys on the first day at a new school. Sure, they want to play football, but no one seems to know who his mates are, or what they might do, and they don't even seem to know where the goalposts are.

Regardless of what transpires in their UEFA Cup encounter on Thursday night, Spurs need a result against Wigan at White Hart Lane on Sunday. If not, Juande Ramos, the man on a messianic mission, could be the next in line for the old Spanish archer - or ‘El Bow', to translate.

Left, right, centre, up front and in defence, the Barclays Premier League will enthral this weekend. Game on. 

Not because I think the idea of a transfer window is good. Frankly speaking, it's inflationary, doesn't benefit the smaller clubs as it was intended to do, and in almost any other walk of life would be tantamount to ‘restraint of trade'. I'm sad because in recent weeks it's given me so many column inches of verbiage to chew my merry way through.

Rumour mongering, gossip, speculation; it's all been there. And like scurrilous stories in the gutter press involving celebrities and their anti-social habits and illicit co-mingling, I've lapped it up with just a hint of shame that has augmented rather than tempered the guilty pleasure.

Once again it went right down to the wire, with ink drying on certain contracts when the Midnight hour struck on September 1st.

Dimitar Berbatov finally completed his move from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United. It was the transfer that everyone in football expected, and that practically everyone else on earth -irrespective of their knowledge of, or passion for, football - knew was going to happen. Somehow though the actual transaction was only conducted at the 11th hour, and a half.

Berbatov talked about it as his ‘dream move' - a similar phrase was invoked by Robbie Keane who completed a big money (some would say ‘rather too big') switch to Liverpool, also from Spurs. We have to assume that playing for the North London outfit is something of a nightmare, if all its players can do is ‘dream' of getting away.

Even the Berbatov deal though pales in comparison to what Manchester City pulled off as the authorities had their collective hands on the window handle preparatory to pulling it shut.

While transfer periods are designed for players, it's rare that an entire club changes hands, and yet that's exactly what transpired in the light blue half of Manchester.

Beleaguered former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sold a major part of his stake in the club to Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (conveniently, and fortunately referred to as ‘ADUG') in a deal that has amounted to a complete takeover.

ADUG intends to ‘make Manchester City the biggest club in the Premier League', and immediately set about putting their bewilderingly extensive financial resources where its representative's mouth is.

Brazilian star Robinho, whose ‘dream' was to hightail it out of Real Madrid, was an instant capture, becoming England's biggest transfer and the Barclays Premier League's highest paid player in the time it took to write out a cheque.

He'd been linked with a move to Chelsea for several weeks leading up to the close of the transfer window, and that move was hijacked at the very last minute.

How appropriate then that Manchester City should find themselves hosting Chelsea this weekend in the Premiership.

The mood at Eastlands following news of the takeover had been euphoric. When news filtered through that Manchester City had shattered the English transfer record and secured the services of a Brazilian superstar, the euphoria went up a notch or two.

The sensible fans will not be expecting an overnight miracle - the squad is largely the same. But City have already picked up 6 points in their 3 opening games this season, and will be keen to let Robinho loose on his would-be employers.

Berbatov will almost certainly start for Manchester United this weekend, in the most eagerly anticipated weekend clash - indeed arguably THE most eagerly anticipated clash of the entire season. Liverpool host United at Anfield, in a fixture Sir Alex Ferguson claims to look forward to the most.

Liverpool have one or two problems, with star striker Fernando Torres almost certain to miss the match with a hamstring tear, and Steven Gerrard rated as highly doubtful. Many pundits will aver that the pair constitute Rafa Benitez's best two players, and while Robbie Keane continues to find his feet at his new club, it will be interesting to see how Liverpool fare against the Red Devils.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the game will be to see if Dimitar Berbatov is indeed, as Sir Alex believes, the final piece in the jigsaw that will see Manchester United carry all before them.

Mention must be made of the two managerial departures.

Newcastle United face Hull City at St James' Park with Kevin Keegan having flown the Magpies' coop once again.

West Ham go the Hawthorns without Alan Curbishley, although they will almost certainly have installed former Chelsea great Gianfranco Zola as their new boss by the time they kick off against West Brom.

Blackburn against Arsenal is another mouth-watering tie, as is Tottenham against Aston Villa at White Hart Lane on Monday night.

There are new players to look out for, and no doubt some new tactical approaches being considered by coaches in order to accommodate them. It's good to be back with another weekend of Barclays Premier League action after the international break. And I'm happy to say, game on!

The answer to this question (and in the case of many a rhetorical example) is, ‘yes' and ‘no'.

Very little can be gleaned after only two games of the current Barclays Premier League season, and yet, as I mentioned last week, this hasn't prevented a whole host of pundits and self-professed experts pole-vaulting to conclusions (part of my mind is still at the Beijing Olympics) with broad sweeping strokes of assessment and condemnation.

Chelsea have already been installed as firm favourites for the title, and their aspirations won't be hampered if, as reports lead us to believe, they complete the signing of Brazilian star Robinho before the close of the summer transfer window.

They face a Tottenham side this weekend, apparently in turmoil after back-to-back defeats to start a season for which they had such high hopes - the last nine words could have been applied to almost every Spurs campaign in most people's living memory.

Chelsea were awesome against Portsmouth on the opening day, and less than convincing against Wigan Athletic last time out, eking out a 1-0 away win as they managed to do so often under Jose Mourinho.

Tottenham need a result, almost desperately.

Due to World Cup qualifiers, the Premier League takes a break after the weekend, and Juande Ramos, along with his current crop of underachievers, will have two weeks to contemplate a return of no points after three games and the possible ignominy of being in the relegation zone, in the event that they return from Stamford Bridge empty handed.

The signing of Spartak Moscow and Russian international striker Roman Pavlyuchenko seems to be a done deal for Spurs, and negotiations over Andrei Arshavin appear to have been reopened. If the Russians are indeed coming for Tottenham, they can't come soon enough.

Another intriguing tie to be thrown up this weekend is the visit of Newcastle United to The Emirates Stadium. 4 points after 2 games is a healthy return for Kevin Keegan's men, and Arsenal need to bounce back from defeat against Fulham last weekend - a result that few would have predicted.

Arsenal dismissed FC Twente of The Netherlands in their Champions League qualifier in midweek with an imperious display - Theo Walcott inspiring a performance that saw the previously goal-shy Gunners hitting the back of the net four times.

This match will be a good indication of how far Newcastle have come, and the extent to which their new signings are capable of playing their parts on the bigger stages.

Aston Villa's encounter against Liverpool at Villa Park is another ‘pick' of the weekend. Villa wilted under the aerial and physical bombardment from a prosaic Stoke City outfit last time out, and according to many pundits, Liverpool could change their name to ‘Unconvincing FC' at this stage, without anyone demurring.

That having been said, Rafa and The Reds have won both their opening games of the Premier League season, and secured their involvement in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. Rafa has already said, and the Merseyside faithful will be only to keen to aver, that to win when you're not playing well is a sign of a good team with genuine title aspirations, but there's little doubt that many will be expecting heightened performance levels from Liverpool this Sunday.

With Manchester United out of league action due to their date with Zenit St Petersburg and their pursuit of a second piece of silverware already this campaign, I make no apologies for taking a look at one of the less glamorous encounters this weekend.

Hull City host Wigan at the KC Stadium, keen to add to the 4 points they have already picked up and for which, had you offered them the deal pre-season, they would have, to coin a phrase, ‘bitten your hand off'.

Wigan have been excellent for three halves of their two games so far, and are more than unlucky not to have put a point on the board to date. After dominating the second half of their opening day fixture against West Ham United, they gave Chelsea a serious run for their vast amounts of money last time out.

Surely it's only a matter of time before they get some reward for their endeavours.

Having smacked Notts County around in the League Cup in midweek, and fully realising the nature of their two league losses, Steve Bruce will have his men primed for an encounter against a side for which most people are predicting a reality check.

On Football Forecast last Friday, our UK analyst gave us a slew of ‘top tips' based on where the ‘smart money' had been going ahead of the weekend's fixtures. The ‘smart' turned out to be not quite so smart after all - an indication, if any were needed, of just how unpredictable the Barclays Premier League is likely to be this season, and how, on any given Saturday (or Sunday), any team is capable of beating any other. Game on.

Orthopaedic surgeons in England have had a marvellous week.

In reaction to some of the results and performances on the opening weekend of the new Barclays Premier League season, so many knees have been jerked that most of the doctors will have been putting in for overtime while their surgeries have been taking on extra staff.

In arguably the most popular, and certainly the most talked and written about football league in the world, there is bound to be a fair amount of noise after the first game of a new campaign. What has stunned and amazed many of us has been the extent to which teams and players have been written off with a little more than 2.6% of the season complete.

If we believe everything we have read, and at least some of what's been said after the weekend, Fulham have as good as been relegated to the Championship; Tottenham Hotspur haven't a snowball's chance in hell of breaking in to the top four; Manchester United's title hopes are out of the window because they can't score enough goals, and we may as well be wrapping up the Premiership silverware now and shipping it straight over to the trophy room at Stamford Bridge.

There are more, of course, but some suggestions are just plain silly.

All the above scenarios are, of course, possible. But don't we all think that it's just a little bit early to be making sweeping judgments based on 90 minutes of football?

Fulham were indeed poor for much of the game last weekend against Hull City - the newly promoted side who were roared on by their legion of fans, most of whom are just happy to be involved in top flight football for the first time in the club's 104 year history. Fulham's away form may continue to be as woeful as it has been over the past two seasons, but being beaten by a team being driven forward on a heady cocktail of adrenaline and euphoria, doesn't necessarily mean that they will be everyone's cannon fodder.

Speaking of which, they host Arsenal on Saturday at Craven Cottage, so we may not be looking at a significant points haul for Roy Hodgson's team after their first two games of the season.

Tottenham face Sunderland at White Hart Lane, the team who beat them, unexpectedly and incidentally, at the Stadium of Light on the opening day in 2007.

Spurs have spent significant amounts of money in the close season, and Juande Ramos is supposed to be a miracle worker. The two facts should add up to instant success and Tottenham blazing a trail up the table, putting pressure on the Big Four in the race for UEFA Champions League places.

Against Middlesbrough last weekend, Spurs looked like what they are - a team with some new players who've not played a competitive match together before. It's a hoary old cliché in football, but teams do need time to gel, and Spurs are no exception. Having said that, with the weight of expectation on Ramos's shoulders, defeat against Sunderland at The Lane this coming weekend and, even after two games of the season, the pressure will be on.

Manchester United failed to break down Newcastle United at Old Trafford less than a week ago, and the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, along with the recent return to fitness of Wayne Rooney were attributed as factors.

Even Sir Alex Ferguson has made no secret of the fact that his side requires more strike power. The man to provide the necessary ammunition is unlikely to be in a red shirt by Monday - when the Red Devils travel south to face Portsmouth - and Fratton Park isn't an easy place to get a result, except when Portsmouth have recently been successful in an FA Cup semi-final. ‘No Berbatov; No Title', was one headline I read in a publication of dubious repute. Or I may have dreamed it.

As for Chelsea, even my knees were jerking in the general direction of ‘great performance' and ‘if they play like that every week they're going to be tough to beat'.

Importantly perhaps, despite a new manager, the core of the Chelsea team from the last couple of season remained, while the two new faces (Deco and Jose Bosingwa) made superb starts to their Premier League careers. They both looked ‘to the manor born', while Chelsea were almost irresistible going forward. Many eyes will be on their game against Wigan at the JJB on Sunday to see whether they intend to replicate that brand of football away from home.

Liverpool at home to Middlesbrough is another fascinating tie this weekend, with Boro full of confidence after their deserved win against Spurs, and Liverpool less than convincing, but still ultimately successful, in their away day at Sunderland.

By the time the final whistle blows at Fratton Park on Monday night in the game involving Portsmouth and Manchester United, it's fair to say that we won't be much nearer to determining any team's ultimate fate this season. But don't expect those knees to stop jerking.

The European Championships were thrilling.

The transfer sagas were occasionally interesting, but more often than not just plain irritating, as the media filled its boots with gobbets of speculation in protracted attempts to fill column inches and air time. 

Is it my imagination, or has this ‘summer' been longer than most?

Fortunately, the multi-billion-dollar industry that is the Barclays Premier League is back, and while last season was generally regarded as having been the best for years, the 2008-9 campaign promises to be grander and more entertaining than ever. 

One reason for this is that the league continues to attract the bravest, brashest and brightest talent from around the world. With most posturing and manoeuvring out of the way, let's take a look at some of the key ‘done deals' from the close season.

Manchester United begin their defence of the title having splashed the cash on ....no one - at least at the time of going to press. 

It's been reported that Dimitar Berbatov told his Tottenham team-mates last weekend that he would be a United player by the start of the season. Despite his assurances, there remains a blank space on the contract where the signature should be, and the man who has now assumed Nicolas Anelka's nickname of ‘The Incredible Sulk' remains, for the time being, at Spurs.

With both Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo missing the early part of the campaign, and Louis Saha continuing his intimate relationship with the treatment table, Sir Alex Ferguson may have one or two problems up front initially. Clearly Sir Alex has set his heart on capturing Berbatov, and with the Bulgarian's inclusion in a fully fit squad, Manchester United will prove very hard to beat. 

Chelsea could be said to have claimed four silver medals last season - they finished second in everything; the Community Shield, the Carling Cup, the UEFA Champions League and, of course, the Barclays Premier League. But as we all know, finishing second in football gets you nothing, and nowhere.

While Deco promises to be an exciting prospect in the Premier League, arguably Chelsea's biggest summer signing was when Frank Lampard put pen to paper on a new five year deal that should keep him at the club until he hangs up his boots. 

Arsenal haven't spent much, but then they don't have much to spend. In Samir Nasri though, they have secured the services of a player who, at 21 years of age, has a bright future. He's been impressive in pre-season, and only time will tell if he can cope with the rigours of the English top flight.

Arsenal have lost established stars such as Lehmann, Hleb, Flamini and Gilberto, and there's the distinct possibility that Wenger may be talking about another ‘season in transition' before he sees the best of what his squad has to offer. 

Liverpool's key summer signing has to be Robbie Keane at a cool US$40 million from Tottenham. The way he teams up and forges an understanding with Fernando Torres could determine the course of the Anfield club's season.

The prospect of seeing England internationals Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry getting together in Liverpool's midfield this season was a mouth watering one, but it doesn't appear to be happening. It means that a healthy, in-form Gerrard is absolutely vital to Rafa's hopes this campaign, and that situation is not ideal. 

So that's the Big Four dealt with, let's talk about the best of the rest. Once again Tottenham have emerged as the team most likely to threaten the dominance of the elite quartet, and once again, Tottenham have seemingly been linked with every player capable of lacing up a boot or trotting out a post-match interview riddled with clichés.

Juande Ramos will experience his first full season in the Barclays Premier League and must deal with the club's (and its fans') perennial high hopes. In players such as Giovani dos Santos, Luka Modric and David Bentley there is flair and creativity galore, and in Heurelho Gomes there is a safe pair of hands. Ramos needs his players to gel....and fast! 

Martin O'Neill has bought shrewdly in the summer, and significantly bolstered Aston Villa's defensive ranks. If Gareth Barry stays at the club, and the Villa fans forgive him for his perceived traitorous conduct, the midlands men could have a good season, while for Manchester City it's about damage limitation even before the first kick-off.

Thaksin Shinawatra's problems have been well documented, but in Mark Hughes, there's a new man at the management helm who won't stand for any nonsense, even from the club's owner. 

Brazilian striker Jo has been their main summer signing, and unlike most south Americans, he won't be too concerned about the English weather, having survived three brutal winters while at CSKA Moscow.

Harry Redknapp, as ever, has been responsible for more than his fair share of wheeling and dealing. His most significant signing comes in the form of the lanky Peter Crouch, with whom Jermain Defoe hopes to set up a potent strike partnership. If last weekend's Community Shield is anything to go by, there's much work to be done. 

In with 10, and out with 12, that's been Fulham's summer to date in terms of players. It could be another tough campaign for them, along with the three newly promoted sides, two of whom have no Premiership experience whatsoever.

With lip-smacking encounters already lined up for the opening weekend, including Manchester United versus Newcastle, Chelsea versus Portsmouth and Sunderland versus Liverpool, it's time to get the ball rolling in another compelling season. Game On!

On the 2nd of June 1897, Mark Twain read his own obituary in a newspaper.

It could have ruined his day. However, after a fairly perfunctory self-examination, and having ascertained that he was still very much alive in the cosmic scheme of things, he apparently commented, ‘the report of my death was an exaggeration.'

The same could probably be said of the English FA Cup.

Although rattling on a bit at the age of 136 years, the oldest domestic cup competition in football is alive, well and continuing to thrill.

In recent years there have been a number of allegations levelled at it. Some have said that it's too boring since it is almost always won by the same teams - those that have dominated English football, certainly since the inception of the Barclays Premier League in 1992.

Others have accused the elite clubs of not taking it seriously enough, fielding under-strength teams to preserve the first team squad for ‘more important' fixtures.

It would not be inappropriate to say that just a few years ago the competition was at a fairly low ebb. Things have changed. The 2007-8 version has been bigger (no less than 731 teams embarked on the road to glory) and better (there have been a slew of Davids slaying Goliaths - try saying that three times, quickly) and more engaging than ever before.

What has always made the FA Cup compelling is the prospect of the mighty taking on the minnows - the likes of say, Liverpool going head to head against Havant and Waterlooville.

It happened this season - a team made up of plumbers, plasterers, teachers and taxi drivers, going to Anfield to take on the 18 times English league champions. The amateurs, whose entire team earns in a year approximately what Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard earns in a little over two weeks, twice took the lead, and at half time in their 4th round clash, the score was an almost unbelievable 2-2.

Liverpool finally emerged as victors, but were subsequently slain by a lower league side in the form of Barnsley - at that point struggling in the nether regions of English football's second tier. Brian Howard's dramatic injury time winner proved to be the difference between the two sides. It spelt an ignominious exit for Rafa's Reds.

Going on to show that their win was no fluke, Barnsley then eliminated the mighty Chelsea on home soil. Their run was to end in the semi-final against Cardiff City, who performed a giant-killing act of their own in the quarters by beating Barclays Premier League outfit Middlesbrough away from home.

And there was more to come, as Portsmouth went to the Theatre of Dreams and against all the odds defeated Manchester United.

As Cardiff City and Portsmouth take their places in a final that no one would have predicted, we can all look back on a competition that has risen spectacularly to the heights of sporting drama.

What makes the FA Cup so special is its history, and both Cardiff and Portsmouth boast fascinating slices.

In 1927, Cardiff (from Wales) became the first and only team outside England to claim the coveted trophy, after beating Arsenal in the final. The Cardiff team bus was pelted with leaks as it arrived at Wembley (I'm sure it must have seemed amusing at the time) and conspiracy theorists had a field day after Hughie Ferguson's 74th minute winner for the Bluebirds.

The goal was due to a goalkeeping blunder, as the ball slipped under the custodian's body and into the net. That the Arsenal goalkeeper on the day was Dan Lewis, a Welshman, escaped very few people's attention. Lewis claimed that his brand new woollen jersey was too slippery, and since then, Arsenal have washed their keeper's shirts prior to matches.

Portsmouth have the distinction of being the club to hold the trophy for the longest time. They were in possession of the beloved silverware for 7 years, but it wasn't because they won it 7 times.

The men from the south coast of England unexpectedly beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1939 final at Wembley, prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The competition was then suspended until 1946, so Portsmouth's back room staff got through a great deal more silver polish than they would have anticipated.

Another fascinating fact about the 1939 final is that Portsmouth's opening goal was scored by Bert Barlow, who two months previously had been discarded by Wolves having been deemed surplus to requirements.

History, drama, passion, intensity and excitement. Quite simply, the FA Cup has everything and has proudly re-emerged to take its place as the greatest domestic cup competition on the planet. What will unfold on Saturday afternoon at Wembley will soon be part of an illustrious history that's still very much in the making.

Whether you’re a fan of horse racing or not, there’s something compelling about a race that’s decided by a photo finish.

Two lusty steeds going full tilt, neck and neck down the finishing straight, separated at the end by little more than a nose or a whisker, is an engaging spectacle.

At race’s end, it becomes all about who wants it the most; who is prepared to put in that extra ounce of effort; who is able to summon up that final, seemingly ungraspable reserve of energy, battling through the lung-bursting pain of exhaustion to claim victory and leave the also-rans trailing.

You can probably see where I’m going with this.

For the first time in many many seasons, the title race in the Barclays Premier League is going down to the last day of the season. While the teams have been in the home straight for some time now, the finishing line is but a glance away, and Manchester United and Chelsea find themselves side by side, and yes, you guessed it, neck and neck.

It’s just what the Doctor of Neutrality ordered, although don’t try telling that to supporters of the two clubs whose finger nails will have been bitten to within inches of their lives, and whose stress levels have probably gone through a series of roofs.

The Barclays Premier League administrators stipulate that for the final round of matches, all games take place on the same day and kick off at the same time. This is so that no team gains an advantage in terms of knowing what they might have to do in order to achieve a certain objective.

So, when the referee blows his whistle to commence proceedings at the JJB Stadium where Wigan Athletic ‘entertain’ Manchester United, another referee will be doing the same at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea enter the fray against Bolton Wanderers.

What would have made the whole situation a great deal more interesting, and once again, almost absurdly entertaining for the neutrals, would have been for Wigan and Bolton to need a point or points for their Premiership survival, as looked likely to be the case. This would have ensured an intensity in the encounter that it might not otherwise have possessed.

Wigan will be enjoying Barclays Premier League football next season – that’s for certain, and although Bolton are not mathematically safe, it’s difficult to see Reading overturning a deficit of 11 when it comes to their comparative goal differences. There is, therefore, nothing much in it for either of the sides that face the ‘Big Two’ this Sunday.

Speaking of goal difference, Manchester United’s is vastly superior to that of Chelsea. Assuming that both sides win, for The Blues to win the title on goal difference, they would have to better Manchester United’s score line against Wigan by no fewer than 18 goals. It’s not going to happen.

Manchester United are very much in the driving seat, and a win will be enough for them to claim their tenth Premier League title and their 17th English league title overall. Sir Alex Ferguson has made little secret of his intention to overhaul Liverpool’s record total of 18 league triumphs before he retires, and Sunday could see him get ever closer to his and Manchester United’s dream.

Chelsea, as a football club, have been through the gamut of emotions this campaign. Avram Grant inherited a team ‘languishing’ in fifth, and almost against everyone’s expectations – possibly even his own – has managed to turn them into genuine title contenders. And is it just me, or have we all begun to see a lot more of his teeth recently?

Indeed, the crown was theirs for the taking, and had Emile Heskey not scored a last minute equaliser for Wigan at Stamford Bridge on April 14, a win for the blue team this Sunday would be all that was required to secure their third title in the space of four years.

The entire season is littered with ‘what ifs?’ and ‘maybes’. There are certainly too many to list here, but while Chelsea supporters will look back on Heskey’s goal as a possible turning point, Manchester United supporters have every right to talk about Carlos Tevez’s 88th minute equaliser against Blackburn. It produced a point to ensure that goal difference could make the world of difference as the whistle is blown on the 2007-8 season.

Interestingly, two sets of winners’ medals have been minted, and while the original Barclays Premier League trophy will be at the JJB in Wigan, there will be a replica standing by at Stamford Bridge.

Come late Sunday afternoon in the UK, as the curtain falls on the most thrilling season in living memory, Champagne corks will be popping somewhere, and elsewhere a furnace will be preparing to render down a bunch of unwanted and unusable medals.

Manchester United and Chelsea have had excellent seasons. Even by their own exalted standards, up to this point, only the harshest critics would aver that they have been anything other than successful.

It’s curious then to be able to point out that either team (definitely not both) could well end up empty-handed.

Neck and neck at the top of the Barclays Premier League table, the midweek European exploits of both Manchester United and Chelsea have ensured that they will be meeting in Moscow in a one-off game to determine the champions of Europe.

The match in Russia will take place a full 10 days after the conclusion of the league season, by which time we will know who rules the roost in English football. I wonder if Avram Grant and Sir Alex Ferguson would be prepared, at this juncture, to sit down together and divvy up the spoils.

Perhaps the conversation would go something like this:

AG: Sir Alex, Sir, Alex…mate. I’m quite into this European thing, so if you wouldn’t mind, we’ll take the Champions League and you can have the league title. How about it big boy?

SAF: It’s not happening Avram, I simply can’t Grant you that (Sir Alex draws a wry smile as he appreciates his own wit). I’ve got nine league titles already; it’s that European trophy I’m after and we won’t be leaving it until stoppage time on this occasion - it’s bad for the heart, and I’m not as young as I used to be.

AG: But Sir Alex, if I can have the Champions League, I may be able to keep my job. And…more importantly...I will have delivered to Chelsea FC what ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ wasn’t able to!

SAF: Lord Voldemort!?

AG: No, Jose Mourinho.

SAF: Granted…tee hee, there I go again…it’s a good argument, but I need another Champions League trophy before I retire.

AG: So you have until 2042, what’s the problem?

SAF: Avram, my grumpy-looking but clearly sensitive friend; may I remind you that I’m doing the humour here. Besides, we’ve been the better team in the league over the course of the season; played the better football; scored more goals. Shall I go on?

AG: And yet here we are, locked together on the same points, cheek by jowl at the top of the table – and I know a thing or two about jowls. And…and… we beat you last weekend.

SAF: Bad refereeing decisions!

AG: And we can beat you in the Champions League Final.

SAF: More bad refereeing decisions.

AG: Let’s toss a coin then.

SAF: No way Jose! Excuse me, no pun intended. I’ve heard that you’re a ‘lucky manager’ – that’s not going to happen. Let’s just settle this like men, mano-a-mano – I think that’s the popular phrase these days.

AG: Three rounds, Queensbury Rules?

SAF: No, let’s see whose owner has the bigger yacht.

So, it’s Chelsea for the UEFA Champions League and Manchester United for the Barclays Premier League title.

In all seriousness, Manchester United could deal a significant psychological blow to Chelsea’s title aspirations this weekend when they play West Ham United on Saturday in the early kick off.

United should be good enough, especially at Old Trafford, for all three points. The pressure will then be on Chelsea on Monday to get a similar result away at Newcastle.

Neither West Ham nor Newcastle has anything to play for – a top 10 position perhaps, but that’s hardly earth-shattering in terms of achievements. Newcastle at St James’ Park, one would speculate, is a much harder proposition than West Ham at home – the Hammers having picked up just one point on their travels in the last five games.

It’s true that Chelsea do have an extra day to get their minds and bodies back into gear for league action, but just how much will Wednesday night’s extra-time victory over Liverpool have taken out of them?

The neutrals will be thrilled by the way this reason is drawing to a climax. Egalitarian-minded neutrals would probably be happy to see domestic and European silverware shared at campaign’s end. But wisdom of the ages dictates that life’s not necessarily like that.

For Sir Alex and Manchester United, and for Avram and Chelsea, anything less than a glorious ‘double’ will be a disappointment. While there’s a great deal of honour in receiving a silver medal at the Olympic Games, in football, coming second is tantamount to failure. We don’t have to wait long to find out who are this season’s golden boys.

Football presenters and pundits are occasionally accused of using too many clichés.

Okay, maybe it’s more frequent than occasional but, in a manner of speaking, to a certain extent and all things being equal, it’s almost unavoidable.

Having said that, the last three examples are more reflective of ‘phatic communion’ – words or phrases that are basically meaningless, but fit into conversation almost as punctuation, possibly giving the speaker a little extra time to think up something more meaningful, or perhaps even vaguely relevant to say. But I digress; already.

So how do we describe the match this Saturday at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Manchester United?

‘The Clash of the Titans’? ‘The Battle of Stamford Bridge’? ‘The Title Decider’.

It matters not, because no term or phrase is sufficient to describe what has to be the game of this current Barclays Premier League season. As pundits (and the occasional presenter) are fond of saying, ‘you couldn’t write this stuff’.

Somehow, the footballing gods, sometimes referred to euphemistically as the ‘administrators’, have contrived to arrange it for the top two clubs in the current title race go head to head with only three games of the campaign remaining.

And speaking of the number three, there are three points between the two teams, and three points up for grabs at Stamford Bridge, a ground where, remarkably, Chelsea haven’t lost a league match in more than four years. It would be so much more poetic if it was three years, but we can’t distort the facts.

A win for Chelsea and they draw level on points with Manchester United at the table’s summit. A win for Manchester United, and the title is theirs for a second successive season, a testament to their consistency and their determination to play attacking football.

Even if Chelsea do manage to beat United, the title is still very much in Sir Alex Ferguson’s hands due to the Red Devils’ vastly superior goal difference - +54, as opposed to Chelsea’s +36.

A 9-0 win for Chelsea would make the remainder of the season very interesting indeed, but flying pigs are pretty rare these days. Based on Manchester United’s sterling defensive display against Barcelona on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg (even in the absence of the outstanding Nemanja Vidic) Chelsea will do well to score.

Offer Avram Grant a 1-0 win right now and he’d (excuse the cliché) bite your hand off. Some clichés are so evocative that it’s not difficult to find justification for using them.

The backdrop for the game couldn’t be more fascinating. Chelsea’s title hopes were written off mid-season and alleged disunity in the camp after the departure of Jose Mourinho, seemed to have left the club in turmoil.

While Avram Grant’s personality and management style will never be to everyone’s taste, he’s proven more than capable of getting results, and has even taken his side to the brink of their first ever Champions League final – John Arne Riise will be high on Grant’s Christmas card list later this year I’m sure.

Chelsea have eked out the results while not playing particularly attractive football, and the troops have, apparently, rallied behind their general. Should they get the right result at Fortress Stamford Bridge on Saturday, the pressure on Manchester United ahead of their remaining two games will be immense, and as shown against Blackburn Rovers in their most recent league encounter, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are capable of dropping points – possibly even against the likes of West Ham United and Wigan.

While it hasn’t always been plain sailing for Sir Alex this season, the good ship Manchester United has remained on an even keel – no boardroom squabbles, not a hint of dissension in the way that Admiral Ferguson has been leading his seamen. I apologise for the mixed military analogies, but it’s better than trotting out the same old hackneyed clichés. Or is it?

On 14 October 1066, King Harold of England’s army was defeated by William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings. It was an event that changed the course of English history, as the all-conquering Normans cut a swathe through the rest of the country.

Harold’s defeat was partly attributed to the fact that his troops were tired and depleted after a hasty march south. The reason for the haste? Harold and the lads had just seen off a potential invasion from the Vikings at the…wait for it…Battle of Stamford Bridge.

To conclude and further strain the series of analogous bellicosity, will the match on Saturday prove to be Nelson’s (Sir Alex’s) Trafalgar and Napoleon’s (Avram Grant’s) Waterloo? Or will we see an even more intriguing end to the best title race in a Barclays Premier League season for years?

One can only imagine the scene. It’s Monday night, and Sir Alex Ferguson is in his front room/lounge/conservatory/whatever, with a decent glass of Claret by his side. He’s tuned in to live coverage of Chelsea versus Wigan from Stamford Bridge.

It’s a nailed on three-pointer for The Blues, with Avram Grant and his occasionally merry and apparently not always united men having gone an astonishing 79 games without tasting defeat at home in the league, and incredible run that dates back more than 4 years. Wigan are struggling this season, and came into the game just three places and five points off the relegation zone.

The game progresses in almost customary fashion for Chelsea these days, as the Stamford Bridge ‘faithful’ (and I use the term loosely, hence the inverted commas) gets to grips with the raft of changes made by the manager in the name of squad rotation.

It was Chelsea’s 55th game of a season that has seen them pursuing honours on four fronts, only to be eliminated in both domestic cup competitions – by Tottenham at the last hurdle in the Carling Cup, and ... no one wants to talk about the FA Cup exit at the hands of Barnsley. It doesn’t seem polite.

The first 45 minutes didn’t make for great viewing. Chelsea lacked cohesion – players appeared to be looking around, trying to identify who was alongside them wearing a blue shirt, before determining the appropriate action.

Too many balls went astray, too much cutting edge was lacking in the final third, and a muted, but still audible, chorus of boos was heard as the referee blew his whistle for half-time. Suffice it to say, it was 0-0 at the break.

My pundit in the studio, the redoubtable Shebby Singh, called for the introduction of Joe Cole for the second half, at the expense of ... absolutely anyone! Anyone, save Petr Cech – a goalkeeper whose determination and commitment to the cause can never be doubted after he started the games wearing a chin guard to protect the 50 stitches he’d had recently installed, to go along with the natty head guard he already sports to protect his previously fractured skull. I digress.

Joe Cole put new life into Chelsea. OK, let’s be honest, he injected some life into Chelsea, and not surprisingly they took a deserved lead through Michael Essien on 55 minutes. Interestingly, and quite in passing, Essien was delegated to play as a right back in Avram Grant’s original starting 11, and only moved to his preferred midfield role after Frank Lampard’s late withdrawal for ‘personal reasons’. I’m digressing again.

The game was surely won. Wigan had offered little going forward up to that point, and whatever occasional forays they did manage were comfortably dealt with. Sir Alex would have been down to his last few drops of fine red wine, not even contemplating a refill.

The rest, as they say, is history, as inexplicably - at least from a tactical point of view - Chelsea found themselves outnumbered in their own penalty area in the game’s dying seconds. Emile Heskey, a former Liverpool player - but even die-hard Manchester United fans would have forgiven him for that - popped in the equaliser. A priceless point went to Wigan; Chelsea dropped two, the value of which would be almost impossible to quantify.

Sir Alex Ferguson would have replenished his glass – he may even have opened up another bottle. Perhaps he toasted Steve Bruce, a Manchester United old boy, and hugged his wife for the first time that day. Already in the driving seat to retain their Barclays Premier League title, Heskey’s late goal at Stamford Bridge means that United can even afford to lose at Stamford Bridge when the two titans clash next weekend.

Chelsea managed to close the gap on Manchester United after their Thursday night victory at Goodison Park. In a hard fought match, Avram Grant’s men showed a level of resilience that they lacked on Monday. Ricardo Carvalho was outstanding in the heart of defence, begging the questions of whether he should have started on Monday, and, if he had, would he have been able to prevent the late Wigan equaliser. What’s done is done; Manchester United now know that the title is theirs.

As a neutral, I hope I’m wrong. It would be nice if the season still had one or two more plot twists to keep us on the edge of our seats until the final day. But I fear not. United should find themselves five points clear at the top after this weekend.

Although Ewood Park is never an easy to place to go and get a result, the Red Devils should have way too much in the locker for Blackburn Rovers – managed, of course, by another Manchester United alumnus. While Mark Hughes will be in no mood to do Sir Alex any favours, Blackburn have little to play for and could well be brushed aside, enabling United to retain a significant lead going into the game against Chelsea.

The red wine could be turning into champagne for Sir Alex Ferguson, any day now.

A mouth-watering home match against Manchester United; a date at the Keepmoat Stadium to face Doncaster Rovers. Believe it or not, this could be the fate of three teams in terms of two league fixtures played in the calendar year of 2008.

It’s a measure of the importance of retaining Barclays Premier League status, and while Derby County have already assured their return to English football’s second tier for next season, the remaining two places have yet to be filled.

This weekend’s ties in the Premier League will go a long way towards determining who will continue to mix it with the good and the great, and who will be expending their energies on emerging from the Coca Cola Championship – one of the most demanding and competitive leagues in the world of football.

Apart from the enormous financial ramifications of the ‘dreaded drop’, there’s the prospect of a series of ‘unglamorous ties’ as three teams previously from the top flight of English football face up to three teams previously from the third tier.

It’s a statement of the meritocracy that is English football, but that will be scant comfort for the likes of Fulham, Bolton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Reading, all of whom are fighting for their very Premiership lives.

Not surprisingly, there is huge focus on Bolton’s game this weekend, as they entertain West Ham United at The Reebok. Bolton have to look back to February 2, 2008 for the last time they picked up three points, and are currently on a run of seven defeats and a draw in their last eight league games – that’s a paltry return of just one point out of a possible 24.

Amazingly, and clearly somewhat anomalously, that period includes a 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Cup, but equally clearly, a decent European run will score low on the satisfaction stakes should Bolton be relegated.

The last two results are telling for Gary Megson’s men. Having been 2-0 up against Arsenal at home, they squandered that lead against opponents who played an hour of the game with only ten men. Worse was to follow as they were thumped 4-0 at Villa Park by an Aston Villa side that hadn’t won in five.

Now 4 points from safety, a win at The Reebok on Saturday is absolutely vital for Bolton, and they make take some confidence from the fact that West Ham have absolutely nothing to play for and are among the more mercurial sides in the Premiership today.

Birmingham City find themselves one off the drop zone, and face Everton at St Andrew’s on Saturday. The game couldn’t come at a worse time for the midlands club. Not only are they scrapping for their Premiership existence, the backdrop to the match sees their co-owner and managing director having been arrested on charges of alleged corruption in football, while the club’s officials have asked for their shares to be temporarily suspended ‘pending an announcement’.

As if all this wasn’t bad enough, Birmingham are up against an Everton side still chasing 4th spot in the table, and inclusion in next season’s UEFA Champions League programme. A win at St Andrew’s will put the Toffees level on points with Liverpool who play on Sunday. David Moyes will no doubt be hoping that the Anfield club will be suffering a hangover after their midweek exertions in European competition.

Another intriguing tie features Reading at home to Fulham. Reading started 2008 in disastrous style losing the first seven Premier League fixtures – they lost their last league game of 2007 as well. Steve Coppell’s men have turned things around to a certain extent with three wins and a draw in their last six games, but they were thumped at St James’ Park last weekend and will be reeling. It’s do or die for Fulham, who could find themselves 9 points from safety after the weekend’s fixtures with only four games remaining.

And let’s not forget Wigan Athletic. Although 8 points clear of the relegation zone, they could find themselves back in the mire on Monday night. If results go against them, they won’t fancy going to Stamford Bridge needing points to secure their safety.

While Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal continue to slug it out at the top, this weekend will provide a measure of who will be continuing their football fantasy at the Theatre of Dreams next season, and who might be getting on the bus for Carlisle.